Adoption has already touched our lives in an amazing way­—through the adoption of our son, Amos. In addition, we have adopted family members on both sides, including multiple cousins, aunts, and uncles. We also have several close friends who were adopted, as well as friends who have adopted children. We feel very blessed to have a big family that includes our son's birth relatives.

We believe adoption is a beautiful way to become a family and something to be very proud of. We will speak openly about adoption with your child and ensure your child knows that adoption is a story of tremendous love. We will do everything we can to help your child feel proud of and connected to our loving big family with both birth relatives and adoptive relatives. If you agree, we would hope to make a photo book with pictures of your child with you, other birth relatives we may meet, and all our adoptive relatives. We will read that book to your child regularly, speak about you and birth family with loving respect, and answer any questions as honestly and openly as we can. The most important thing we will convey to your child, that we'll tell them every moment of their lives, is that they are loved fully by both their birth parents and their adoptive parents. This makes them extra special and extra loved.

We have been married for more than 20 years and we have a very strong relationship. We absolutely love being parents to our son Amos and we are so excited to start a new journey with another child!

We have a deep respect for the diversity of human cultures and we consider exploring the world an essential part of growing up. We have traveled to more than 30 countries and we speak five languages between the two of us. We have continued to travel as parents – for instance, our son Amos walked on the Great Wall of China at age one.

We strongly prioritize family time, and we proactively seek out experiences for a child to enjoy. Especially in this period of young childhood, every single day we make time to explore the outdoors, play games, make up stories, read books, and be in the moment with each other. As often as possible we have play dates with friends and visit new places. We are happy to set aside our own needs for the time being – as much as is healthy – because we know that our primary job is to help a child build a strong foundation for a fulfilling life.

Our parenting style is very affirming of a child's innate intelligence, capacity for growth, need for safety and connection, and desire for independence. Play, joyous exploration, and living in partnership best describe who we are as a family.

We're both adventurous and love to explore new places and meet new people. It helps that together, we speak five languages fluently! One of our favorite vacations was in Machu Picchu, Peru. We hiked for five days through incredible mountains to a 500-year-old Inca citadel on a mountain ridge. The first day we climbed from 9,500 feet to about 12,600 feet, and one of our traveling companions fell very ill from altitude sickness. We may have saved his life by recognizing the symptoms early – that itself was a pretty extraordinary experience. The next day we crossed a pass at 15,000 feet, then descended into cloud forest and eventually to Machu Picchu itself. (Our friend made it safely the whole way.)

We also have amazing travel experiences from all over the world. Some of our favorite trips have been in China (where Nicole lived and studied for three years), Switzerland (where we spent several days hiking and found an amazing playground overlooking a valley in the Alps), Hawaii (where we did a 16-hour "day hike" across a volcanic crater), Honduras (where we both learned to scuba dive), and Ecuador (where we see our good friends who live on a river in the Amazon rainforest). We feel very fortunate to have had all these great experiences, and we look forward to many more with our growing family.

We love our neighborhood – it's quiet and safe, with many tall trees and lots of birds and other wildlife. There are many young families, and a strong community spirit. We have many friends nearby, including lots of friends with children – some of them right next door. We frequently have neighborhood play dates, and there are community picnics throughout the year with special events for kids. We have a playground and swimming pool right in our neighborhood, plus several other playgrounds and parks nearby that we go to several days a week. We also live very close to the district elementary school, which is highly rated, has a diverse group of students, and does a lot of outdoor education. The students run a butterfly garden and a vegetable garden, and they take field trips to local parks.

We bought our house specifically to raise a family. We have a nursery/children's room, a couple of 'bonus rooms', and a guest room for visiting grandparents. Our living room has a handmade toy chest, a wooden train set, lots of children's books, and plenty of space to play. We have a big back yard with a sandbox, a play structure, plenty of open play space, and many fruit trees including blueberries, blackberries, pears, and figs. Our house is spacious with large windows and lots of natural light. North Carolina weather is lovely year-round and we spend a lot of time outdoors - we like to say that "outside is the best side!"

We typically have at least one or two big "family reunion" type gatherings a year, with cousins of all ages getting to see each other in a relaxed setting with lots of play. We also get together more frequently with various combinations of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Our parents are all retired, and we have a nice guest room, so we routinely have long grandparent visits at our house. Everyone is extremely excited to welcome a new child into the family! They are all very supportive of adoption. We are confident they will love your child unconditionally.

Rob's family owns a cabin on a lake in southern Quebec, just over the border from Vermont, where many family members gather every summer and enjoy hiking, swimming, fishing, and boating together. We also gather with family at least every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's, plus at least one gathering in the summer.

One of our favorite traditions is around Thanksgiving, when we usually gather with about 25 family members including grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. There are a lot of young children these days, and your child will have a lot of family members as playmates, most of them living within a day's drive.

As you consider adoption for your child, you are walking a path that most people would not have the courage or strength even to consider. We admire and respect you so much for having the commitment and selflessness it takes to give a child the gift of life, and we will always do our best to honor you by making sure your child knows how loving, courageous, and powerful you are. If you choose us to parent your child, we will feel so honored and full of gratitude. We look forward to meeting you and promise to do our best to support you throughout this process and your child's long life.

We look forward to sharing our family's love with your child. We have been married for over twenty years. We always wanted children, but we waited until our careers were settled and our finances were in order before starting a family. Our relationship is close and strong, and we practice open and honest communication. We have supported each other through many joys and challenges and have a tremendous amount of love for each other and for our three-year-old son Amos, who will be an excellent older brother. Amos is extremely loving, kind and thoughtful with other children, and is so excited to have a sibling. We believe adoption is a sacred and beautiful way to have and grow a family. We feel so blessed to be able to grow our family again through adoption.

We are both professionally ambitious and have careers that we love. Our jobs are demanding but we also have very flexible work schedules and extremely generous parental leave, and we prioritize family time. We are also goofy and whimsical together, and we love to play and be active. We keep fit through frequent exercise and we enjoy vigorous physical play with children. We believe play teaches many important lessons and skills, in addition to being lots of fun! Our house has many spaces for play inside and outside, and we live in a community with lots of parks and outdoor play areas. We play many games with our son and his friends. We are really excited to spend more time playing and learning!

Parenting is an opportunity to join a child's life, and we are looking forward to the adventure of helping your child grow into her or his full self and develop a unique set of skills to engage with and contribute to the world. We will give your child a thorough education and many opportunities in life. We will follow their lead as much as possible, respecting their interests and desires. We are prepared to introduce your child to US and overseas travel, learning foreign languages and musical instruments, spending time in nature, going to museums, being physically active, playing sports, and performing community service. We will read to your child every day ?" our home is full of books and we all love to read! Your child will have the opportunity to go to college if she or he wishes, because we value education and our jobs include college tuition benefits. We will support your child's dreams and are excited to see what they might be!

We believe honest communication is the foundation of a healthy family, and we will talk about adoption openly and respectfully with your child. We see this as something that makes our family extra special because your child will be loved by two sets of parents. We are committed to open adoption and will send you letters and pictures of your child in whatever format is best for you (text, email, private Instagram, printed photos, etc.). We would also welcome phone or video calls and regular visits. We believe it is important for the development of your child to know you, and we honor your desire to know her or him. We wish you health and happiness, and we want you to feel completely comfortable with and proud of your decision.

Rob & Nicole