Welcome! Meet:

Albert + Keyanna

Senior Linux Systems Administrator / Homemaker/ SAHM

Missouri

African American

Catholic / Christian

All About Albert & Keyanna
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Albert & Keyanna

We met by chance and fell in love on purpose. As we dated we found out that our differences brought us closer together because we wanted to learn so much more about each other, and our similarities were fun to discover and explore. It was on our third date that we mentioned adoption over cheeseburgers and 5 years later we grew our family for the first time through adoption. Together we enjoy traveling, holidays, sports, movies, concerts, and entertaining in our home. We enjoy playing games as well as being on or near water and exploring new places domestically and internationally. Albert works in the IT field as a Sr. Administrator and Keyanna is a Stay-at-home mom to our daughter Chloë who is in Pre-K.

Why Adoption?

Without adoption our family would not exist- so keeping it at the center of our purpose and always sharing our stories is very important to us. While Keyanna was not legally adopted she met her parents at church as a little girl while living with her grandparents. They immediately filled a need in her life and when her grandparents became ill, and later passed away they naturally formed a family- adding Keyanna to the two biological children they had. They make no distinctions as to when and why they became a family because it happened so seamlessly as they feel it was always meant to.

Albert lost his mother as a teenager and to ensure his safety and security he was adopted by his older sister. This shaped their family and their deep friendship over the years and Albert still considers his sister his best friend. Both sides of our family are thrilled to see us growing our family through adoption once again and we are all excited that it will always be a part of our legacy. We will always speak openly about adoption to our children with age-appropriate answers to their questions. Our home library also has lots of books about and featuring adoption and we are close with other adoptive families.

Family & Home

We live in a large two-story home outside of Saint Louis in a school district ranked number 11 in the state. There is a dedicated playroom that Keyanna and our daughter decorated together on the main level as well as a play space adjacent to Albert’s game room downstairs in the full basement. There are 5 bedrooms so that our children will have their own space and we always have room for family to come and visit as well. Outside there is a trampoline and lots of yard space to run and play in all seasons. Our neighborhood has kids of all ages as well as two playgrounds, a walking trail, and sidewalks throughout for family strolls and bike riding lessons. We are also less than 3 miles from a city park with 2 large play structures as well as a walking track and fields where kids play soccer and baseball. We attended the

HUGE city-wide Easter egg hunt here with thousands of kids and their families- it was a blast!
We seek out family activities in our community and Keyanna is the VP of the local Mothers’ Club.

We have a lot of family members. Albert is 1 of 2 biologically and Keyanna is 1 of 3 biologically, BUT we do not let biology define our family. Because of this, we have much more family than we share bloodlines with and we would not have it any other way.

Albert’s sister and her husband live on the East Coast so we do not see them as frequently as we did before we moved to the Midwest- but we make time for video calls every week and typically travel to see one another every 5 months or so. Albert’s sister is a very loving Auntie and she values all her time with Chloë. She is always excited for an update about preschool or gymnastics and we send her photos often as well. She is very excited for us to add another member to our family. All of Keyanna’s immediate family, with the exception of her younger brother, live just 90 minutes away in her hometown. When we all get together for holidays and birthdays there are now 17 of us and it can be…loud. But we love it and would not change it for anything. There are 8 grandchildren from age 2 through 17 so someone always has a performance or sporting event for us to attend and cheer them on. Chloë’s grandparents are known as Mamaw and Papaw and they are 1 in a million. They plan an annual GRAND

Adventure for the grandkids and make every visit special somehow. Mamaw loves Christmas and hanging the stockings. You can find Papaw outside teaching someone to ride their bike or shoot a basketball. A friend turned sister also lives there and we are all involved in her KC wedding next summer. Keyanna’s youngest brother lives on the East Coast near Albert’s sister so when we visit one we get to see both! He and his family have also come to visit us in the Midwest and enjoyed seeing Saint Louis for the first time. We are going on vacation with them later this year as well.

