Jeffrey and Lauren

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From Us to You

Dear expectant mother,

Thank you for your time as you read through our profile and get to know us a little. We are Jeff and Lauren from South Louisiana. We first want to acknowledge the incredible strength and courage it has taken for you to even get to this point for considering options for your future and the future of your child. It is not lost on us that your sacrifice could possibly be our miracle. We plan to live each day in complete gratitude for the incredibly selfless gift that you are considering. Life in our home will be an everyday celebration of this gift.

We met in 2013 and have been married since 2017.  Although we began our journey to becoming a family a little later than normal, it has always been our dream to be parents. Your child will never feel anything less than the love they deserve, not only from us, our friends and family, but from the knowledge that you showed the ultimate display of love by allowing us the honor of raising them. We very much look forward to sharing our South Louisiana culture all while making sure they also know where they came from and their own family history.

When we met and the topic of children came up, we knew immediately that adoption would be our path. We spent the first years of our marriage strengthening our relationship and preparing ourselves for this adventure. We have so many friends that we consider family that a blood bond was never something we needed, and we decided we would rather expand our family through adoption rather than medical intervention. We understand that your child will always want to know of you and about your history and we plan to answer all questions they may have and in a manner appropriate to their age. Lauren’s father was adopted and has recently connected with his biological family. It has been such a joy to watch him grow relationships with our new family. Our family is waiting to embrace your child as part of a very hands on, family dynamic. We always show up for each other, in the good times and the bad. From grandparents, aunt and uncles, to cousins, and friends we consider family, we are all very excited to share more of our lives and love with your child.

Life in our home will be pretty typical. We both will still work when the baby comes, but Lauren’s hours are flexible so that she will be home by early afternoon. We both will be able to stay home the first few weeks. We are structured during the week but are sure that will evolve as the needs of your baby change. We both plan on being an active support system in their school and extra-curricular activities. We will always make time for fun and we will teach your child about all the things we love, from festivals and Mardi Gras, to boating and, when Lauren finally gives in to Jeff, camping. We will teach through example how to work hard and be grateful for what we have. To love people for who they are and to treat people with the same respect you deserve. We will teach both the importance of being independent and feeling safe enough to ask for and receive the help when they need it.

Lauren plans to take over the family business and Jeff plans to start his own trucking business soon. While Jeff’s career keeps him busy, Lauren’s is school oriented so she will be able to spend holidays and summers at home. It is hard to promise what everyday life will look like, as things change so often. All we can promise is that your child and their needs, will always come first. Whether that is extra snuggle time or rearranging schedules to get them to a practice or extra school activity. We look forward to teaching him or her the things we love while giving them the space to explore and develop what they love.

We promise to be completely transparent and are open to all questions you may have about us, our lifestyles, and our relationships. We have been through a few tragedies during our time together and through them we have realized that we can get through anything together. We are strong and active and genuinely enjoy life together. As a family, we understand the need for hard work, but also the balance of time together and creating a loving, supportive home full encouragement and unconditional love. We know that as a mother, you only want the best for your child.

We hope that as you read on you can get to know us as individuals and as a family.  We respect the journey you are on and we absolutely look forward to expanding our family not only with your child but always carrying you in our hearts as well. Thank you again for your time and we look forward to getting to know you.

With love,
Lauren & Jeff

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

We knew from the start of our relationship that adoption would be our journey to building a family. Jeff was involved in an accident as a young adult that left him unable to have children. When the topic of kids came up while dating, we discussed how important having a family was for each of us. Bloodline was never an issue, and we decided that rather than go through medical procedures and all that that entails that we would choose adoption. We went through a few foster care classes and decided that as much as we would love to open our home for these children in need, we really want to be able to bond and raise a baby who would be part of our lives permanently. We hope that in the future, we can add fostering to our lives, but for now, our hearts are leading us in this direction. Knowing that Lauren’s father went through foster and adoption, opening our home and hearts to a child that needs us feels right.

