We lead a life that revolves around family and friendship. On weekends we enjoy spending time with our family or friends, usually at the beach or boating in the summer and bonfires or football games in the fall. Holidays are always spent with family, baking cookies, eating big meals and playing board games/cards. Every few months we enjoy a weekend trip or vacation, camping, hiking, or visiting friends and family.

During the week we both work but always make time for phone-free family dinner. We are health conscious and we both either workout or run with our dogs multiple days a week. We enjoy winding down by listening to music and cooking dinner together. Kristen works at the local hospital as a nurse and Eric is in the Air Force. Although his job sometimes requires him to travel, he is never gone for more than a few days.

We look forward to making this baby the center of our world and creating new family memories, routines and traditions with them.

Kristen: Being a parent means putting the needs of a tiny human before your own. It means always being physically, mentally and emotionally available when your child needs you. It means protecting them, nurturing them and helping them grow and develop into the unique individual they are meant to be. I expect I will like watching them grow, learn and explore the most. I will enjoy seeing the world through their eyes. I am looking forward to the simple moments the most, such as bedtime stories, first steps, birthdays, and family dinners. I cannot wait to hang up art from school and attend any and all types of extracurricular activities and events. I am not naïve, I know there will be bad days, but I will wake up every day striving to be the best parent and person I can be for my child.

Eric: Being a parent is a full-time commitment, a time in your life where your priorities shift and your focus is on the development and well-being of your child. While it can be challenging, every day will be full of rewards and memories. Everything you do and say sets an example for your child, so you must recognize the impact you make on the child's development. When it comes to milestones in the child's life, I think I will like being there to celebrate those the most. From the first words and steps all the way to graduation and marriage, I can't wait to be there through it all. I will also find a lot of happiness during normal day-to-day life, as that is when you really see how the child grows into their own person.

Kristen grew up on a lake and loved animals from an early age. She would help rehome lost dogs and nurse sick ducks back to health. She had numerous pets from rabbits to horses and everything in between. Growing up, animals taught both of us how to love and care for others. They also taught us about loyalty and responsibility. As an adult Kristen became a veterinary technician and then a nurse so she could continue to care for first animals and then people. We currently have two dogs and a cat. We take our dogs everywhere with us, often planning hiking and camping trips that the dogs love. Our dogs both get along great with children, especially small children that drop food. They are gentle and cautious among younger children and fully enjoy playing fetch with the older children. We believe our pets are part of our family and have helped prepare us to be the best parents we can be.

We love where we live. Eric grew up in Florida and Kristen moved to Florida at the age of 20 and never left. We live in a coastal town of Florida with beautiful white sandy beaches. We are continually hosting our friends and family during the summer and spend many days on the beach and boat with them.

Our house is located in a quiet cul-de-sac and backs up to the woods. We spend many quiet mornings on our back deck reading and many peaceful evenings grilling. Our neighbors are all very friendly and we enjoy sitting out together at Halloween to hand out candy. There are many kids in our neighborhood and we often see them playing soccer and basketball with each other. On nice cool evenings the streets are crowded with neighbors walking dogs and pushing strollers while their older children ride bikes.

We are proud to attend a wonderful non-denominational church close by that is very involved in community out reach, volunteering and serving the town we live in.

Our home resembles a two-story cottage with flowers out front and a large deck with rocking chairs out back. It has an indoor fireplace that we use during chilly winter nights. It has three bedrooms upstairs that we currently fill with visiting friends and family, but hope to someday fill with our children. Your child would have its own room that we cannot wait to decorate with farm or zoo animals at first and redesign as the child grows and develops interests of their own. We already love our home but will love it so much more when it is filled with the sound of little feet, laughter and childhood memories in the making.

We think family and friends are the most important thing in life. We are blessed with loving family on both of our sides. Kristen talks with her parents almost daily on the phone while Eric prefers to text in his family group chat. Both of us were blessed with brothers whom we are still close to and consider some of our best friends. We adore our young nieces and know they will be great cousins and friends to this child.

We both grew up taking family camping trips, boating, fishing and having family game nights. Friday game nights and Sunday lunches after church are some of Kristen's favorite memories. Eric's favorite childhood memories are of family beach days and camping trips in Florida. We both have fond memories of Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and traditions surrounded by family, including grandparents. We still spend every Christmas with our families, have family game nights, and take family vacations with our parents and siblings every year. Recently we have gone to Kentucky with Eric's parents and two brothers and Yellowstone park with Kristen's parents, brother and sister-in-law.

Both of our families and parents are extremely supportive of our adoption journey and wait excitedly to meet their future grandchild. Our most sincere hope is that our future child will grow up surrounded by family, creating lasting memories, never doubting how loved and precious they are.

We are Kristen and Eric. We have been married for almost four years but together almost eleven years. We live in Florida. Eric was born and raised in Florida. Kristen grew up in Pennsylvania, but she moved to Florida in 2009 and fell in love with both Florida and Eric. Kristen is a nurse, and Eric is in the Air Force. We have two dogs and enjoy hiking, camping, and boating with them. We are very family centered and enjoy family game nights and vacations at every opportunity.

We have always known that we would have children. Early in our relationship we decided we would foster or adopt a baby, not knowing then that we would be unable to have a biological child. After three years of testing and treatments, injections and hormones, prayers, tears, and failed IVF, we still do not know why we cannot conceive but we are at peace with it. We just want a family of our own and trust that God will bring us the family we are meant to have. The dream to adopt is now more dear to us than ever as we hope and pray to start a family of our own through adoption. Though the past few years have been hard for us, emotionally, mentally, and physically, they have made us so much stronger as a couple, for which we are grateful. This child is already loved, anticipated, and appreciated more than they will ever know.

We cannot imagine what you are going through, but if we were in your position we think we would want to know that our baby would have a stable home with a family that loves them more than anything else in the world. We can promise you that will be true with us. Your baby will not just be a part of our life, but will be our entire life. We are ready for middle of the night diaper changes, baby play dates and birthday parties, library book readings, t-ball practice, dance, soccer, art, beach days, Disney, camping, snotty noses, skinned knees and everything in between. We are surrounded and supported by both of Kristen's parents, brother, and sister-in-law as well as both of Eric's parents, brothers, and nieces (all of which are waiting expectantly to love and welcome this baby into our family). Eric has four years left in the Air Force, so there won't be a lot of moving around. We plan to remain in Florida surrounded by our friends and family.

Regarding family and friends, we also plan to fully embrace open adoption. We would welcome a continued relationship with the birth mother if she wishes. We are open to all forms of communication; letters, emails, texts, calls. We also think yearly visits could be beneficial to all of us. We feel a supportive family and knowing where you come from are very important for any child to develop an identity and individuality. We understand that every adoption opportunity, birth mother and child are different, but we want it to be known that we will be open to doing whatever is best for the child and we will be supportive of whatever level of interaction you choose.

We want to thank you for reading this, for considering us. But more importantly we want to acknowledge and thank you for choosing adoption. We imagine it is an extremely emotional and difficult decision to make.

There is no doubt in our minds, we will be good parents, maybe even great. Just ask our dogs! And if you have any remaining questions, please just ask us. We have no illusions that parenthood will be easy or perfect, but we are ready and have so much love to give.

Sincerely,

Eric & Kristen