We are Julie and Chris, and our children are Luke, Anna, Paul, and Rose (ages 9,7,5 and 3). Thank you for looking at our story! We’re all very excited to add to the love in our home!
We met in Ann Arbor as Julie completed her pediatric residency and Chris was finishing business school. We knew from the first date that our conversations would never be boring! The restaurant needed to ask us to leave as they closed and locked the doors and we were still happily talking. From that day forward, we knew we were meant to be together. We’ve had a great relationship based on faith, love, and honest communication ever since! We were married in 2009 and love living in Southeast Michigan, where we can stay close to family, work, and cultural opportunities.
From the earliest days of our marriage, we knew we wanted a big family (Julie grew up on a farm with over 30 cousins!), so we were deeply saddened when we experienced fertility problems and losses. After our last pregnancy, we were told that we wouldn’t be able to get pregnant again. We felt heartache over these losses and struggles, but they also increased our faith in God’s divine plan and brought us closer together. We felt God calling us to adoption, and we now realize more than ever that every baby we bring into our home is a precious gift to be loved and cherished!
I grew up with the values of hard work, responsibility, and appreciation for all we had, which wasn’t a lot. Because of these values, I chose to study finance and business to help people achieve their goals. I’m a partner in a small financial firm, which provides secure income for our family, and the ability to work from home.
It’s a blessing to have this flexibility which allows me to be present as a dad! I get to be a scout leader and baseball coach and share the important moments in life – small and big – with Julie and the kids. I especially love teaching them the faith, values, and wisdom my parents taught me.
Julie’s Words to Describe Chris: Strong, dependable, dedicated to his family, and thoughtful!
I’m a “mostly” stay-at-home mom working part-time in children’s health care. I’ve always had a heart for children and have worked as a nanny, taught Sunday School, and later helped set up a children’s clinic in the Dominican Republic. I have training in children’s health and nutrition, which is a good fit because I am passionate about helping kids grow healthy and strong!
My parents and grandparents showed me the value of hard work on our family’s farm while keeping life joyful and fun. Because of their example, I try to enjoy every moment of the journey, and I’m always up for trying new adventures! Having fun with our children is my favorite part of being a mom!
Chris’s Words to Describe Julie: Faithful, compassionate, all heart, great mom!
The love in our home multiplies with each child we welcome. Our children adore their siblings and are overjoyed at the thought of bringing another brother or sister into our family! We have built our family life around the saying from Mother Theresa, “We can do small things with great love.” We both have wonderful memories of our families just being close in everyday tasks we would do together, and we’re happy to share that closeness each day with each other, our families, and our children.
Luke – age 10 – He’s responsible and caring and a great leader for his younger siblings.
Anna – age 8 – She is as brave as she is sweet, loves art, music, and being a big sister.
Paul – age 6 – He’s easygoing and enjoys having fun no matter where he is.
Rose – age 3 – She is always joyful and ready to help; she would make a great big sister!
Our home is on a quiet little street with ten other houses, off a quiet dirt road just outside the city. It is a two-story house on a few acres with big open spaces and plenty of rooms for kids and guests. The kitchen is the heart of our home and is always filled with good smells of something baking and lots of helping hands!
We love the outdoors, and so much of our time is spent outside exploring nature or playing in our big backyard. We play soccer, baseball, basketball, and frisbee in the summer, and we have a large, not-too-steep hill for sledding in the winter. We have a family garden, fruit trees, and a small flock of chickens to provide eggs and entertainment for all of us.
The neighborhood has a diverse mix of older and younger families, and we’re all very close. We frequently get together for lots of holiday fun, hayrides, pool parties, and fireworks. One of our neighbors has an adopted daughter who our children love, another teaches Japanese cooking, and another has a small hobby farm, so our children get to feed and play with their goats and donkeys.
Even though we live in the country, we find amazing cultural events in the cities in Southeast Michigan, and we love attending these together!
We are very close with our parents and siblings, and we talk almost daily. Our parents have been married for 50 years and have shown by their examples that love, dedication, and faith are what a family needs to remain strong. We each have one sister, two nieces, and two nephews who are the same ages as our children and are the best of friends. We take vacations together and have weekly dinners with our grandparents.
We have a network of friends who are like family to us (our best friends adopted their son in 2020). Everyone is supportive of our decision to adopt and would be thrilled to add to our family tree!
Let’s start with Christmas, our most-loved holiday! Chris’s family is Polish and has lots of traditional food, customs, and music. Each year we host a neighborhood Christmas party and then have all our extended family over for “Wilia” which is a Polish Christmas Eve celebration. Most years, family sleeps overnight at our house so we can go to mass together on Christmas morning… and then open presents, of course!
Fall is our favorite season; we enjoy picking pumpkins and apples at local farms. Our neighbors host a Halloween hayride each year for trick-or-treating down our dirt road. They also have a neighborhood fireworks show in July which we can see from our front porch.
We spend time at Julie’s parents’ cabin with cousins each year, where “Grammee and Grampee” spoil everyone with great food and fun.
We love birthdays and make each one a very special event! This was trickier during Covid lockdowns, but we got creative with virtual parties, outdoor fun, and even a superhero limo ride.
We have a diverse group of friends, and our children attend schools with many different cultures represented. We love learning about new foods, customs, and music and would be happy to incorporate new traditions to help an adopted child learn about their rich cultural heritage.
We feel childhood should be a time of learning and developing new interests, so we encourage any new activities our children want to try! Here are some of our favorites:
We have found a good balance of activities for the older and younger children and ensure that anything we do is safe for everyone. If there is an activity that is not as baby or toddler-friendly, one of us stays with the little ones and gets to have some special bonding time which is just as fun!
We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to learn more about our family! First, though, we want to let you know that we respect anyone considering an adoption plan. Since we are already parents, we understand that it’s difficult to describe the deep emotions you may be feeling. We hope you feel supported and loved no matter where you are on this journey, and we would be happy to stay in contact throughout the child’s life. If we are chosen as adoptive parents, please know that we will cherish your child with our hearts and souls. Parents, brothers and sisters, extended family, and friends will adore him or her! We will provide a safe, happy, healthy home, and your child will always know what a loving choice you made!
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