Dear Birth Parent(s),

Although our paths have never crossed, we have hoped and prayed that life would bring us together. We already have so much respect for your courage. Your selfless decision to put your child’s needs before your own shows your incredible strength and love. We feel extremely blessed to be on this journey. 

It took us some time to figure out that adoption was meant for us, so we can’t imagine how difficult the decision is for you. We are so grateful that you are considering adoption. We would be honored to raise your child in our loving home and family. Thank you for reading our letter and we hope it gives you a sense of who we are.

Our Story
When Dawn moved to Illinois, one of her very first friends was Nate’s sister, Kate. Kate always told Nate how much he and Dawn would make a great couple. Of course, Nate didn’t pay any attention to her because that was one of his younger sister’s friends. He was just too cool to actually hang out with them. Eventually, we finally met a couple years later through mutual friends. We had an instant connection and loved spending time with each other. This was one of the few times that Nate ever actually admitted that his sister was right! It wasn’t until we both went away to college that it turned into something more. While Nate was at the University of Illinois and Dawn was at Northern Illinois University, we found that the distance between us only brought our relationship closer together. Our schools were near enough for us to visit and we continued dating throughout college. We were always so excited to see each other!

After graduation, Dawn moved to Chicago with some girlfriends while Nate continued his education at chiropractic school. During those next few years, our relationship continued to grow even stronger and we knew it was only a matter of time until we got married. Dawn loved living in the city with her girlfriends. Although Nate didn’t live in Chicago, it was a lot of fun to visit Dawn on the weekends. Nate proposed just before he finished chiropractic school. He brought Dawn to his uncle’s boat on Lake Michigan for a picnic and surprised her with an engagement ring! We were so happy and immediately started planning the wedding. We got married one year later in July of 2003. We had an amazing wedding weekend with all our family and friends. We couldn’t have asked for a better way to begin our marriage.

In July of 2005, we were ready to start a family. After six months of trying to get pregnant, we went to the doctor and found out that In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) would be our only chance of getting pregnant. Over the next year, we had many failed attempts. We decided to look into adoption as a way to begin our family because we both really wanted to be parents. When we got the news that we weren’t pregnant on our fifth IVF cycle, we both looked at one another and immediately knew that adoption was the path we wanted to take.

About Dawn
My early childhood years bring back good memories. I grew up in Minnesota. My mom stayed at home with all of us and babysat two other children during the day. We loved having her home! We also enjoyed playing with the other children she babysat. They were around our ages. My dad worked the regular nine to five job and was very involved in our lives when he was home. My favorite memories come from our lake trip every summer. My mom’s family would head about two hours north and spend a week with each other up at the lake. We looked forward to it every year.

My family moved to Michigan when I was in fifth grade. My dad got transferred and I was excited to move to a new house. We never traveled out of state until we were older, so this was really cool to me. We ended up living on a court with about ten other kids our age. We played outside every day. I think capture the flag was played hundreds of times. We all made really good friends and enjoyed the area.

My dad got transferred one more time to the Chicago area while I was a freshman in high school. I did not want to move, but it ended up being a blessing. I cried for about three weeks, but then I tried out for poms and made it in my new school during the spring of my freshman year. The team instantly became close friends and I loved practices, summer camp and performing at games and competitions. Dancing seemed to be my passion. Soon after my freshman year, I found my best friend and a group of friends outside the poms team. It was nice to have a consistent group of friends. Between getting my driver’s license, going to prom, performing at games, working a retail job, and hanging out with friends, there was never a dull moment. High school was a really fun time in my life.

After high school, I chose to go to Northern Illinois University and major in elementary education. My roommate and I joined a sorority in the spring and lived in the house for the remainder of time. During my sorority years, I was in charge of the social committee for a year and vice president another year. The friends I made then are still my closest friends today. They all live in the Chicagoland area so we see each other often. We are good about planning fun events and talking on the phone. The best part is our husbands all get along too. I feel very blessed to have such amazing friends.

Currently, I teach first grade. I had 24 students this year and really enjoyed their different personalities. I came home with different stories every day, good and bad, but mostly funny. They say the funniest things! Sometimes I think I should write a book. I have learned a lot from the kids and their families about how I’d like to raise a family and about life in general.  

My family all live in the area. We see each other often. My parents have been married for 33 years. They like to work around the house and help us with projects when needed. My sister is three years younger than me and my brother is six years younger. When we were kids we got along fairly well. My sister and I enjoyed sharing a room together. When the lights went out we would talk and giggle together until we fell asleep. My sister liked to cause the most trouble. To this day, she blames it on being the middle child. We are very close now. She was the maid of honor in our wedding.

My brother and I never fought much. We also get along well and I love the close relationship he has with Nate. Since they both never had a brother, they really enjoy having each other.  

About Nate
I was born in California, but soon after we moved to Illinois where I was raised. I am the oldest of three kids in my family with two younger sisters. Both my parents played very big roles and were very involved in our upbringing. My dad commuted to Chicago everyday for work and my mom stayed at home with us kids. It was always nice coming home from school knowing that my mom would be there waiting for us. Then we would be excited for my dad to come home from work later that day. My parents still live in the house where we grew up, so it is nice to still be able to see them regularly. We love having them over for barbeques and going to their house for family parties.

