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Sara and Damon
Ohio

Basic Info

Sara

Age: 47
Sex: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Religion: Catholic

Damon

Age: 50
Sex: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Religion: Catholic

Child Preferences

Age: 4 to 7 years old
Sex: Male
Max Number of Children: 1
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian, African American, Asian, Native American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander

Special Needs the Family is Open To: Mild Physical/Medical Disability (Open to Discussion)

Environment

State: Ohio
Neighborhood: Suburban
Residency: Single Family Home
Years Together: 20
Children in the Home: 3
Pet(s): Dog(s)

Work

Sara

Occupation: Registered Nurse/Nurse Manager

Damon

Occupation: Executive

Adoption Agency

Agency: Family Adoption Consultants
Worker: Jennifer Wyatt
Worker: wyatterp222@aol.com
City: Kent
State: Ohio
Zip: 44240

Family Description

I am a registered nurse employed by The James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. I typically work 8-9 hours a day Monday-Friday. I genuinely love my job, profession, and the organization. I recently completed my graduate studies in healthcare administration and I hope to advance my nursing career in administration. My likes, dislikes, interests, and hobbies include spending time with my children and family, scrapbooking, and traveling. We enjoy family vacations and summer camping trips to local camp grounds. I am a highly motivated, organized procrastinator. My strong sense of fairness and the principle of utilitarianism guide most of my decisions. I am a problem solver and a planner. I make lists with check boxes. I am not athletic or artistic but I love to watch sports and I am creative. I am sensitive and my worst critic. I am empathetic and caring and truly love my job and my family. I hug, kiss, and tell my kids and my husband I love them every day. I tear up when telling stories about them. They make me laugh until I cry. My husband is decisive and spends far less time processing a situation. He rarely over schedules himself and is rarely late for anything. The fact that I am completely opposite on both fronts, forces him to be on the go far more than he would like and tests his patience. Damon is analytical and textbook artistic but not exactly creative. He can draw and visualize things but cannot imagine painting the walls of the same room contrasting colors. Camryn is my amazing 14 year old daughter. She is a rule follower and a great student. She is extremely well liked by her classmates but shies away from the spotlight. She is a great singer but fears rejection. She is funny and quick witted! She has a dry, mature, sarcastic sense of humor. She plays volleyball. Carson is by far the sweetest of my 3 children. ADHD presents challenges in his life every day but he is the most self-aware, empathetic 11 year old boy you will ever meet. He has never been destructive or even disruptive. He is such a funny little guy. He does impersonations and cracks jokes. He laughs at the fact that he can make jokes but admits he does not get jokes, or sarcasm. He plays flag and tackle football. Claire is our sweet and sassy little 8 year old girl. She is a combination of the baby and the boss. She knows everyone's business but can throw a fit like a 3 year old. She loves school and is a model student. Claire loves Girl Scouts and last summer she tried golf, tennis, soccer, and acting. We are looking to adopt a 3-7 year old boy and plan to discuss their adoption every day for a while. I anticipate that at some point we will not need to talk about it just for the sake of talking about it. The adoption will not be secret but it also does not need to be something that separates the child from the rest of our family. Lastly, our dog, Bailey. She is approximately 2.5 years old but we don't know for sure as she was a stray. We rescued her in January of 2014 from the county shelter. She is an energetic 60 pound mix (mostly boxer based on her looks).

Preference Description

We are open to mild behavioral issues (ADHD, PTSD, stealing, lying) and would consider learning disabilities and other medial/psychological issues. We are not able to physical disabilities and children requiring 24/7 care.

Child Preferences

We are looking to adopt a 3-7 year old boy. We would consider a child with mild behavioral issues and some medical issues. We are open to considering a sibling set. We are an active family and embrace any opportunity that life presents. We enjoy being together and spending time at Carson's football games, working on home improvement projects, camping, biking, or watching movies. Our children are responsible for cleaning their rooms, bathrooms, and the playroom. Additionally, they are asked to take out the trash, feed the dog, help with yard work, help with meal planning, and cleaning up after meals.

Introduction

Home and Community

We live in a 2 story home in the suburbs of Ohio's capital city, Columbus. Westerville is about 20 minutes away from the city. We have access to excellent hospitals, schools, universities, museums, professional and collegiate athletics, shopping, and countless cultural and educational events. As for cultural connections, Damon and I are very aware of the importance of this connection and truly enjoy learning and experiencing other cultures. I believe we could provide appropriate support and would access resources as needed. At this time, I am not familiar with the available resources. I have not devoted time to exploring resources as we do not yet know the needs of our family and adopted child.

Parenting Experience

Before we moved to Germany (June 2011), I was parent volunteer at my children's elementary school. I performed various tasks both in and out of the classrooms of all grade levels. During this time period, I was also a leader for my oldest daughter's Girl Scout troop. Upon our return to Ohio (February 2013), I accepted a new role in management and began the pursuit of my graduate degree which has left little time for leisure and volunteer activities. I was able to find enough time to resume my involvement with the Girl Scouts organization as a leader for my youngest daughter's troop. Damon coaches my son's football team and loves to golf. He still takes advantage of every chance to do a back flip in the yard, try skateboarding, play street hockey, or play volleyball. Damon is a hard worker and holds himself to very high standards. He is a great teacher and mentor. Although it can be difficult to get him to talk about his work, when he does he talks about guiding less experienced employees far more than office politics or day to day annoyances associated with his job. We have completed the required training adoption training classes.

Support

Our family structures are very similar which makes it easy to have a very close relationship with our mothers-in-law. Damon and I both come from divorced families, our mothers raised us with very little help or involvement from our fathers, and both of our fathers have remarried women that make it difficult for our fathers to maintain healthy relationships with their families. Damon's father has recently moved closer to our home and has been spending more time at our home with our children. His father spends 1-2 Sundays a month with us and attends our children's activities whenever possible. My mother-in-law and her husband currently live 3 hours away from us. They visit us about every 4-6 weeks and spend holidays at our home. When we are together, they make it a point to spend time with my children individually. My mother and brother live about 10 minutes away. My mother spends a great deal of time with my children and even takes then on trips with her. Damon's sister also lives nearby. she has a 13 year old son and a 20 year old daughter. We spend a lot of time with her and her family.

Motivation to Adopt

Damon and I love our family and want to share it with a child that does not have a family. One day it occurred to me that family, security, acceptance and unconditional love are luxuries to some children. The idea that any child wants for any of these fundamental needs is heartbreaking and moved me to explore and present the idea of expanding our family through adoption to my husband and later to our children.