Sandy and Michael (and Eli)

Hi there,
We are Sandy, Michael and Eli. We are a family of three with a strong desire to add another player to our team so we can be a family of four! We believe we can all share a unique and wonderful bond through adoption.

About Sandy and Michael
We are both pension actuaries working for a consulting company, putting our love of math to work (and leading to some very stimulating conversation at home)! We met through work when Michael was in Texas and Sandy was in Illinois. One of Michael’s projects was transitioned to Sandy’s team and the rest is history. We are celebrating our ninth anniversary! We still work for the same employer, in the same building, and on the same floor. Some people wonder if that is “too much of a good thing”, but we don’t get in each other’s hair too often!

We were thrilled to welcome our precious Eli about five years after we married. He is now nearly four years old and we’ll tell you more about him later. Becoming parents has been so much more fulfilling, enriching, and amazing than we could have imagined. We both cherish being mommy and daddy and are eager to treasure another child.

We are both happiest spending time in small gatherings with family and close friends. We are passionate about making the most of our family together time—whether that is visiting an aquarium or attending baseball games or just making weekly trips to the grocery store a fun adventure.

We live northwest of Chicago. We are very lucky to have a neighborhood full of nice families (and their dogs!), beautiful bike paths, and wonderful parks. When we take Eli to the park, we don’t say, “let’s go to the park”. We say, “Which park do you want to go to today?”

More About Michael
I grew up in the desert in southern Arizona. I have one older sister and two younger brothers. Two of my siblings have settled in the UK, so our family has a wonderful excuse to visit England and Scotland on a fairly regular basis. We can’t wait for our next visit to the UK to meet my brother’s new baby, Reuben. My mom and my other brother still live in Arizona, so we frequently visit that area as well.

I love soccer and play weekly on a recreational team. Sandy says that I’m still a kid at heart. Little ones always pick up on that quickly and make me their playmate!

More About Sandy
I was raised in a small town in central Illinois. I have three sisters, six nieces, and one great niece, Audrey, who is Eli’s 2-year-old partner-in-crime. (Imagine the surprise when our little BOY came along!) My extended family loves to celebrate holidays and birthdays and really any excuse to get together to eat, so we see each other often. I enjoy walking, yoga, playing the piano, and trying new recipes. Michael loves getting the first taste of my experiments, and now loves to watch Eli pour and mix ingredients with me. Eli is a wonderful helper in the kitchen.

Family
We are both very close to our siblings and families. We are so thankful for things like Skype, FaceTime and Facebook so we can stay in touch more often. We have family pages on Facebook that we use for sharing pictures and funny stories of things that happen each day. Our families can’t wait to welcome another child into their hearts.

About Eli
Everyone who knows our little Eli has said “he is very busy” and that is no joke. He loves playing with trains, so our living room is now known as the train room and is covered with wooden tracks and oodles of little trains. He likes to be on the move, so we have a scooter and balance bike that we use to explore the bike paths and parks. He loves to run and jump and throw and kick balls, so our basement functions as a play area when playing outside isn’t possible.

He loves cookies and somehow convinced his aunt Mary that she should bake a batch of cookies just for him each time she sees him. She puts them in a special Eli-only cookie container. He also loves guacamole, so we have a ridiculous number of pictures of him eating guacamole.Eli will make a wonderful big brother. He never tires of checking out the baby room at daycare and he loves teaching his cousin Audrey all about the zoo.

Let’s Not Forget Nadine! We have a furry family member – a cat named Nadine. Eli calls her Nanee and wants to be best friends with her. She likes to hang out near him when he is napping… We’re sure she’ll love our next child too.

Our Typical Week

During the week, Michael takes Eli to preschool and Sandy picks him up. We live only four miles from work, so we’re fortunate to have such an easy commute. After Eli was born, Sandy began working part-time, so she is able to have fun with Eli each afternoon before it is time for dinner and bedtime. Daily adventures include things like riding scooters, playing at the park, or going to the library. On the weekends we plan visits with family and friends or we visit a new park or museum or festival. We are eager to have our next child be part of our adventures.

In Closing
While we can’t put ourselves in your shoes, we very much admire your courage and selflessness as you lovingly consider placing your child with an adoptive family. We hope you’ll consider us as the forever family. From the time Eli was born our hearts have been telling us our family is not yet complete. We would love to have the opportunity to be mommy and daddy again to another child.

If you would like to know more about us, please contact us directly at:
sandyandmichaelACFB@gmail.com.

You can also learn more about us by contacting our adoption counselor, Maggie Benz, at:
Call 800-869-1005
Text 847-366-6343
Email maggie@centerforfamily.com

Please know we wish you peace in your heart, if not now, as soon as

possible in the future.
Sandy and Michael