- Illinois -
We are Samantha & Seth - Thank you so much for taking the time to let us introduce ourselves and for considering us as you make the difficult decision of who will parent your sweet child. We are excited to introduce ourselves and help you see a little of who we are and what is important to us. We are currently a family of 4 but know that God has more in store for us and our family is not done growing!
Sam is stay at home and loves being there for each and every moment of our children's lives. Before the girls were born she was a high school science teacher and plans to return to teaching when all of our children are in school! While being a stay at home mom Sam is also very involved in a global outreach program at our church and loves finding new and fun things for her and the girls to do!
Seth is a nursing supervisor at our local hospital and has his Masters degree in nursing management. He loves his job and we love that his hours allow him to be home every night for dinner. Seth and the girls can usually be found playing a game or curled up reading books on the couch.
Hello!
We are Sam & Seth ( and Addy & Lainey) and sometimes we eat ice cream for dinner and stay up past bedtime 🙂
Thank you so much for considering us as you make the difficult decision of who will parent your sweet child. We are excited to introduce ourselves and hope through these words and pictures you can see the love that we have in our family and the love we have to share with your child. We won’t ever promise to be perfect parents but we can promise to make sure your child knows how loved and precious they are because that is what we strive to show our girls everyday.
We want to start this letter by making sure you know that we are completely excited for the possibility of an open adoption. We strongly believe that no child can have too many people on their side as they walk through life. You are the first person to love this baby and should always hold a special place in their life if that is what you desire. We understand that life is always changing and what feels right in an open adoption can change too; we will continue to respect your wishes as time passes.
About Us
We met in college and got married in May of 2012. Shortly after we married, Sam graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Education. After teaching for several years, she is now a stay at home mom and loves being there for each moment of our children’s lives. Seth has his Master’s degree in nursing management and works as a Nursing Supervisor at our local hospital. Together we enjoy board games, comedy TV, and planning our future together! Our relationship is one that is built on faith and trust. On our wedding day we vowed to stick together through it all and while our lives have not always gone the way we hoped, our marriage has remained strong and we could truly not be happier than we are when we’re together.
We always knew that we wanted children, and that adoption would be a part of our story. Our lives have been deeply impacted by adoption and we love that we have been given the opportunity to carry it on. Seth has two brothers that were adopted and Sam’s mom was adopted as an infant. While we have always discussed the option of adoption, we were blessed with two biological daughters first. After the loss of our last pregnancy at 24 weeks we strongly felt that God was opening the door for our adoption journey to begin now!
Just Us
It’s always so hard to find just a few words to describe us. Our weeks are filled with crazy mornings getting everyone to school. Evenings are dance practice, piano lessons, family time, homework and squeezing in one more uno game before bedtime. Our weekends are family time, friends, reading together, movie nights, church and resetting for the week. We love to find extra pockets of time to find new places to adventure, learn a new game or bake a new dessert!
Our Children
We have two absolutely goofy and amazing daughters that cannot wait to join us in showering another baby with love! Addy is our spunky, smart seven-year old. She LOVES school and is always ready for anything “arts and crafts”. She absolutely adores her little sister and cannot wait to be a big sister again! Lainey is our sassy, crazy five-year old. She loves her stuffed zebra, making up crazy dances and any kind of snack! She’s been practicing “big sister-ing” on her new bitty baby, our goldendoodle Zoey and our cat Zeke! We strive to raise our children to be good people that love the Lord and others. We were both raised in Christian homes and we have carried those values with us as we build our family and our traditions.
Our families and friends
Our families have always been ridiculously supportive of all of our endeavors and adopting has been no different! Seth comes from a large family – six children total – they grew up on a farm and were best friends. When his family is together you can usually find a sports game of some kind either being played outside or being watched inside. They also love singing songs around the piano with other random instruments being added in occasionally. Sam has two siblings that are very close. When they all get together they love to spend time at her parent’s lake house kayaking, fishing and riding the 4-wheelers. They also enjoy just hanging out and eating (a lot!). Both sets of parents live less than 15 minutes away from us and enjoy spending lots of time with their grandkids and cannot wait to have more little cheeks to squish!
In addition to our families, we have the most amazing group of friends. Our small group from church is made up of four families and there are 13 kids under the age of nine (and we keep adding more!). Our church family has played such an important role in our lives – we are truly blessed to have their love and support. From trips to the zoo, playdates, picnic lunches and movie nights –our family is surrounded by people that cheer us on, cry with us and make us laugh!
Our Promises
We know that life will not only be made of happy moments and sometimes it can be really hard, but we promised each other and our girls that we will cherish the ups and support each other through the downs. We make that promise to you and your child now. We will strive to make everyday a day that grows us, teaches us, and makes us love each other more. We promise to make sure that every child of ours, regardless of how God gave them to us, goes to bed every night knowing they are special, they are loved and they are worthy of that love. We pray this letter helps you see your child’s place in our family and in our hearts, but regardless of who you choose to parent your sweet children, know that you have our love, support and respect.
With Sincere Admiration,
Sam and Seth
Our parenting style would best be described as “doing our best” 🙂
We know we won’t be perfect so we try and show our children that mistakes are ok as long as you learn from them, try not to repeat them and apologize if they hurt someone. We also strive to teach our children how to handle the emotions that come with each situation rather it be happy, sad, angry or annoyed. Our feelings were given to us as a way to see how our brains hearts and bodies are handling the things life throws at us. There is no shame in any feelings at our house but rather feelings are viewed as a tool.
Discipline in our house rarely happens, not because our children dont misbehave (they are kids!) but rather we allow the negative consequences of negative actions to be punishment enough.
We own our 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom home. We have a cozy family room with a fireplace where we have family movie nights and game nights. The basement has been made into a play space with hopes that our house can be the hangout spot for our children and their friends as they grow.
We have an absolutely adorable spunky and loveable goldendoodle named Zoey. She is an absolute dream dog and loves to be snuggled at all times. We also have a cat named Zeke – he’s 8 and is a very typical old man cat who sleeps 95% of the day. last year for Christmas the girls requested a fish tank so we went big and got them a 30 gallon tank with 14 fish that are so relaxing to watch swim around!
Our little family
Seth – 33- works as a nursing manager at our local hospital
Loves reading, playing games, and eating the things sam bakes
Sam -33- teacher turned stay at home mom
Loves baking, reading and shopping (and naps!)
Addy – 8- Loves to write stories and read. Has the biggest heart and loves to help with anything and everything
Lainey – 6- Loves to eat snacks, dance, and play with her special stuffed zebra. She has the goofiest personality and always keeps us laughing.
Extended family
Sams parents live 5 minutes away and we spend lots o ftime at grandma and grandpas house. Sam’s mom is adopted and her family is very excited about another grandbaby to love on. Sam’s sister also lives super close so the cousins have lots of time to play!
Seth parents live 10 minutes away and we see them about once a week. Seth youngest sister lives close and comes for dinner once a week to play games and do dance shows with the girls. Seths other sister and brother live in Indiana and Chicago. Seths youngest 2 brothers still live at home with their parents. they were adopted through foster care and yet another way our family is beautifully tied to adoption.
Our favorite thing to do as a family is to learn and experience new things. We love teaching to girls to do things we love and also learning new skills right along with them. One of our favorite places in the lake sams parents own just outside of town. We taught the girls to fish, canoe, and 4-wheel there and it is a place that will form so many special memories!