How others describe me

Albert is my favorite person in the world. I never feel safer than when I am with him. He consistently places his family and friends first, making sure that everyone is taken care of before he thinks of himself. Albert loves deeply and shows this through his actions. He is a man of few words. He is responsible, patient, and fun-loving. Albert is always the funny one, sometimes not on purpose, and makes sure that we all remember to have fun and not take things too seriously. He enjoys outdoor adventures, computers, gaming, and eating out with friends, especially sushi and Korean BBQ. He is also hoping to start biking as a family for fun and exercise. Albert enjoys music of all kinds (he is seriously like a music trivia treasure trove!) and has an affinity for the guitar. He is a great Dad and it is so fun to watch him father our daughter. They especially enjoy cooking together, playing pretend, and being outside. Albert loves Chloë unconditionally and is sure to make her laugh every single day! Somedays that is because he puts hair clips in his beard and some days that is because he tickles her until she cannot take it anymore! As we grow our family again I am so thankful that I will get to see Albert once again be a Dad to someone that will get smothered in his love all the time and grow up knowing what it means to have a Dad that thinks the world of them.

Keyanna’s devotion to faith keeps her humble, strong, and loving of the world around her. The bonds she forms with friends and family are some of the deepest you will ever see. This is why her family is so large- when she chooses you to be in it- you are in it forever. The benefit of this is that our daughter has so many aunties and uncles to love! In her free time, Keyanna can be found watching TLC, HGTV and checking out deals at Target to help fuel her new ideas for customizing our home with lovely decor. She has a love for music and a beautiful singing voice she gets to share as a member of her church’s worship team. Keyanna enjoys sports, particularly college football, and can always be found cheering on the Missouri Tigers. She also looks forward to baseball season and loves the STL Cardinals. This year she was able to sing on the field with her church choir at a Cardinals game! Keyanna has always been a mother figure- working as a career nanny for numerous sets of twins and large families. She is a doting Auntie to so many I cannot count them and genuinely loves children and has their best interests and safety at heart always. Keyanna is also the Vice President and an Executive Board Member of our local area Mothers Club. As a Mom to Chloë she is a natural. They enjoy their days together and fill them with playdates, crafts, coloring, day trips to the zoo and to see family, turning errands into fun, and lots of reading! Keyanna is always anticipating what our daughter will need next- whether that be the next size of clothes, the next level of books, or the next car seat- she is very in tune with the needs of her child and I am so thankful for that. I am hopeful that when we add another child to our family I will get to see this part of Keyanna continue to grow and change as our kids do and that she will be able to share her love, faith and interests with another little one.

How We Met

We met online first. Albert was hours late to our first in person date and we are both so glad that Keyanna waited on him.

Advice to Future Child

Treat other people the way you want to be treated, even when they do not deserve it. Make mistakes, it is okay- we will be here to help you learn, pick up the pieces and make a plan to try once again. Your family is for you and nothing you do will change that. We will trust, love and honor one another. Be yourself because no one else can do that for you! We will navigate this life together and learn from one another. No one is perfect and we don’t need to be.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We desire an open adoption with our child's birth parents and would like that level of openness to be a decision made by all parties involved. We have a beautiful open relationship with our daughter's birth parents and we share photos with them weekly. We have talked on the phone and visited in person. We truly believe that some level of openness is the best for any child and will strive to place high value on that before anything else.

Favorites

Albert

Favorite Movie: Into The Spiderverse, The Fox & The Hound, Rumble In The Bronx
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Christmas, GenCon.
Hobbies/Interests: music, video games, board games
Dream Vacation: Japan
If I Could Choose a Superpower: time control

Keyanna

Favorite Movie: Remember The Titans
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: stocking at Christmas- I love to see them always growing as we add to our family. My Mom stitches our names on our stockings and it is so special.
Hobbies/Interests: singing. reading. documentaries, living in my mom era
Dream Vacation: Fiji or Hawaii with my whole family
If I Could Choose a Superpower: self-healing super mom