Bob and Kim

Dear Expectant Parent,

There are times when words fall short. Saying “thank you” for taking the time to consider us as potential adoptive parents is one of those moments. While it may not capture everything we feel, we want you to know how grateful we are. We have deep admiration for you and the journey you are on, and we send so much love to you and your baby. If you choose us, we promise to provide your child with a home filled with love and support and to help them know as much about you and your family as you wish.

As we’ve built our life together, we always knew we wanted to grow our family. When we learned that having children biologically wouldn’t be possible, it didn’t change our hearts. Adoption had always been something we were open to and had discussed early on. It has also been part of both of our lives. Kim’s older brother is adopted, and Bob has seen adoption through his cousin’s experience. These perspectives shaped our understanding and reinforced our desire to grow our family through adoption, something we plan to speak about openly and proudly.

We were both raised in loving homes and look forward to providing that same foundation for a child. Your child will be loved, supported, and encouraged to dream. We’ll celebrate the highs, navigate the lows, and enjoy the journey together. Kim’s creativity means there’s always something fun to do, and Bob will happily say yes to “just one more story.” We’re surrounded by family and close friends who can’t wait to share their love.

We’re excited to share life with your child, from big moments like vacations and holidays to quiet days at home together. Christmas is especially meaningful to us, as is sharing our Catholic faith. We love exploring Southern California, whether it’s the beach, museums, or new sights, and call these outings our “Kimmy and Bobby Adventures.” We can’t wait to grow our adventure crew and create new memories together.

With love and gratitude,
Kim and Bob

We want to adopt to start our family and have a child to love, make new family memories, and have the same amazing relationship we have had with our own parents as grown adults. We have some fertility issues ourselves and feel adoption is the best way for us to expand our family.

Adoption has affected both of our families in different ways. Kim’s older brother was adopted 3 years before she was ever born. Kim’s parent’s viewed adoption as just a fact of how her brother became a part of their family. Just a piece of the family story. Bob also has some experience with adoption from the side of the birth parent. A family member placed a child for a closed adoption as a teenager, since that was the way it was done more often back then. With no contact at all, she always wondered how he was doing and what kind of person he grew up to be. They were able to reunite and she even visited him and his soon-to-be wife. Adoption has played such a role in both our lives it seems to be the perfect fit for us and our family story.

Kim is one of the most special and terrific people I’ve ever met. She has a great sense of humor and whimsy – and she has the sock collection to match! Nobody can make me smile or crack up as easily as she does. She doesn’t try to be funny either, it just comes naturally. Kim also infuses life lessons into things more smoothly than anyone I’ve ever known. I call it sneaking the cauliflower into the mashed potatoes, and I swear it’s her superpower. She’s especially good at that with her students, but I’ve seen her work that magic with adults as well. It never feels heavy-handed or forced; it just flows right along in such an “oh, of course” sort of way.

She has the most caring heart and loves with absolutely all of it. It shows in big ways, as well as everyday small ways. I think those characteristics are what drew her to working with kids in the first place. She cares deeply about her students and is always thinking about what she can do for them to get as much out of a lesson as possible. Seeing the way Kim cares for those around her is how I know she will be an incredible mother.

Bob has a huge heart and is one of the most caring people I know. He is the goof to my ball, the mac to my cheese, my better half. Bob is funny, loving, a great friend, and always willing to lend a hand even to strangers. If you need a random fact about movies, TV, books, or video games and even just random facts about life he usually has one. He’s a great partner for playing trivia games. He’s a great listener and advice giver when I have a problem. He cares about everyone and everything. He will even move poor defenseless snails from behind the tires of his car when he’s backing out so as to not squish them.

Also, Bob has what we like to call kid and dog magnetism. If there is a kid or dog nearby, they will gravitate right to him like a magnet. It makes me smile watching him play and interact with our friend’s children. You can see how much he cares for them like family, as we have known most of them since they were born. Bob puts a huge emphasis on family and the importance of spending time together. Whether it’s roughhousing with the boys or playing tea party or reading a book with the girls, he gives them his full and undivided attention. That’s what he does, if you are the person he is talking with or listening to then he will give you his whole self. Bob will make a great dad and I can’t wait for the opportunity to see him hold your child, make a silly face or noise, and hear your baby giggle!

We met over 20 years ago all thanks to Bob’s mom and Kim’s dad and their tendency to talk about their children often while at work. Bob and his mom had recently relocated from the Midwest so Bob’s mom could be near family and Bob could transfer to a local college. Bob’s mom wanted him to make some local friends and get out more, as all of Bob’s school friends were from other towns/states, not local. Kim’s dad asked if she would introduce him to some people. Kim was not real keen on the idea of being hooked up by their parents, but agreed to have Bob call her if he was interested in hanging out.

When we finally connected, we hit it off right away. Our first conversation on the phone was about 45 minutes and the second was about 3 hours. We decided to get off the phone and Bob picked Kim up for ice cream. We hung out, talked laughed and people watched. After that Kim was trying to set Bob up with a coworker of hers, but was really just trying to deny the way she felt about him. Later in the summer, Kim’s brother’s best friend was getting married and Kim asked Bob to come along. That is where the “what are we” conversation ensued and the rest is history. We’ve now been together for over 20 years and married for more than 10, and we’re grateful every day for the life we’ve built together.

We like to describe our lifestyle as not excessive, just excessively happy. We both work full time; Kim is a elementary school teacher and Bob is a proofreader. We’re lucky to have jobs we enjoy that offer a good work/life balance. Once we are both back home, we fill each other in on our days as we make dinner. While we enjoy making a meal together during the week, we are also more than happy to have dinner out on weekends! Evenings are spent in each other’s company watching our favorite shows or laughing at silly stuff we find online.

