We plan to be very open with our child about their adoption. We will tell them that they are extra-special because they are loved by two sets of parents. When they are young and want to talk about their birth family we will have photographs and stories on hand. When they are older we will encourage them to develop and maintain relationships with their birth family.

Our plan is to weave this conversation into everyday life, in age-appropriate increments. Our children love to read books -- at least 5-10 daily -- and we hope that our future child will too. We read at bedtime, naptime, and sometimes just when snuggling on the couch. We would integrate books about adoption into everyone's bookshelf, to ensure that there are regular opportunities to discuss it.

Our children also love to tell stories and build legends about our family. They will be eager to talk about how their sibling arrived -- how we rode an airplane to meet them, how we met the baby, and their memories about the baby's early days at home.

Parenting is the center of our lifestyle, and we absolutely love it. We are lucky to have two children already -- a five year old daughter and three year old son. We began discussing the possibility of kids early in our relationship, and have always wanted to have a big, loud, happy family.

Today, our lives pretty much revolve around the kids. Our days are oriented around meal and nap schedules, and we end each day with reading and singing before bed. Our weekends usually involve trips to the playground, library, zoo, and child-friendly cafes or bakeries. We find a lot of joy with integrating the kids into our daily routine, as we run errands and do chores around the house. We're constantly busy with the kids, but most of the time it really just feels like fun.

Our parenting style is based on maintaining a calm atmosphere and a consistent routine. The kids are usually up early, starting the day with breakfast and reading books. Then they spend the day in childcare -- either with our nanny (two days/week) or Erin's parents (three days/week). We have dinner ridiculously early because the kids get hangry around 5pm. The bedtime routine includes baths, tea, and more reading before lights are out shortly after 8pm.

Our life these days is centered around our kids. Outside of working hours, we try to spend as much time as we can together. We're lucky to have our weekends almost entirely fee of work, which means several hours of uninterrupted family time each week. During the nicer weather, that means a lot of playground time. We have several in our area that we frequent pretty regularly. We have a zoo membership since we go fairly often. When it's not as nice, we go to one of several local libraries that have story times and/or nice play places. We also have a pretty great children's museum about 20 minutes away.

We also like taking car trips. (Before kids, we took a few longer road trips--to Canada, Georgia, etc., and this is something we plan to return to once the kids are a bit older). We go for afternoon rides if the kids need a nap and often stop for small treats or to check out a new playground. The goal is mostly to spend as much time together as we can.

We have been married since 2016, and have two biological children: a five year old daughter and a three year old son. We live in Erin's hometown in Rhode Island near a large and close knit extended family. Erin's parents live 10 minutes away and provide childcare several days each week. Erin's siblings and John's sister live in the area too, and are quite involved in our children's lives.

With two young children, our lives pretty much revolve around the kids. On a typical week we visit a rotation of the kids' favorite playgrounds, go to our local library almost daily, and host/attend family gatherings on the weekends. We have always enjoyed each other's company. We often find joy in simply being together doing ordinary things - cooking, cleaning, running errands, and lots of random driving around to get the kids to nap in the car.

We hope to adopt in order to continue growing our family. We are in a very good place to raise a child - we have strong, loving decade-long marriage, a happy family with loving siblings, and professional/financial stability. We would be thrilled to have your baby join us and are quite flexible on adoption plans.

We live in the Providence, RI metro area in Erin's hometown. Our home is on a quiet dead-end residential street in a suburban neighborhood. We own a three bedroom house with a large fenced in yard, where our children and dogs play whenever the weather allows it. Several other young families live on the block, and we are generally friendly with our neighbors -- they see us regularly because we're often outside walking the dogs or playing with the kids.

Our community is very family-friendly. Our local public school is ranked as a National Blue Ribbon School. The town has many parks, playgrounds, and children's programs. Our children attend a pre-K program three times a week, and the rest of childcare time is covered by our nanny and Erin's parents. We are most closely connected to our local library, which we visit almost daily. The kids' favorite playground is at the library and we often attend story time and children programs. Erin worked at the library for many years, and now serves on its board of trustees.

Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents. We know you are facing a difficult decision, and we respect that only you can make it. If you do choose us as adoptive parents, we promise to love your baby. We can also offer your child an excellent life, as we have a happy marriage, professional and financial stability, and a big family who will love your baby unconditionally.

We are a family of four: We have been married since 2016 and have two biological children: a five year old daughter and a three year old son. We are also part of a large extended family who are very involved in our children's lives. We live in Erin's hometown, near all her siblings and one of John's sisters as well. Erin's parents provide childcare during the week. And we often host/attend family gatherings on weekends with aunts, uncles, and cousins since so much of the family lives nearby.

We want to adopt because we truly love being parents and hope to continue growing our family. We were incredibly fortunate to conceive our two children. But we're getting older and further pregnancies of our own are less likely. We had actually started the adoption process early in our marriage before our daughter was born. We paused at the time because we were in the midst of raising toddlers. We are excited to return to adoption now that our kids are old enough for new siblings.

We are in a very good place to raise a child. We are professionally successful and financially stable. We are both college professors, and as educators we are well placed to help our children love learning and succeed academically. We have owned our home in Rhode Island for a decade. Over time we have transformed it into a cozy child-friendly home with a big, shady yard and tons of place space inside too. Our community is very family oriented, with excellent schools, great libraries, and numerous parks and playgrounds (our kids are obsessed with the playgrounds...we go almost every day...). In short, we have the resources and the community to help your baby achieve a happy and successful life and we will do everything we can to make that happen.

If you choose us, we would be happy to find an adoption arrangement that works for both our families. We're flexible on some level of open adoption. We will always be honest with your child about their origins. And as they get older we would encourage them to maintain relationships with their birth family. We'll certainly send photos and letters, and are open to email contact. We're also open to annual visits, though, unfortunately, we can't realistically commit to bringing our three young children on a plane every year. We would love to have annual visits with you (if you're willing to travel) that we'd be happy to fund!

If you have questions or just want to get to know us, please feel free to reach out!

Sincerely,

John & Erin