We plan to talk with our child about the miracle of his/her adoption from the beginning of their life, in two specific ways.

First, we will tell them that you, their birth mother, gave them two very precious gifts. The first is the gift of life. You created them and cared for them, allowing them to develop and grow in a safe place until they were ready to take on the world. You then gave them the gift of love. You loved them so much that you made the selfless decision to choose adoption, because you felt that would be the very best option for them. We will always be thankful for those two gifts that you gave to our child, and ultimately to our family.

Second, we will tell them that we too, as their parents, want to continue to give them these two very precious gifts every single day. We will give them the gift of life by creating space for them to grow, play and love safely, while learning to navigate the world around them. We will also continue to provide them with unconditional love, and they will always know that they are wanted and supported, and were from the very start.

Kate About Steve: I most admire Steve's drive and compassion. Despite not having a Bachelor's degree, Steve had a meaningful and successful career. He always stated he would never get his degree, because it was just a "stupid piece of paper." School had never been enjoyable for Steve, as he lacked a confidence in his ability to focus and/or achieve good grades, based on his earlier life experiences. However, during a horrible period of medical uncertainty in my life in 2018, Steve made the decision to do everything he could to ensure that he would be able to take care of us, even if I should need to take time away from work. Therefore, on top of picking up two side jobs, Steve went back to school for his Bachelor's degree and managed to graduate with honors. After that, he achieved his MBA. When Steve sets his mind to something, he will accomplish it, no matter what he needs to do. And if there is someone that needs to help, he will move mountains to ensure they are taken care of.

Steve About Kate: I most admire Kate's loyalty, positive attitude, and objectivity. I have always been able to utilize her as a sounding board for ideas on solutions to current and future goals that come to mind. With her being the supportive partner that she is, she always provides feedback that is needed. I am always able to rely on her, in even the most difficult situations. She is my rock. Whenever a goal comes to mind, she enthusiastically helps implement a plan and looks forward to taking the strategic next steps. With her encouragement and loyalty, I have been able to accomplish goals that were previously considered impossible. I appreciate everything that she has to offer and she is my best friend.

We enjoy many traditions with both sides of our family that have been embedded in each individual family for years. However, in the twelve years we have been together as our own little family, we have created many traditions together that are special just for us, because we know how important and memorable traditions will be for the bigger family we look forward to one day raising together.

It's rare that a year will pass without us hosting a New Year's Eve gathering for all of our friends, family, and neighbors, complete with outrageous food, group games, prizes, and a big countdown around the TV at midnight!

We always dress up on Halloween, even if we don't have any place to go.

Every year on our dog Hank's birthday, we get him a birthday treat and make him wear his birthday business tie!

On every wedding anniversary, we always do something special whether it be going away for the weekend together or going to our favorite restaurant. Regardless of where we go, the one thing we always do is reflect on what we accomplished together in the past year, and marvel at how far we have come in our life and relationship since our modest beginnings. This is a tradition we will look forward to carrying through with our children on each of their birthdays.

We live in a diverse neighborhood in the middle of a beautiful oak forest in Virginia. Our single-family home sits on five acres of land which is mostly wooded, with three quarters of an acre of yard where we love to enjoy outdoor games, our beautiful seasonal flowers, and look forward to one day building a playground on for our children.

The house has four bedrooms and a lot of space, however our favorite part of the house is the large basement, which is perfect for ping-pong tournaments, movie nights, craft work and play time.

There are multiple families in our neighborhood that we have befriended who have children of their own, ranging from the age of 1 to 14 years of age. You will often times see them happily riding their bikes and playing together.

Our home, land and neighborhood community will provide an excellent environment for growth, development and discovery.

Family is important to us and we love to spend time with family on a regular basis! Our parents are all a short drive away, and all but one sibling live in the immediate area. Steve is the oldest of four siblings while Kate is the youngest of two. Therefore, there are plenty of cousins who look forward to meeting your child and many more to come in the future!

We enjoy tons of holiday traditions throughout the year to include gathering mistletoe ("mistletoeing") together at Christmas and baking Christmas cookies. We also look forward to our annual New Year's Eve and Fourth of July celebrations that we love to host with family and friends.

Both families are extremely musical and love to play music and sing together often. A typical weekend with our family may include a fun board game, trying out new recipes, Steve's BBQ in our backyard while listening to some great music, swimming at Steve's family pool, or enjoying some outdoor games in our backyard.

Thank you for spending the time to learn about us. We don't know what circumstances led you to consider adoption but we want to take a moment to recognize and acknowledge you for making the expansion of our family a possibility. Although we understand that adoption can be a tough decision, we are confident that you have made it because you believe this is the best option for you and the best option for your baby. Both of those things are equally important to us. We want you to know that we appreciate the lengths you have gone to thus far in your journey.

We hope you have come away from our profile with a solid understanding of who we are and what we are about. Most importantly, we want you to know that since we met in 2008, we have been inseparable and have a solid, loving relationship. We married in 2011 and always knew that we wanted to be parents. However, we decided to put it off until we were financially prepared to provide the best life for our children. Once we had reached a point where we felt settled and stable in our careers and had bought our first home, we were ready to start our family. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen medical complications surrounding our ability to have a healthy pregnancy, we have reached the conclusion that adoption is the best decision for our family, and a decision that we are excited about. Through these challenges, we have learned that we can rely on each other in even the most adverse circumstances, and our inseparable bond has been even more solidified.

We intend to provide our children, whomever they be, with an adventurous yet structured life. We live in a beautiful home in a safe neighborhood with a fantastic school system. We have the financial stability to ensure that structure can remain consistent throughout their upbringing. In addition, our home is on five acres of land where we look forward to playing and exploring the outdoors with our kids. We will go on trips together along with our large village of family and friends that all live close by. Our ultimate goal is to provide our kids with an environment where they have all of the resources and nurturing that they need to become whatever they choose to be.

No matter what you decide, your baby is a priceless gift. If you were to choose us, we would take care of that gift with everything that we have. Every year on our child's birthday, not only will we celebrate them, but we will remember you and the life changing gift you gave to us and to your child. We look forward to sending you a letter each year with updates on what they are accomplishing, how they are developing, and the life experiences they are enjoying. Our baby will always know that you gave them life, and you gave us our family, and for that, you will always be honored in our home.

Sincerely,

Steve & Kate