We love spending time with family and friends having BBQs, visiting museums, spending holidays together, and sitting around chatting with one another. We also love playing board games in the evenings after dinner or during the weekends. We play complex games, but also the classics that we can't wait to share with a child. Hiking is something we try to do whenever the weather is nice, we take our dog and binoculars and love exploring what different trails have to offer. Traveling is something we love to do, whether it is to another country or a few hours away. We love going someplace and exploring the area, eating at local places and feeling the vibe of different locations. Going to sporting events is something we both did with our parents when we were young and is something we continue to do to this day. We enjoy different sporting environments such as football with some popcorn, baseball with a hot dog, or soccer with dip n dots. We can't wait to carry on this tradition of taking a child to different team's games. We also enjoy relaxing at home, watching the birds in the backyard, reading a book or watching a good TV show.

Tracy About Amanda: First off, I admire her kindness. I think in the world today people overlook the value of being kind, that it is a strength and not a weakness. She is kind to everyone she meets (not always effortlessly, she's human after all). Secondly, she is always there for me. She shows up by doing little things (cooking dinner, buying me flowers, giving me a hug, or giving me space), and the big things and knowing I have her in my corner makes me feel special. Thirdly, I love how nerdy she is. I think being a nerd is being truly passionate about the things you love and that describes Amanda. Her passion for different subjects and hobbies is infectious.

Amanda About Tracy: Tracy is so passionate and loyal. Her passion shines through in the people, things, and ideas she loves. That coupled with her loyalty means she will fight for those she loves and protect them at all cost, putting them above herself. She has a strong sense of justice and love that makes you feel safe and that she will be in your corner always. She's the hardest worker I have ever met, she doesn't do anything half-way. She loves with all of her heart and when you are loved by her it is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.

We have been and will continue to examine our own identities as White people. We know that we will have to understand ourselves and a child of color as being members of a multiracial family, instead of a child of color being raised in a White family.

Although our families are mainly White, we have aunts, uncles, cousins, brother-in-laws, and close family friends who are people of color. Your child will not be the only POC at a family gathering or even at school. We also have looked into multi-racial adoption resource groups in our area. If we have a transracial adoption, we will look to immerse the child with people who look like them and can help us know what type of conversations we need to have with the child, as well as more everyday topics, like how to care for their hair and skin properly.

We want to provide every resource to aid in protecting a child, but also know that they can't live a cloistered life. We feel that racism and being anti-racist are evolving conversions all parents should have with their children, regardless of skin color. We will talk with the child about this, in developmentally appropriate ways, throughout their life. We know we cannot protect them from racism or discrimination, but we will listen to them, hold them tight, and let their voice be heard, even if this means having difficult conversations with family members, friends, parents of other children, teachers, etc.

The residential community that surrounds us is very Midwestern: down to earth, kind, and supportive. We live in a quiet neighborhood in Missouri, with extensive sidewalks for walking and biking. It is an older neighborhood, so it has trees and wildlife as well as a lot of birds that are beautiful. Yet, many young families live here and we see many children out playing while we walk our dog, Captain. She's a neighborhood favorite to pet.

Our house is a single-family 3-bedroom home and we would love to make a room into a child's room. Our backyard is lined with trees and features a deck where in the morning we love to sit out and sip coffee and in the evening, you can often find Tracy grilling out.

There are many extracurricular opportunities (i.e., sports, theater) in close proximity to our house. One of our favorites is to spend time with each other and Captain on hikes or take long walks through the local botanical gardens. Besides that, you can find us going to the art and sculpture museum to check out the latest exhibition or cheering on our favorite team at a sporting event. We also like to spend time at home playing board games, reading, or watching cooking shows together.

Tracy grew up in a large city in Missouri with her parents and sister. Amanda grew up a military brat and lived in numerous cities and countries before her mom and two sisters settled in a small town in Missouri after her parents' divorce. Familial relationships are important to us. We moved back to Tracy's hometown to be closer to all of our immediate and extended families. Get-togethers with Amanda's family are marked by loud laughter and chaos. Tracy's family gatherings are filled with hugs and deep conversations.

We have so many family traditions that we can't wait to incorporate a child into. For every family event, Tracy loves to make her grandma's famous candy bar pie. The 4th of July brings many special memories for Amanda, who always spends it with family grilling out and shooting off fireworks. For Easter, Tracy has many fond memories of running all around the house for clues in her family's scavenger hunt. At Advent, Amanda would love to have a child join in the family tradition of creating a homemade Advent calendar. There are many Christmas traditions that we love, from ruckus family sing-a-longs (where no one really knows how to sing) to quiet Christmas Eve's spent reading a newly opened book late into the night.

Thank you for taking time to learn more about us. We can't even begin to imagine how difficult of a journey this is that you are on. We admire the strength and selflessness it takes to consider adoption for your child.

We want to promise you a few things if we are chosen to be parents to your child. We promise your child will always and forever be loved and cared for by not only both of us, but by the many friends and family surrounding us. We promise to hold you to the highest honor in our house and your child will know how amazing and selfless you are. They will know you gave us the greatest gift we could ever have. We promise to give them every opportunity and make sure they grow up with all the support to become the person THEY want to be. We promise to show them compassion, kindness and understanding throughout their life. We also promise to develop a relationship with you, sharing photos, drawings, videos, emails, letters, texts, and phone calls throughout your child's life. We want you to know how they are doing (if that is something you desire).

We promise to always be open and honest to your child, and that includes the adoption process. They will always know where they came from and how they entered into our lives. Curiosity will be encouraged and your child will know they can ask any question and if we know the answer we will give them an age appropriate, honest answer. They will always know how much you care about them.

We are both into the more 'nerdy' side of life: from playing DnD to comic cons to reading to performing science experiments and constantly learning new things. We are so excited to share our passions with your child and see if they take an interest in any of them. With that said, we are even more excited to learn and encourage any passions your child develops over the years.

We also enjoy being outside and have long dreamed of taking Saturday morning hikes with a child. When they're young, we will put them in a carrier as we walk and introduce them to nature. There are many local hiking trails near us, we will likely start out at our favorite arboretum, which also has nature classes for children. Growing up, both of us spent a fair amount of time outside; from playing make believe, to playing on the swingset, catching fish at the creek, or doing cartwheels until we got dizzy. We are excited at the prospect of spending evenings in the yard playing soccer, baseball, tag, or football.

Deciding to expand our family has been a thrilling journey. We have been together almost seven years. Both of us have always wanted to be parents. However, being gay, we always knew that how we chose to expand our family would look a little different than the 'traditional' way. We both grew up in big active families, full of holiday traditions, board games, backyard BBQs, laughter, and love. We cannot wait to share all of this and more with a child, while making grand memories together.

We can just envision them running around playing tag with their cousins, the excitement when they score their first goal or get the part in the school play they wanted, or find out they just landed their dream job after years of hard work. We also know, it won't be all sunshine and rainbows, we won't get it right all the time but we promise to do our best and always be there for them.

We realize this is an extremely difficult decision for you. Wherever your journey and decision leads, please know we respect and support you. We truly wish you peace with your decision. Once again, thank you so much for taking the time to learn about us and for your consideration as potential parents.

Sincerely from the bottom of our hearts,

Amanda & Tracy