Imagine walking down an old-timey main street with Cinderella's castle in the background, a Mickey pretzel in hand and an endless day of fun ahead of you. We are so lucky to have been able to call Walt Disney World our second home for the past ten years. We love to stay onsite at Disney's Art of Animation Resort, park-hopping during the day, and lounging by the pool in the evening. We really love sharing this experience with our families, including our parents, siblings, nieces, and nephews. Some of our favorite memories include our all day, four park hopping adventure with Shelby's brother and his family, dining with friends at Disney's EPCOT, and watching the fireworks at night from our "secret" fireworks spot. We are so incredibly excited to bring a child with us on our next visit to the most magical place on earth. We can't wait to have our child's first pair of Mickey ears embroidered on Main Street and to take them on Prince Charming's Regal Carousel!

We always knew that we were meant to be parents, after discussing dreams of our future family together we also knew that adoption would one day be a part of our family's story. We started trying to conceive in 2016 and went through some infertility treatments, with an early loss and no following successful pregnancy. We began discussing adoption more thoughtfully and knew that it would become our next step in building our family. Over the last two years, we have thoroughly researched - staying up late reading stories from expectant parents and adoptees, watching open adoption videos, and listening to adoption podcasts on all aspects of the adoption triad. We've been blessed to have seen how amazing adoption can be with our family and our friends as guides. One of Shelby's best friends is adopted and we are so thankful that she has shared so much of her story with us. Her and her husband have also recently adopted a beautiful baby girl! We are so excited for this journey, and we are so ready.

We have an incredible dog who is such an important part of our family. We both grew up with pets in our family homes and believe that this helped us to become compassionate, loving, and caring individuals. Pets play an important role in learning responsibility and how to care for others, we promise to instill this sense of purpose in our child. We believe animals are truly an integral part of our family and to us, they are so much more than just pets. We are so excited to take our dog for a walk around our neighborhood with a stroller in tow and can't wait to see our pup snuggled up on the rug in front of our child's crib. Josh also is an avid aquarium lover and currently has a planted twenty gallon tank with a variety of fish, shrimp, and snails. We are so thrilled to share this hobby with a future child.

We live just outside of Nashville in a three bedroom, two bathroom home, located in a safe and family oriented neighborhood. In the nursery, there is a large, picturesque window with tons of natural light. Shelby loves to keep indoor plants throughout the house and plans on incorporating this into the nursery as well. Josh enjoys grilling on the patio in our large fenced-in backyard, while our dog lounges in the sun. We look forward to walking to the neighborhood playground with your child and creating memories of late mornings on the swing and going down the slide.

In our local community, there are many city and state parks with lovely walking trails around waterfalls and plenty of child friendly activities, including large playgrounds and many other young families to interact with. Living so close to Nashville, there are many fun festivals, family oriented farmers' markets, and local performances to attend. We particularly look forward to attending the fall festivals, picking out a pumpkin, and carving it with your child.

We are so blessed to be close to our family members, who are all so excited that we are choosing adoption for our family! Shelby has three older brothers, who are all married and have small children- we are thrilled to add a child to the current "cousin crew" during family get togethers. When we spend time with them, we love to go fishing at the lake, play board games, or even challenge the kiddos to a video game tournament! We are lucky that our families only live a small road-trip away and love to go visit whenever we have the chance.

Both of us are so close to our mothers, and it's funny because they are close friends too! Our families have known each other for so long that it's common for us to take family vacations all together, especially when going to Disney World or the beach. Shelby's Mom lives just a few hours away and when she comes to visit we enjoy baking, playing card games, and heading to local parks. Josh's Mom lives in Central Florida and comes to visit often, we enjoy exploring restaurants, finding quirky shops in Nashville, and playing with our dog together.

Hey, thank you so much for taking the time to read through our letter to you. We know that choosing to create an adoption plan can come with some uncertainties and unknowns- we can't imagine the difficulties you may be facing. We are thinking of you and hope to provide your heart with a sense of calm knowing that your child will be safe, loved, and well taken care of in our home.

We've been married for a little over ten years and are actually high school sweethearts! When we met 16 years ago, we became friends and began dating not long after. Our love is unique in that it is truly built upon our friendship; we spend most of our time laughing at our own silly jokes and enjoying small moments together. Adding a child to our lives would bring us, our friends and family (and our dog!) so much joy.

We started discussing adoption in the early days of our marriage and hoped that we would one day be blessed by it. After a few years of trying to conceive and experiencing loss, we tried a few fertility treatments with no success and then knew that we would pursue adoption as soon as we could. Several of our friends and family have been blessed by adoption and we can't wait to share the experience together. We've taken the time to research adoption- we've read so many stories from adoptees, birth parents, and adoptive parents; we've listened to podcasts, read books, and know that we are so ready for this journey.

We are lifelong learners and hope to share that value with your child as well. We already have a huge collection of children's books to share with them! We are excited to channel our experiences as an aunt, teacher and uncle into our parenthood journey. One of our very favorite things to do is to teach others about our passions, whether it's cooking, crafting, or reading, and we can't wait to share that with a little one.

We were both raised in Christian households and promise to guide your child through life using the same values and principles we grew up with. We are believers in being good people- treating others with kindness, compassion, and sincerity and cannot wait to show your child that they can make the world a better place.

We would love to have an open adoption and to share letters, pictures, and memories with you via snail mail, emailing, texting, phone calls, and video chats! We believe that openness is one of the best things about adoption and hope to build an open adoption relationship where we all feel like family. We believe that the most important part of any relationship is communication and we are big on promises- to each other, to our family and friends, to our future child, and to you. We promise to teach your child all about the love you have for them and teach them about where they come from. We promise to raise your child in a warm, stable, and supportive home, with all of our love.

Josh & Shelby