Adoption was something that was always an interest to Mandy. One of our closest family friends joined her family through adoption, so that path of building a family is something Mandy has always known and appreciated. We have always wanted a large family but had not made a specific plan about how that family would be built. When we were first married, we decided to start trying to build our family naturally and found it to be far more of a challenge than we had anticipated. After about two and a half years of trying to conceive, we made the decision to put having children on the back burner temporarily while we made some major life changes, getting new jobs and moving to live closer to Mike's family. We were pleasantly surprised by a pregnancy shortly after starting our new jobs, and were looking forward to finally starting our family. Our daughter joined us earlier than expected when Mandy became ill. Although our daughter was well after a rough first day in the world, Mandy experienced significant complications and took much longer to recover. After our experience, Mandy's health care professionals strongly recommended against future pregnancies, meaning we would need to carefully think about if (and how) to expand our family. This is when adoption came back into the picture - we learned more about open adoption, and realized this is an ideal way for us to grow our family in love and connection through a child to another family.

Being parents is one of the most challenging and rewarding things we have ever done, and something we are so excited to begin again with our second child. For us, parenting is such an important job as it becomes our responsibility to give a child a safe space to grow and become the best versions of themselves, whatever that might be. We enjoy getting to see our first child's unique personality shine, including her interests and strengths, and anticipate enjoying getting to know our second child in that same way. It's so much fun to see children proudly sharing what they have learned or what they can do, from the excited look when they first learn to walk, to showing off their dance moves or going down the tall slide at the playground for the first time. Some of what we enjoy most about being parents is getting to see experiences through their eyes, like the excitement and magic of Christmas morning or celebrating birthdays. There is nothing better than hearing a child's laughter - we so look forward to those first baby giggles of excitement and the belly laughs that small children do best.

We have at times been accused of having a zoo! Our dog is a black lab mix, loves treats, and barks fiercely but is a giant softy. We love taking him on walks through our neighborhood, playing catch with his favorite ball, or just cuddling with him. Our older cat is a giant orange tabby who might be more food motivated than our dog! He has gotten grumpier in his old age but is still social and loves to cuddle on the couch with the family. Our younger cat is a small gray tabby who still acts like a kitten even though she's well into her senior years! She is our daughter's favorite, because if you put a blanket on your lap, she will come to cuddle in it. We also have a turtle who we rescued 18 years ago - you wouldn't think it, but she has quite a personality! Her favorite treat is strawberries. We love our animals!

We live in a single-family home in Virginia. Our house has 3 bedrooms, a loft area that overlooks our living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and a family room that is a playroom. We love spending time together as a family in the living room relaxing or playing games. When the weather is nice, we enjoy hosting parties on our deck, sometimes with a fire pit, sometimes with a movie shown on a projector, or sometimes just hanging out. Since the playroom is just inside the back door, kids can go from indoor to outdoor play while parents relax on the deck.

We are in a very family-friendly neighborhood and community, with lots of formal and informal opportunities to connect with each other. There are several neighborhood playgrounds and many events on the community calendar if we'd like to get out of the house (Mandy's favorite is participating in an annual community trunk or treat, and Mike likes going to Christmas markets and summer festivals). There are children of all ages in our neighborhood, so there are plenty of opportunities to make local friends. We are also closely connected to some of our nearest neighbors whose children are grown but who are very supportive of us and excited at the prospect of our welcoming a new member into the family.

We live in the same area where we spent our childhoods, in the neighborhood next to Mike's childhood home. Mike's mom still lives there and Saturday nights are usually "Nana nights," where we get for dinner with Mike's sister, Mike's brother and sister-in-law, and their two sons. When we're together, we enjoy just catching up on life, doing puzzles, and playing card or board games. We also get to enjoy some unique family food traditions, like peanut soup at Thanksgiving and lime jello with celery on Christmas Eve (it's good, we promise!) Mandy's family no longer lives in the area, which means we get to visit them on vacation! Mandy has a younger brother and sister who live in different states, so the most special times are the ones where we can all be in the same place at the same time! We love going to the beach, visiting theme parks together, or finding the unique activities in whatever community we visit (especially children's museums).

Part of what makes our family unique is how family-oriented we are. We genuinely love spending time with our parents and siblings, which we know is pretty lucky. We prioritize family togetherness as a value and hope our children will have the same kind of relationship with our family that we have built. Our families are new to adoption as a way to grow the family but are so excited to have another member to love!

We cannot begin to express our gratitude to you for even looking at our profile and considering us in placing a child for adoption. We cannot imagine what it would be like to be in your shoes and hope that we can provide some comfort, reassurance, and even joy as this journey unfolds. A little bit about us... we have known each other since we were 13 and 15, have been together for over 20 years, were married 10 years ago, and have been through many highs and lows together as a couple. Our lives really center around children and family, whether that's taking care of each other, volunteering for kids' events at school and church, or even Mandy's job as a child psychologist. We love music, movies, cartoons (SpongeBob and Charlie Brown are favorites), traveling, and hanging out with our family - which we get to do most Saturdays. On any given day in our house, there is music playing, people talking and laughing, and hopefully someone making sure the laundry got switched! (Mandy's money is on Mike remembering). We are not wealthy but have had a lot of good fortune in our life, including having loving families ourselves, the blessing of becoming parents, and having the means to pursue adoption in expanding our family. We have tried to make our home and family a welcoming one, where people can be themselves freely and are loved without reservation. Our new addition will join a household and a community filled with love - with a big sister who is so excited to welcome them home, along with uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, family friends, and neighbors and church family who are supportive and eagerly anticipating someone new to love. They will get to become a part of the family traditions we've inherited, like Christmas Eve smorgasbord, and the ones we are creating, like hosting our annual neighborhood "cookie party" and backyard movie nights.

If you were to judge by social media, we would seem like very private people - that is a choice we made as a couple so our children can grow and flourish without the pressures that social media creates, while making sure they do stay closely connected to the people in their lives who love them. Knowing that we look so private makes it that much more important to us to share with you that we want you to stay a part of ours and our child's lives, and that we will be sure to consider both our children's needs and yours as we navigate what that looks like. To us, adoption is a process of addition. Although we will be our child's parents, you will very much remain an important part of their story and, therefore, our family. We will be so excited to share regular letters with pictures so that you can get to know and love our child as much as we do. By the way, you may want to brace yourself for some silliness in those letters and pictures! We try as much as we can to have fun when we are together, and hope that you are open to being part of that fun in whatever way works best for your family (like some travels with flat Stanley, video chats, or even visiting each other somewhere new).

Because we don't think we can ever say it enough, we want to thank you again for looking through our profile and considering us as adoptive parents. We wish you comfort, love, and all the best things as you go through this process. We hope we have a chance to meet you, laugh with you, and share our love with a child.

Sincerely,

Mike & Mandy