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About Jeff

Jeff is funny, loving, giving, and very sarcastic. He cannot help it, that’s his whole family! He can get on my nerves but makes me laugh so I forget that he was annoying me. He loves unconditionally and hard. He is loyal and true to his friends and a family. Just knowing he has had the same group of close friends since childhood shows how much care he gives to those relationships. He is creative and romantic, hardworking, and honest. He would do anything for me, his family and mine. He always makes or designs most of the presents we give at Christmas and birthdays. If there is a way he can make someone feel special, he’ll do it. He can build anything and cherishes the memories of being taught this skill from his father and grandfather and cannot wait to pass that down. He says boy or girl, they will be with him in the shop. He is a great cook and has mastered some of his Italian mother and aunts’ classics. He boils the best crawfish and loves showing that off every year when we have our annual crawfish boil. He is not good at cleaning! I think mostly he pretends he can’t, so I don’t ask him to help much, but he does take care of our yard and home. As a man, a husband, and one day a father, I could not have dreamed of anyone better to treat us like the most important things in his life. He is my best friend, my protector, and in many ways, my better half. We, like all couples, come across issues, but he is exceptionally good at making sure we work on growing as a couple so we are the best we can be for ourselves and each other. He has so much to teach a child and even more than that, he has so much room in his heart for a child.

Jeff came into my life when I was not really open to true love. We talked for a while and then for some reason we stopped. About four months later he came back into my life and something clicked. I knew almost immediately that I was ready. Ready for him and ready for my future. Jeff has been through a lot in his life. He lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and then again a few years ago when our own home flooded. He has lost both his parents and his stepmother in the last 3 years. We lost our old dogs, Roux (10) about 2 years ago and Ralphie (17) and Jax (11) within a week of each other last fall. Through all this loss, he has learned the importance of relationships with people and to say and show your love to them daily. He is the strongest person I know. He has lifted me up when I had lost hope. Even starting this process during the pandemic has brought us a few setbacks and he would simply remind me that we would get there one day when the timing was right. I cannot ever tell him the amount of adoration I have for his strength through everything he has gone through. I can’t express how much I appreciate him always making me feel safe and assuring me that we have nothing to worry about.

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About Lauren

Lauren is strong willed, smart, determined, and honest. She puts the needs of others in front of her own without anything in return. She is a giver and gets more satisfaction in doing for someone else. She is constantly looking out for others and trying to add value to their life and make them smile. She is caring, thoughtful, selfless, and outgoing to help others, however and whenever the need arises.  She is very much an organizer, someone who brings people together in groups. I know that she will be a great mother because she is already there; I can see it whenever we are around our nieces or nephews. All our friends have children and Lauren is incredibly involved in their lives. Laurens’s sense of humor and positivity are both contagious. She will undoubtedly provide love and affection, talk, read and sing, and teach your child about right and wrong. It is her calling and purpose in life to teach and raise a child of her own. Lauren would love the opportunity to raise your child as her own. I lean on her often for advice and guidance. My wife’s an incredible woman. She is loving and devoted and caring. There is so much good in Lauren that it makes me want to be a better version of myself. She pushes me to make better decisions which are not as fun most times. I love my wife more than anything in this world. We both really want to have a child. And when that day finally comes, I’m committed to being a good dad. But my wife, she’s already there. In my eyes, she’s already a mother.

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Family Traditions

In South Louisiana, we love our traditions! From red beans and rice on Mondays to making a gumbo on the first cold snap. We do things because that is how our ancestors did and that’s enough reason for us. Our specific traditions start with Mardi Gras every year. Jeff is from New Orleans and Lauren’s family has always had ties there. Celebrating Mardi Gras is a month-long trip of parades and family time. This year is just so strange not having Mardi Gras due to the pandemic, but we know it will come back and be better next year and we very much look forward to bringing your child up to love Mardi Gras as much as we do. Another tradition we have created together is hosting a crawfish boil in April for everyone we know. It is an all-day gathering of family and friends, lots of food and activities for the kids and, of course, crawfish! We also host an open house New Year’s Eve party for anyone who wants to attend. Jeff puts on a fireworks display that could rival Times Square. This tradition started for us because he wanted to continue the legacy of his father and uncles’ epic New Year’s Eve parties and fireworks.

