Hello,
Thank you for your time and interest in learning about us as a family. Becoming parents has been an absolute joy. Every day is made better with the sound of our daughter’s laughter, snuggling together with a book, and getting a wonderful, squeezy hug. Our hearts have grown so much since Ellie joined us, and we would love to share our love with another child.
Our Life Together
We met at college in January 2003, began dating in the third week of the semester, and have been together ever since. In April 2010, we were married in an intimate ceremony, surrounded by our family and closest friends. The wedding was held in the Stratford church where Adam’s grandparents were married 64 years earlier, and it was a blessing to have them serve as our witnesses.
We make a great team, and are a great support to each other in our lives and work. Before we became teachers, we travelled all across Canada to see each other perform in plays and musicals, and more recently we were careful proofreaders for each other as we both completed our Master’s Degrees. We’ve been lucky to work together in a variety of settings, and now teach in the same college program.
We both love our teaching jobs. We enjoy working with students, exploring new ideas and pedagogies, and scholarship. We also love that the academic calendar gives us summer off as a family 🙂
Ellie goes to daycare at our college, and loves her friends and teachers there. It has been a great place for her to learn and grow, and we love that we can commute together, and are close by if she is sick. Each day on the way to her “school”, she says “hello” to staff and friends on campus.
As a family of three, we like to visit different playgrounds in our neighbourhood: Ellie loves the swings, slides, and climbing. Daddy and Ellie do swimming lessons on Sunday mornings, and she is always so excited to go to the pool. We celebrate birthdays, adoption day, major achievements—and sometimes just Fridays—at our favourite local pizza place. We have been to the theatre to see several shows as a family. It’s amazing to watch Ellie be transfixed by the activity on stage.
Robert’s extended family share a cottage near Ottawa, and we love being able to retreat there every summer to see family, or relax alone on the side of the lake. We like to enjoy books, barbecue, campfires, and the quiet.
Our Home
We have been living in our large, two-bedroom apartment since 2011, and love it here.
Our apartment is bright and sunny, with lots of windows. We have a spacious eat-in kitchen where we eat breakfast and dinner together, and can host friends and family for dinner. Our large living room is perfect for relaxing, reading, and snuggling on the couch, and Ellie’s bedroom has lots of room to play—and to share!
We live near Bloor West Village, on the subway line, and our building backs onto a large park along the Humber River. We love our neighborhood, in a quiet pocket of the city, which allows us to be easily connected to the things we love in Toronto, and lots of nearby playgrounds, shops, schools, and libraries. The subway is across the street from our building, which gives us easy access to our favourite restaurants and venues in the city, and we have a fairly short commute 30-minute drive from home to work in Oakville.
About Adam
Adam has been teaching in post-secondary performing arts programs for over ten years, currently teaching musical theatre history, repertoire and performance, and singing lessons. His research focuses on gender in musical theatre, and he is passionate about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the classroom and curriculum.
Adam particularly loves Canadian literature, especially the novels of Miriam Toews, Margaret Atwood, Michael Crummey, and Michael Ondaatje. He enjoys amateur photography, and spends afternoons with his mom and their cameras around Toronto, or enrolled together in a photography course. Adam also loves superhero movies and watching the new releases in theatre with his best friend from high school, or with our nephew when we visit BC. He’s partial to the MCU (and is looking forward to a Disney+ subscription once the streaming series start), but the X-Men and Wonder Woman are also faves.
Adam loves taking Ellie to swimming lessons.
About Robert
Robert is a sought-after dance faculty member at several performing arts colleges and universities. After completing his Master’s degree in Dance Studies at York University, he has been leading the creation of several new courses at our college. Robert previously worked as a performer and choreographer, dancing in musicals all over Canada, from Vancouver, BC to Charlottetown, PEI.
Robert reads just about anything, but especially loves Agatha Christie and mystery stories. Robert loves games: card games, board games, and video games. Getting Adam to learn the basic rules of “Settlers of Catan” was a recent triumph, Robert’s still trying to get him to find the love of Mario Kart.
Ellie
This year Ellie will be two years old. Like her Daddy and Papa, she loves reading, and is frequently curled up in her rocking chair or bean bag chair with a book. Family favourites include The Gruffalo and the songs and stories of Sandra Boynton.
Ellie loves dinosaurs, playdough, and stickers. She loves singing the songs she is learning at daycare, and Raffi’s “Greatest Hits”. She has recently become more interested in nurturing her dolls, changing their clothes and making sure they’re fed. On Sunday mornings, she and Daddy go to swimming lessons, and Papa is always finding new art projects for them to try.
Our Family
Family is very important to us, and we try to spend as much quality time together as we can.
Robert grew up near Vancouver, BC, and we visit Robert’s family out west twice a year, two weeks in the summer and a couple weeks at Christmas. Robert’s parents live in the in-law suite with his brother’s family, so when we visit all nine of us are together under one roof! When we’re home in Toronto, Ellie visits with Kiki and Gigi (Robert’s parents) on FaceTime every week. Ellie ADORES her cousins, who are eleven and five.
Adam’s family all live within an hour of Toronto. His sister is a nurse, and his brother is a cop, so getting together means juggling different schedules. Adam’s mom is a retired schoolteacher, who lives in her farmhouse on a hill with several dogs, and stays active as a substitute teacher. His dad is a semi-retired accountant, who has recently begun leading running clinics at The Running Room. His sister, her husband, and their two sons live quite near Adam’s mom in a small-town north of Toronto. Grandma is very involved, providing childcare and outings. Adam’s younger brother lives in Hamilton with his three-year-old son. There is a family-run farm near Adam’s sister’s house that we all visit together for seasonal activities and to pick fresh berries. Adam’s sister, brother, and dad have all become keen runners in recent years, and everyone keeps each other updated—and challenged—via text and running apps.
Childcare & Parenting
We are deeply committed to raising independent and curious children. Ellie keeps us on our toes, but we are thrilled that she is determined and adventurous.
We have both inherited patience and cool heads from our parents; neither of us were raised with excessive yelling or physical punishment. We navigate the tough times by discussing our feelings, and always being honest. We prioritize consent and bodily autonomy with Ellie, so that she grows up understanding and advocating for boundaries.
Our teaching schedules allowed us to share child-care responsibilities for Ellie’s first year, and always have one of us at home with her. We will arrange a similar plan for our second child.
Our Relationship with You
We have been very fortunate to build our family through open adoption. Our family has grown, not only in the addition of our incredible daughter, but also our important on-going relationship with her birthmother.
We continue to visit together frequently, and share pictures and updates via text and email. Ellie’s birthmother and her boyfriend celebrated Ellie’s first birthday with our friends and family.
We believe that every relationship is unique and is built together. We are committed to building a relationship that respects and reflects your needs and desires. We want to create that relationship with you as we learn about each other.
We both strongly believe that growing our extended family will only add to the love for our child, and that more love is always a good thing.
Thank You
We love being parents, and we know that we have so much love in our hearts to share.
We have deep respect for all the choices you have to make, and wish you all the best along your path.
Thank you for getting to know us a little, we have our fingers crossed tightly that together we may be a good match. We would love to connect in any way that is comfortable for you.
Our very best,
Adam, Robert & Ellie
