Cady and Jack
Dear Expectant Parent,
About Us:
We are Cady (31) and Jack (36). We have been married for over seven years and live in Chicago with our daughter Clementine (4) and our dog Goose who we rescued about 5 years ago. We talked about wanting to be parents and growing our family by adoption early on in our relationship and got to know several kids with unique adoption stories during our years as volunteers, which solidified our desire to adopt in the future.
While Clementine is our biological daughter, we know that we would love any child the same way that we love Clementine, regardless of the way that they come into our family. Cady grew up with three adopted cousins and we know firsthand that genes don’t define a family.
About Cady:
You may have already wondered how to pronounce my name. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Mean Girls,” then you can guess that it is pronounced “Katie.” I grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis with my parents and older brother. They still live in Minnesota, but we see each other many times a year and on FaceTime between visits. My brother and his wife have a 2-year-old daughter and my parents are enjoying every bit of their roles as Grams and Grampy.
Music was a big part of my world growing up and I come from a musical family. I studied Music Education in college thinking I would become a choir teacher, but determined that working in higher education was a better fit for me. I recently transitioned out of higher education to a new industry and am working as a Project Manager.
About Jack:
I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago as the middle child of 5 kids. There are now 8 grandkids (Clementine is #7) and they all have great friendships with each other. My siblings and their spouses have become our closest friends and we love that we get to raise our kids together.
I work as a computer programmer and in my free time I like to play video games, work on coding side projects, and watch sports – the Bears, the Bulls, and the Cubs. I try to stay in shape and regularly run with my older brother and sister.
About Clementine
Clementine, who is most often called Clem or Clemmy, is growing into her little self and we’ve loved witnessing each new stage and interest. Goose and Clementine have a mutual love for each other and like to share snacks. Goose is gentle and calm and has proven to be wonderful around small kids. Besides dogs, Clementine’s other favorite things include being outside, FaceTiming with family, playing games on Nintendo Switch, dancing and singing with her ukulele, coloring and painting, and running around the house in her Spider-Man costume.
We began pursuing adoption after Clementine’s first birthday and are so excited to welcome another child into our home and watch their relationship grow through the years.
Who we are as a family
We both work from home and spend our days with Clementine. Working from home provides us with great flexibility and an abundance of time together as a family, something we are extremely thankful for.
In our free time, we try to get out to parks so Clementine can swing and go down the slides. Even in the winter, she loves to be outside playing in the snow. On summer nights we like to do activities such as walking over to the local ice cream shop for a treat, going to a Cubs game, or going out for dinner at an outdoor restaurant. Our neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago is family friendly and you can walk everywhere! For vacation, we love taking road trips to national parks to camp and hike. As often as we can, we travel to see Jack’s family who now live in Milwaukee and Cady’s family in Minnesota. Staying close and spending time with family is really important to us, especially as our daughter and any future children grow.
Our Values:
As we raise our family, our guiding values are honesty, open communication, and inclusion. We work together as a family team and we laugh together every day. We are making every effort to raise children who have integrity, empathy for others, and look for ways to improve the lives of those around them. We believe that everyone is worthy of love and kindness and there is always something to be thankful for.
We welcome any questions you may have about us and our family. We know that you are leading with love as you make this decision. We know that there will be challenges as our lives intertwine through adoption and we, too, will lead with love. We are ready and waiting for the child and birth parents who will join our family and we trust we will find each other. We are thinking of you and can’t wait to meet you!
You can reach us by contacting our adoption counselor, Linda Fiore, by calling 1-800-869-1005 (toll-free), emailing [email protected] or texting 773-919-5702. You can also contact us directly by emailing [email protected].
