A LITTLE BIT ABOUT TAD    

In Barbie's words:   

I chose my future husband both because I wanted to share my life with him *and* for his qualities as a future father.  I love him dearly. Taddy is so sweet and gentle; he is a great complement to my more outgoing nature.  He has a quiet confidence that attracted me, and it is wonderfully contagious.  He is also very, very funny at times, and I love to laugh at/with him!  Other strengths that Taddy brings to our family:  calmness, a loving family, honesty, discipline, a great group of friends. He is gentle and affectionate to our daughter Ava - he cannot stop kissing her head and sniffing her sweet baby smells!  He calls her "my prescious" and "turtle" and he is not at all embarrassed to smooch her in public!  In fact, he is so "hands-on" with her that I can share this picture of him "kangarooing" Ava (skin-to-skin contact, to help her regulate her heart rate and breathing) in the NICU at the hospital... he is not embarrassed at all!  :)

Some other things that make me think of what a great dad Tad will be: he has saved the Tonka trucks from his childhood in our attic, ready for him to play with our children... mother to mother, I can tell you that Taddy is the fun, playful, exciting, interactive "daddy" that all children want to have.  Tad is very giving of himself, he takes our puppy Jessie for a walk at 5:30 am every day, even though she has a dog door and a fenced in yard and can go outside as she likes, but just because she loves going for walks with him so much and he loves making her happy - he does this rain or shine! He writes me a love note every morning with a big heart on it, and with his name, my name, Ava's name, and the initials of our pets and our future "baby" Smith in it.  Before Ava came to our family, I had caught him with tears in his eyes every now and then, because he wanted children so badly.  That is so bittersweet, but I also knew that God would fulfill his wishes when the time is right, and He is doing so right now - giving Tad his chance to be the loving, supportive father he is meant to be.

Barbie

 

ps:  I am sure Tad would want me to tell you that he is still a "man's man" - even though all the "mushy" stuff I told you about how sweet he is!  J

 

In Tad's words:

I am in my mid-30's, and looking forward to building our family even further. My eyes are hazel and I am 5’10” and weigh 185 lbs.  I have less hair than I would like (!), it is a reddish brown and curly so I keep it very short.  My complexion is medium Caucasian; my family’s heritage is from the British Isles and Germany.  Regarding my personality, I try to be very giving to people I love, such as my family and my pets and my closest friends.  One of my strengths is my love (and proper fear) of God; I respect him and try my best to be a good Christian. Marriage has shaped me greatly, I have a sense of responsibility now that I am providing not only for myself, but also for a wife and family. I take things very seriously now, but still try to keep my sense of humor as I go throughout life.  In me you will find a loving, affectionate, relaxed parent who will relate well to your child and guide them with a quietly firm yet loving hand.

As a child, I did a lot of hiking and camping with my father, I learned my love of nature from him.  I also enjoyed the traveling across country with my mother, and even though we did not have a lot of money we always had a great adventure. I spent a lot of time playing with my friends (Army, t-ball, sandbox, etc.). I always wanted to be liked by everyone; my house was the one where all the kids came over to play, and I enjoyed that.  I still love to play and interact with children.  I feel very comfortable acting like a kid myself when I relate with them; I play with them in our neighborhood: hide-and-seek, Army, radio-controlled cars, throwing a ball, riding a bike, all the games a father enjoys playing.  We go to parks with our neighbors and their children (we bring Ava and our dogs) and travel to the beach together.  Children are such an integral part of our lives already, but I would definitely like to hear the pitter patter of two sets of little baby feet in our house.

I work at OSRAM/Sylvania, the makers of Sylvania light bulbs, among other things.  As a Process Engineer, I work in a hybrid environment.  Some of my time is spent in the office area, designing and requisitioning equipment, and doing the “office” type duties of a typical manufacturing engineer.  On the other hand, I also spend a significant amount of time on the factory floor, leading employees, fixing equipment, etc.  I work full time, and sometimes take a 2 hour lunch break, when I head over to the gym to get in a work out.  I have been with this company since the early 1990's, I am very loyal to my work, and I greatly enjoy what I do.

Some of the things I enjoy doing:  working out at the gym (I do this at least 4-5 times per week, to keep healthy), walking the dog in the wee hours of the morning (one of my favorite times of day), hiking with friends and family, and, most of all, spending time with my "precious" daughter Ava.  I enjoy watching politics on TV, and have a small interest in politics myself.  My favorite place is the Outer Banks of North Carolina - we rent a huge beach house once or twice each year; I receive 5-6 weeks of vacation time each year and 2 weeks of it is spent at the beach with extended family and friends/neighbors.  I think it would be wonderful if we could take an extra week each year and bring our birthparent(s) and have a fun/quiet "adoptive parents and babies" week, Barbie and I have talked about how wonderful that would be (if birthparents wanted to).

I would love a boy child as a sibling for Ava, but I know that Ava would love a girl, so we are delighted with whatever sex child is brought into our lives.  Barbie decorated this nursery in yellow, green, and purple so it is very ready for either. We hope to have 2-3 children in the next few years. We have visions of love, warmth, laughter, chocolate chip cookies, a grassy backyard, time-outs, cuddles, fun excursions. All the things that fill our home currently, but with many tiny feet scampering around…

Tad

 

POST NOTE:  You are welcome to read a short autobiography that I wrote here.  Thank you for letting me share a little about myself.