Hello! Thank you for choosing to learn more about our family! We are Kevin and Krysten, and we’re so excited to begin this journey. We can’t wait to grow our family through adoption. 

Once upon a time a city girl (Krysten) decided she had had enough of the city and moved to a suburban/rural area in Indiana. Through a co-worker, she met a boy (Kevin), who frankly at first annoyed her because he didn’t talk much. But as the months passed, conversation became easier and soon they were dating. 

As many stories go, dating lead to engagement, and engagement led to marriage. Within six months of the wedding, the girl developed a serious medical condition and an ongoing string of surgeries and office visits ensued. The boy and girl wanted to start their family, so they chose to adopt, not knowing if the girl would be OK if pregnant and not wanting to take the risk. And of course, as best laid plans happen, the girl learned she was pregnant. It was both a joyous but scary time, that pregnancy. 

The boy and girl eventually had a baby boy, a little early, but healthy. And while the boy and girl and their son lived happily as a family, it felt like a puzzle piece was missing. So, the boy and the girl and their son decided it was time to add to their family through adoption and find that missing piece to make their family complete.

Kevin and I are very much opposites, and for the most part, it works quite well for us. Kevin takes things in stride; I tend to worry. I tend to be the planner; Kevin is much better at being spontaneous. There is no such thing as the perfect person, but I think Kevin is the perfect partner for me. 

I always know I can count on Kevin when I need help or support. He had to take on the role of caregiver and while I know it probably freaked him out at times, he was always calm and reassuring. Kevin has been and will always be my rock. He’s definitely one of the most devoted and kindhearted men I know. He is also very quick-witted, something that we have found to be invaluable for raising a kid!

When we were dating, I watched Kevin play with his niece and nephew and I knew he was going to be a fantastic dad … and I was right. Kevin is an amazing father. He is always spending time with our son, playing cars, building with Legos, playing Mario Kart or taking him to the park. He’s very patient and easy going and always puts down what he is doing to play with Michael.

More About Kevin: 

Occupation: IT Senior Systems Engineer

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Movie: Princess Bride

Favorite Band: Metallica

Favorite Food: Pizza

Krysten is an amazing woman to have gone through everything she did at the start of our marriage and to still have it in her to want to give more of herself and grow our family. She is a very loving person. She is very empathetic towards Michael when he is frightened by something such as thunder, or when he has gotten hurt. She is always the one he wants first when he needs to be consoled. 

Krysten is without a doubt the planner in our family. I know I can always count on Krysten to be my compass. Her forward thinking and planning seldom leave us scrambling at the last minute to get things we need to get done, so that we can still be spontaneous when opportunities present themselves.

When it comes to Michael’s education, Krysten is an exceptional teacher. She is always looking for ways to enrich his learning. In fact, she started teaching herself Spanish so that she could help him learn it as well. 

From the beginning of our relationship, I knew she would make a great mom someday. The first time she met my niece and nephew, was shortly after my niece was born. Even when everyone was oohing over her, she made sure that my nephew was still getting attention too, engaging with him about what he was interested in and making sure he felt just as special as the newborn. 

More About Krysten: 

Occupation: IT Security Intelligence Analyst

Favorite Color: Green, though I seem to be favoring purple a lot too

Favorite Movie: Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version)

Favorite Band: Beatles

Favorite Food:  Pizza

Our three-bedroom home is in a small subdivision that ends in a cul-de-sac. We have lived here for ten years. The neighborhood has an even mix of older and younger families with children about the same age as our son. Our home has a fenced-in backyard with enough space to run and play for both him and our two golden retrievers. The best feature (in Krysten's opinion) is the three-seasons porch where we can sit out in the evening during the summer and relax. The cats would readily agree with Krysten's opinion about the porch as they are constantly meowing to go out and sleep in the sunspots.

