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Dear Birthmother, Hello, our names are Dori (33), Terry (38), and Jack (4). We realize the decision to place your child with another family is a very difficult one to make. We are in awe of your strength and courage as you consider an adoption plan for your baby. We are grateful for the opportunity to share a little about ourselves so you may see a glimpse into our life as a family. About Us We met nine years ago while working together at Terry's family-owned company. After becoming best friends, we came to realize we had deeper feelings for each other. This came as a complete surprise to us! We dated for two years and got married in the northwest suburb of Chicago where we now live. We have a happy and supportive marriage and recently celebrated our sixth anniversary. We always had hopes of having a large family. After just six months of marriage, we were delighted to find out Dori was pregnant with our son, Jackson. We welcomed him into the world on November 26, 2003. After Jackson was born, we both knew we wanted a houseful of kids, but during the next 4-1/2 years, we struggled to have a healthy pregnancy. After two surgeries for tubal pregnancies and a miscarriage, we realized we didn't want to pursue pregnancy, we wanted to pursue adoption. It was like a weight was lifted off of us. We realized that having another child in our family to love and cherish is all we ever wanted. We live in a bright and roomy four-bedroom home in a neighborhood filled with children. We often all play together, putting up blow-up pools and sprinklers between our houses for shade. All the kids love to ride their big wheels, bikes and scooters together. We have enough toys to fill the playroom and the basement. Jack has already created a kid-friendly home which we long to share with another child. We have a 10 year old black lab named Jordan, whom we now call, Gray Beard. He is starting to look old, but still thinks he is a puppy! He loves to be petted by anyone, but especially loves to give Jack a handshake for a treat. When Jack was a baby, he would get the best laughs by crawling on top of his "puppy." Jordan is getting too old for it, but he still loves to wrestle with Terry and Jack. About Dori: I was born and raised in a small town outside of Peoria, Illinois. I am the youngest of three children. I went to college for fine arts and psychology. Soon after graduating, I worked as a counselor for teenage girls in Denver, Colorado. Wanting to be closer to my sister, I moved to the Chicago area. I then worked in a grade school as an aide for an autistic child. After becoming pregnant with Jack, both Terry and I wanted me to be a stay at home mom. During the next few years (while Jack napped) I created a small business out of our home, designing children's birthday party invitations. My sister Tobi came to work with me while she was pregnant with her first child. She and her husband, Scott, live less than a mile down the road from us with their son, Logan, and are expecting their second baby soon. Working from our home allows both of us the flexibility to make our own hours and still stay home with our children. Tobi, Scott and Logan are at our home almost every day. It's like a big family, and our home is always very lively. Logan has been providing Jack with great big-brother experience! It is wonderful to see my nephew growing up every day. And Tobi is the best aunt to Jack that anyone could ask for, and will be to our next child, too. She was a teacher for 10 years before deciding to stay home with Logan and work with me. She has infinite patience for Jack, and can find a learning opportunity in everything we do. We feel lucky to be so close and to help each other raise our children with the same values. Remembering a family tradition from when we were children, we even have Sunday dinners together every week. My brother, Scott, and his wife, Joanne, live with their three children in a suburb of St. Louis, MO. We have made it a ritual to spend the 4th of July at their house every year. My mom (Barb) and stepfather (Bob) live just one hour away on a lake in Wisconsin. We love to visit and go for boat rides and splashing in the lake. My dad (Dave) and stepmom (Lisa) still live in the now not-so-tiny town outside Peoria just two hours away. We love to visit with them several times a year, including an annual trip to an apple orchard to pick apples and pumpkins for Halloween. They come to see us often, too. We have ping-pong tournaments in their basement every Christmas. My family also loves to play games. Euchre, Boggle, and any games where the girls play against the boys! Cooking is also a favorite pastime when we get together. We are always trying to outdo ourselves. My whole family is very eager to include our new child in all of our family activities! Terry's Story: I was raised in a northwest suburb of Chicago. I am the youngest of four children. My mom was a stay at home mom and started our school's PTA. Being the youngest, I was taken along for all my older sibling's field trips and sporting events. Thanks to my dad, I have been a die-hard Cubs baseball and Northwestern University football fan since I was four years old! Sports have always been a fun way for our family to spend time together. Now retired, my parents, Pete and Sandy, travel back and forth throughout the year from their home in the suburbs to their home in Florida. They spend the summer in their Illinois home and all holidays and