From Whitney: Ever since I was a little girl, I have known two things deep in my heart that I wanted to be a mother and I wanted to adopt. For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to characters in books and movies who are adopted: stories like Annie, The Secret Garden, The Boxcar Children, Anne of Green Gables, and so many more. These characters and the characters who ultimately love and take care of these children are some of my favorite characters ever written.

When I was a little girl, my father (who is an attorney) was involved in helping a family with an adoption. In the process, he invited my mother and me to help care for the baby in the short transition time between the hospital and placement with the adoptive parents. I was amazed at the miracle of that little baby and I knew that I wanted to experience the miracle of adoption for myself.

Each of my children hold a special place in my heart and I know there is yet another piece of my heart that has always been reserved for the child that will take a different journey to my arms.

From Andrew: Nothing else compares to fatherhood. Each time a newborn is placed in my arms, I am overwhelmed with joy and gratitude that I get to be the father. I love raising my kids! Each child has taught me so much and helped me to experience true happiness. I want to adopt because I feel like there is so much more I can learn and I know having a new child join our family will help me become better.

I believe that adopting a child will be an exciting and important part of our family story.

Whitney About Andrew: The first thing that attracted me to Andrew is that he has a gentleness about him. He's physically strong and coordinated; yet he is also kind, thoughtful, and unassuming. He's brilliant and yet is also very good at connecting well with everyone around him. He genuinely loves learning and makes an effort to learn from everything and everyone. He willingly makes frequent sacrifices to put our family first. He is a very involved and present husband and father. Andrew is an optimist and always finds solutions to problems and a happy way forward. And he is so fun! He's constantly chasing our children around the house, playing on the floor with the kids, making me laugh, and planning new family adventures. I adore Andrew!! He is my best friend and I feel beyond blessed that I get to share my life with him.

Andrew About Whitney: When I first met Whitney I did not want to leave. She made me laugh and I soon found out she is very intelligent. I also soon learned how kind and loving she is to others. She would plan activities just to help friends. The best thing is that nothing has changed. She continues to make me laugh and inspires me to be more selfless. She is always interested in learning and enjoys teaching our children new things such as math, writing, baking or gymnastics. I enjoy having the time to watch her have fun with our kids by doing crafts, playing board games, or playing hide and seek. She is also very patient, kind, and loving which helps her to assess difficult situations with our children or other kids and quickly diffuse the situation. I have truly enjoyed watching my family grow with the help of Whitney because she helps us all to be better. Asking Whitney to marry me was the best decision I have ever made and thankfully she said yes.

10 Fun Facts About Andrew

10 Fun Facts About Whitney

The first room we designed and set up was the playroom for the kids. We love having a space dedicated to their adventures, learning, and creating! We also love spending time together in our large kitchen cooking and baking delicious food for our family and to share with neighbors and friends. We can't get enough of the yard we created outside: complete with playground area, many fruit trees, and garden boxes full of homegrown fruits and vegetables.

We moved into our home during the pandemic, as did all of our neighbors. These unique circumstances united a group of culturally diverse families into a community of friends. While we love our home itself, our neighbors are our favorite part of where we live. Everyone looks out for all of the children in our neighborhood and we are constantly seeing neighbors help each other with various home and yard projects.

Our street hosts holiday block parties for the 4th of July, Halloween, and Christmas. We love joining all of our neighbors in our driveways to share the food and fun of our various cultural backgrounds.

Our extended family spans from coast to coast! We love gathering with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for any occasion in person or virtually. Here are some of our favorite family traditions:

Our kids love being with their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. We love seeing how much our family members love our kids.

We both grew up with cousins who joined our extended families through adoption. In our families, adoption is part of the family story. Our parents are so excited to have a new grandchild join the crew!

Whitney's grandmother hand made thousands of baby quilts that she donated to children's hospitals, family members, and friends. She loved all children and wanted every child to feel the warmth and love of having a blanket that was made just for them. Our children each have a special blanket from great-grandma Helen. A few years ago, Helen passed away at the age of 97; however, we saved some special blankets (a few of her favorites!) to select the perfect quilt to welcome our adopted child into our family.

We know that it takes a lot of sacrifice and courage to carry a baby inside of you and even more love and bravery to consider adoption. You are amazing! You are stronger and braver than you know. In our home, we will always speak of you in a spirit of love and deep appreciation. We will emphasize to our child that their birth mother is strong and brave and loves them so very much.

We certainly aren't perfect people and we aren't perfect parents either. Our three kids have broken us in well and continue to better train us daily. We were pretty clueless with our first baby; however, we are happy to say that we have learned so much and improved our parenting approach a lot. We are better prepared to parent a new child than ever before! And while we cannot promise you perfection, we have some promises that we would like to offer you:

We are eager to share our home, our lives, and our hearts with your child. We are excited to discuss the specific details of an open adoption with you. We are happy to provide pictures and updates as desired in the years to come. We are also happy to discuss any additional requests you may have.

We are so excited that adoption allows us to add both you and your child to our family. In the words sung by Rina Sawayama and Elton John, "We don't need to be related to relate. We don't need to share genes or surname. You are my chosen family."

We know adding a new family member doesn't divide love, it multiplies it!

We are more than willing to provide any additional information or answer any of your questions. We look forward to learning more about you!

Andrew & Whitney