In Kevin's opinion, the best part of our house is all of the trees in the backyard. During the summer, they provide a fair amount of shade and entice a lot of birds to visit while we are enjoying our evenings on the porch.  Michael would probably say the best part of our house is his room because it is where all his toys and stuffies are. Somehow during the day, those toys start to make their way into our room, which we have now labeled "Fisher-Price West!”

Our bedrooms are upstairs while the living room is downstairs. Michael has a set of toys in the living room, which makes up "Fisher-Price Down Under." It is amusing to listen to him decide which toys or stuffies belong upstairs or downstairs. We have yet to figure out what the logic is behind it.

Becoming parents was the most exciting and scary time of our lives! Michael was a few weeks early and he had just a short stay in the NICU with some of the most amazing nurses and doctors we’ve ever met. We think about them everyday and what a blessing they were to us.

Michael is a riot! At five-years-old, he’s a hilarious blend of our personalities and is always saying something that has us cracking up (or trying not to in some situations!).  There are also times when he says things that make us wonder if he’s five or 45. Some pretty profound wisdom comes from him and he truly understands what he is saying! His teachers tell us all the time how bright he is and what an incredible imagination he has. 

Michael’s Favorites: 

Favorite Color: Green

Favorite Toys: His cars, bike and pint-sized John Deere Tractor

Favorite Movie: Cars 3 or Secret Life of Pets

Favorite Band: Whatever Mommy is listening to

Favorite Food:  McDonalds

We were raised with the same values, same morals and ethics. We are on the same page when it comes to raising Michael; nothing beats solidarity when you are faced with a pint-sized tantrum! We both made it a priority to talk about how we wanted to raise kids before we had them. We have been very blessed with our little guy, it is very rare when we have to anti-up to using a timeout. 

We both have incredibly supportive extended families, always open to giving us a hand, or babysitting and we see them all a number of times during the year. Krysten’s family lives nearby for the most part. We see her Mom a couple times a month, and she loves spoiling Michael. Kevin’s family also lives nearby, and we get together with his brother’s family and sister’s family quite often. The cousins all love playing together, and we know they’re excited to have another playmate around in the future. 

Our family also includes some fur-babies. We have Daisy and Noah, our golden retrievers, and five cats, Sebastian (18), Iona (16), Alice (7), Mackey (6) and Josephine (~10). The cats are, well - cats! But the dogs are very well trained, maybe too well! At mealtime they have to sit, and then someone has to say “OK” before they can inhale their food. Michael started feeding them, and when he says “OK” the dogs look at us like “really?”. They finally just started listening to him and he’s totally thrilled.

Christmas morning is probably our best tradition. Scheduling time to travel to both families for Christmas is a little hectic. However, being in our home on Christmas morning is non-negotiable. 

Another tradition we started several years ago was getting together with Kevin’s extended family for a week over the summer. We often rent a house somewhere where four different families can gather. A couple years ago we did Disney World with Krysten’s mom and her brother’s family, and that looks like it may become an every-couple-years thing as well. Her family is big on Disney!

A smaller tradition is to have dinner at our kitchen table. It was something that both of us experienced when we were kids and we wanted that same dinner table time with ours. It is too easy these days to become involved in so much that family time, with no electronics, disappears. We can’t say it happens every night, and sometimes we just want a “picnic” night, but both of us make dinners at the table a priority.

Our Favorite Things To Do Together: 

• Watch movies
• Play Uno Attack (in Spanish and English) 
• Legos! 
• Playing Music; Krysten plays the piano, violin and guitar
• Reading 
• Hiking

There are so many other things we’d like to share with you about us. Parents to Parent, we can only imagine how tough this decision is for you. We can say that we have the utmost respect and admiration for you and the brave and loving choice you have made. 

We promise that all three of us will love, protect, and celebrate this child and that they will be surrounded by family, friends and a community who will always be there for them and love them unconditionally. We’d be happy to stay in touch with you throughout the years through updates and photos, however if you’d like a more closed adoption, we understand. Regardless, we’ll always make sure to remind the child of you and your story, and just how much love you have for them. 

Wishing you the best, 

Kevin and Krysten