amy and steve
thanks
FOR OPENING OUR BOOK
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S O N I C E T O “M E E T ” YO U
We are Steve and Amy from Missouri! Thank you for being willing to learn more about us! We appreciate you taking the time to look through our book, and we are excited to get to know you, as well. We will never pretend to understand what you are going through and the emotions that come with making such a difficult decision, but we hope you can feel our support and get to know us through these pages. We are a family that loves adventures, but also enjoys quiet nights in. We love spending quality time together, and with our family and friends. As individuals and as a couple, we have had our fair share of trials and tribulations throughout our lives. However, we believe those struggles taught us so much and truly shaped us into the adults we are today. Ultimately, we are grateful to experience all we have. Laughter and love fill our home, and we have been blessed in so many ways. We wish to expand our family more than anything and it is something that we have desired for years. One of the first topics we discussed before getting into a serious relationship was about children. We both expressed a strong desire to have a house filled with kids someday, and since then, that desire still remains. We hope through the pictures and words in this book, you are able to get a glimpse into our lives. We hope this is the beginning of something beautiful! With love,
Amy and Steve 3
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story
We love our story! I (Amy) always joke that I am a Southern girl “stuck in the Midwest,” because I grew up and fell in love with a boy from St. Louis. My sister, Ashley, was living there with her husband and taught school with Steve. My sister jokingly told Steve that I was 21 (he was 24 at the time), when I was actually 19! At a restaurant with friends, we ended up talking all night long and the next day I (Steve) asked Amy on a date. When I realized she was not 21 (like her sister said she was!), I told her that we were in different places in life and maybe it wasn’t the right time. We both dated other people but kept in touch through email and an occasional text. After two and a half years, we were both single and Steve decided to book a plane ticket to visit Amy in Alabama. The rest is history! We have been married for 12 years and have been through some challenging times. Our friendship has gotten us through our difficult times. Our opposite personalities also help make us better people! Steve is introverted and analytical while Amy is extroverted and tuned into her emotions. When we spend time together, we love just hanging out on the couch together, or being competitive playing bowling, putt-putt, or board games. Summers are our special time to make memories as a family with our daughter, Caroline. We fill our summers with beach trips, traveling, pool days, riding roller coasters, and lake weekends. Our summers are meaningful to us, because we realize that we only have so many with our children. We want to make sure each summer IS truly special. Someday soon, we hope to share our memorable summers with another child in our family!
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WHY WE ARE
adopting Deciding to adopt was a lengthy decision that we prayed and talked about a lot. We don’t take this decision lightly. Steve, who is more analytical, really took time to think through what it means to grow our family through adoption. For Amy, adoption was something she began thinking about even before meeting Steve. Then, Amy was drawn to adoption even more after going through infertility and being told by doctors that we would not be able to have another biological child. We know that Caroline will be an incredible big sister and want to grow our family so she will have a sibling to do life with. We’ve prayed for the baby who will join our family, and we are looking forward to offering a loving environment for a child, with three people who are truly excited to welcome them into our home.
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FAVORITE MEMORY: Sledding down a hill with my brother, who passed when I was 11. When he helped me up the hill after I got stuck, I realized he was my hero. I’M MOST PROUD OF: How Steve and I have overcome so many struggles, and having a strong marriage FRIENDS DESCRIBE ME AS: Empathetic, generous, fun, and spontaneous
MEET
amy
I was born and raised in Hoover, Alabama. I love to work out, travel, have girls’ nights with my friends, and read in my free time. I am passionate about helping people and centered my education and career around wanting to help others grow and heal. Because of this, I earned my Master of Education in School Counseling in 2007. Other things I care about are PKU (a rare disorder usually discovered at birth), my family and friends, the beach, and making a decision every day to focus on what I have and not what I do not have. PKU is something that I am passionate about, because Caroline was diagnosed with it at birth. It was difficult to learn about the diagnosis, and we’ve learned a lot about how Caroline can live a healthy life with PKU. Thankfulness and gratitude have gotten me through some challenging times in life. When I was 11, my brother passed away from a car accident. I really value the strong relationship that siblings can have, and am excited for Caroline to experience that as well when we grow our family. 8
The thing I love most about being a parent is watching Caroline grow up and experience milestones that come with each age, from crawling to walking to playing basketball and developing friendships. With our future child, I am excited to introduce them to Alabama due to our family still living there! I am excited to share with them our tradition of fun-filled summers; Thanksmas, which we celebrate each year with Steve’s family; and most of all, sharing things that our future child falls in love with. Steve and I believe that you need to be involved in something...sports, youth group, band, art classes, etc. We will explore all of the above, just like we did with Caroline, to find what our future child is passionate about!
FIVE THINGS A M Y LO V E S : • • • • •
The beach Working out Girls nights Traveling Sports 9
FAVORITE BOOK: To the Edge by Kirk Johnson FAVORITE MEMORY: As a kid, I got to spend a week each summer drinking Tang, shooting squirrels, and hanging out with my grandparents in Arkansas. FRIENDS DESCRIBE ME AS: Easy going, humorous, loyal, disciplined, and principled
MEET
steve
I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and lived there until college. I majored in education and taught for 12 years. For the last six years, I have been an Assistant Principal/Athletic Director. The best part of my job is the daily interactions with the students. You just never know how you will impact someone in the field of education. In my early years, I taught a kid in the 9th grade who was a handful. About five years later, I ran into him and he immediately recognized me. He pulled out his wallet and showed me his college ID (no one in his family had made it that far). He thanked me for not giving up on him. I have daily interactions a bit less now in my current role, and I miss having those personal moments that I used to have in teaching and coaching. In my free time, I like to lift weights, run, and play golf.
