Allison and Seth are adoptees, so adoption is a foundation of their lives. Allison was adopted at birth directly from the hospital. Seth’s mom was a single mother when she met Jim, who later adopted Seth when he was one year old. We also have several family members that are adoptees and adoptive parents. Allison’s brother Shane is adopted and from a different biological family than Allison. Allison’s cousin Jennifer and her husband, John, adopted their daughter. Seth’s brother Josh and sister-in-law Leelee are about to start the adoption process as well.

We have both grown up knowing that we were adopted and having that be a key part of our lives. Adoption has had a life changing positive affect on both of our lives.

Both our parents have given us amazing examples of how to love, support and cherish the opportunity of adopting and raising a child and we hope to carry on that tradition. We want to raise our future child the same way to understand adoption and how special she/he is for being adopted.

Allison About Seth:

Seth is the best person I’ve ever met. He is funny, down-to-earth, and very caring. He loves adventure and planning fun outings for us. We do lots of family hikes, getaways to the coast, visit amusement parks, and vacations. He has a wonderful way of making the most out of everything and making even the mundane things in life feel special. He does a great job of balancing me out and making sure that I take the time to stop and smell the roses. I always knew he was a great guy, but I’ll never forget the day he became a father. The look that he gave our daughter when she was born showed me that he had instantly fallen in love with her and everyday I’m reminded of that love when I see Seth reading to her or giving horsey rides on his back throughout our house. I am lucky every day to be able to call him my husband and partner in life.

Seth About Allison

Allison is an incredible wife and mother. She is a very hard worker and in many ways the leader in our household. She has a great appetite for adventure and always enjoys trying new things and seeing new places. She's empathetic and caring and always puts others before herself. Allison loves to laugh and enjoy the little things in life. I am so grateful to have such a strong and intelligent wife who always strives to provide a positive and rewarding life for her family.

Being parents is our top priority. It means being a lifelong loving support system for a child. It means putting them first in our lives and being a strong foundation for them. We love being parents. We look forward to special times together and planning fun adventures, but parenting is not all glamorous. Parenting is getting a phone call at work from daycare that our daughter is sick and leaving immediately to go take care of her. It’s loving her when a friend makes her sad, cleaning up her scrapes when she falls, and being patient when she is having a tantrum. Being parents to us is about wiping tears off cheeks, kissing owies, hugs, smiles, reading books, being understanding when she’s upset, laughter, fun, cuddles, and patience. Our goal is to always provide a safe and supportive environment and help our children develop the tools they need to lead full and rewarding lives. What we like most about parenting is all the fun silly moments that cause our daughter to “belly laugh”. Those are the best. We also love the quiet moments where we are snuggled up close reading in the big chair in her room while she is in her jammies before bed or right when she wakes up.

In 2017, we moved from Chicago to Oregon to be closer to Seth’s extended family. We live close to his uncle and cousins. His cousins have several young children. We wanted our daughter and future child to get to grow up with cousins around the same age. Holidays are so much fun with all the kids around. We host Thanksgiving and all the kids end up wearing our daughter’s dress up clothes and running around the house. Christmas Eve is spent at Seth’s Uncle’s house, Easter is spent at his cousin’s, and there are tons of birthday celebrations throughout the year. We always plan an extended family trip each year. We do fun activities together like rent bikes, hike, swim, camp, and kayak. It’s great to have family so close. They are all really excited about adding another family member.

While our parents live in other states, we make sure to fly to see them and that they are able to come spend time with us. This past summer we went back to the town where Allison’s extended family lives and got to have some small town fun. We went to the local fair to see the rodeo, Monster trucks, and rode carnival rides. In 2018, we hosted Seth’s two brothers, sister-in-law, and father for Christmas. We played tons of board games, bowled, and went to the driving range. We are big on family activities and making the most of our time together.

Our home is warm, loving, and comfortable. We have a large kitchen where most people end up hanging out when they come over. The kitchen has a circular booth that is perfect for all the kids at family events. We have a fun back yard that includes a big deck for entertaining and even a play house for the kids. If the weather is nice, you can find us outside enjoying our backyard.

We live on a quiet street in a wonderful neighborhood full of children. We know all of our neighbors and often have one or two neighborhood kids at our house or playing outside on the weekends. All the parents are connected, they help each other out, look out for each other, and plan fun events together.

Our neighborhood hosts an Easter egg hunt each year at the neighborhood park that is less than a block from our house. On Halloween the neighbors host a block party for the kids and later we all leave in small groups to trick or treat. We love living in this suburb in Oregon. We plan to stay in this house and neighborhood for a very long time.

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to share about our family and our reasons for wanting to adopt. We are excited to expand our family through adoption. This wonderful child will always know that she/he is adopted and has two families that love him/her dearly. It will just be a part of what makes this child who he/she is and why this child is so special. We will always honor you in this process to make sure that you are respected in both our words and actions. This child will get to grow up with an older sister. She is very excited for this new responsibility. We can’t wait to watch them play and grow up together. This child would also get to grow up with a very involved father and mother. Parenting is our number one priority in life. We want to love, support, and educate the child while having fun together as a family. Each weekend we look to find what fun kid friendly things are happening in our community that we could do together as a family. This has ranged from parades, street festivals, carnivals, kids rock climbing, pumpkin patches, and Easter egg hunts. We also want to make sure to expose the child to new things, let the child find his/her own passions, and then support those interests such as soccer, swimming, baseball, dance, gymnastics, etc. We also like to relax together as a family. To us there is nothing better than all sitting together to watch a movie with popcorn after a long day or curling up to read a book together.

What makes our family different is laughter. We are often laughing, being silly, and finding joy in everyday mundane life. It helps that Seth is a pretty funny guy. He can take any tough situation and have you smiling by the end. A supportive family that laughs can make it through anything together.

From our own experiences as adoptees, it’s important that you know how excited we are to not only have another child in our home, but to have his/her biological family to stay connected to. We can’t wait to share with you all the little exciting moments in this child’s life: the first time he/she smiles, crawls, walks, talks, rides a bike, gets a drivers permit, and heads off to college. We would love to share photos and video chat as often as you feel comfortable. It would be our dream to have this child grow up knowing you as part of the family and for the child to get excited to share new and fun things with you as she/he grows up. We would like to make trips out to see you and would always welcome if you were able to come visit us. Being adopted ourselves, it’s important to us that this amazing child has a relationship with you, his/her birth parent, and even your extended family. We want this connection so that the child can feel part of his/her heritage, always be up-to-date on family medical information, and most importantly know how much she/he is loved by both families.

Whichever decision you end up making for you and this amazing child, we appreciate that you took the time to read our profile. As adoptees ourselves, we know that just by you inquiring about adoption you love this child and care for her/him deeply. So no matter where your road takes you in this journey, we really appreciate you taking the time to read our profile and especially this letter written specifically for you.

Thank You!

Seth & Allison