We adopted our daughter, Elena, on March 5th, 2018. She spent her first month in the NICU due to intestinal surgery. Our bond was solidly formed during that month. Once we were able to bring her home, all of our family and friends fell in love with her, too!

Elena is growing into a beautiful, sweet, loving and playful little girl. She loves to go to the zoo, is a natural swimmer, and is already learning to ride a tricycle. Since Elena was able to walk, she has always wanted to help with cooking. She assists with the vegetables nightly. She likes to help with some daily chores like laundry and empty the dishwasher, and helping feed our dog, Hershey.

We feel Elena, and any other child that we are blessed to adopt, are a gift from God. We do not view adoption as a family secret. We openly talk with Elena about how she became our daughter, and look through her adoption scrapbook, which we maintain. We encourage her birth mother to send Elena pictures of her and her other children. We also read Elena children's books about adoption.

As our children grow up, we want them to understand that you don't have to give birth to a child to love them unconditionally. We also feel it is important for them to know that when a child is placed for adoption, it doesn't mean the birth parents stop loving them. Rather, adoption is a very special and unique journey to experience.

A parent's job is to raise children to be the best adults they can be. Parenting requires large amounts of patience, love, and understanding. Physically and emotionally we must be our child's caretaker. We provide for them, protect and love them; their needs should come before our needs. It's our job to be a confidant, counselor and teacher. We encourage our children to reach for the stars, and to understand the difference in right and wrong. A parent's job is never done.

We love being parents. We love to see the joy we bring into our daughter's life and the little sweet moments that you can't get back or make up — All of the " I love you's." All the first experiences. Watching her grow into her own person.

As our children grow, we will get to pass on our knowledge, heritage, family traditions, and life experiences. Our goal for our children is that they grow up to be honest, respectful, kind, generous, compassionate, self-reliable and loving people.

We both grew up having pets in the home. As a child, it was a great way to learn responsibility.

We currently have a Dachshund named Hershey. Hershey is very loving and gentle. Since having Elena, Hershey is right by her side, keeping his eye on her. He sleeps in front of her door at night. Elena uses him as her patient when she is playing doctor. Hershey has taught Elena how to be compassionate, caring, gentle and responsible. She likes to fill his water bowl and sneaks him treats.

We take Hershey most places with us. Even though he's little, he's mighty. Getting older has caused him to slow down a bit, but he tries to keep up, and having another child in the home will keep him on his toes (and will keep his belly full)!

We live in the suburbs of a large city in Missouri. We live in a neighborhood that has kids everywhere. The neighborhood is very diverse and there are children of all ages. There are always kids out playing or riding their bikes. Our neighbors are always organizing different events. Whether it's food truck Fridays or a movie night, there is always something going on!

We recently built our four-bedroom home. We built this house with the intention to expand our family. Your child will have their own room, and can be as creative as they would like. We purposely left the walls white, so that we can paint as a family once your child can pick a color they would like. Elena picked pink, so we painted pink. It was a fun family activity to do. We have a playroom for the kids. There are a ton of toys. We enjoy getting out as a family and walking the trails in the neighborhood, or going to the playground that is nearby.

In the community there are a bunch of private and public schools nearby. Our school district is one of the top-rated districts in the state. We even live within walking distance to the elementary school. So, on nice days, we can walk to school. There are also many parks and playgrounds in our area that your child will enjoy playing on.

We are very family orientated. We see our extended family on most weekends. We are all within 20 minutes of each other. From spring till fall we have regular BBQ's or cookouts with them. If we are hosting, we are all usually outside playing with our daughter, drawing with chalk, or riding bikes. If other family members are hosting, we usually will hit the pool — our daughter loves to swim!

At the holidays, we are pretty busy. It's a family tradition to make Christmas cookies. One weekend, the whole family will get together and make a ton of cookies. The kids love to make cut-out cookies and to decorate them. We also go looking at Christmas lights in a horse-drawn carriage. Elena thinks that is the best. It's so magical!

At Halloween, we usually have our family at our house, so they can see Elena in her Halloween costume. Justin makes a big bonfire, so we can roast hotdogs and marshmallows. Leah will make a big pot of chili, and we'll make chili dogs and s'mores. After we get back from trick-or-treating, we'll sit around the fire and eat candy!

Our families are so excited for us to be adopting again. Elena is the only grandchild on both sides of the family. Of course, she is spoiled rotten! Your child will have endless amounts of attention and an enormous amount of love.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us. We can't imagine how difficult of a decision this must be for you, however, we promise to give your child a safe, stable, and nurturing home.

We struggled many years with infertility, and have even lost a child of our own, due to stillbirth. It was difficult for us to accept, but we knew God had other plans for us. That is when we looked into adoption, and were so glad we did. We have an amazing and beautiful daughter, and couldn't imagine life without her. We never knew you could love someone so much!

We are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to grow our family, and provide your child with a loving home and a big sister. Having a sibling who is also adopted, will be a benefit to your child. We believe having a sibling will bring your child someone to play with, learn from, look up too, and will always have a best friend.

Leah has been a registered nurse for 12 years. She worked many years in labor and delivery. After we suffered a stillbirth, she decided to leave the hospital setting. Currently, she is working from home in obstetrical case management. Working from home gives her flexibility with our daughter. Leah gets to help answer all pregnant moms questions and concerns about their pregnancies.

Currently, Justin Works as a Datacenter Engineer. He has worked in the IT industry for over 7 years. He loves to help and support all users throughout the company. Justin loves to share his knowledge anytime he can, whether it is with co-workers or his family. He takes the time to make sure that everyone gets the help they need. Justin spent 8 years in the military before getting into the IT field. He has visited many different countries and learned about many different cultures.

We have been married 11 years, and we love our life together. We truly are best friends. Our families are very excited and supportive of us adopting. Everyone is ready to spoil your child. Our daughter is currently the only grandchild in our immediate families. Family is the most important thing to us, and we are very close with them. Your child will spend a great amount of time with his/her aunts, and grandparents, of course extended family.

We will share with you your child's growth and experiences however you choose that to be. You are significant to us and always will be. We welcome your continued investment in your child's life. We are more than happy to send you updated pictures, emails, letters if desired. We want to work together to maintain a healthy relationship. We will always be open and honest with your child about adoption. We want your child to know how hard of a decision it was for you, and how much you love them.

Thank you for considering us as potential parents for your child. We are looking forward to expanding our family. Please know you will be in our prayers, as you are guided through this journey.

Sincerely,

Justin & Leah