Keith and Brittany

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From Us to You

Dear Expectant Mother,

We are making a promise to you and to your child, to always provide a safe, loving home where your child can learn and grow with the freedom to ask questions and make decisions with guidance and support from us. We understand how important it is for children to feel loved and to have a nurturing environment and will go above and beyond to make sure your child has that and is given every opportunity to succeed and triumph. We have both looked forward to this day for such a long time and have dreamed of the day that we can start our family together. Your decision is the start to our wonderful journey through life.

We want to share a bit about ourselves with you. We both met back in 2010 through a mutual friend when we all had lunch together at a small Chinese restaurant near us. Keith worked with our mutual friend and they both played a video game called “World of Warcraft” which Brittany had recently started playing as well. We started playing together and over the next year, we became very close. We celebrated birthdays together, spent holidays together, and when Brittany realized that Keith was too shy to ask, she asked him out almost a year later in 2011. We became inseparable after that. In 2015, we bought our first home together and in 2017 we both married the love of our lives. Our 10+ years together have been spent traveling, walking through parks, hiking mountains, enjoying relaxing evenings, and overall building a home together for our future family. We’ve made many new memories along the way and have been through everything together, from the loss of Keith’s grandparents to the celebration of new careers and Brittany earning her master’s degree. We’ve created a loving life together that has been spent encouraging, motivating, and supporting each other through the highs and lows.

Throughout our journey, we’ve discovered ourselves, built a beautiful relationship together, and uncovered more shared passions. One of those shared passions we’ve discovered is travel. This is a joy that we will share with our children to allow them to see the world and experience everything they can. There will be trips to Disney World, national parks, beaches, and even other countries like Italy and Japan. We will share our love of travel by allowing our children to see these new places with us and foster a sense of excitement and wonder in them. The world is such a large place and we will encourage our children to see new things and to believe that they can be anyone they want to be and do anything they want to do.

We’ve built a supportive community around us. At every step of the way, they have encouraged us, supported us, and celebrated our milestones with us. We’re both very lucky to have amazing families that are always there to lend us an ear and provide guidance. Keith’s parents live close to us and are always around to help out, whether it’s house sitting or helping with house projects. We also have cousins who live close by and friends that come over to hang out with us on the weekends. Keith’s close cousin, Stephen, has lived with us for several years while he finishes his college classes, but has plans to move soon and wants to remain in the same neighborhood with us. We have two cats that share space with us, Titan and Rhea, who are both 7 years old. They were named after two of Jupiter’s moons and are the most affectionate cats. Our family, friends, and pets are extremely important to us and we know that they will provide a loving support system to our children growing up.

We cannot possibly begin to imagine how difficult this decision is for you and we sincerely want, above all else, for you to feel that you have made the best possible decision in choosing us to help raise your child. We assure you that your child will be raised in a loving, supportive home that always puts their needs first and focuses on their development. We hope that your vision for your child’s future matches the life we want to create for your child. You and your child will always be loved and we wish you strength and courage in the decisions to come. We both sincerely thank you for considering us in making such an important decision in your life.

With love,
Brittany and Keith

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Why We're Choosing to Adopt

We both knew early in our relationship that we wanted to raise kids together and have a close, loving family. Brittany grew up with 2 younger sisters and spent a lot of time with 8 of her cousins as a child. Growing up on a farm, she always had space to play outside and her cousins were always at her house after school to play. Being so close with her sisters and cousins growing up has shown her how important it is that young kids have close family members and other kids to grow up with. Keith is an only child, but has 4 cousins on his mother’s side and 6 cousins on his father’s side that he grew up closely with. Whether it was playing with his cousins on the weekends or attending family vacations with the entire family, he grew up with a strong family support system that helped shape his childhood.

We both understand the importance of having a close family and decided early on that we wanted multiple children who could play together and grow up close. While life has thrown us a curveball with fertility issues, we are still more determined than ever to have a large, loving family. Adoption has always been something we’ve both discussed and been passionate about. We both know it takes tremendous courage and strength to make those decisions and want to make sure we honor that selfless decision by providing a loving home to your child to support and encourage them throughout their life. We feel that adoption will be the start of our family journey together and want to celebrate your decision to take that next step with us.

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About Brittany, by Keith

I still don’t know how I was lucky enough to meet and marry Brittany. Ever since we started dating, I’ve been in awe of her passion, drive, humor, and practicality. I can count on her when I’m upset and she always tries to lighten the mood. She is one of the most level-headed people that I know.  When she is passionate about a project, her passion inspires me, and those around her, to take interest in it too. Planning our wedding and honeymoon was the first big project where I got to see her in action, and I was excited to be part of the planning project. I’m lucky to have someone I truly understand and that understands me. I really don’t know how to sum up such an amazing person in a paragraph, but Brittany is the love of my life and I’ve become a much better person by being with her. She will be an amazing, loving, and supportive mom.

