We adopted our daughter, Elena, on March 5th, 2018, and from the moment we saw her, it was love at first sight! Elena spent the first month of her life in NICU due to intestinal surgery and we will truly cherish those moments of loving, holding, talking and singing to her forever. She is doing GREAT and as a big sister to your little one, has so many activities fun planned! Elena asks often, "When is my baby coming home?" We talk to her about adoption and how we are building a family. Although she is young, she understands that she has a tummy mummy who placed her with mommy and daddy so we could start a family! You, as your baby's tummy mummy, will always have a special place in our home and hearts!

We have asked Elena's tummy mummy and, if you feel comfortable would ask you as well, to share pictures of yourself and family so that we may make your baby a special scrapbook filled with YOU! We openly talk with Elena about her adoption and look through her adoption scrapbook, which we hope to have for your baby as well. This is something your child will always have with them and cherish forever.

We feel Elena, and any other child that we are blessed to adopt, are a gift from God. As your baby's tummy mummy, it is important for your child to always know that you love him or her unconditionally and because of your love, you gave us the chance to be parents!

It is an honor and something we knew we always wanted. It's someone who loves you unconditionally and supports you no matter what. We know parenting is hard and we would be fooling ourselves to think it is easy. Patience, love, understanding, grace, protector, caretaker and fun coordinator – those are just a few words that come to mind.

As a parent, we are blessed to be a confidant, counselor and teacher. We will always encourage your child to "reach for the stars" and be the BEST they can be. We will support them in all they do and will happily share those with you as well! We cherish the little moments and the "I love you" more than anyone will ever know! Watching your little one grow into his or her own person is a gift and one we will cherish forever.

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.

First, we want to acknowledge how difficult this is for you. We cannot know what you are going through, but we can promise we would be blessed, grateful and honored should you decide to place your child for adoption. We want to make a promise to you today, we will love, honor and cherish your act of love and selflessness forever. YOU are the reason we are family, and we are grateful for your consideration.

We struggled with infertility and lost a child to stillbirth. We will never forget the angel we lost, but we know that it was a beginning for us and not the end. We knew God had plans for us and we knew we wanted to be parents. We just didn't know how. Elena's tummy mummy gave us the opportunity to become parents. We are honored and humbled by her decision. And if given the opportunity, we would love nothing more than to become parents to another little one!

Seeing Elena for the first time was magical and we will be forever grateful for that. And since becoming mom and dad, our lives have changed. It's silly to think it wouldn't, right? One huge change is working from home. Leah has been a registered nurse for over 14 years. She worked for many years in Labor and Delivery and when given the opportunity to work from home, she jumped at the chance. Leah is now in an obstetrical case management position that allows her to be a hands-on mom! Justin, who spent 8 years in the military, is now a Datacenter Engineer. Working in IT is something Justin absolutely loves. Being home gives us both the opportunity to be hands on parents and we are so grateful for that. Although we both love our careers, our number one job is that of mommy and daddy! Being in charge of daily giggles, activity coordination, snuggles and kisses is our number one duty!

Elena, who is now preschool age, attends a little school nearby. She loves learning new things, making friends and loves to share she will be a big sister someday!

We have been married 13 years, and we love our life together. We truly are best friends. Our families are very excited and cannot wait to meet your little one. Everyone has plans for your little one and how much they will spoil him or her. Your child will have a large extended family and will spend many holidays reading with their grandparents, making Christmas cookies, preparing for Thanksgiving, 4th of July events and, experiencing what we call "us!"

We hope reading this profile has given you some insight into who we are. We know the fear of losing contact is real. And we want you to know we are happy to share pictures, letters and videos throughout the years if that be something you would like. We would love nothing more than to have an ongoing communication with you as well. Whatever type of contact you would like, we will honor.

Justin & Leah