Adoption has been a part of both of our lives since birth. We both have adopted cousins who have been central parts of our families and core members ever since we can remember. Every family reunion has Paul's aunt and uncle along with their three adopted children. Two come from China and one from Haiti. Mike's aunt and uncle adopted domestically.

But what obviously impacted our lives more than anything was the adoption of Quinn. From the moment he became our son he has changed our life for the better. Everything we do is to make his life better. Every decision we make is based on how positive that decision would be for him and his development. He is everything to us and we owe everything to his birthmother. It's a gift we will work to be worthy of for the rest of our lives.

One of the things that really drew us to each other when we first met was our similar outlooks on life and the way we approached our leisure time. We weren't big into the party scene or staying out all night, we much preferred a low-key night in with friends playing board games or going out to a movie together.

That has carried over into our married life and been a core of our family life. We're very focused on the time we have together and making the most of it. We really like working in the yard together or taking Quinn to the park on the odd days off. If Mike gets a few days off in a row we load up the family and go hang out at Paul's parents' house by the beach.

When Paul's mom takes Quinn for a night we will meet friends out for dinner and a show/movie. Mike is vegetarian so we like to explore new and interesting vegetarian restaurants in town and try new things. Instead of regularly taking trips we like to plan one big trip every year and plan to do that with our kids as well. Our hope is that our children will be able to see some really interesting parts of the world before they have to start school and are held to the typical school year timeline. Ireland/Iceland/Greece are high up on our bucket list for the coming years!

Our immediate family and our extended family are big on family traditions.

Each Christmas Paul's grandmother (Quinn calls her Nana the Great) chooses an ornament for every "child" in the family to represent the year in their life. It's always themed after some big event that happened in their personal or family life and she signs it with the year and her name. We have ornaments every year all the way back to the year we were born. And as people marry into the family she adds them to the ornament list. Quinn was the latest addition and he received his first ornament this past Christmas. It was a little baby with the date of his birth and the date of his finalization into our family.

Paul is also big on hosting Christmas Eve when possible. He loves to make a big lasagna and we bake cookies for Santa to eat. We make hot cider and open our matching Christmas jammies to take a picture before we relax and play board games before bed.

Our favorite family tradition is the annual family reunion with Paul's side of the family every summer. We get together over 20 different people under one roof and just spend a week reconnecting and catching up while eating lots of food and swimming. We usually take one deep sea fishing trip as a group too as well as getting a group photo every year so we can capture the memory as our family grows.

We live in a small suburb in Florida. It's the perfect mix of small town feel while also being super close to the fun of theme parks and beaches. We intentionally chose this community because there are families with small children everywhere. We've connected with a group of about ten other families that all have children under two and we regularly host large play dates at each other's houses as well as outings to parks or libraries.

We also live about a block away from a community playground that has an amazing splash pad. It's been a big hit in the summers and how we spend many afternoons having fun and keeping cool. There's also a community pool that we've joined that's awesome for meeting other families with kids and having fun!

Our house is very open concept with one large living area that has the kitchen and dining all connected. We spend a large portion of our time there and we love how open it is. It also has French doors that open up into our cozy large backyard with a playground back there as well. We do lots of dinners on the back patio with friends while the kids and dogs play.

We recently relocated to Florida to be as close as possible to family and friends. They mean so much, especially now that we've started to grow our family. We are fortunate to live very close to Paul's mom and dad, who have transitioned into the role of Grandparents very easily, as well as living right down the street from lifelong friends who have become like family. Mike has three brothers who live in Minnesota who come down to take advantage of the sun and warmth as well as a good visit.

We like to have friends over for dinner and board games weekly. Many of them have children so they'll all come over to play while the adults hang out. We have established a nice routine with Grandparent weekends a few times a month as well!

We met one chilly winter day in a coffee shop in Minnesota back in 2011. We quickly connected over our shared love of animals, nature, and our mutual desire to build a family. Ever since that day we have been best friends and partners in all things. We married on the grounds of our favorite festival in 2017 surrounded by friends and family from all over.

Paul is a corporate trainer by trade but is currently a stay-at-home-dad to our son, Quinn. He has always dreamed of being a stay-at-home-parent and has really been living the dream the past few years. He's really looking forward to adding another love to the home and watching them develop alongside their big brother. Eventually Paul will go back to work once the children head to school. He's a big fan of performance theatre and is always looking to stay involved in the local arts community.

Mike is a store director at a major retail chain. He's built a successful career, has advanced through the ranks, and looks forward to continuing to grow. He's known for being a fair and consistent leader and is well respected throughout the company. His work gives him a lot of flexibility in scheduling which has been great as he's been able to adapt and not miss any appointments with the family.

We know that going through this process, we won't just be adding a child to our family, we will be adding you and anyone from your family that you choose to be a part of your child's life going forward. We are open to openness and are fully willing to explore what that looks like to you. We will absolutely commit to updating you with pictures and letters, but would love and embrace a more open and active partnership throughout your child's life if that is what you want. We understand the importance of a child knowing where they come from and in understanding that the decision to choose adoption was an impossible one with nothing but love at the heart of it. This is the truth they will be told from the minute we welcome them into our lives.

We also understand that openness could be a sliding scale and are ready to make that work as well. There may be times where you might not feel up to a phone call or a meeting. We will fill those times with letters and pictures telling their story of support from their birth family. We'll be here and ready when you feel the time is right. They will know you and will know they are loved.

The thought that you're considering us is truly such an honor. If you do end up selecting us to parent your child we want you to know that we will work the rest of our lives to be worthy of the gift you have given us. You will always and forever be the only mother they will know and we will be certain they know how much you had to love them to make this impossible decision to give them the best shot at life.

We can't wait to get to know you.

Mike & Paul