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About Keith, by Brittany

For the past 12 years, Keith has been my rock, my guiding star, and the Romeo to my Juliet. Keith is naturally charismatic, a trait he got from his father, and has always been able to bring a smile to my face even in the darkest situations. I’ve relied on him in countless situations, from navigating us around in a foreign country after we got lost, to talking me down when frustrating things pop up. In turn, he has motivated and encouraged me to be the best version of myself. He’s always been able to inspire others easily and it was his support that encouraged me to earn my master’s degree and make a career for myself that provides for our family. There’s not enough time or room to type all the good things about Keith that helped me fall in love with him, but know that he’s patient, kind, and will be the best father that anyone could ever ask for.

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Lifestyle

We have flexible jobs that allow us to work from home. Brittany works in human resources in a full-time work from home position and has the flexibility to do household chores and run errands throughout the day. Keith works in data management and is typically at home when he’s not on a work site. While Keith’s work schedule is sporadic during the week, he typically only goes out to a job 2-3 times a week for a couple hours which leaves him open to make grocery runs, postal deliveries, and work on home projects.

During the week we both take turns cooking. We enjoy all sorts of dishes from easy to make spaghetti dishes to things that take more prep, such as brisket and pulled pork. We watch movies a couple times a week, and in the summer we can often be found at the pool in the afternoons. We can’t wait to share some of our favorite childhood movies with your child, such as “Aladdin”, “The Land Before Time”, and “Toy Story”. We’re both big advocates of fairness and equality too. Chores are split evenly and we both always chip in when we can help. We typically take turns on most household chores such as dishes and cat litter.

On the weekends we’re both typically pretty busy together, whether it’s visiting our friends, hosting a gathering at home, taking a walk together on a local trail, or taking a short weekend trip to somewhere we haven’t been before. We’re both pretty organized and have a calendar in the kitchen to keep track of all our activities. Summer time is typically the busiest time for us as our pool is open and we love to host our friends and family for BBQs and game nights. Some of Brittany’s fondest memories from her childhood include family BBQs and summer times spent around the picnic table. This is something we can’t wait to share with your child.

We love to stay busy and like to engage with our local community as well, which includes our local trail community. Keith’s dad is president of a trail system and we frequently get involved in some of the projects they undertake. We’ve been to bridge opening ceremonies, walked newly opened trails with local residents, and Keith has even helped make a couple of benches that line some of the trails. It’s been rewarding for us to be involved in our local community and to share our love of the outdoors with others. We feel that these experiences and projects will provide your child with a strong sense of community and belonging.

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Hobbies

We both share a range of hobbies that keep us busy throughout the year. In the summer we both enjoy biking and hiking the trails near our home. We have a large pool and also swim frequently during the summer. During the cooler months, we can often be found indoors playing board games, watching movies, or playing video games together. We love co-op board games like “Arkham Horror”, “Mysterium”, and “Castle Panic” but we have an entire wall filled with a variety of games. We also watch a variety of movies and like anything from old school classics like “Pulp Fiction” to the new Marvel’s movies. We’re both very fond of Disney movies as well, especially “Aladdin”, and can’t wait to share these childhood favorites with your child!

Brittany enjoys lots of arts and crafts projects, such as drawing, painting, and sewing her own clothing. Brittany also has a love of Halloween (from her birthday, which is on Halloween) and has a passion for creating costumes that she cannot wait to share with your child. She’s made all sorts of costumes from Disney princesses to Marvel movie characters. Several of our close friends also love costumes and we get together a couple times a year with them to shop for fabric and make new costumes.

Keith enjoys spending lots of time outside, whether it is camping, playing frisbee (disc golf), tennis, or hiking. His love of the outdoors come from his Boy Scout activities when he was growing up where he made the Eagle Scout rank. We’ve gone on many hikes outside and traveled all over the place to visit new parks. Keith’s favorite park trip we’ve done was Yellowstone, where we got to camp outside for a night and visit the colorful hot springs over the course of a week.