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As Caroline gets older, I really enjoy making memories with her and seeing her become more involved in sports and other activities. I love watching her grow and progress in swimming, basketball, and volleyball. With our future child, I hope to pass along my love of the Mizzou Tigers and all of the St. Louis sports teams. I want to teach them to be passionate about something - whether it is a sport, a club at school, or something in the arts. As an athletic director, I know that a connection to the school helps improve attendance rates and grades (plus, it really helps self-confidence).
FIVE THINGS S T E V E LO V E S : • • • • •
Weightlifting Running Golfing College football Grilling/smoking meat 11
amy
IN STEVE’S WORDS
“In Amy’s life, she has dealt with her fair share of struggles. Throughout each hardship, Amy has been able to find the joy in life and focus on the positives. Each struggle has helped to strengthen her as an individual and as a parent. Her focus is on creating happy memories for Caroline. We try to do weekly family dinners and make summer pilgrimages to the beach. She wants our child to be surrounded by family and values it because she knows that it can be taken from you at any time. Amy has a giving heart and wants what is best for everyone. She will drop everything to help someone and never asks for anything in return. In short, she is a selfless individual – which is a great quality for a parent to have.”
steve
IN AMY’S WORDS
“Through ALL the things we have been through together, Steve has been a constant. He wakes up choosing to be thankful for everything that he has instead of thinking about everything he doesn’t have. This is one of the things that I love most about him. I am forever grateful that he chose me to be his wife and that he is the father of our children. Steve is the apple of Caroline’s eye, and all of her friends adore him. He is like a big kid himself so, naturally, the kids are drawn to him. There is not one day that goes by that he doesn’t tell Caroline that she is beautiful and that he loves her. He is positive, goofy, loving, and being a dad is his number one job. He is patient, kind, and works hard everyday because his number one goal is to give his daughter and future child/children more than he had growing up.”
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family
Caroline G E N E R O U S, J OY F U L , C A PA B L E , I N D E P E N D E N T, A N D E M PAT H E T I C
Caroline is ten years old and can best be described as spunky and sweet! She loves sports, her friends, roller coasters, and game nights. She’s definitely a social butterfly and loves being around people, especially her friends. She will be the best big sister. Caroline is so nurturing and has always wanted a sibling. She is great with younger kids. She thinks about others before herself, and we know that she is going to make a wonderful big sister. She has prayed for a sibling for years!
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Our pup
We have a two-year-old Goldendoodle named Dixie Mae. She is energetic and such a fun pup! Dixie Mae is sweet with kids and is a joyful part of our family. 15
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home
We live in Missouri in a six-bedroom, loving and inviting home. The floor plan upstairs is open, so no matter where someone is, it always feels like we are together. Our home is perfect for having people over to enjoy time with. Caroline has friends over almost weekly, and we also invite friends over for family-style dinners whenever possible. When we’re at home, we love creating together. Caroline likes crafts, so there is usually some tie-dying, ornament making, or coloring going on. We’re all about friendly competition in our house and often break out games like Yahtzee or Life. We love our community! Our neighborhood has lots of homes with children, and Caroline’s school is only three miles away. There is so much to be involved in here, including the local country club we are involved in! The club is filled with activities for the kids and families to do year round together.
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families
Amy’s Family I have an older sister who has four children, which means I have three nieces and one nephew! We are super close to them. My sister’s youngest daughter and son are Caroline’s best friends. They live in Alabama, and we see them about seven or eight times a year. They often visit for a week or two during the summer, and we travel with them to the beach a few times a year.
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Steve’s Family I have an older brother and sister. My sister lives in Texas and has two children who we see one or two times a year. My brother and his wife have three boys and live nearby. We see them every other week, if not weekly. We love having family dinner on Sundays and are extremely close to them.
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community
We have amazing friends in our lives. Steve has two childhood best friends, and we see them and their families (wives and kids) all the time. Amy has a group of college best friends that she sees once or twice a year. Every other year, us moms take a trip with our children. These wonderful people are going to play a very important role in our future child’s life. We also have three godchildren who we love like our own (they are all under four years old). One of our strongest values is that we truly believe that friends can be like family.
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in our family...
WE LOVE BEING TOGETHER AND BEING WITH OUR FRIENDS. WE LOVE TO TRAVEL . WE LOVE TO HAVE FUN. WE LOVE TO MAKE MEMORIES. WE ARE KIND TO EVERYONE. WE MAKE MISTAKES AND WE FORGIVE, BECAUSE NO ONE IS PERFECT. 22
O U R P R O M I S E T O YO U Thank you for considering us as parents for your child. We hope we will get the opportunity to get to know you and wish you the absolute best in this journey. Ultimately, we genuinely believe your decision will be the right one for you and your baby. If you should choose us for your child, we promise: • •
We will love and cherish the beautiful life that you have carried and nourished. We will devote our lives to surrounding your child with a joyful, secure, and encouraging atmosphere. • As parents, we will teach your child to be independent, self assured, and motivated to be his/her best self. • Allow your child to learn teamwork through sports, to explore interests of his/her own, to crave adventure, and to love learning new things. • Raise this amazing child to have a deep appreciation for you. You will be spoken about with honor and respect and will be celebrated in our family. • Always communicate openly and honestly as we would love to have you remain involved in our lives if you desire that as well. • Always love, support, listen to, and encourage your child with every fiber of our beings and our hearts. We are so excited to expand our family through not only welcoming a child into it, but by potentially welcoming you too. We know this decision may be overwhelming but we hope you feel loved and empowered. Whether you decide to place or parent, just know that you have our support either way. It is an honor to share this space with you, even through a book, and we look forward to the possibility of getting to know you. With love,
Amy and Steve 23