The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes

for himself and by himself.

-Gilbert K Chesterton

hello! Our names are Jim and Jamie, and we live just outside of St. Louis, MO. We thank you for reviewing our profile and, perhaps, considering us as a family for your child. We consider it a great honor and responsibility to provide a home for a child where they will be nurtured and taught in such a way that they can enjoy the best, most successful life as they grow into adulthood. We hope you see our family as an ideally welcoming one for your child.

Jim & Jamie

Jim: I’ve always had extremely varied interests, ranging from camping, first in Boy Scouts and now as an adult, to making music. I’ve particularly enjoyed reading since being assigned “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien in sixth grade. My passion for fiction led me to study writing my first three years in college. I did eventually change my major to music education, but I think the time spent learning to write was very valuable. While I have less time to read today, I still take an hour or so out of my day to read regularly, though the subjects tend towards non-fiction now.

I’m a trombonist, playing band, orchestra and jazz music with equal ease; and while I really enjoy playing in pit orchestras for musicals, my greatest passion is the St. Louis Brass Band. My love for the music I play comes from my father. My ability to play it well comes from my mother. (Sorry Dad.) This is why I eventually switched to music education and taught for seven years. But while I loved my time in the classroom, I found, as many do, the focus outside of the classroom to be disagreeable. So having left that profession, I now work in music publishing, helping to provide educational music to the next generation of musicians.

Because I enjoy learning and teaching, I always look forward to passing on what I’ve learned to another person. I frequently will buy a DVD of a movie, not to own for myself, but just because I think someone in particular will enjoy watching it, and I want to have it on hand to offer to them. I want to share everything I find interesting and beautiful in the world. And I think the fact that I want to share all of that with someone I love will make me a great father.

Meet Jim

Favorite Things:• Camping • Fishing • Playing trombone • J.R.R. Tolkien • Reading, both fiction and nonfiction • Learning about psychology and biology • Working (no, really) • Playing video games with my nephew • Talking with my parents

Jamie: I was encouraged by my parents from a young age to try out many things so that I could find those things that would make me happy and enrich my life. I was in Girl Scouts for several years which helped me develop my love of the outdoors as well as crafts. I took piano and swimming lessons for years and enjoyed both thoroughly. I tried both gymnastics and basketball before I found the sport that was just right...softball. I played softball from 1st grade through college. My love of the sport allowed me to meet and become friends with people I never would have known otherwise. I played on several teams and learned the invaluable skill of working with others, even when they have different ideas and viewpoints. It also brought me to the university where I would meet my wonderful husband.

I enjoy all different types of crafting. My grandma taught me how to crochet and it is a favorite pastime of mine. I learned how to cross stitch by taking an after-school class in elementary school and my mother-in-law taught me about scrapbooking and quilting. I don’t like sitting idle, so I engage my mind and hands to make blankets, hats, memory books, and the occasional costume. The best part of the process is when I give the item to the person it was made for and can see the joy it gives them.

My job as a teacher is a large part of who I am, and I am passionate about it. When I tell people I’m a teacher they will inevitably ask, in no particular order, two things: “What grade do you teach?” and “What subject do you teach?” And when I answer, “high school math,” most people give a big groan and say things like “I don’t know how you do that!” The answer is easy; I love it. I enjoy the “lightbulb moments” and seeing students’ confidence grow as they realize that, whatever difficulties they have with math now, they can still work towards growing their knowledge and their appreciation for it. This upcoming school year will be my 17th year teaching and it is my 15th year at the same school, where I also coach junior varsity softball.

Favorite Things:• Reading (fiction) • Traveling • Quilting • Crochet • Cross stitch • Nerdy math things (especially t-shirts) • Softball • Watching our nieces’ and nephew’s activities/sports • Baking

Meet Jamie

The Story of Us

We met in 2003 in one of our college education classes- adolescent psychology. Jim would crack jokes (not during class, no worries), which Jamie invariably found funny. Jamie offered Jim some oranges to snack on during class, which piqued Jim’s interest (offers of food do that to Jim). So Jim asked Jamie out, and we’ve been together since. Laughter has always been a cornerstone of our relationship. Specifically, when Jamie really gets going, she goes red in the face and has difficulty breathing. Any day where Jim can cause that response is a good one. Jamie tries to make Jim laugh. Jim appreciates the effort.

While we have not always been clear on how to succeed, we both have always wanted to be healthy. Several years ago, we made significant lifestyle changes to achieve that end. We both found the right kind of diet; one that involves a great deal of home-cooked, made-from-scratch meals. We also do our best to avoid over-exposure to the many unhealthy chemicals in today’s environment. To help with this, Jamie actually makes her own lotions and other products with

by Jim & Jamie

natural ingredients. The positive impact these changes have had on our lives over the last several years have been remarkable, and we intend to continue.

We married in 2010 after we had both graduated college and felt settled into a career. We didn’t wish to wait any longer, so immediately began work towards starting a family. After about a year with no success, we began to see doctors on the subject. And despite multiple IVFs and positive changes to our diet and lifestyle, we’ve been unable to start a family in that way. With no answer for why we could not conceive, we decided that adopting a child into our family would be the best course of action.

While the fertility path we have taken has been hard emotionally, it has shown the strength of our relationship. We’ve supported each other and propped each other up through the entire process. And if we can weather that storm, we doubt there is much we could not handle.

