Hello and thank you for taking the time to get to know a little bit about us. We cannot imagine how you must be feeling right now, but we are grateful for the love you are demonstrating by considering an adoption plan for your child. We know that you want the very best for your child and we will devote our lives to nurture, care and love him or her. We understand this is not an easy decision, and we commend you on your bravery. We hope that we can be a part of your journey and give you peace with your decision.

We met when Lauren was a sophomore in college and Scott was back as a visiting alum. All it took was an entire night of talking and walking around the campus to know we were meant to be. To this day, we find ourselves making annual trips back to campus and have gotten involved with the local chapter of alumni. After six years of dating, Scott proposed and we were married in the summer of 2014.

We’ve always known that we wanted to grow our family. After a few years of unsuccessful infertility treatments, including a couple of miscarriages, we enthusiastically turned to adoption as the way to do so. This was a clear next step in our path to parenthood as Scott was adopted as an infant. But also because all we have ever wanted was a happy, healthy, baby to add to our loving family!

Scott is the most genuine, kind hearted man I know. These qualities are what will make him an amazing dad. He is quiet as he approaches new situations, and is the life of the party around our family and friends. He’s patient, he listens, and he genuinely cares about our family, our friends, our dog (Razzle) and me. He’s the first to offer help when somebody is in need, whether his Dad needs help with his computer, a friend needs help moving or I need help reaching something on the top shelf.

I love that Scott asks every night, while we’re cooking together, how my day was. He’s always thoughtful, pointing out all options in any scenario, helping me make the best decisions whenever I need help. I also love that our nieces and nephews look for Scott at family gatherings to play soccer with in the basement or to be their human jungle gym. I can’t wait to watch Scott play with legos with a child and build the 6000 piece Harry Potter castle with them, or sit down with them and have a tea party with all of their stuffed animals (Scott does love his tea!)

Scott’s 5 favorites – Cars (especially Corvettes!), Video Games, Lemon Meringue Pie, Spending time with Lauren, Watching Movies

Lauren is the most optimistic, happy person I’ve ever met. She always looks for the best in everything, regardless of the situation. She’s a planner and loves helping out with parties of all kinds, from birthdays to baby showers to weddings – she can pull off the perfect gathering for any situation. She also loves to bake and her cupcakes are a frequently requested item by our friends and family. I know she’ll love teaching our child how to make all sorts of delicious baked goods!

Our nieces and nephews adore Lauren. It’s probably because she is always willing to read a book with them, play a game or engage in some arts and crafts. I know that she’s going to be an incredible mom! I’m looking forward to watching her read bedtime stories to a child or showing them the finer points of buttercream icing.

Lauren’s 5 favorites – Redskins, The Beach, Spending time with Scott, Razzle, Cooking/Baking

We live in a two-story, single-family home on a large lot with a big backyard, where our dog Razzle loves to run around and chase squirrels. One of our favorite features is the big screened-in porch with adjoining deck. We love to spend summer nights out there grilling and enjoying the weather. We also have a large family room that would make a great playroom!

Our home is located in a quiet neighborhood. It’s a short walk to the community pool, which is open all summer and a great place to meet the neighbors. The “big event” each year is a Fourth of July parade put on by the neighborhood kids. They decorate their bikes and wagons and march/ride around the block.

We’re close to both Washington D.C and Baltimore, just a short trip to all the sights and attractions each city has to offer. We cannot wait to take a child to the Smithsonian Museums in D.C and up to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. These are just a few of the many attractions that we can’t wait to share with a child!

We love spending time with our family and are fortunate that the majority live close by. Both of our parents live within 45 minutes from us and we see them often. Both sets of parents are excited to be grandparents. In fact, it will be the first time for Lauren’s parents!

On Scott’s side, we have a nephew, Brayden, and a niece, Lyric. Brayden is heavily involved in sports and we get to his games as much as we can. Scott’s parents also attend most of Brayden’s games. Lyric is a little young to be involved in anything yet, although she’s just now getting to into soccer. She loves kicking a ball around at home but was a little shy her first day of practice!

On Lauren’s side, we’ve got lots of “nieces” and “nephews” (actually young cousins – eight total) that we have a lot of fun with! We love spoiling them with ice cream and sleepovers. Scott has proven to be quite the human jungle gym and Lauren loves a good snuggle and bed time story.

In addition to our family, we are surrounded by loving and fun friends, many of who we’ve known for decades and who are all starting to expand their family with children of their own. They are all so supportive of our plan to adopt and are looking forward to welcoming a child into their lives too.

Going to the beach – We are only a couple hours from Maryland’s eastern shore where we take weekend getaways and summer vacations. Lauren’s parents have a vacation house which makes it easy for us to visit. We love being on the water: paddle boarding, jet skiing, boating in the Chesapeake bay.

Entertaining family and friends – The majority of our friends and family are local and often come to our house for dinner and game/movie nights.

Walking our pup, Razzle – Our neighborhood has plenty of routes to take and we enjoy rotating through them.

Cooking together – We love trying new recipes, most of the time they come out extremely well and we love adding them to our repertoire.

Going to baseball games – Scott’s Dad has season tickets to the Orioles, sometimes we get to use those, sometimes we go on our own. We love cheering on our favorite team together (and enjoy the ballpark food!) We can’t wait to share these experiences a child.

• We can’t wait to snuggle with this baby as they fall asleep and read bedtime stories every night.
• We can’t wait to hear about their day at school when that time comes.
• We can’t wait for their first time at the beach and all the times to follow.
• We can’t wait to build sand castles and boogie board with them.
• We can’t wait to bake with them and let them lick the bowl.
• We can’t wait to watch Disney movies with them and would love to see their smiles when we take them to Disney World some day.
• We can’t wait to carve pumpkins and go to pumpkin patches, and take them trick or treating at Halloween.

Since we got married we’ve hosted Christmas Day at our house with family and friends. We go to a nearby tree farm to cut our own tree, and spend the next day decorating it (and our house!). Lauren bakes dozens of cookies with her godmother, Aunt Pam, each year which we try to save for Christmas Day, and Scott and Lauren have perfected the Christmas Dinner tradition.

We also host an annual New Year’s party with our friends – yes, we host two big holidays in one week. We snack, we play games and at midnight all gather to watch the ball drop. It’s always a good time, even if Scott usually falls asleep by 12:05, he’s always had some trouble staying up late.

And finally, who doesn’t love their birthday! Every year, for both of our birthdays, we make it a point to let the birthday boy or girl choose their favorite meal and favorite type of cake. As we mentioned, Lauren is an incredible baker and goes all out on these cakes!

We are so excited to share these traditions with a child and make new ones together as a family!

Thank you for considering us. As parents, we promise to say “I Love You” every day… multiple times! We promise to give this child everything they need, maybe not everything they want, but everything they need. We promise to ensure that they are loved and supported through all of their endeavors to praise their accomplishments and guide them through their challenges. We promise to raise them to be a good person, to do good in this world, and to be respectful of others. We promise to give them hugs when they’re sad or scared, but we also promise to have fun and ensure there is laughter every day.

Most importantly, we promise that the child will always know how much you love them. We will be open about their unique and special story, and tell them all about you. If you’d like, we’d be more than happy to keep you updated throughout the years with pictures and letters.

We wish you the best as you continue to decide what is best for you and your child. If we’re the right match for you, we hope to meet you someday soon and look forward to getting to know you.