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Home & Neighborhood

We both lived together for a few years before deciding to get a house together that we could make into our home. In 2015, we got very lucky and found our perfect home together on a quiet dead end street. Our neighborhood has been one of the best parts of our home. Often our neighbors can be seen walking or biking up the street, many with small children. We’re also very close with our neighbors and they like to come over to swim or invite us to holiday parties. Our neighbor next door has two young grandchildren, Kip who is 4, and Adalynn who just turned 1, who come over to swim in our pool often. We would love to be able to host birthday parties and pool parties for your child and their neighborhood friends one day.

Our home is a 4 bedroom, three-story house. We have plenty of room for children and look forward to a time when we have a house filled with small footsteps and laughter. We have a large pool out back (and take pool safety very seriously) along with a multi-level deck where we host BBQs in the summer. Our basement has become our gaming space and is filled with board games, puzzles, and fun. We’d love to keep our basement as a fun area for your child and can imagine it filled with kids’ games and forts one day.

We’ve both been very fortunate to find the perfect home in a supportive neighborhood and we can’t wait to share that home with your child.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

We’ve both learned a lot in our travels about diversity and have a deep love and respect for the cultural differences that define who we all are. Brittany’s family is a combination of Irish, English, and Native American (Cherokee) and she has extended family that are still living on reservations. Keith is both Welsh and German and has family members that are Italian. We both understand and appreciate the differences that have brought us together and find frequent ways to celebrate this, whether it’s traveling to a new place and immersing ourselves in the culture or cooking up a traditional food recipe. We have a deep love of German potato pancakes, schnitzel, shepherd’s pie, tapas, Italian black bean dip, poutine, and more.

Because of our strong commitment to respect and celebrate other cultures, we’ve always been open to children of different backgrounds and want to embrace and share these differences. We will able to travel with your child, to show them firsthand the world we live in and the people that make up the world. Your child will learn about different cultures, experience the traditions of different places, and understand why these differences bring us together. We will teach your child empathy and compassion when guiding them through these topics and support them in any way we can.

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Our Families & Friends

We are both blessed to have large, supportive families and very close friends. Keith grew up very close to his cousins, 4 on his mother’s side and 6 on his father’s side. While his cousins on his father’s side have all moved away, (one of his cousins even moved to Spain!) every two years we still have a big family gathering and rent out a house for a week. His 4 cousins on his mother’s side all still live near us and we’ve built a very close community with them where we all see each other often and have frequent get-togethers. We host pool parties and BBQs during the summer with them and holiday parties in the cooler months.

We both also have very close parents and siblings. Keith’s parents, Ned and Mary, live a couple towns away and have always been so supportive to both of us. They’re always quick to help out on house projects and even house sit for us while we’re away on vacation. Brittany’s parents have moved to Florida, but she still constantly talks to her mom, Shelba. Brittany also has two younger sisters, Tiffany and Makayla, that she grew up very close with. They’ve always been attached at the hip and visit us constantly to hang out and catch up.

We also have several close friends that we see frequently. Our closest friend Andrew has a daughter, Emma, who just turned 6. We held her in the hospital shortly after she was born and got to grow up close with her. We helped teach Emma to swim in our pool and she’s always excited to hang out with us and play. Our other friends and cousins are a little younger than us, but are also starting to discuss their family planning. We’re looking forward to a day when we all have young children who can play together as friends and cousins and celebrate birthdays and milestones together.

Our family and friends have always been supportive of our decisions and have always been there to help out when things were down. We’ve built a loving support system in our current home and know that this support system will provide love and strength to your child.

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Family Traditions

Most of our family traditions center around the holidays and family time. For us, holidays are a big deal. Brittany typically decorates the house for all the major holidays and seasons. Since Halloween is her birthday we go all out with Halloween decorations and spooky parties. Brittany also loves to create costumes and it’s become a tradition to have a different costume each year. We also celebrate Thanksgiving and it’s always been a tradition to either attend or host a large Thanksgiving meal. Since purchasing our home, we have taken over hosting Thanksgiving and have family come from all over to celebrate with us. The first year we hosted our own Thanksgiving, we had Keith’s dad’s side over to celebrate with us. There were about 12 of us and it was amazing to see everyone come together to make dishes and chip in around the kitchen. We made traditional family recipes from his aunt’s side, who is Italian, and Keith’s dad ended up buying three different dessert pies for everyone to share. We’ve continued the tradition of having family over with other parts of our family and always have fun adding new dishes we learned to make.