We love spending the holidays with our families and Jeff’s family has the wonderful tradition of always getting together Christmas Eve. As the night winds down, Santa arrives for a visit. He brings all the kids presents and whispers secrets only Santa would know. We have loved watching the tradition get passed down from the grandpas and older uncles to our generation of dads. Also for Christmas, Lauren has started the annual Cookies for Santa with our niece and nephews and the children of our friends. This started about 6 years ago when we met, and Lauren started to build a bond with his nephew Anthony. We decorate way too many cookies and everyone takes some home for Santa on Christmas Eve. We love this tradition and it just allows us to take the time to enjoy all the kids and the spirit of the holiday. They all know that Lauren will be making them do this even when they are teenagers! Every Christmas day we take a trip down to visit with Jeff’s family and then we spend all day at Lauren’s parents. We spend hours opening presents and we always boil shrimp for Christmas dinner.

In remembrance of Jeff’s father, we also have a 4th of July party. His family loved a good party, and his father’s were the best! We always make it to the big St. Patrick’s Day parade in either Baton Rouge or in New Orleans and we love to go watch when the Mardi Gras Indians march. There are so many festivals that we try and make it to every year that they are now part of our traditions as a family.

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About Us

We as a couple, as cliché as it sounds, really are each other’s yin and yang. Where one falls short, the other carries us. Where one sees the glass half empty, the other sees it half full. Jeff reminds Lauren that we must make time for each other and to slow down when life gets a little crazy and she reminds him that sometimes we must do our chores before we can go play! Jeff is much more of a romantic and always gives the best, sentimental gifts while Lauren is particularly good at making sure Santa brings plenty of socks and underwear. We truly are best friends; we laugh at ourselves and have so much in common. However, we can never agree on a restaurant or a movie! We often play pranks on each other as well as often bring home little surprises for each other, just because. We have lived through a few tragedies in our relationship, but what we have learned is that together, we can get through anything. We are both strong for each other. Most of our hobbies are things we like to do together, but we are comfortable doing things on our own as well. Jeff likes to go camping and Lauren likes to garden; both are activities the other does not like to participate in! He can have a guys’ weekends in the woods, and she is happy digging in the dirt. We are not perfect, we would never pretend to be, but we try hard to communicate well with each other and to be appreciative for all the little daily things that we do for each other.  We both have so much to offer a child and cannot wait to hopefully extend our family through your selfless gift.

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Our Home

We live in an older subdivision. Our home has 1450 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We’ve been lucky to fully update and renovate our home from top to bottom. It is a bright and colorful now and reflects our style and all the things we love to do. We consider our backyard an extension of our home. Anytime we have people over, everyone settles out there. We have wonderful neighbors and a large park within walking distance. Our home is close enough to everything you could need or want but really has an outside-of-the-city feel. Our home is always decorated inside and out for every holiday and tends to be the hub for all our get togethers with friends and we cherish that.

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Our Families

We are so incredibly lucky to have an large and diverse support system through both family and friends. Lauren has both her parents, Charlotte and Dan, or Ma’Mere (Cajun French for grandma) and PawPaw. They are incredibly lucky to be not only parents and child but also friends. She is very close with them, and they work together almost every day. She has one younger sister, Erin, who is married to Joey and together they have two children. Spencer and Landry; Lauren is also their Nanny, so they get tons of extra spoiling. Erin and her family live in a town about 45 minutes away, but Charlotte and Dan live right around the corner. We are all spoiled by Mom and Dad and we love watching their relationship grow with the grandchildren. They are extremely excited about adding another grandbaby.

