Jeremy and Emily

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From Us to You

Dear Expectant Mother,

You are strong, you are brave, you are loved! Your child will always know where their roots are and your love, selflessness, and courage that brought them into the world. We cannot begin to understand the emotions you are going through during this decision. We are entering into this process from different perspectives, but we all share the same reason for being here, immense love for your child! Thank you for taking the time to consider us and view our profile. We hope it will give you some insight into who we are and how much love we have to share!

Our story begins in a small, rural town in Illinois. We grew up in the same town, going to school together and becoming high school sweethearts. After attending university together, we got married in January of 2010 and settled in another small, rural town about 30 minutes from where we grew up. Having been through several phases of life together over the years, we have developed a deep bond that we cannot wait to share with your child!  Entering the journey of parenthood as a team, we feel strong and capable to provide your child with a loving and supportive home. Adoption has been included in our discussions about starting a family from the time we were dating.  Our hearts have always been open to loving a child, no matter how they came to us. Adoption became even closer to our hearts when Emily’s sister adopted a son, and we became Aunt and Uncle for the first time!

We currently share our home with two goofy and loveable pets, dog Buster and cat Luna. Buster is a rescue dog and came to live with us in 2011. Miss Luna found Emily one day while on a drive and is a tiny puffball with no tail! A lot of our time at home is spent with our pets. Everyone is happiest when we are all together, comfy and cozy! Most of our evenings are spent in our basement with the fireplace on enjoying a record, reading, or watching cheesy Sci-Fi TV. In our free time, we enjoy bike riding, walks in the neighborhood, live music, and gardening. We are fortunate enough to have our family live close, and we get to see them frequently. Holidays and family traditions are special and important in both of our families. Each occasion is marked with good food, great company, games, and lots of laughter! Our families are over the moon excited to build these memories with your child!

When we imagine a child joining our family, we envision sharing with them all the simple things that make life wonderful! Images swirl in our heads of planting the spring garden in our backyard with them, reading them bedtime stories from our favorite books like The Hobbit and Where the Wild Things Are, sharing our love of music, and taking family bike rides in the park. As Emily will be a stay-at-home mom, she looks forward to days spent with your child; working on developmental milestones, gardening in the backyard, reading books, and building memories. We strive to create a calm, nourishing environment for your little one to explore their interests and the joys of being a child!

We welcome your child into our family with open arms and hearts! While there will never be a way to show you our full gratitude for choosing adoption for your child, we will make it our mission to teach your child how to love themselves and others, be open-minded, steadfast in their values, confident, and kind. Through every step of your child’s journey, we will strive to honor you and the decision you made for them!

Love for your child is what binds us together. Should you choose us to parent your child, the love that started this journey will continue to grow and flourish!

With all the love and respect,
Jeremy and Emily

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About Emily, by Jeremy

Having known Emily for over half of our lives I’m continually thrilled to witness her growth, but maybe even more importantly, how her core values stay strong. While we attended a small high school together, there were still cliques and there were still bullies. Without exaggeration, Emily was friends with everyone. She was always ready with a kind word and a genuine interest in how everyone was feeling. We had the privilege of attending college together and Emily made fast friends with the bunch of engineers I hung out with, despite our social awkwardness. The empathy and compassion that she embodies are amazing.

I am completely convinced that Emily will be a fantastic mother as these same qualities that she has demonstrated throughout life will be not only directed to your child, but beautifully imparted to them. In addition to these unteachable attributes, she has spent her adult life studying and learning about childhood and adult development. This knowledge will be undeniably valuable, but coupled with her caring and loving soul, I cannot wait to see how awesome it will be!

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About Jeremy, by Emily

Through the ups and downs of life, Jeremy is unwavering in his support. He is a fierce and loyal friend, husband, and family member. Having known Jeremy since we were in middle school, I have been fortunate enough to witness his growth as a man, human, and future father. Jeremy is one of the most patient people I have ever met! He has spent hours after work helping the neighbor boys with their homework, building Lego sets with our friend’s children, and teaching our nephew new games and skills. Watching him teach others is one of my favorite roles to see him in!

