Stephen, Brenda, Zachary & Katelyn
Welcome to our adoption webpage!
We are a loving couple waiting to welcome a baby into our hearts and home! If you are pregnant and considering adoption for your baby, please read our letter below and click on the links to view our family photos.
If you think we could be the parents for your baby, please email us or call us at
1-866-206-2936
Website created by Mary Lisa at Adoption Expressions!
Graphics purchased at Graphic Garden!
YOUR PHOTO HERE!
Hello!
We are Stephen and Brenda, and we have two children, Zachary and Katelyn. We realize you are considering an adoption plan for your baby. We can’t imagine what you are going through right now, and we really admire and respect your decision to do what is best for your baby. We would like to share a little bit about our family and why we are hoping to adopt again. We welcome the opportunity to introduce you to our family, and we look forward to welcoming another baby into our home.
Our beginnings…
We met while both attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. Brenda quickly found out that Stephen’s home town was near hers (about 2 hours from school). We started spending more time together in study groups and on a co-ed volleyball team, and when Brenda finally got up the nerve to ask Steve if she could borrow his car for a trip to the mall, he agreed, with one condition – “You can borrow my car if you agree to go out with me.” A date! That was the beginning of over six years of dating, a proposal on New Year’s Eve, and our wedding eight months later. We have been happily married for nine years.
Why we want to adopt…
We both love children and always knew we wanted a large family. We planned to start our family shortly after our wedding, but unexplained infertility stood in the way of our carefully made plans. Because we knew our ultimate goal was to be parents, when fertility treatments didn’t work, we looked to adoption as a way to grow our family. We were so thrilled to get the phone call in March of 2004, saying that a birthmom had chosen us to parent her 10 day old baby boy. Three years later we got another magical phone call, and we were present at the hospital when Katelyn was born. We have been so blessed, and we delight in all the antics of our incredible children. They make us laugh all the time. We have so much love to share with our children and we believe a third child would add to the joy in our home.
Brenda…
Brenda is a pharmacist and works three days a week for a pharmacy staffing service. On her off days, she enjoys taking the kids to the zoo, local playgrounds, or to playgroup functions. She is a member of an adoptive mom’s group. The ladies get together once a month for dinner and the kids gather for special playgroups throughout the year, allowing our kids to know lots of other children who were also adopted. Brenda also enjoys reading, skiing, volleyball, and camping. She is very close to her family and she loves attending plays and musicals, usually with her mom or sister. She is hoping to pass her love of reading and theater on to her children. She is also compiling scrapbooks of all the special moments in our lives.
Stephen: "Brenda is a dedicated mother – kids and family always come first. Working only part-time, she takes extra care to plan dinners, movie dates, and huge family vacations with our many brothers, sisters and cousins. Brenda loves to spend quality time with Zack and Katie reading (a huge passion of hers), taking walks with the kids and Gunner (our loveable German Shepherd) to the local playground, and organizing games of kick ball in the front yard for all of our nieces and nephews."
Stephen…
Stephen is a clinical pharmacist and works in a veteran’s hospital. He is a former military man, having served 13 years in the Army National Guard. He is an avid outdoorsman, and loves to hunt, fish and camp. He is one of four boys in his family, and they all try to stay in touch as much as possible. One brother lives in China, and he makes an annual visit home and keeps in touch via email. The other two brothers also have families of their own, and being an uncle is something that Steve enjoys a lot. Steve loves spending weekends having cookouts in his parents’ backyard, and fishing with his dad – a longstanding tradition that will be passed on to his own children.
Brenda: "Steve is such a fantastic dad! As our kids get older, I know their friends will think of Steve as the “fun dad” because he is always willing to get down on the floor and wrestle, or throw a baseball, or give piggyback rides. I can’t wait to see him as coach of the little league or soccer team."
Zachary…
Zack is an energetic and talkative little boy. He loves dinosaurs, animals and the movie “Cars”. As soon as he meets a person, he launches into a story about what he did yesterday, what he has planned for later, or what dinosaur would win in a fight. He is very loving, and is so sweet and caring with his little sister. Recently, when a bigger, older child pushed Katie aside on a playground, Zack stepped in and said, “Hey, that’s my sister! You let her alone!” We know he would welcome another baby into our home with so much love and equal protection.