Weekends mean enjoying the things we don’t have enough time to do during the workweek. We use our weekends to do things like spending time outside, seeing friends, quality time with Kim’s parents, playing games, watching movies, and taking care of the errands we can’t do during the week. Anything we do is always more fun when we do it together!

When we imagine what we will be when we are parents, we see 2 fully present, in the moment, go-with-the-flow parents who love unconditionally and always want what’s best for their family.

• We will raise your child to have love for themselves and others around them.
• We will teach your child right from wrong and how to have fun in life as well as be responsible.
• We will pass along our belief in God and our Catholic Family Traditions while keeping an open mind to others and their beliefs.
• We will teach your child that, no matter how old you are, you have to find ways to play and simple joys in the everyday stuff.
• We will show your child that when you make a mistake you must have humility, admit it, then learn from it because no one’s perfect.
• We will remind your child how lucky we are to be their parents and that you chose us to be a family.

Bob’s mom always described our home as warm and welcoming, which is the best way we can think of to describe it. After all, without the environment created within, a home is just walls, a roof, and a floor, right? In addition to the necessities of decor (a dining table, a comfy couch), we make sure to include pictures of loved ones and memories that mean the most to us.

Though it is a condo, our community is located in the midst of single-family homes too, so it feels more like a traditional neighborhood. There’s a great park just about five minutes walk from our front door. We also have a couple of pools in our community. Our next door neighbors are super nice and have a little boy who is about a year old (along with a cute little dog named Albert).

Both of us grew up with pets as kids, and have great memories of all of the furry and feathered family members we had. We both had dogs in our families; Kim also had parakeets, cockatiels, hamsters, and rats. Our current furry family members are a dog named Sami and a very funny bird named Peanut, who live at Kim’s parents’ house.

At our house we have three lovable little rat sisters, Poppy, Lilly and Dahlia. Along with their unique personalities they all have very unique looks as well. Poppy started out an all beige color with a white belly and Dumbo ears to rapidly changing in about 2 weeks to an all white Siamese with a brown nose and brown on the base of her tail. She is sweet a little timid at times and loves to lick like a dog!

Our other two are both called Rex or curly hair. Lilly is all white curly hair with ruby eyes and curly whiskers. Lilly is the biggest of the group so she likes to boss her sisters around the cage. But she also has a more shy or timid side as well if she is unsure of the situation. Dahlia is the smallest and the most spunky of the group. She started out with what we thought was a grey color curly fur and a white belly but in reality she had lost all her fur on her back and it was still growing back. As it grew back she now is a beautiful black and white furball. She loves being out and thinks she only needs to be in the cage when she wants to sleep.

They all love to cuddle and be adventurous around the house we have to watch out because we might find one on the floor making a break for it or one exploring our dining room table. They are very curious and keep us on our toes for sure and we love it! As happens with our furry family members 2 of our trio (Poppy and Dahlia) have passed over the rainbow bridge, but Lilly keeps us plenty busy as she is taking advantage of being the only getting all the attention when she wants it.

We are lucky to have a loving support system of family and friends. Kim’s parents live a few minutes away; she’s also got a brother who lives in Colorado. We don’t get to see him as often as we’d like, but video calls help with that. Bob is an only child; his mom passed away but is with us in our hearts always. Kim’s extended family lives mostly in the LA/Orange County line area. We get to see them pretty regularly and the whole group gets together at Christmas.

Bob is a Chicago transplant, so his family is mostly back East. One of his uncles that he’s very close to does live one state over in Nevada, though. We have a tight-knit group of close friends in the area and enjoy spending time together whenever we can. Kim’s best friend since fifth grade lives across the country but, like with her brother, technology helps keep them close.

Family traditions are very important to us especially now that Bob’s mom has passed away. Our traditions have changed and grown from our different childhoods in California for Kim and Illinois for Bob, all the way to adults coming together as a dating couple, and now a married couple. Some traditions we have brought with us and some we have created new together.

One tradition important in both families is celebrating birthdays together as a family. Doesn’t have to be anything big just dinner, presents and something to put a candle in and sing.  Often the singing is intertwined with laughter and Bob echoing “you” in the background. It’s not the prettiest singing but it’s our very special version. Both Kim and her mom love to bake so something homemade is often requested.

Being Catholic, Christmas and Easter are also big holidays for our family. We often celebrate for several days as we split celebrating with immediate family, extended family, and friends. Once again, baking is a huge tradition for Kim’s side of the family, especially during Christmas. Our family has a lot of traditional family recipes along with new ones that Kim and her mom have added over time. Going to church is also an important tradition as learning our Catholic Faith and its traditions.

One of the traditions Bob brought from his family into Kim’s is when a teen in the family gets their first car, a close friend or relative must pin an angel pin into the car somewhere as a guardian angel to protect them as they drive. Since Bob is an only child, he is close to one of Kim’s younger cousins and he pinned an angel into his first car as Bob’s mom’s best friend had done for him when he was a teen. It was a fun way to connect our families and our traditions.

• We promise, as adoptive parents, to raise your child in a loving and supportive home.
• We had great examples to learn from in our homes growing up and we plan on following suit. We’ll be there for them through thick and thin.
• We will teach your child the importance of close friends and family and never forgetting to say the words “I love you.” We feel those 3 words can never be said enough to those that are important in our lives.
• We will retell the story of how your child came to our family, and how grateful we are to you for choosing our family for them.
• We promise to be open with sharing any information that you are comfortable with and maintain the amount of openness you are ready for at any time.
• We promise to help your child have a belief in God and a connection to their faith, whether it be Catholic or something else.
• We will be open to your child’s thoughts and feelings and show them the importance of right and wrong.