Being a parent is a major responsibility. You are tasked with raising an individual to the point of adulthood with the goal of turning him or her into a valuable member of the community. You are also tasked with raising this individual in a safe and loving home, giving them the support and allowing them the space, room and time to explore who they are and find their calling in the world. We believe that as a parent you should strive to make your child a better person than you are. As future parents, we most look forward to seeing how our child's unique personality and skills will influence those around them and their community. We look forward to watching as our child develops their sense of self, of right versus wrong, and of responsibility as they grow. We know that there will be major events in our child's future that will help shape our child. We also know that the small moments – the time reading together, cooking together, playing together – will be just as important, and we look forward to every one of those moments.

As we both have bachelor's degrees in education (Amanda in music and Jacob in math and science) we look forward to educating our child from an early age.

We both feel that learning starts early and never stops! We believe that learning is not always a sit-down activity, but often is an active get up and move process as well.

We believe in outdoor science experiments and chemistry in the kitchen, interactive history lessons, hands-on math lessons like pizza fractions, and roadtrips to see geography and different cultures in person.

We are both avid readers. Stories are a powerful tool that help one develop empathy for others, explain and explore political and social ideas, foster curiosity help one explore the world around you.

We promise to instill a life-long love for learning in our child and help them excel in whatever area of study they choose to love.

Amanda has personal connections to adoption in that both her grandfather and uncle were adopted. Amanda grew up knowing that her grandfather and uncle were adopted and has always wanted to adopt since she was a little girl. Her grandfather was a major influence in her life. He was always there for her family, attending musical concerts, taking them to the zoo and teaching them various arts and crafts. Amanda has always wanted to provide a loving home for a child like her great grandmother did for her grandfather. Her grandfather and grandmother also adopted her uncle, and even though he lives far away now, Amanda has many fond memories of playing with her uncle growing up. Amanda's grandfather has since passed away but she would like to think he would be happy, proud and excited that we are adopting a child as well.

We live in a single-family, four-bedroom home. We have a large family room where we enjoy playing games and watching movies and shows together. This is by far our favorite room! We also have a living room where Amanda enjoys playing her clarinet and piano, a dining room where we host dinner parties and do arts and crafts. A sunroom/gaming room that houses our pool table and arcade systems. We enjoy a large backyard that is fenced in where our dog enjoys running around and we have a fire-pit for roasting marshmallows and sitting outside.

We live in a rather large urban city of Kentucky. The city includes some of the top hospitals in the nation and is currently ranked second for pediatric specialties in the nation. We are lucky enough to have various public pools and more than 100 different parks around the city as well as six libraries that offer a variety of classes and events for all ages. The city holds a few annual events like our annual Halloween parade, PRIDE block party, comic-con and of course various horse-related activities. We have various museums and even a children's theater program.

There are 37 elementary, 12 middle, and six high schools as well as three technical centers and 11 other academic programs in the city to provide the diverse population a variety of opportunities to prepare them for their career path.

Our extended family is very excited about our choice to bring a child into our family and are very supportive. Our godchildren have already started planning out all of the board and video games that they want to teach as well as books to read and movies to watch. They live close by and will likely be over often to spend time with us and our child.

Amanda's mom lives nearby as well and Jacob's mom lives not too far away - an hour and a half or so - and we make regular visits around the holidays and throughout the summer, making holiday cookies and fudge and having cookouts on the deck or by the pool. We have a lot of crafters in our family, and have no doubt that this child will grow up to be well rounded between the arts, music, and science.

We have a large extended family both biologically and by choice, so there will be a never-ending supply of love and support for your child.

Hello,

We want to acknowledge that there are a lot of prospective parents out there hoping to adopt, and express our gratitude that you took the time to get to know us as best as you can. We hope to show you our dedication, our hope, and our desire to do everything we can to give a child the best life possible.

Our names are Jacob and Amanda, we have known each other for 18 years and have been married for 14. We have had so many great experiences together, as well as many struggles. But through it all, have emerged stronger than we began, and so much more aware of who we are, individually and together. We feel we are better now than we ever were.

Even from the early days of dating we always discussed adoption as a part of our family plan. Despite starting this process later than we ever intended, we do not regret a minute of our lives, and are thankful to start this process now. We have learned so much about each other and ourselves during the last fourteen years, and now feels like the right time to let our family grow.

We are family people, preferring to spend our time at home with family and close friends rather than going out in large crowds. We have a weekly game night with our best friends and our godchildren, and we look forward to including your child in that tradition. Jacob loves video games and cannot wait to have a child to introduce to Mario and Zelda. Amanda is fond of arts and crafts and is anxious to begin finger painting and making macaroni necklaces. We are both readers and have found joy in helping our godchildren explore literature, find new favorite stories, characters, and adventures, and very much want to encourage our child to imagine and dream in much the same way.

We have so many hopes and dreams for our lives and we expect you have as many for your child. We will send regular letters and pictures, and are open to discussing more as you wish, we could never imagine cutting birth parents out of our child's life, and you will always be a part if you wish to be.

We cannot promise a perfect life. We cannot promise great wealth or perfect health, and cannot promise every moment will be happy. Life is unpredictable and full of unexpected shocks. What we can promise though, is unwavering support, unconditional love, and a commitment to doing our best, and to always think of your child first. We promise that we will always be there, to share our laughter and tears, our anger and forgiveness. We promise to encourage fun, games and imagination, and to instill a sense of responsibility, kindness, and work ethic. We promise to deal with scraped knees and runny noses, as well as the inevitable fender benders and heartbreaks. We promise to be there through the good grades and the bad, the first job and the college planning.

Whether baseball or painting, cheerleading or chess, business or band, we promise to do everything to help your child find their passion and give them as much help as we can chasing happiness and success as they define it.

Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to give us this chance. There is nothing we want more than to help a child find their way through life to happiness and success, and you have made our lives fuller by considering us. Whether you choose us or not, we wish you all the best and hope you find what your child needs.

With all the hopes in our hearts,

Jacob & Amanda