Katelyn…
Katie is just starting to learn a few words, but she manages to get her point across with her expressive eyes and a few hand gestures. She is delighted by small animals, especially her uncle’s kittens or her grandpap’s baby bunnies. She loves to dance and to play peek-a-boo, and she recently started carrying a baby doll around, offering it some of her food or drink, and rocking it to sleep. She likes to follow Zack around and imitate him as he pretends he is a dinosaur or tries to climb up on the furniture. She gives great hugs and kisses and has both of her grandpas wrapped around her finger.
Our home…
We recently made the decision to move closer to our parents and siblings. We had been living in the Erie area, three hours away from most of our family, and we were spending a lot of our free time traveling to visit with them. When a job opportunity presented itself 30 minutes from both sets of parents, we jumped at the chance for our kids to grow up close to their grandparents and cousins. We are currently renting a three-bedroom home in a wonderful neighborhood, where we meet many of our neighbors in the evenings taking walks with their children and their dogs. We are researching school districts in the area and we plan to buy a home similar to the one we left in Erie, on a couple of acres of land in the country.
We share our home with our 11-year old German Shepherd, Gunner. Gunner joined our family when he was three from a kennel that rescued abused and abandoned large dogs. He is very protective of our family and has been wonderful with the children. If we are all hanging out in the living room, Katie will often sit down next to Gunner and pat him gently on the back.
Our fun times…
Although we are both very organized and detail-oriented in our work lives, at home we are very laid back and casual. We love to spend time outdoors, and we try to plan a few camping trips every year, either with just our immediate family or with friends or extended family. Our last camping trip a few months ago ended in a hotel, when we had to evacuate our tent and the campsite due to tornado warnings. It typically rains every time we camp, but this was a little extreme. We also take a big family vacation every year, alternating Brenda’s and Stephen’s families. We rent a huge house with lots of bedrooms, and during the day we check out the local tourist attractions. In the evenings, we make a big family dinner, and then play board games or cards while the kids play nearby. Some of the places we have been include the Pocono’s, Williamsburg, Virginia, and California (for a family wedding). This year we rented a house in Deep Creek, Maryland. Every single member of Brenda’s family was able to attend, and we all enjoyed horseback riding, white water rafting, jet skiing, Scrabble, and Cinch (a card game). We also like to attend local high school football games, and minor league baseball and hockey games. After we got married, we learned to ski, and we hope to introduce our kids to the sport in the coming years.
Our families…
We are very close to both Stephen's family and Brenda's family. Brenda is one of five children; she has a sister and three brothers. Stephen has three brothers also. We have a combined 11 nieces and nephews, and Zack and Katie love spending time with their cousins. Brenda’s oldest brother owns a farm with a few cattle and a well-stocked fishing pond. Now that we live so close, our children will get to enjoy many of the same activities we loved while growing up, like rides on a hay wagon, berry picking, and warm evenings cooking mountain pies over an open fire. Our families were delighted when we told them we were hoping to adopt the first two times, and they all look forward to welcoming a third child into our family.
Our faith…
We are both Catholic. We were married in the Church, and our children were both baptized. Our faith is very important to us, and we try to make it to Mass every Sunday, although we do occasionally miss. We are raising our children with the same morals and values with which we were raised, and with an appreciation of the gifts they have been given. Family is the cornerstone of our lives and where we derive the most happiness, and the larger the family gathering, the better. We gathered most of our family together for both Zack and Katie’s baptisms, and we make a concerted effort to not only attend, but also organize many reunions, birthday parties, and other family events.
Open adoption…
Both Zack’s and Katie’s adoptions are open, and we hope our next adoption is also. We were able to meet with their birthmoms, and we send letters and pictures to them regularly through the adoption agency. However, we have not heard from Zack and Katie’s birthmothers since shortly after the kid’s births. We would welcome even more interaction with a birth family in the future, if that is what you would like. Katie is still too young, but we often have conversations with Zack about his birthmom, Rebecca, and how he grew in her belly and how much love she has for him. He is always encouraged to ask questions and tell us what he is thinking about on all subjects, not just adoption.
Thank you!
Thank you for taking the time to look at
our profile. If you would like to get to
know us better, we would be happy to
talk to you or meet you in person. We
would be overjoyed to have the
opportunity to welcome your baby into
our hearts and home. We know you have
an incredibly difficult decision to make,
and we wish you all the best.
Stephen, Brenda,
Zachary & Katelyn
CONTACT US!
Call toll-free: 1-866-206-2936
Email: apreciousgiftarc@ yahoo.com