I have great memories of my childhood. We lived in a neighborhood with lots of other kids, so we were always outside. Our house was on a pond, which we actually called a lake because we thought it was so big. If we weren’t playing games around the neighborhood, then we were swimming, catching frogs, and even ice skating and playing hockey during the winter. In fact, one of my favorite memories as a kid was playing pond hockey. We would play from the time we got home from school until we had to come in and finish our homework or go to bed. We even built ten foot lights so that we could continue to play even after dark. All the time I spent playing pond hockey allowed me to try-out and make my high school hockey team.

As a family, we loved to go camping and on summer family vacations. Every summer, my parents and their friends would bring all the kids to the Indiana Dunes to go camping for a week. We loved it! We would swim, fish, roll down the dunes, roast marshmallows, play games, and then sleep in our tents. We couldn’t wait for it every year.

My high school and college years were so much fun. I made a lot of great friends who I am still close with today. In fact, four friends from high school and I have been in each others’ weddings. I played soccer and hockey in high school and I continued playing soccer in college. Even though I spent a lot of time playing sports, my parents always stressed the importance of academics. If I didn’t keep my grades up, they would not have allowed me to play sports. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1999 and went on to finish chiropractic school. I currently have my own practice and really enjoy going to work everyday. It is so fun to be able to help my patients with their different ailments.

I have two younger sisters and my relationship with each of them growing up was quite different. Kate and I are only a year and a half apart in age, so we loved picking on each other. No matter what Kate would say or do, I would never agree with it and vice versa. Even though we argued, if anyone else said or did anything to hurt her feelings, I would be the first one there to stand up for her. I am now extremely close with Kate (although we are still very competitive) and her husband Chris who now live in Denver, CO. Lindsey, on the other hand, is seven years younger than me, so I considered her my baby sister. I don’t have any memories at all of any disagreements with her. Today, I still look at Lindsey as my baby sister. She is stationed with her wonderful husband Rob (who is an Air Force pilot) in Wichita, KS and they just had their first child in December, 2007.  

Our Home
Dawn moved into the house that Nate bought during chiropractic school, and we started to make it our own. Because it was a houseful of four guys with Nate and his classmates living there, we were busy with projects to make it look nicer. We completely remodeled our kitchen and our bathrooms and decorated the rest of the house. We also built a front porch, started a garden and put a patio in our backyard.  We loved finally being able to live together! We have a trail near our house that goes for miles so we like using it for running, biking, and going for walks. We can’t forget about our little dog Spike. He loves our fenced in yard and all the walks he gets to go on. He is very cuddly and likes a lot of attention. He has such personality!
We recently painted the soon to be baby’s room. We set up a crib, changing table, and a few decorations. The room is upstairs right next to ours, so it is nice and close. It gives us a comforting feeling to go in there. We look forward to filling that room with a new baby! This will be the first grandchild for Dawn’s side of the family, and the second one for Nate’s family. We know this baby will receive plenty of love and attention from everyone. Everyone is so excited!

Just For Fun
We enjoy being outdoors and active. We ran the Chicago marathon together and we just participated in our first triathlon last summer. We have a bike path nearby, so we like to bike to breakfast on the weekends, go running, and go for walks with our dog, Spike. Nate’s parents have a lake home in Wisconsin, so we love to go up there for weekend trips as much as possible. It is nice to be able to spend time with Nate’s parents and/or other friends and family who may also decide to come for the weekend. While we are there, Saturday mornings are usually reserved for Nate and his dad to play golf while Dawn and his mom go to the farmers market. We also like to boat, wake board, swim, play games, relax, read, and laugh. We are also fortunate to be able to take a week long vacation each year with Nate’s family and some smaller trips with Dawn’s family. We love to travel and see new things!

If we aren’t out doing something together, Dawn likes to read, watch Oprah, and go shopping. She also likes to meet up for dinner with her girlfriends. Nate’s hobbies revolve mostly around sports. Nate is in a weekly soccer league. He also enjoys going to the gym to play basketball or work out. Nate is a huge Chicago sports fan and he loves going to Cubs and Bears games. If Nate is relaxing at home, you will most definitely find him watching some type of sporting event.

Our Beliefs
We were both raised as Christians. Dawn grew up in a Catholic family while Nate was brought up in a Methodist home. We both attended church regularly as a family and religion was a strong foundation in our lives. When we got married, we wanted to find a church we both enjoyed and felt we belonged.  We tried both Catholic and Methodist churches in our area, but we ended up feeling most comfortable in a Christian community church near our home. Our faith has played a strong role in our lives and our marriage, so we want to instill those beliefs in our children.        

Our Hopes for the Future
We have always envisioned ourselves as parents. We want to share the love and guidance with our children that our parents gave to us. Both of us feel that having our moms stay at home was a very important part to our childhood. Because of this, we feel very fortunate to be able to have Dawn stay at home. Although Dawn loves being a teacher, she can’t wait for the chance to be a stay at home mom.

We know that adoption is going to be an emotional experience for everyone involved. Our hope is to have ongoing communication with you. We are open to sending letters and pictures and meeting with you as our relationship grows. However, we also realize that ultimately the decision is yours and we will respect your wishes on the amount of openness. We have been praying and thinking about you for some time now. We hope our profile gives you a sense of peace knowing your child will be raised in a loving home. For more information please contact Sunny Ridge Family Center.

Sincerely,

Dawn and Nate

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