Jeff has, unfortunately, lost both of his parents and his stepmother recently. But the lessons he learned from them will forever be with him. He cannot wait to share all the things he learned from them with your child, from the love of fixing and building things he got from his father to the old Italian recipes he learned from his mother. Jeff has a close relationship with Lauren’s parents. He enjoys motorcycle rides with Dad and Mom treats both her sons-in-law like her favorite children! Jeff has one younger sister, Jennifer. She has two boys; Anthony and Angelo. They are about 45 minutes away, and we get to see them all the time.

Both sides of our families are too excited about this journey we are on and cannot wait to add another little one to the mix. We are very close to our extended families; we are lucky to be very similar in that our aunts and uncles and cousins are a big part of our lives. Our friends, or as we call them, our “framily,” are especially important to us. Jeff has had his friends since childhood, and they are all very much like brothers. The rest of our friends have been in Lauren’s life for over 15 years. We have many traditions together and would all do anything for each other. We all get together for every holiday. We especially love Halloween; we all take it very seriously. There is a costume contest and between us, one of us has taken home the prize for the last 6 years! We are always getting together for football games, or holiday functions or just to hang out and grill. We are truly blessed to have such a supportive group of people around us.

Our Faith

We will never stress a particular religion on your child as neither of us is strict Catholic. However, we will have your child participate by being baptized in the Catholic Church and they will receive the sacraments through school. But once they are old enough to question what they feel is in their hearts concerning their faith, we will be open to that. We both feel that how you treat people is the most important way to show your love for God. The Golden Rule is just that, “Treat others as you would want to be treated.” This is not just a motto, but a way of life for us and the people we surround ourselves with. We each pray in gratitude and for guidance in our own actions and do not expect anyone to follow strict rules of a church to prove that they are a good person or that they have a relationship with God.

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Our Lifestyle

We live a pretty traditional, day-to-day lifestyle. We both work hard and have physical jobs. Jeff drives tractor trailers, hauling, loading and unloading heavy machinery. Lauren runs her family business as the operations manager, as well as being on the team of photographers, and doing anything else that needs to be done. Her hours are more flexible, so she takes on the daily task of cooking dinner, laundry and cleaning. We cook and have dinner together at home during the week. We will need to rely on daycare from time to time, however, with Lauren’s schedule being so flexible and grandparents so close, she will always be able to be home for important appointments and sick babies. Adding the care of your child to our lives will be a simple transition for us as we thrive on a schedule during the week.

We are very social people and love to get out with friends and family as much as possible. We take any opportunity to meet up at restaurants or festivals or just our backyard. We are usually outside on weekends, whether we are working on a project or out on the boat during the summer. We both love art and being creative and building special things for ourselves and for the people we love. We are both very open to new activities and never pass up an opportunity to try something new. We are heathy and active. We do not judge anyone by looks or religion or personal choices in life. We both believe strongly in treating others as we would like to be treated. We are both are survivors of setbacks and have proven to each other just how much fortitude we have. Adding your child to our lives would simply complete us as a family. We know that the best is yet to come for us on this new adventure.

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Our Vacations

We love to go on cruises and before all the shutdowns, we would go on one every year. We work hard, so vacation time is especially important to us. Sometimes we go with friends or family or sometimes we will just escape to New Orleans for the weekend. We love to explore new things and places. Our favorite place is a spot in Mexico, just sitting on the beach and watching the people and the waves. Jeff’s big dream vacation is driving to the Grand Canyon and camping there and exploring the area and other canyons and National Parks. We have been planning for this vacation for a while now and hope to be able to do it with your child. There is so much to learn from travelling and seeing how people live in other parts of the nation.

