Hello! Thank you so much for taking a moment to get to know us! We are James and Kelsey from central Pennsylvania! We live in a beautiful small college town named Selinsgrove. Kelsey is an elementary school teacher in our local school district, and James owns his own business. Our home is full of joy, laughter, and healthy competition (Uno and Scattergories get INTENSE here)! We are both kids at heart! We also love spoiling our sweet dogs, Lily, Rosie, and Sunny. We consider ourselves the perfect example of “opposites attract.” Kelsey is a gentle and calm introvert. She is empathetic and enjoys caring for others. James on the other hand is humorous, sarcastic, and extroverted. James enjoys making others laugh and can hold a conversation with anyone. We hope that you can learn more about us, and we would be honored to be considered as adoptive parents to your child.

Even though we are on the younger side, we have known for years that we wanted to adopt our future children someday. Kelsey has two cousins who were adopted, and she is closer to them than anyone else in her extended family, so we recognize that a loving family is created through the connections and memories made throughout a lifetime. We are choosing to adopt now because we have reached the point in our lives where our careers are stable and we feel emotionally ready to become parents. When we think of what makes us most excited to be parents, we often find ourselves focused on the experiences of day-to-day family life. We are excited to take our future child to playgrounds, have family dinners, read to them in bed each night, play dress up or football in the backyard, and so much more. We are ready to give our future child a loving home, meaningful childhood experiences, and a family and friend circle full of wonderful people.

We met when Kelsey was 20 and James was 21. James asked Kelsey out to go bowling, and she bowled a…25. James knew he had his work cut out for him but decided to pursue a relationship anyway. Our first date didn’t end after bowling. We went out to dinner after bowling (Kelsey also got chicken tenders and fries at a nice restaurant, and again James knew he was in it for the long haul). After that, our date continued and we went to a movie! From that first date on, we both knew that we had found our person. We got engaged while playing with our dogs in our yard during a snowstorm that closed schools and had caused us both to be off work in 2018.

We had our dream wedding planned, but then Covid happened in 2020. We didn’t want to postpone not knowing how long the pandemic would last, so we had an outdoor wedding at our house with only 30 of our closest family and friends in June, 2020. We got married on our deck at the back of our house, had our dogs as flower girls, enjoyed dinner in our yard, and then spent the night playing cornhole. We chose to have a Native American wedding blessing as part of our ceremony. The line, “Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other,” depicts our love for each other and the love we hope to share with our future child.

I grew up in a small town located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania. After high school, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and minored in Spanish. I have also earned my master’s degree in Special Education. I now work in the elementary school that I attended as a student! I am currently a fourth grade teacher. This is my eighth year of teaching, and I absolutely love my job. I am also a board member for a local nonprofit that provides enriching summer experiences for students with academic and behavioral needs. My teaching job offers flexibility and guaranteed weekends, holidays, and summers off. When our future child arrives, I will take off work for at least three months, and we have two sets of future grandparents on standby who are eager to take turns babysitting! I am so grateful that I get to spend my days teaching and caring for the children of others, but I am ready to become a mom myself. I am so eager to give our future child a memorable childhood where their days are spent using their imagination, giggling, and knowing they are so loved. I am looking forward to daily living as a family the most. I cannot wait to read to our future child, explore outside in the woods behind our house, do crafts and science experiments, and enjoy our time together as a family.

Kelsey is the type of person that people flock to because she brings comfort to the people around her. She puts others first and would do anything to help her family, friends, and students. She adores children, and I have witnessed this love firsthand watching her care for her students throughout the past eight years. I can only imagine what that love will look like for her own child in the future. She is empathetic and tries to always see the best in others. Kelsey’s class always contains students with special needs and challenging behaviors because she sees the strengths in children and reaffirms that they are loved daily. Kelsey is humble, gentle, patient, and calm. She also has a silly, childlike side that will make her a great mother. Kelsey will accept our future child for who they are and will love and support them through the ups and downs that life inevitably brings. All of these traits will make Kelsey a great mother some day.

I was born in Baltimore, Maryland and moved to southern Pennsylvania when I was in middle school. My family then moved to central Pennsylvania and I graduated from a small school called Greenwood. I currently own a small business that I started after graduating high school. It is a distribution business that consists of Peet’s Coffee, Snyder’s pretzels, and Cape Cod chips. I am very fortunate that I have a flexible schedule that I create and can take days off whenever needed. When our future child arrives, I plan to take off work for 3 weeks. After returning to work, I will rearrange my schedule to have as much time home as possible for those first few months. I have been excited to become a dad for years. Seeing my friends and sister start families made me realize just how much I want a family of my own. Becoming an uncle to my twin niece and nephew has been an absolute joy. I am so excited to teach our future child how to play sports and games. I cannot wait to take family vacations to create memories in places like Disney World and the beach.

James is a good human being. I watched him teach our rescue dog how to walk again after a life-saving amputation. I have seen James not only give a homeless person cash but then look up the closest buffet to point him toward. He has donated snacks for years to my school to ensure my students who live in poverty do not go hungry during the school day. James does these things because he has a kind heart and wants to make the world a better place. James will be an amazing father because he puts others above himself. He is my biggest supporter and loves me unconditionally, and I know he will do the same for his future children. He will be invested in any and all interests of our future child, whether that is playing Barbies or jumping in mud puddles! I am so excited to see him in the role of a father, and any child will be lucky to call him “dad.”

