ParentProfiles.com

Kevin & Pam are hopeful adoptive parents from Arizona waiting to adopt a baby.

If you are pregnant and considering placing your child for adoption, please read the following Dear Birthmother Letter.

Congratulations!
We're Adopting a Girl.

Dear Expectant Parent(s,)

We want to acknowledge your feelings as you consider adoption. Since everyone is different, it is so hard to do this here in a personal way. We hope the best for each expectant parent who is reading this and contemplating adoption.

HOW WE PARENT Our greatest hope in adoption is for the parents that choose us to be delighted by how we will raise the baby. We will love any child that comes into our lives. What is important is that the eparents be at peace with the life we will give their baby. We would like to share many of our childrearing philosophies so you can know the type of life we will give a child.

“Attachment Parenting”
Children need to know they are loved and accepted for who they are. Pam has been teaching parents the importance of holding and cuddling children since long before the term “Attachment Parenting” came into use. Our new baby will be held (using a sling or Mei Tai) almost constantly until they no longer want to be held. This is how we started with Aeron and we think it is part of why he is such a pleasant person. We are strongly against “Cry it Out” child-rearing. Aeron rarely cried as an infant (and rarely cries now) because his needs were always met immediately. Now that he is older, we still attend him immediately for "ow"ies that cause him to cry. We also allow him the chance to overcome his frustrations through self-sufficiency when he is trying to play with a toy or learn a new task. However, if we feel the chore is beyond him, we are always there to help. We feel it is through his mastery of difficult tasks that he will develop self-esteem.

If you would like more information on attachment parenting, please call us at 1-877-695-7305

Respect
We believe children should be raised with respect as a guiding philosophy. Although Aeron knew how to push in his chair after dinner and use sign language for “please” and “thank you” long before he was 2, we believe that respect is about more than manners. He needs to understand that it is okay for people to have different philosophies. He needs to learn how to be faithful to his ideologies while supporting the beliefs of others.

Of course, respect is a two way street. We wanted Aeron to communicate as early as possible. We wanted him to know his opinion and desires are important to us. We started teaching him sign language when he was 4 months old. By 22 months Aeron knew about 95 signs and loved to tell stories about fixing things or events with animals. By 26 months, he had stopped signing and was using spoken language exclusively. He still loves to tell stories about his day and is very good at holding conversations with us and telling us what he thinks is important.

Gentle Discipline
Children are little scientists who do experiments to learn about their world. Children are not born malicious or naughty. (Though they can be trained to be that way.) Punishing does not teach anything positive. Our aim is to teach our kids in a respectful, gentle manner. We take into account their developmental stage. A young child bounding with energy jumping on the couch can be redirected to run down the hall or around the back yard. A toddler chasing a dog with a pancake turner can be told, “That makes Carpark sad.” (This has been very effective with Aeron.) Hitting and yelling only teaches a child it is okay to hit and yell. We have noted that Aeron does not pull things away from other toddlers. We wonder if this is because we do not yank anything out of his hands. (Unless, of course, he is in immanent danger.)

This isn’t to say that we don’t have rules. We do. We just find it more effective, and kinder, to teach them in a positive, rather than harsh, manner.

World Exploration
We want our children to learn about the world. We hope to show them there is more to life than their backyard by taking them on many adventures. Kevin’s job takes him to museums across the country. So far Aeron has gotten to explore San Francisco and Golden Gate Park while his daddy helped build an aquarium there. We took him to a museum and he was excited to see a famous painting that is in one of his art books for children. We think it will be a tremendous opportunity for Aeron and his little sibling to grow up with museums as part of their lives. (Aeron already loves being around the shop where museum exhibits are built. He knows where the artificial bats, sea shells, and leaves are stored)

Kevin has lived in Germany and Holland. (He is fluent in German and Dutch.) We have friends in both countries and hope our kids get to play together as they grow up.

When Kevin commuted between Florida and Arizona with his job, we spent several weeks each summer in Florida with our older kids. Each day Pam took them on an adventure–to the beach, to a wildlife rehab center, to pet stingrays (without stingers,) and even history camp (yes, they LOVED history camp) where they got to bake cornbread from scratch and go on tours of old houses. We will take Aeron and the baby on such excursions as they grow up.

Family Time
When Kevin comes home from work we often sit on the front steps or on the back patio discussing our day. Sometimes we all feed the chickens together. Kevin and Aeron play while Pam makes dinner. When the weather is nice, we have dinner outside. Otherwise, we sit inside, talking while we enjoy our meal.

In the evenings the 3 of us take many walks, often to feed the turtles in the turtle pond. Aeron has recently mastered riding a balance bike. Sometimes we take his bike, or his tricycle, on our walks.