Christmas is also a special holiday for us and we’ve developed lots of traditions around it. Early in December we always host a cookie day with all the women and kids in the family. The past couple of years our friend’s daughter Emma has been able to join us and we had such fun teaching her how to cut out sugar cookies. Both my sisters were very patient with Emma as they taught her how to use cookie cutters and how to use the frosting to make Santa cookies. Last year we ended up making over 60 dozen cookies with 9 different types! We also have a tradition to get a real Christmas tree each year and spend a day decorating the tree together. We have several keepsake ornaments that we always bring out that celebrate the year we purchased our home and the year we were married. We’ve always been excited to share this tradition with our future children and to be able to create wonderful keepsake memories with them as well!

Most of our traditions are centered around our family and spending time together. Every year we know we can look forward to spending time with each other and creating new memories together. We hope that these holiday memories will also become a big part of our future child’s memories.

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Travel

Our biggest shared passion has always been travel. We have always taken both small and big trips together to new places. We’ve been all over the United States together, from California to Florida. Shortly after we started dating, we purchased a national park book and have visited 12 national parks across the United States since then, including Yellowstone and Yosemite national parks. We’ve also visited places like Niagara Falls and Toronto, Canada. During the summer we make lots of small trips to local parks and local scenic sites to explore new places. Because we have family all across the United States we also make lots of trips to visit family members in Florida, New Jersey, California, and Washington. We even visited two of Keith’s cousins, Audrey and Evan, in San Francisco for a week and we had a blast with them as they showed us their favorite spots in the city to visit.

Every two years, Keith’s extended family on his dad’s side rents out a house for a week to take a family vacation together. Keith’s dad is one of three brothers, Paul, Bruce, and Ned. They bring the families together with all 7 of their kids and take a trip together and stay in one big house. There are roughly 17 – 20 of us that attend and we’ve been everywhere from Bar Harbor, Maine; Charlevoix, Michigan; and Ocean City, New Jersey. Getting together for a week with his dad’s family is a favorite tradition for us and we get to try new things together as a family; such as paddleboarding or wakeboarding. As Keith is the oldest cousin we haven’t had any young kids on these trips yet, but everyone is looking forward to continuing the tradition of a large family gathering with the next generation of kids so that we can share the excitement with them of creating family memories.

Our most recent vacation was in June of 2022. Brittany’s youngest sister, Makayla, is a big fan of a band called ‘Stray Kids.’ Brittany got her tickets to see the band in Newark, New Jersey as a birthday present and we made a week-long vacation trip with both of Brittany’s sisters. The four of us had a blast at the concert, visited the American Dream mall in New Jersey, and even got to take a trek into downtown New York City. We visited the fashion district, saw the Statue of Liberty, and came home with lots of souvenirs and memories. We want to be able to make trips like this with your child to share their interests and bring them joy.

Our biggest and most memorable vacation was shortly after we were married when we got to spend two weeks in Italy. We traveled all over Italy to Rome, Florence, Manarola, Sorrento, and the Amalfi Coast. Brittany spent a lot of time researching and planning out everything we wanted to see or do and we ended up having an amazing two weeks of exploring the cities and countryside of Italy. The time we spent traveling around was filled with the most amazing food, museums, and was rich with architecture and sculpture. Being immersed in another country’s culture has inspired us to make more international trips in the future and it has been a dream of ours to be able to share those amazing experiences with your child.

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What We Will Teach

We will teach your child a multitude of things, including about you and your selfless decision that brought us all together and started our wonderful journey. We will share your story with your child from your own words. We think it’s important for your child to know about their background and learn about their cultural heritage and traditions to help them understand where they came from. We want to work with you to figure out how you want your story shared.

We also both feel that it is important to create a strong, supportive foundation for a child early on. We will teach your child to be understanding and caring. We will teach them to care for others and to work as a community with their peers. It’s important for a child to have peers and playmates their age and we will teach them to work together, share, and respect their peers and playmates. We will help create a supportive foundation for them so that they can learn strong values quickly.

We will foster your child’s sense of curiosity and creativity. We will answer their questions about the things around them and encourage them to learn as much as possible. We both feel that it is important to support children unequivocally and to allow them a loving, encouraging environment in which they can play, learn, and grow. We will teach your child that they’ll always have support behind them to try new things, even when they fail, and to always push themselves to try their best.

Most of all, we will teach your child that they are loved, not only by us, but by you.

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Our Promise to You

Our promise to you and to your child is to always provide a safe and loving home for them to grow up in. We promise to always support them, encourage them, and provide them with every opportunity to succeed and triumph in life. We will help your child grow up with a sense of curiosity and wonder about the world around them. We will encourage your child to ask all the questions and promise to always be there for them, to answer those questions, and guide them wherever life’s journey may take them. We promise to support them and love them through every step they take and decisions they make. We promise to love your child unconditionally throughout all of their life.