Home and Community
We live in Oak Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.
We have a single family home and good relationships with our neighbors. We have a Lab Mix dog named Sammie. During the summer we enjoy spending time on our boat on Lake Michigan. This time includes swimming, eating, listening to music, and hanging out with friends and family. We like participating in local park district events, going on walks, and spending time with neighbors. We like to visit family in Illinois and Ohio periodically throughout the year. We also plan to have a family trip for spring break each year. This year we went to Puerto Rico. Our community is rich with activities for children. The park district includes dozens of parks, two pools, a gymnastics center, indoor hockey, and various sports fields. There are special and seasonal family events like concerts, Easter egg hunts, sleigh rides, and more throughout the year. We moved to Oak Park because of the highly rated public school system. Our daughter hasn't started at the elementary school yet so we don't have personal experience, but our neighbors have only positive things to say about the elementary school for our area. Our town and schools are very diverse in income, ethnicity, and abilities. We look forward to our children growing and learning in this environment. The schools also have many services for children with special needs which may be necessary as we go through the adoption process.
Parenting Experience
Monte and Cindy have direct experience raising their three year old daughter. She is emotionally and developmentally on target so the parenting challenges are typical toddler behavior. While growing up Cindy's family was a foster family for 40 children over the course of 10 years. While Cindy wasn't in a parenting role for the children, the experience allowed her to become familiar with the types of behaviors that can be displayed by traumatized children. Cindy's mother passed away when she was 22 so she participates in the care of her two younger adopted brothers who have severe mental illnesses.
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