In all aspects of his life, Jeremy puts his family first. The most important thing to him is making sure those he loves and cares about are supported, safe, and secure. There is no doubt in my mind that he will be an excellent father, and I can’t imagine taking on the adventure of parenthood with anyone else by my side!

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How We Met

Our story begins in a small, rural town in Illinois. We grew up in the same town and met for the first time in school when Emily was in 5^th grade and Jeremy was in 8^th. Emily had a crush on Jeremy immediately, but it wouldn’t be until high school that he noticed.  We began dating in high school and after attending university together, we got married in January of 2010. Since we have known each other for over half our lives and grew up in the same small town, we also have developed and maintained life-long friends together. Having been through several phases of life with each other over the years, we have developed a deep bond that we cannot wait to share with your child!  Entering the journey of parenthood as a team, we feel strong and capable to provide your child with a loving and supportive home.

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Why We Are Choosing to Adopt

Being parents has always been the ultimate goal for us, in building the life we imagined. Adoption has been included in our discussions about starting a family from the time we were dating.  Our hearts have always been open to loving a child, no matter how they came to us. Adoption became even closer to our hearts when Emily’s sister adopted Grayson, and we became Aunt and Uncle for the first time!

When Emily was diagnosed with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) last year, we felt confident in making the decision to grow our family through adoption. Adoption just feels right to us! We understand that adoption comes with its own set of difficulties and challenges, but we see such a beautiful journey ahead of us!

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Our Relationship with You

Our relationship with you is very important to us and we would love to have a relationship with you that involves staying in contact through pictures, letters, and phones calls and we are open to yearly visits as well.  Of course, we will respect what level of openness you prefer but we always want you to know that your child is safe and loved and happy. At the end of the day, we want you to feel comfortable and heard throughout this journey and building a relationship with you that allows that to happen is a top priority for us!

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Our Lifestyle

Our lifestyle is laid back and simple. We like to spend our evenings at home cooking dinner together and our weekends venturing around our town, enjoying the lake and local ice cream shop. We also enjoy tabletop games and host game night in our basement with Jeremy’s sister, Jana, and her husband frequently.

We spend our free time enjoying our hobbies as well. Crafting is a hobby that Emily cannot wait to share with your child! Emily envisions afternoons in the sewing room, teaching your child how to sew and working on projects together. Jeremy can’t wait to have a little companion to build Lego sets with and share his love for creating and building. As Emily will be a stay-at-home mom, she looks forward to days spent with your child; working on developmental milestones, gardening in the backyard, reading books, and building memories.

For travel, we enjoy going to see friends that live out of state, and spending long weekends in a local, historical town Jeremy’s family owns a tiny cottage in. We have both been visiting this historical town since childhood and sharing this place with your child is a dream of ours. Planning out where and what to eat on these little trips is one of our favorite parts! We are always searching out new places and foods from various cultures, Thai food has become a favorite of ours.

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Home & Neighborhood

This town has been our home since 2010 and we have lived in our current home since 2011; a comfortable brick home with fenced in back yard, 2 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms, and a finished basement. The basement of our home is the perfect set up for a sleep over, with a game room, TV, and lounge area. We are so excited for your child to have their friends over one day and enjoy this space! The hustle and bustle of our home can always be found in the kitchen. Whether trying out a new recipe or baking a holiday pie, our kitchen is busy! We hope to one day share our love of the kitchen with your child and teach them our favorite family recipes. Our back yard is fenced in, and there is plenty of room for our dog and your child to run! Emily looks forward to digging in the herb garden with a little helper, and Jeremy can’t wait to have a grilling partner.