family birthdays. We look forward to making a yearly trip to Florida to Disneyworld to visit them. I work with my brother, Peter, at a manufacturing business that my dad started 45 years ago. I have been in the sales department for over 10 years and handle many of our national accounts. I feel a great pride in being able to help my dad's dreams continue to grow. Our company is very family–friendly, and I have great flexibility with taking time off. I will never have to miss out on our children's special events, like an afternoon soccer game or the first day of school. I feel lucky to be able to share these experiences. Peter and his wife, Betsy, live with their two children about five minutes away. Patti, my oldest sister (who is Jack's godmother), lives in a northern suburb with her husband, Tony, and their three young children. And my sister, Cathi, whom I have always considered one of my best friends, lives in Chicago. We love to all get together at Patti's for the kids to play together. Patti's son, Tony, has a rare autoimmune disorder (OMS), and the whole family participates in fundraising efforts to support them. My extended family lives mostly in the Chicago area, and Christmas is like a family reunion every year. They are all so excited in our efforts to expand our family, and can't wait to welcome a new member of our family! Jackson's story: Jack is the light in our life. He had a rough start, having surgery for a bowel obstruction at two days old. At four and a half years old, he is all boy, and has energy to spare. He loves trains, cars, trucks and anything that moves. He loves books and loves for us to read to him, and is even teaching himself to read already. Even though he has more books than will fit in his bookcase, he still loves to go to the library to pick out new ones at least every other weekend. He goes to preschool Monday through Friday in the afternoons. And during the summer he enjoys soccer, T-ball and swimming lessons. He is sweet and kind to his little cousin, Logan, and has often asked us where his little brother or sister is. We hope to be able to answer his question some day. Our brothers and sisters are so important in our lives that we wanted our children to have those special bonds too. Dori's thoughts on Terry: My first impression of Terry was, "This guy makes me laugh." Terry is my best friend. I tell him everything. He is a wonderful father to Jack, which makes me love him even more. He is always making plans for fun adventures he thinks Jack might enjoy. Terry will take a vacation day just to go to a children's museum or zoo with Jack and me. Fortunately he has flexibility and can leave work early if he knows it is nice outside so he can play with Jack before it gets dark. He loves to watch sports (football, hockey and baseball are the favorites) and teach Jack all about them. They love to be boys together. One of my favorite things about Terry is that he feels lucky to be a father. He loves family time. He helps with bath and bedtime routines every night. And after Jack goes to bed we like to talk about the little things that Jack did that day. After nine years, we just love to make each other laugh. It is what brought us together in the first place. I don't even like to watch TV without him. We started out as best friends, and I can't imagine my life without him. I long to share the experience of raising another child together. Terry's thoughts on Dori: From the first moment I met Dori I knew she was something special. Dori was a breath of fresh air. She is the most honest, caring, and sweetest person I have met. We still joke like kids. That is why I fell in love with her. She opens my eyes every day to look at life in different ways. Her love of art and her creative nature is amazing to someone who can only draw stick figures. Dori has been a great mother to our son, Jackson. She volunteers at Jack's pre-school for library time, and now Jack's teacher has asked Dori to stay and help out in class. Dori is the mom I always wanted for my children. She can't wait to be a mother again. Her love is hands on...from projects with Jack at the dinner table to helping him put together his Thomas train set to reading 10 books to him in a morning. Her love goes to animals, as well. Dori had our lab Jordan before we met, and found a cat (she named Boo) outside our house and took care of him by making sure she could find him a good home, since Jack is allergic to cats. She is a great aunt to our ten nieces and nephews. She loves to spoil them rotten. She gets to see her nephew, Logan, every day, and she is his special "DoDo." Our thanks to you for taking the time to read about us: We cannot wait to love and treasure another child. Please be assured that we are emotionally and financially stable and can provide for your child unlimited opportunities. If we were blessed to be chosen as adoptive parents for your baby, we would make sure your child knows how much love and sacrifice it took for you to place him or her with a loving family. We would love to talk about an open line of communication, should you want it. Thank you for taking the time to read our story, and we wish you peace and comfort in your decisions. If you would like to talk with us, please contact us anytime, toll free, at 1–800–507–0664, or e-mail us at doriandterry@sbcglobal.net. Our adoption counselor, Maggie Benz, is also available to talk with personally at 1–800–869–1005. Affectionately, About
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