- Ohio -
We're a big family, overflowing with love, looking to grow bigger through adoption (again)!
Kim is loving, diligent, creative, and passionate. She does everything in her power to support her family's needs whatever they may be. She works very hard at her job, but has ensured that her work is entirely from home so that she can spend extra time with her kids. Kim is the organizer of the family. She is a master of scheduling all appointments, obligations, parties, and a million other things a family needs to do. Kim has a seemingly endless source of patience with which she deals with her kids and husband. She is fully committed to the needs of whomever she is interacting with and this is part of what has made her a wonderful mother.
Justin is a goofy, silly, and loving parent. He treats each child as an individual and loves interacting one-on-one time with each of them. Justin spends time in cooking, cleaning, and running the kids to and from activities each day. He enjoys sharing his hobbies with our children, friends, and family; he is often playing games with others (board games, video games, and in person). Justin is the perfect partner and parent, giving himself fully to each person he interacts with.
Dear Expectant Parent(s),
We understand that adoption is a deeply difficult and personal choice. We pledge to be here for you now and in the future to support you and your child’s relationship at whatever level you desire.
Our large family means there will always be someone to talk to, you can’t be lonely in a house with 8+ people! There are so many opportunities to learn from each other. Our children look out for each other, signing ASL for their older sister, Jasmine, being patient when Valerie excitedly repeats herself, and teaching Cecilia to tie her shoes.
We promise to provide a loving and caring home for your child. We give all our children the lessons, tools, and access to achieve greatness in adulthood. We will raise your child to be loving, kind, and generous – with the knowledge that they have 2 sets of caring parents backing them up.
We have been foster parents off and on for over 5 years (and are currently licensed) and enjoy welcoming children into our home and working with birth mothers and families. Our parenting philosophy is love, consistency, and natural consequences. We have experience parenting children with a variety of physical, mental, and emotional needs.
We live in Kim’s childhood home on 30 acres of land – the house is almost 1 mile from any road traffic. Our house has 5 bedrooms upstairs, as well as 2 bedrooms in the basement. John lives in a mother-in-law suite with his own kitchen and 2 bedrooms. We love spending time outside on the porch swing, playset, hiking in the fields and woods, picking wild blackberries, and biking, rollerblading, and using chalk on the giant concrete driveway pad.
We are ready every day for a foster or adoptive placement. We have a crib, extra beds, and car seats ready to go at an hour’s notice.
As with all of our babies, we plan to setup our crib in our master bedroom for the first year. That allows us to respond quickly at night and not disrupt our other children’s sleep.
I am always working on cross stitching projects, including a collection of onesies ready for a new bundle of joy!
We have 3 short dogs. Sunshine is our beagle/bulldog mix. She has never met a living thing she doesn’t love. Storm is a total mutt (mostly boston terrier and chihuahua). She is highly attached to Papa and is his farm hand. Storm is the youngest pup, he is a pomsky (pomeranian and husky).
We have 2 indoor cats, Stars and Mew. We also have 2 fish tanks, 2 dozen chickens, and 4 honey beehives.
About each other:
Justin: Justin is a goofy, silly, and loving parent. He treats each child as an individual and loves interacting one-on-one time with each of them. Justin spends time in cooking, cleaning, and running the kids to and from activities each day. He enjoys sharing his hobbies with our children, friends, and family; he is often playing games with others (board games, video games, and in person). Justin is the perfect partner and parent, giving himself fully to each person he interacts with.
Kim: Kim is loving, diligent, creative, and passionate. She does everything in her power to support her family’s needs whatever they may be. She works very hard at her job, but has ensured that her work is entirely from home so that she can spend extra time with her kids. Kim is the organizer of the family. She is a master of scheduling all appointments, obligations, parties, and a million other things a family needs to do. Kim has a seemingly endless source of patience with which she deals with her kids and husband. She is fully committed to the needs of whomever she is interacting with and this is part of what has made her a wonderful mother.
Jasmine: Jasmine is 15 years old. She joined our family through foster care in 2012 and was adopted in 2013. She enjoys coloring, swinging, and all animals. Jasmine was born prematurely, is deaf and has autism. She has cochlear implants and uses a g-tube for nutrition.
Valerie: Valerie is 12 years old. She loves music, video games, reading (mostly Captain Underpants), and jumping on her trampoline. Valerie is welcoming to all our foster placements and is excited about gaining a sibling through adoption. Valerie was born prematurely and has ADHD.
Walter: Walter is 10 years old. He loves technology, video games, piano, and biology. Walter desperately wants a brother to share his hobbies with, although he is nervous about having a baby sibling. Walter has depression that is treated with therapy and medication.
Evelyn: Evelyn is also 10 years old (she and Walter are twins). She loves art, baking, and guitar. Evelyn is fiercely independent and loves trying new things. She wants another sibling to play with and teach.
Cecilia: Cecilia is 7 years old. She is a social butterfly and enjoys playing outside, art, and singing. Cecilia is extremely excited about having a younger sibling. She loves having foster children in our home, and would love to be an older sister.
John: John is a doting grandfather (called “Papa”). He is retired and spends his time in his vegetable garden, flower gardens, and greenhouse, and takes care of chickens and multiple bee hives. He is always around to help with his grandkids. He loves to share his hobbies of gardening, baking, and watching old movies with them.
Our family/friends:
Our family is very close and loves being together. We spend a lot of time at home – playing board games and video games together. All of our family is close to us, including Kim’s brother, Justin’s 3 brothers, Justin’s parents (just 5 minutes away), and most of John’s 15 siblings and Kim’s 50+ cousins. Family and friends are always nearby to help around the house, with the kids, and to be together. We frequently host holidays and board game nights with our family and friends.
We were both raised Catholic and loosely follow Catholic traditions. Both of us feel that doing good in the world and being kind to others is more important than any one religious belief system. Our 4 younger children attend a private Catholic school. Their school is academically rigorous and highly diverse with 60% POC, 25% Spanish speaking, and 30% on free or reduced lunch.
We love adventures and experiencing new things together. Our most recent vacations have been hiking and spending time at the ocean. Holidays and birthdays are always a big deal at our house. We love celebrating so much – our “Christmas” lights stay up all year and change color to reflect the current season or celebration.