Our home is filled with plants and decorated with our hobbies and interests. Emily enjoys sewing and knitting so several items around the house are wearing sweaters, including the plants sometimes! Jeremy likes to build Lego sets and you will find those lining the walls of the game room. Most of the artwork in our home is local, self-created, or a framed concert poster. Quirky or whimsical might be a good way to describe our home’s aesthetic!  Sharing our home and hobbies with your child is something we dream about! When choosing our house and while making it a home, we always knew one day a child would need to feel safe and free to grow in the environment we were creating.

We live in a quiet, friendly neighborhood with neighbors we feel lucky to have. In the summers children ride their bikes around the block and down to the creek. The local park is within walking distance of our home, and we look forward to many trips there with your child! On July 4th we watch the fireworks from our backyard, and around Christmas time you can hear the music from the light display. So many family memories we cannot wait to make!

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Our Pets

We currently share our home with two goofy and loveable pets, dog Buster and cat Luna. Buster is a rescue dog and came to live with us in 2011. Miss Luna found Emily one day while on a drive and is a tiny puffball with no tail! Buster is the sweetest soul and couldn’t be a gentler boy. Luna is also a sweetie but on her own terms! She has more of a sassy and independent attitude. We have so enjoyed watching our pets interact with our nephew and friends’ children over the years. Seeing them play and snuggle together just warms our hearts and we can’t wait for them to share that bond with your child. There is no doubt in our minds that they are up to the task of being excellent fur-siblings!

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Our Families & Friends

We are fortunate enough to have our families live close, and we get to see them frequently. Holidays and family traditions are special and important in both of our families. Each occasion is marked with good food, great company, games, and lots of laughter! Our families are over the moon excited to build these memories with your child! Jeremy’s parents are so thrilled to have their first grandchild, and Emily’s parents are equally as thrilled to have a grandchild live so close! It is very important to us, and our families, that they are involved in supporting the physical, emotional, and overall growth of your child.

We can’t talk about family without talking about our nephew, Grayson. Emily’s sister adopted Grayson in 2013, and he has been a ray of sunshine in our family ever since! Grayson is already excited to share the bond of being an adoptee with a little cousin, and of course, he has some plans for adventures and games one day!

We are equally as blessed with amazing friends and feel so lucky to be a part of their children’s lives! Our friends cannot wait to include your child in all the fun we have dressing up in costumes for birthday parties, watching holiday movies together, and gathering for monthly dinners. The giving and compassionate families we call friends will always be a support system for your little one!

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Our Beliefs

Growing up, both of us were raised in religious homes. Jeremy attended local Baptist churches with his family, and Emily’s family was very active in the Church of Christ. While we no longer practice an organized religion, spirituality is important to us. We believe that everyone has a spiritual side, and that it is vital to nurture this side in all of us. Whether this looks like meditation, a walk in the woods, or sitting in a pew on Sunday, we will support your child along the spiritual path they feel is right for them. As in all things, we will guide your child through their spiritual path with love and non-judgement.

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Traditions

Each of us grew up in families that make holidays special; with lots of decorations, food, and fun activities like making gingerbread houses and carving pumpkins. When we imagine our life with a child in it, these holiday traditions are something we want to pass on. The magic of the holidays is something we each treasure from our childhoods and look forward to creating that magic within our own home and family!

Growing up we each visited the Science Center in St. Louis and the various museums in Chicago. We also went on several tours of a nearby, historical town we still visit frequently. Learning about history, science, art, and music were important parts of our childhood. By exploring these and other places with your child, we hope to pass on that love of learning and exploration!

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Our Promise to You

Your child will always know where their roots are and the love, selflessness, and courage that brought them into the world. We welcome your child into our family with open arms and hearts! While there will never be a way to show you our full gratitude for choosing adoption for your child, we will make it our mission to teach your child how to love themselves and others, be open-minded, steadfast in their values, confident, and kind. We promise to provide your child with unconditional love and support throughout all of life’s ups and downs. Through every step of your child’s journey, we will strive to honor you and the decision you made for them!