Aeron is now old enough to hike and play in the creek on Mt. Lemmon or go lake canoeing on weekends. He enjoys our family bike rides.

Other Important Choices
Pam is a vegetarian. The little ones will be raised that way unless they choose otherwise when they get older. As of this writing, Aeron is still nursing and the new baby will be nursed as well. We believe each person should be able to make decisions for their own bodies. Therefore, our baby will NOT be circumcised.

We hope you'll look at our album and journal to see examples of the life we will give the child we adopt.

WHO WE ARE Our Family
On Oct.18, 1997, the two of us, along with our family and closest friends, hiked through the desert. We stood under a giant ironwood tree and exchanged our wedding vows. On Christmas morning, 2005, a nurse-midwife attended Pam during Aeron’s arrival. He has been a joyous addition to our lives.

The two of us are best friends--we simply feel comfortable with each other. We have tremendous fun together--from listening to books on tape during road trips to playing hide and seek with Aeron. We are also philosophically aligned on most issues. We both value travel and new experiences. We agree on spirituality (we believe there is a positive, teaching force behind it all,) politics (we are both independents with liberal mindsets,) finances (stay out of debt,) and child-rearing. We enjoy antiques and restoring old houses.

Kevin brought two children to our marriage. Ty is enrolled at a university and Aja will soon graduate from high school. They will be living on their own as Aeron and the new baby grow up. We hope Ty and Aja will explore the world while maintaining close ties to their youngest siblings. Because of their ages, we have chosen to give them privacy during our adoption journey. Therefore we have included few references to them or pictures of them.

We visit grandparents and have reunions with Kevin’s large family frequently. Both our families are excited that we plan on adopting.

Kevin
Kevin is outdoors oriented. He canoes on white water rivers, mountain bikes, and hikes. Every Saturday he and his friend of 26 years take the dogs for 8 to 12 mile bike rides through the desert. These are highly technical rides on trails that would be difficult to hike. In the summer he goes on a 10 day canoe trip with Class II and III rapids and does smaller one day trips. Often the older kids go with him. (When Aeron and the baby are ready to join Daddy on adventures, he will do simple, child-appropriate events.) Kevin also enjoys woodworking (he has restored many of the antiques in our house and built furniture quality wooden trunks with the older kids.) His welding skills are improving and he recently restructured a rack for the back of his truck. This rack came in handy for carrying gear on his recent canoe adventures.

Pam
Pam is very knowledgeable about xeriscape landscaping. She enjoys caring for our 4 dogs, 2 cats, rabbit, 7 chickens and desert tortoise. She has several wild bird feeders in our yard. When the little ones are older she will resume training the dogs for agility courses. Currently she is re-writing a novel. Right now most of her time is spent with Aeron. Most days they go to a different activity–the Children’s museum, library story time, Music Together, etc., plus do lots of plain old playing. To avoid overload, we usually only schedule one organized activity per day.

Aeron
Aeron is a gentle child who loves an organized world. He likes to help with the cooking and other chores. He loves to help Dad (and Mom) fix stuff. His favorite toys are play tools. He loves going to painting class and gym class (both at the local park.) He likes storytime at the library, but he’s still shy so usually sits in Mom’s lap. He likes it when his mom holds his infant cousin–great foreshadowing for his own baby.

Kevin’s Career
Kevin is a former international flight instructor who is now a project manager for a company that builds museum exhibits. He enjoys the stimulation of new locations and subject matter. He travels around the country to supervise exhibit construction. These trips are usually about 3 days long. He takes one or two trips a month. During this time, Pam and Aeron often visit Grandma and Grandpa. Aeron loves these trips and doesn't miss his Daddy so much since he is so busy playing with his grandparents.

Pam is Primarily a Stay at Home Mom
Pam is a nurse who schedules her 10 or so hours of work around Kevin’s schedule. Aeron and the new baby will not attend daycare. Pam’s nursing background includes pediatrics and working with Nurse-Midwives. Her favorite job was teaching nursing at the community college level. She especially loved teaching critical thinking. Currently she works for a home infusion company helping home patients with IVs.

ADOPTION We know parents placing their children for adoption are making a difficult choice. We believe open adoption is best for the baby. It would be a big plus if the baby's eparents will maintain contact with their child as he or she grows up. If the parents that choose us do not want ongoing contact, we respect their decision. We will also be open to rekindling contact if they choose that down the road.

We hope to find a expectant parents that values our positive, adventurous attitudes towards life. Please email or call us at 1-877-695-7305 if you think we could provide your child with the type of upbringing you desire. Send us a message