We also LOVE a good long weekend. We usually spend at least one day catching up on projects around the house and getting all the “chores” done so we can really enjoy the next two days. Depending on the time of year, we will most likely go out on the boat or to New Orleans for a day. The New Orleans experience is so rich in history, music, and culture that we always find something new to explore with every visit. It truly is an international city with diverse adventures around every corner. Jeff is a native New Orleanian, so we love going back as much as possible!  We also love to host our friends at our home, grilling or boiling crawfish. If it’s cold though, we can use the time to catch up on being homebodies and binge the next big Netflix show.

Education

A solid education and structure are important to us. Our plan is to send your child to Catholic school. We both acknowledge the discipline and level of education it has to offer them. Neither of us finished college, however we do realize the need for a well-balanced education. We will stress the importance of hard work and follow through in classes as well as sports or activities. These are life lessons we both feel will contribute to a successful adult in whatever career they decide to follow. We also recognize how important learning a trade can be; college is not for everyone nor would we push it if your child’s talents and happiness take them in a different direction. Our goal as parents is to guide your child along a path of learning how to be independent and successful in whatever direction life takes them. We are both products of public and Catholic school environments. There are pros and cons for both. However, we feel the discipline and faith-based path, along with our guidance, will truly prepare your child for better stability as they grow into a young man or woman and to be a successful part of the community.

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What Kind of Parents We will Be

We are confident in our ability to raise a child but we are truly excited to be given that opportunity. Financially, your child will never do without anything they need, but more importantly, we look forward to loving them and guiding them to be a good person. We will instill all the tools they need to be confident in their abilities and take pride in their accomplishments. We will foster any activity that brings them joy and will emphasize the importance of always doing your best. We will always make time for trips and vacations and look forward to sharing all our traditions. Making memories is important to both of us and we can’t wait to raise a Mardi Gras lovin’, crawfish eating, fishing and festival going little Cajun baby. We know that personalities are born with the child and look forward to learning what theirs will be and creating a home that will feel safe for them to be the person they are meant to be.

We will teach that there are consequences for actions. We both believe that lessons are learned from every action you take. We cannot really commit to a disciplinary style because every child is different. Time outs work for some but for others it may be taking away privileges. We can promise that we will not talk down or shame. We will create a space where they know they can talk about their feelings and what is going on in their lives. Unconditional love and support is how we live our lives with ourselves, our family, and our friends and that is how we will raise our family.

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Our Relationship with You

We have done a lot of soul searching about this topic and we want to be as transparent as we possibly can be. We both know how extremely important it is for your child to know of you and where they have come from. We promise to always make sure that they know they were placed with us out of pure love from you for them, and that you were strong enough to know that we were able to provide things for your child that you just were not able to offer at that time. We will always make sure they know where they have come from and how they came to be with us. We look forward to sharing pictures and milestones as often as you are comfortable with receiving them.

We know you are giving us the biggest gift we could ever receive, and we would never be able to express our gratitude enough. We are open to having a personal relationship with you once your child is emotionally mature enough to understand and receive that relationship in the healthiest way they can. We both know how much a child develops their sense of worth in the early years and we will give them all the tools to learn just how special they are. We want them to develop their own personality and self confidence in their strengths and to feel safe in their environment. So much of this is developed in their adolescence and we feel, as their parents, it is our responsibility to make sure their emotional needs are meet. We can promise that when they ask questions, we will answer and when the day comes they want to meet you and learn more about your story, we will also be open to it. Again, we know this is an exceptional gift you are giving us and part of that is the responsibility for always putting your child and their needs first.

Through watching Lauren’s father develop new relationships with his biological father and extended family, we have seen how important knowing where you come from can be and it brings healing and a sense of wholeness. When your child is emotionally old enough, we would love for them to be able to explore those relationships with you and your family. We hope to share pictures and milestones with you along the way, as long as you are comfortable receiving them. Our promise is that your child will never feel that they were unwanted and they will know that you making this sacrifice was the ultimate display of love for them.