We both have fond childhood memories spending time by water, at cabins on lakes and on trips out to the Atlantic coast. For Matt, that meant eating a lot of lobster rolls in Maine. Cole's summers were first spent visiting Disney World and family in Florida before many good fishing trips in northern Minnesota.

We dream of owning a second home one day somewhere outside of the city where we can make similar memories in the wide open spaces. One of the perks to living in the mid-Atlantic is the proximity to both the ocean and the mountains, so it can be hard to decide!

We also love to travel internationally, with Paris, France, and Tulum, Mexico, on the top of the list, but many other destinations we want to see.

Our dog Chester, a terrier mix rescue, can't wait to be a big brother. Beyond his excitement for all the food that will inevitably end up on the floor, he is looking forward to sharing his frequent walks and having another set of hands in the house to pet him. Chester brings us so much joy, through his intelligence, curiosity, and abundant love. An avid cuddle bug and couch potato, he instantly makes us feel relaxed and forget about any stress. Don't let the beard and his 13-years of wisdom fool you, he is a puppy at heart!

To paraphrase a favorite author, we anticipate parenting to be like flying a plane: sometimes there may be turbulence, but we are there to stay calm and steady the aircraft. It's easy to idealize the thought of parenthood, but we try to level our expectations knowing that there will be difficult times too.

We are most excited about seeing a young mind grow and learn about the world. To see imagination make way for knowledge and for those lessons to develop into understandings and passions. We are excited about the journey, witnessing a life and personality blossoming into its own. A big part of our dream is wanting to pass the torch to the next generation -- to share our love and what we have learned about the world with the hope that he or she will be better for it and want to do the same.

With the many museums and monuments to embassies and culture, we love living in our nation's capital. Although we are at the heart of urban living, our neighbors include a good mix of families and working professionals from diverse backgrounds. The historic area retains a local community feel with many Little Free Libraries for swapping books and small businesses to support. We inevitably bump into friends when running errands or walking Chester. One of our favorite neighborhood traditions is on Halloween when the city closes a couple of nearby streets to traffic so that kids can run freely between houses.

We bought our home, a century-old row house conversion, in 2017, for the two outdoor spaces, where we love to relax and to grill. The kitchen is really the heart of our home, as we love to entertain, and often have friends over for dinner, to hang out, or celebrate life's special moments. We are also close with our neighbors who have a two-year-old of their own and are expecting a second child; we're sure both will be quick friends for a little one. Just a stone's throw away, our favorite green space - and the city's largest - has miles of trails and tons of picnic areas.

We are both incredibly family oriented. Cole's family lives in Illinois, outside Chicago, and Matt's family is in New Hampshire. We each have one brother, in New Orleans and western New York state respectively. Although we all keep in good touch—even across sides of the family—and make regular trips to see each other whenever possible, our close friends in town are the family that will welcome and love a child like informal aunts and uncles.

We love getting our entire community together for holidays—one Thanksgiving we even brought the patio table inside to have an 18-person seated meal. It's been fun to see our group grow in recent years to include more little-ones crawling on the floor and playing with our dog Chester.

Whether with family, friends, or just us, in our spare time, we like to visit local farmers markets, explore local parks and nature on easy hikes, and check out the many museums and cultural offerings here in town.

We have both always wanted to be dads and from the very beginning of our relationship knew that we wanted to do that through adoption. We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to grow our family and so look forward to becoming parents and giving a child an incredible life, full of love, learning, and discovery.

We thank you for taking the time to read through our and others' profiles. We acknowledge the weight of this decision and the uncertainty you might be feeling. For that, we share this promise:

We commit that you will not be a myth, fantasy, or fable in your child's life. We commit to give you respect and appreciation. To give you space, when needed, not absent distance. To embrace your role in helping us grow our family, as much or as little as you are comfortable being involved. Above all, we will seek to share your strength and courage through anecdotes of your life story, and hope that, if you choose to make an adoption plan, you also choose to stay involved as part of our family too.

We are lucky to live in an age where we can remain as close as you want, and we look forward to figuring out the right communication style and pattern, if any, you prefer. While we are not big social media users, we are open to using those platforms as well as email, letters, phone calls, and text to share news and photos of the little one. There is so much that is special about retaining a relationship together. We honor our loved ones through memories held tight - like holiday and cultural traditions, favorite songs and activities, shared experiences. Of course, as people grow and change, we also know that traditions and time spent together can change, but we are completely committed to the child's best interest and we respect your wishes for the level of involvement in his or her life.

We are committed to providing a life full of adventure, learning, and love. There will be plenty of too-tight hugs from grandparents and funny stories about quirky aunts and uncles. We will embrace the growing pains and the perfectness of an imperfect life, not because we have to, but because that is who we all are.

We hold our community near and dear to us and surround ourselves by people who value knowledge, diversity, creativity, and the greater good. We bring together loved ones across different parts of our lives, from our childhood roots, schools, various jobs and professional worlds. It's a celebration of family and friends that we are so passionate about and committed to nurturing. We welcome you to join our community and hope you will be a part of our life as well.

The stories we hear as children stick with us, helping form our worldview and understanding of life. We promise to honor your story and the special, magical role of providing life that you are able to offer. We commit to making you and your child a part of our lives, with love, compassion, and integrity.

Thank you, again, from the bottom of our hearts.

Cole & Matt