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Dear Expectant Parents,
We are so eager to welcome a new child into our hearts
and home. While we can never fully understand what you
are going through right now, we are ready to hear your
story and, if our family would be a good fit for you, to
help make your dreams for your child come true.
Thank you for taking the time to look at our letter and
photos. Our hearts go out to you as you make this
important choice for you and your child.
Please know that if you choose to place your child with
us, we would completely embrace him or her within our
family and would treasure and nurture them as an
individual. We want a meaningful lifelong connection
with you and your family so that your child will grow up
knowing you and your love.
Whatever you decide, we wish you and your child all the
best.
About Us
Our marriage … We’ve been married almost ten years and
still can crack each other up with silly jokes. The
inevitable ups and downs of life have taught us to work
together as a team and to appreciate the many blessings
and gifts in our lives. We are joyful and loving parents
who treasure our time at home together with our son Will
and Ally, our 3-year old yellow lab. We also go out for
a “date night” every now and then and connect often
during quiet times at home.
Our work …
Lew is a mechanical engineer who specializes in
designing piping systems for large buildings. The
projects he likes best are remodeling ones where he gets
to sleuth out an old building to learn about their old
systems before he starts to figure out the new ones. He
is very handy and applies a lot of his work knowledge in
home improvement projects – ours and friends’ and family
members’ too! Rachel is a former middle school English
teacher who works now as a freelance K-12 curriculum
writer. She is currently finishing up a Ph.D. in school
leadership, researching online high schools (schools
where the students take some or all of their courses
over the Internet).
Childcare plans … We are thankful to have been able to
live mainly on Lew’s income for the past five years,
allowing Rachel to be the primary caregiver for our
first son, Will, a plan we would continue with your
child. Rachel’s work is flexible and, while our kids are
young, will be limited to about 10 hours a week. Some of
that work is done in the evenings and weekends but we
also have used a wonderful in-home nanny – a student at
the local teachers college – as needed. Lew's work hours
are very stable (8-5) and he is home with the family by
5:15 most nights.
5 year old Will …
“Arrrr, scurvy dog!” was all we heard from Will
the week after we saw a play about pirates. He loves to
tell stories, build with legos, sing silly songs, and
play with his friends and dog in our big backyard. When
Will grows up, he plans to be a cargo ship driver, a
street sweeper, and a farmer and will have 3 dogs (a St.
Bernard, a lab, and a small dog) and 6 cats. He cares
about others’ feelings, always stopping to ask why a
baby is crying, and has big plans for teaching a new
baby brother or sister all about whales, vehicles, and
how to build things. He is imaginative and silly and
will be a wonderful older brother.
Our home … We live in Minnesota, very close to where we
were both born and raised. Our home is 15 minutes from
two major cities and yet we have cornfields to the south
and a neighbor’s woods to the north – so we get the best
of city and country life. From the late spring to early
fall we spend most of our time in our large backyard and
screened porch where our son and visiting cousins and
friends’ kids play on the swings, a wooden fort, and
slides. Our neighborhood is quiet and family-centered,
with a solid school district and many parks. We
appreciate and use the many resources of the Twin Cities
but also enjoy getting out of the city to explore local
and state parks.
Extended family and friends … Our house is the hub for
most family gatherings … Rachel coordinates while Lew
runs the grill. In addition to the traditional holidays
and family birthdays, we host a Mother’s Day Fish Fry,
an annual Women & Kids Bonfire party, and many dinners
with friends. We have a large extended family with many
young cousins that we see often, both at home and at the
lake.
We are blessed with a strong network of long-time
friends. Lew has a group of guys who talk projects, swap
tools, and take annual ski trips out west and fishing
trips to Lake of the Woods. Rachel has a group of women
who meet for dinners, go to the theater, and have
backyard bonfire parties. All these friends and others
provide wonderful support and fun and enrich our lives
in so many ways.
Lake time and travel … Flashlight tag, stomp rockets,
fishing, swimming, long walks to the nearby cow barn,
stargazing, bonfires, making forts, playing soccer in
the field, and board games on the rainy days – these are
the simple joys of summer at the Wisconsin lake place
that we love. Rachel’s extended family has had a row of
cabins on a lake for over 45 years and we love the time
there with cousins and friends.
We travel to Denver, Colorado to visit Lew’s dad,
spending time in the mountains and exploring downtown
Denver, and to eastern Ontario, where Rachel’s parents
live, reconnecting with extended family there, boating,
swimming, golfing, and riding on Grandpa’s lawn mower.
Will loved his first car camping adventure last summer
and so we’re gearing up for some fun summer road trips
across the U.S., a tradition from both Rachel and Lew’s
childhoods. We also both grew up going to YMCA camps and
look forward to canoe camping as a family and to
spending more time on our 19 foot sailboat that we keep
on a lake a short drive from our home.
Learning and doing … Our local school system is a good
one and we will encourage our children to go to college
and graduate school or whatever specific training they
need to help fulfill their own dreams and plans. We
believe that children learn and grow throughout their
lives and that our role as parents is to teach by
example. We constantly explore the world around us
together, visiting the library for books about Will’s
current interests, listening to a storm, crouching down
to look at a car’s hub caps, or stopping to hear the
cello player warm up at church.
We feel so fortunate to have a wealth of child-centered
places close by (two different zoos, a children’s
museum, a science museum, art institutes, and three
really great children’s theaters) and we visit them
often. But we also know that a lot of learning takes
place in the little moments throughout the day –
learning to hold the door open for older people, saying
“congratulations” to the winner of Go Fish, asking the
butcher how big a tuna is, saying thank-you to the
teacher after skating lessons.
We love being parents. And we believe that childhood is
a precious time that passes quickly, so we treasure this
time together.
In Closing
Our family is joyful and loving and our days are filled
with laughter and learning … and yet, we long for
another child and look to you for help.
We hope that these images and words have given you a
glimpse of who we are and what kind of parents we might
be for your child.
We are so deeply thankful for the many blessings in our
lives and hope that this shines through in these pages.
We thank you for taking the time to look at our profile
and wish you and your child all the best as you make
your decision.
Rachel & Lew
Check out the
Birthmother FAQ
Birth Mother Frequently Asked Questions
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