We have been working towards starting a family for several years now. This is our first adoption, but we are excited for the opportunity to move beyond “working towards” and, instead, enjoy the fun and work of being a family. In this, we

have the complete support of both of our families, who will welcome any child who comes

into our family with love and support.

What Adoption Means to Us

Jim: I always credit my Uncle Tim with my existence. My mother’s family comes originally from Ohio, and her extended family still lives there. But early on, my grandparents discovered that my Uncle Tim was deaf, so they moved to St. Louis to enroll him in St. Joseph, one of the best schools for the deaf at the time, before my mother (Sue) was born. She met my father (Jim) through his younger sister. I’ve been told stories of some of his odd antics, such as talking to his feet at the bowling alley on their first date, so I can also credit my mother’s enjoyment of off-the-wall humor for my existence. (Making my mother laugh has always been a pastime of mine too.)

My younger sister Julie has two children with her husband Joe: our nephew Tyler and niece Annie. My sister tells me how much like me Tyler is and how much like her Annie is. If this is true, and I think it is, I just hope Tyler isn’t tasked with waking his sister up in the morning as I was.

I talk to my parents regularly. While we live St. Louis, we don’t visit in person as often as I might like because we still live an hour away from each other, though I do work nearer their house. But when we do visit, I spend most of my time trying to make my mother laugh. My father and I (and sometimes my nephew Tyler) enjoy fishing trips as often as we can manage them.

Jim’s Family

Jamie: My parents, Tom and Dot, are loving and supportive. They instilled in me a love and respect for education and fostered my interests any way they could. I learned through their example the importance of hard work to achieve goals. I often seek their advice, and I know that they will support me in anyway they can.

I have one older sibling, my sister Bobbi. She is someone I have always looked up to and is also someone I can always count on. She is married to a great guy, Ed, and they have two amazing daughters, Sydney and Riley.

My family lives about two and a half hours away, so we load up the dogs a couple of weekends a month for a visit. We like to play games, shop, and eat as a family when we are all together. Holidays are always celebrated with extended family, which includes a huge meal and lots of laughter and love.

Jamie’s Family

by Jamie & Jim: We currently live in a single story (with a finished basement), three-bedroom, two and a half-bathroom house in Missouri with our dogs Oreo and Mousse and cat Cookie (yes, our pets are named after sweets). The house is on a cul-de-sac, so we receive no extra traffic beyond that of our neighbors, which allows the children in the neighborhood the freedom to play outside safely. We’ve lived in this house for 11 years, and we believe it will be a fine place to start our family.

We have also recently purchased eight acres of land a little south of where we currently live. This land is completely wooded, and we are working on plans to build a new home there. It is an ideal location, we think, for raising and growing our family. Our family can live and play in the quiet beauty of nature, but the city, with all of its activities and opportunities, is only forty-five minutes away.

Home

Cookie Oreo

Mousse

by Jamie & Jim: Both Jim and Jamie make and maintain a few really strong friendships. Jim’s friends are gathered from different points of his life: elementary school, Boy Scouts, high school, college, work, and Brass Band. These are the people he can rely on.

Jamie maintains close relationships with several people she first met in high school as well as several people that started out as colleagues. The friendships made over years of shared interest and experiences have created a solid support system that each friend has relied upon throughout the years.

Jim and Jamie both get along well with and have adopted each other’s friends as their own. And while we don’t get to see some as often as we like (many live out of the state or are busy with their own families), when we can get together, we pick up as if no time has passed.

Home Friends

Hobbies We both are avid readers. Although we have different interests as far as topics go, it is rare to see either of us without a book or e-reader near at hand.

We enjoy travel and usually do one large trip a year. We’ve been to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Estes Park in Colorado, New Orleans in Louisiana, and various smaller towns around the Midwest. We prefer to go to a single place and really enjoy that one location rather than trek from place to place. We also go on some vacations with our parents, siblings and nieces and nephew.

We also like to tent camp, usually in Missouri state parks, with our dogs. We hike, canoe (both dogs have and wear lifejackets), and fish, although Jamie usually gets bored with fishing quite quickly and will end up reading.

Thank you for taking the time to read our profile and getting to know us. We can only imagine the difficulty you face in making such a decision, but we recognize that you consider it the best path for your child’s future. Please know that, should you choose us to care for your child, he or she will find a wonderfully loving and nurturing home.

We want nothing more than to offer the very best, most successful future for your child. And to achieve that, we will provide a patient and supportive environment. A healthy lifestyle will remain a focus for our family, and we will encourage your child to try different activities, as we did, to discover what he or she enjoys.

In our household, with two people so focused on teaching and learning, instilling a joy for learning will be a natural outcome. It is our belief that a well-rounded education includes, not just what one learns in school, but also everything we can share about life. Beauty and wonder can be found in a quiet day fishing, gifting a homemade quilt to family or friends, a lush piece of music, or in a day spent with grandparents. We believe that we can offer the ability to your child to recognize and appreciate such beauty.

We leave it to you to determine how much contact you would like to have, and we plan to be open with the child about the adoption. But we fervently hope that our profile has given you an impression of what type of family would be welcoming your child. And we hope that you offer us the opportunity to include your child in our family.

Dear Birthparent(s),

Jim & Jamie

Fax 888-396-7768