We are so proud to be the parents to our amazing two year old daughter, Olivia. We were fortunate to be chosen by Olivia’s birth mother as adoptive parents, and were so excited to be able to be present at the hospital as she made her arrival into this world. 

From the moment we held Olivia in our arms, we were so in love with our sweet daughter. It has been an incredible blessing to be able to be there to see her grow and change over these last two years.  She’s so very smart, funny, sweet, curious, determined, and seems to never have a shortage of energy!

Olivia is such a sweet and fun-loving little girl, and we know she will be the very best big sister one day!

We are committed to providing our children with a loving family bond that will act as a foundation for them throughout their life. We feel it is our job as parents to be there to love and support them and instill in them strong values. In terms of values, it is important to us that our children show kindness and respect to others, develop a strong work ethic, act with honesty and integrity, and value relationships with family and loved ones. We cannot wait to see how our children grow from year to year and become the people that only they have been created to be.

As parents, we are excited to share in all the joys they experience throughout life and watch them make an impact in the world. As adoptive parents, we hope that our child knows as much as possible about his or her identity and birth parents. We will always talk with our children about their adoption story and create an openness that allows for discussion anytime questions come up. As our children grow and ask questions about their adoptive parents, we will always explain their birth parents' extreme selflessness and love for their child.

Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents to your baby. We hope our letter helped give a glimpse into who we are as a couple. We would be forever grateful for the opportunity to love, nurture, and parent a child through adoption!

Justin about Erin

When I first met Erin, I was immediately attracted to her kind and enormous heart. It did not take long for me to fall in love with her, and she is easily the best thing that has ever happened to me. Anyone close to Erin would describe her as extremely intelligent, loving, funny, and always caring for those around her. She loves playing with Olivia and reading together. I can see Erin’s excitement in helping Olivia learn and grow. She is so kind and gentle with our daughter, as well as funny and loving. Always giving 110%, Erin is the hardest working person I have ever met. Our daughter is incredibly blessed to have Erin as a mother.

Erin about Justin

Justin is an amazingly loving husband to me and is absolutely my biggest supporter and best friend! The two things I love most about Justin are his big heart and his sense of humor. The past two years I’ve been able to see Justin be an amazing dad and role model to our child! He is outstanding! I love watching him read books using funny voices and be so silly with our daughter.  She loves every minute of it, and she absolutely has him wrapped around her little finger.  I can see that Justin cherishes those moments with our daughter, and cherish being able to watch their bond.

As a couple, we are extremely fortunate that our two families have truly come together as one big family through our marriage. Both of our families live within a short two hour drive of our home, and we all get together frequently to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and enjoy time together. Aside from holidays, our favorite get-togethers with family are cookouts in the backyard with games and plenty of good food.

Justin's parents, Roz and Steve, are both retired and love spending time with us and our daughter, Olivia (their first grandchild). Justin also has one younger sister, Jessica, who is an amazing aunt to our daughter! Erin is also very close with her mom, Lori, and her sister, Lindsey. Erin's sister, Lindsey along with her husband, Roy, have two sons making us an aunt and uncle to two very fun and sweet boys.  Every year we take a vacation with all of our extended family. It’s become such a fun family tradition, and Olivia especially loves every minute of it!

In addition to the love and support from our families, we are lucky to have close friends that have become like a family to us. In our free time we often get together with our friends for game nights, cookouts, football games, and other fun events. It has been a blessing to have such amazing friends to enjoy life with.

We both grew up in Indiana and went to college at Purdue University.  After college, we moved to Central Illinois for a career opportunity. We feel very fortunate that our work brought us to this area because we have loved living in our town over the last 10 years. While going on walks and playing with our daughter outside, we have met several other families in our addition, many with young children. Our neighborhood also offers plenty of trails and area for walking and biking.  We spend a lot of time outdoors with our daughter riding bikes and playing on the swings, slides, etc. Our town also has several community pools and other activities that we enjoy as a family.

We love that our home offers a large open first floor with sight from the kitchen and dining to the family room. This open area is very helpful in keeping an eye on our busy toddler. We have a similarly open basement where we relax and watch football or movies on the weekends. The upstairs has a master bedroom, a guest bedroom, Justin's office, and our daughter’s room, and a separate room for her future brother or sister.

We are Justin and Erin, a fun loving and happily married couple hoping to grow our family through adoption. We deeply respect you and others considering adoption and appreciate you considering us as adoptive parents. As you read more, we hope you get a sense of who we are as a family and feel the love and support that we would offer a child.

Our Adoption Journey

About a year into our marriage, we excitedly decided to try to start our family.? After years without much luck, we realized starting our family would not look the way most people envision it.? When we reached a very hopeless point in our journey with infertility, we were able to find an enormous amount of hope with adoption. Our adoption journey lead us to the adoption of our beautiful daughter, Olivia, in 2022.? Being parents to Olivia has been an incredible blessing to us and our family, and we look forward to growing our family again through adoption.

Justin about Erin (written by Justin)

When I first met Erin, I was immediately attracted to her kind and enormous heart. It did not take long for me to fall in love with her, and she is easily the best thing that has ever happened to me. Anyone close to Erin would describe her as extremely intelligent, loving, funny, and always caring for those around her. Erin is the very best mother and role model to our daughter. She loves playing with Olivia and reading together. I can see Erin’s excitement in helping Olivia learn and grow. She is so kind and gentle with our daughter, as well as funny and loving. Always giving 110%, Erin is the hardest working person I have ever met. Our daughter is incredibly blessed to have Erin as a mother.

Erin about Justin (written by Erin)

Justin is an amazingly loving husband to me and is absolutely my biggest supporter and best friend! The two things I love most about Justin are his big heart and his sense of humor. He's so fun to be around and there isn't anything Justin wouldn't do for his family or loved ones. The past two years I’ve been able to see Justin be an amazing dad and role model to our child! He is outstanding! I love watching him read books using funny voices and be so silly with our daughter.? She loves every minute of it, and she absolutely has him wrapped around her little finger.? I can see that Justin cherishes those moments with our daughter, and cherish being able to watch their bond.

Our Daughter

We are so proud to be the parents to our amazing two year old daughter, Olivia.? We were fortunate to be chosen by Olivia’s birth mother as adoptive parents, and were so excited to be able to be present at the hospital as she made her arrival into this world.? From the moment we held Olivia in our arms, we were so in love with our sweet daughter.? It has been an incredible blessing to be able to be there to see her grow and change over these last two years.? She’s so very smart, funny, sweet, curious, determined, and seems to never have a shortage of energy!? Olivia is such a sweet and fun-loving little girl, and we know she will be the very best big sister one day! Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents.?We are happy to provide whatever level of openness the birth parents feel comfortable with. We would gladly send photos or updates about the child periodically or even get together occasionally if possible. We hope our letter helped give a glimpse into who we are as a family.? We would be forever grateful for the opportunity to love, nurture, and parent a child through adoption.

Best Wishes,

Justin & Erin