Although we live in a rural area, we are only a few hours from Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and New York City. Our small town is a great area to live and raise a family. We are located near Susquehanna University and Bucknell University. We are near a shopping complex, restaurants, and a mall. Additionally, our town is along the Susquehanna River, and we have state parks only 10 minutes from our home. Some of our favorite events in our community include an annual Halloween Parade, an Ice Sculpture Festival, and a Christkindle Market. There are many activities to do locally such as mini-golf, bowling, batting cages, ice skating, concerts, public libraries, and playgrounds. Knoebels Amusement Park is also only a 30-minute drive from us. There are 2 playgrounds, baseball fields, soccer fields, a basketball court, tennis courts, and a walking trail all within a mile of our home! Our home is on an acre of land and we often refer to it as our “cottage in the woods.” We have a fenced yard, and the back of our house faces a wooded area where we see deer and other wildlife daily.

We love animals and have 5 pets of our own! Our favorite charity is called the Mack and Molly Fund at our local Vet Office that provides lifesaving surgeries for pets in need. Our three dogs love kids, and our cats ignore kids and other guests! Lily is our 9-year-old English cream golden retriever. She loves peanut butter and going “cruising” (aka car rides). Rosie is our 8-year-old boxer/pitbull mix. She loves bacon and is a total cuddlebug! Sunny is our 5-year-old red golden retriever. We rescued her when she was one-year-old after her previous owners abandoned her. Sunny came to our home the day after her life-saving hind leg amputation, and we knew right away that we would be her “furever family.” Princess is a 13-year-old black cat. James is her person, and she can be found sleeping on his chest most nights. Ralphie is a 5-year-old Persian cat. Out of our animals, Ralphie is the sassiest. He loves lobster cat treats and watching birds outside.

We are both very close to our families. Kelsey’s family lives 10-minutes away, and James’ family is 20-minutes away. James has some family in Philadelphia and Baltimore that we visit during the holidays as well. We visit our families each weekend and enjoy family dinners, playing board games, and watching sports together. Football season in the fall is a big deal in both of our families (we love a good Ravens vs. Steelers rivalry)! Holidays and birthdays are also big celebrations in both of our families! Kelsey’s friends are so excited to welcome our future child. Most of her friends are teachers who love children. James’ friends all have their own children and are excited to see James become a father.

My dad James is excited to be a grandpa! He is very similar to me because we share the same interests and same career. My step-mom Jessica is excited to be a grandma! She loves children and prepares fun activities for kids in the family to partake in. She used to work in daycares and preschools. My mom Trina is a health insurance agent in Baltimore, which is only a 2-hour drive from us. My sister Khrysten is two years older than me. She is excited for her twins to grow up alongside our future child! My sister Hailey is 11 years younger than me and loves playing with kids. She loves nature and works as a park ranger. My niece and nephew Madison and Carson are 6-months old.

My mom Missy is excited to be a grandma! She has been a nurse for 30 years, loves taking care of others, and takes pride in making birthdays and holidays into special events. My dad Mark is loving, nerdy, and always learning something new. He would do anything to help anyone. My dad is a hard-working person who can fix anything. My sister Amanda is only a year and a half younger than me. She will be so excited to be an aunt. Amanda is my voice of reason and best friend. She works as a sonographer in a local hospital. My brother Tanner is ten years younger than me. He is hilarious, encouraging, and wise beyond his years. He is also my best friend. Tanner works for James’ business.

Christmas is a big deal in our families! Kelsey’s family goes to a tree farm to cut down their Christmas trees each year. We then decorate the trees and make gingerbread houses. We play board games on Christmas Eve, eat Christmas cookies, and watch A Christmas Story. James’ family has a Christmas party where we play games such as Bingo and Pass the Present before sitting down as a family for dinner. Each year, we look forward to getting hot chocolate and munchkin donuts to snack on while driving around our town to see Christmas lights. We also go to a local German-themed Christkindle Market each year. Living in central Pennsylvania, we even get a white Christmas every now and then! During October, we go to fall festivals, go on hay rides and do corn mazes, go to a local Halloween Parade, carve pumpkins, and dress up in costumes for parties with our families. For Easter we dye Easter eggs and do Easter egg hunts for the kids in the family. Both Kelsey’s mom and James’ step-mom still make Easter baskets for everyone. Our families cannot wait for our future child to join in with these fun traditions. They are also willing and excited to incorporate new traditions that are meaningful to our future child’s heritage.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us and our wishes for our future family. Please know that we are grateful for you, wish you and your child only the best, and hope you find the perfect family for your child. We promise that we would not take the fleeting moments of childhood for granted with your child. Our family home will be a stable, loving environment where your child can be themselves and know they are loved unconditionally. We promise to give your child a beautiful childhood full of love, laughter, and lasting memories. We will do our best to be present in every moment, and your child will undoubtedly be the center of our world. Your child will be the greatest blessing to whomever you decide is the best match for them, and please know that we recognize that you are partaking in an act of selfless love that is deserving of admiration. We are so appreciative of you for considering us as adoptive parents.

~ James & Kelsey