Leisure time is our favorite! We take our adult responsibilities and professions seriously, but when it's time to unwind we really enjoy creating space to laugh, be silly, and reconnect with friends and each other.

We are very energetic and love to stay busy. Rebecca has been an avid cyclist for years and we enjoy riding bikes together. We are hoping to try more mountain biking soon. Snow skiing is our favorite winter sport; Matt is an expert and taught children to ski for years! In warmer weather, you'll find us white water rafting, dancing at a music festival, or rooting for teams at sporting events, both college and pro. We're also so excited to introduce a child to camping, our favorite way to explore the outdoors, wake up in the woods and relax in a canoe or next to a campfire.

We've traveled from Mexico to Canada to Europe and look forward to kid-friendly travels in our future. In the summer we take beach trips to the Gulf Coast or the Oregon Coast where Matt's family beach house is located.

When not adventuring, we might be hosting friends for a pool party, relaxing and sharing stories from our week, cooking great food or dreaming about building an arts and crafts space to learn woodworking. Our favorite time is time spent together and we are thrilled to find ways to incorporate all of this fun into a life with a child.

Our niece was adopted as an infant and we were fortunate enough to watch the entire process of her adoption. We got to witness the love and openness that develops. Rebecca's brother and his wife formed a relationship with her birth mother over the course of many months prior to the birth and adoption. Here we are seven years later and we have seen how that relationship has continued. Our niece has occasional contact with her birth mom and has met her face to face. We have seen this be successful and will respect any level of openness with the birth family that chooses us. We have been so lucky to have our niece as a part of our family and we are so excited to go on this journey ourselves.

We also have a close friend who chose adoption for her baby. She has been an important resource for us to learn about her experience with an open adoption from a birth mother's point of view.

Every adoption is unique and while we do not expect our situation to be identical to that of my niece's, we know that families can come about in many ways and we celebrate the uniqueness of each one. We are so supportive of the incredibly difficult decisions the birth mother faces and believe we can provide a loving stable home for a child to thrive and develop in.

We live in a wonderful five-bedroom house that is the family home that Rebecca grew up in. It sits on 11 acres and has a lot of land and woods for playing and exploring. There is a big pool in the backyard where we spend time every day when the weather lets us. We love swimming, grilling outdoors, playing basketball, or relaxing and listening to nature and playing with the dog and cats outside. We have a big game room inside with a pool table, karaoke machine, and board games where we love to relax and spend time with each other. There is a big cozy kitchen for lots of family time and prepping and eating meals.

Our home is in a country setting but just outside of a mid-sized city. We feel very close to everything we need in the city but have a peaceful spot to call our home. Our neighborhood has many families close by with kids of all ages. Any day you can see families walking with strollers or see kids out on their bikes and playing outdoors in a safe environment. There are even horse stables in our neighborhood for kids to take lessons.

Our community has a farmer's market, an annual trick or treating hayride in the neighborhood and many other family-oriented events. It is a terrific place to raise a child.

Neither of us have incredibly large families, but we have both been raised in extremely loving and open environments. Rebecca's brother, his wife and 7-year-old daughter live just 10 minutes away and we see them many times a week. To our niece, we are known as Aunt Bec Bec and Uncle Crunch Munch. We adore spending time with her.

Rebecca's mother lives in the home with us. She is a wonderful grandmother and cannot wait for another grandchild in her life.

Together we love vacations at the beach, which include tons of fun activities like paddle boarding, swimming, making sand castles, riding bikes and cooking fresh seafood. A funny memory from last summer at the beach was a giant wave that snuck up on us while we were trying to take a family photo. We all got so wet and had a lot of fun laughing about it.

Matt's father, brother, sister and niece and nephew live in different states and we jump on a plane whenever possible for family visits.

Traditions include celebrating everyone's birthday and milestones, getting together for the holidays, taking family trips and just spending quality time together. We have so much love and support from our family. Everyone is thrilled to meet our new family member and be a part of their life.

Wow! We are so honored and happy that you are reading this! We are excited, nervous and ready for this journey with open hearts. You are facing many difficult decisions and we have so much respect for you during this time. Our hope is that our love for each other can shine through in our words and profile and give you a glimpse of our personalities and who we would like to become as parents.

We are Rebecca and Matt. Seven years ago we met in Portland, Oregon at a small, local venue while enjoying some live music. Little did we know we had been living a mile apart from each other for quite some time. We both remember laughing so much from the moment we met and we've been together ever since. In 2018, we were married in a gorgeous outdoor celebration surrounded by loved ones, music and dancing. We feel so lucky to have found such a strong partnership that we continue to build every day.

During the time we were planning a family, we experienced the loss of loved ones. After learning we couldn't have a biological child of our own, Matt's mother and Rebecca's father suddenly passed away within a short time of each other. We grieved these losses, but through our hurt our relationship strengthened and the motivation to adopt and build our family grew stronger. In 2021 we relocated from Oregon to Alabama where Rebecca's family lives to surround ourselves and future children with loving relatives and snuggly family kisses (dog and cats included!).

In our professional life, Rebecca is a project manager for a modern software company and Matt works his people skills in the commercial insurance world. Growing up, we were given strong opportunities for education that allowed us to become successful adults. We want to give all of this to a child for them to establish stability in their own life and pursue their dreams.

Our life with a child will be built around a fun, supportive and warm home with constant encouragement, family meals together, weekend adventures (our camper has plenty of room for all of us!), bedtime stories, seasonal vacations to the beach and the snowy mountains, and open communication and honesty. We cannot wait to see a child take their first steps or blow out their yearly birthday candles. We dream of introducing them to things we love like paddling a canoe, riding their own bike, building science projects and filling the house with singing and dancing (perhaps TikTok videos are in our future ❤). How exciting to also watch and enable them to explore their own talents and passions and grow into their individual self!

As you look to us as prospective adoptive parents, we can assure you that our minds, hearts and souls are 100% dedicated to creating a healthy, loving and supportive life for the child. We will always share your child's life story with them and they will know your strength and love forever. We will keep your relationship with your child as open as you are comfortable with either through pictures, emails, phone calls or future in-person visits, if that is your wish. We have wonderful examples of open adoptions in our life with our niece being adopted as an infant and also a close friend and birth mother who placed her child with a loving adoptive family. We've seen first-hand that families come in all shapes and sizes and can prove successful with love and devotion.

We can't wait to watch a child grow and learn and develop as a member of our family. As parents, we want to teach our child to laugh through life but also give them strength to tackle the tough times. Being a parent will be a huge challenge, but we are ready to provide the love and guidance so that they can become their own absolute "best" version of themselves. We send much love your way as you decide the right next steps for you and your child.

Matt & Rebecca