Justin and Christa

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From Us to You

Dear Expecting Parent,

Thank you for taking the time to read our profile. We understand this may be a difficult and emotional time for you and appreciate the opportunity to tell you about our family.

We have been together for over eight years and are lucky enough to be the parents of one amazing kid, Jensen, and one amazing dog, Charlie. Our relationship is a true partnership and we make all decisions together, especially decisions that will impact our family. We both feel family is the most important thing there is and focus most of our time and energy on Jensen, Charlie, each other, and our extended family. We’re very close to our parents and siblings, and they are all thrilled with the prospect of adding another little one to the family. Given how important family is to us, it’s always been a dream of ours to have more than one child. We both cherish our siblings and hope to give our children the same experience.

We have already been imagining how our lives will look with the addition of another child and could not be more excited to see another baby grow into a child, and one day, an adult. We both work from home which allows us the flexibility to be present for all the important moments. We’re looking forward to having another little face light up with joy on Christmas morning and the belly laughs that only toddlers can manage. Jensen is already planning all of the things he will show “his baby” including his many instruments and dance moves (with costume changes between acts of course). As parents, we’re excited to see how they grow and support each other over the years, hopefully as the very best of friends.

We adopted Jensen when he was a baby and he has brought us more joy and love than we could have ever imagined. At his age, Jensen may not understand his adoption fully but we always speak of his birth mother with warmth. Jensen’s birth mother decided on a closed adoption and while we may not have a relationship with her, she is still a part of our family. We are open to another closed adoption if that is your decision; however, we would be more than happy to have an open adoption with you. Our only wish is for our children to be happy and healthy and while this can be done with a closed adoption, we also know an open adoption would help our child better understand their story and who they are.

Someone once described our family as “ambitiously supportive” which we have taken to heart. We believe that victories big and small should be celebrated and that hardships should be met with support, love, and food. As parents, we want to honor our parents’ legacies of always being there for soccer games, family dinners, movie nights, parent conferences, and heartbreaks.

Thank you again for taking the time to learn more about us. We wish you all the best as you make your decision.

Justin & Christa

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Why We Are Choosing to Adopt

Growing our family through adoption has always been a calling for us, something we feel like we were meant to do. Jensen’s adoption only furthered that feeling and we are so hopeful we will be able to add another child to our family through adoption. Our experience with Jensen’s adoption may not be exactly the same as our next adoption but it has given us experience in sharing our adoption story with Jensen and other adults in his world such as his teachers. We understand how important it is for children to see themselves represented in the world and have already cultivated some wonderful books and TV shows representing adoption in a thoughtful way. We feel it’s very important for Jensen and any future siblings to have adoption as a shared experience and are looking forward to helping them share their stories with each other.

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About Christa, by Justin

Whether it’s work, motherhood, or her personal relationships, Christa’s strengths shine through. Anyone that has met her has their own positive story to tell. Jensen has always demonstrated that he knows he’s loved, largely because of Christa’s efforts. She’s a rare mix of knowledgeable and open-minded. She’s done a copious amount of research but is always willing to reexamine new info. When we realized Jensen enjoyed climbing, Christa set about getting and building a jungle gym. And when we noticed he began to be curious about the days of the week she found a fun pull out calendar for us all to explore. Jensen’s and my life are constantly enriched through her work although my favorite of her contributions to Jensen’s development are the idioms he’s gotten from her (think George Takei’s “Oh My”). She’s simultaneously my best bud and closest confidant.

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About Justin, by Christa

Justin has a laugh that you can recognize, and hear, from across the room. He is always there for me when I need someone to talk to, cuddle with, or watch something with. He is an amazing dad and wants to be involved in all aspects of Jensen’s life from changing dirty diapers and brushing teeth to teaching him how to tell the “Guess What? Chicken Butt” joke. Justin is a true partner and one of my favorite people in the world.

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Our Lifestyle

We both work full time, Justin in technology and Christa in payroll; however, we’re lucky enough to have flexible work schedules which allow for more time with Jensen. While we’re working, Jensen attends a wonderful daycare/preschool close to our home and any future children will spend their days there as well. Jensen has been there since he was a baby and we all love the teachers. We both work from home and are able to run over if there’s ever a need although the house does get quiet on the weekdays without Jensen’s chatter and musical shows. Working from home also allows us the flexibility to attend all of Jensen’s school events and keep him home if there is ever a need. Just recently, Jensen was home for a few days with a cold and enjoyed attending Christa’s morning Zoom calls. Even though it was just a cold, we were so happy to have been able to be home with him and comfort him as much as he needed. Jensen’s endless energy doesn’t leave us with much of a chance to get bored so we’re often at the park, on a scooter ride, getting dirty playing in the yard, or finding new hiding places during a lengthy game of hide and seek. We’re big believers in celebrations and believe every holiday, birthday, promotion, and accomplishment should be recognized and celebrated! We love holidays, Disneyland, Harry Potter, USC, and our family. We live within an hour drive of most of our family which means we always have someone more than happy to babysit or host a get together. We often get calls from Grandma and Grandad asking to meet us at the local park for a walk. Jensen loves the extra attention as he chases squirrels, looks for ducks on the lake, and goes down the slides. Grandma and Grandad love the excuse to see Jensen having a ball and to hear about our week.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

The three of us all come from diverse backgrounds. We are multiracial with Latino heritage, and Jensen is biracial with birth parents who are Black and White. Justin is the son of an immigrant. His father was born in El Salvador and came to the US as a youth. Our home is nestled in a historic Japanese community and Jensen’s daycare prides itself on diversity.  We love the idea of not only sharing our cultural heritage with Jensen but exploring his together as well.

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Our Relationship with Jensen's Birth Mother

Jensen’s birth mother decided that a closed adoption was best for her. We have respected her wishes and don’t currently have a relationship with her; however, we are forever grateful that she chose to entrust Jensen to us. While a closed adoption is what works best for Jensen’s birth mother, we are more happy to have an open adoption with you. We understand every birth mother is different and our relationship with you will not be the same as our relationship with Jensen’s birth mother.

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Home & Neighborhood

We bought our home about 5 years ago. It has three bedrooms, a home office where Christa works remotely, a backyard complete with a swing and jungle gym, and a breakfast nook where we all eat dinner together. Since buying our house, we have enjoyed tackling the projects that come along with homeownership such as landscaping, fixing leaky sinks, and painting. Our neighborhood is quiet and our neighbors all love saying hi to us as we take our evening walks. We’re close to a local YMCA where Jensen has taken swimming lessons, a park where Jensen and Charlie, our dog, love to go on the slides, and a lake where we meet Christa’s parents for Sunday walks.

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Our Dog, Charlie

We rescued Charlie from a local shelter when she was about four months old. She’s a shar pei/whippet mix which basically means she’s skinny with lots of wrinkles on her face.  She’s very spoiled with a dog bed in every room and more toys than she can use. She loves going to the dog park, being covered by blankets, and going on walks. We always knew Charlie was an amazing dog but seeing her with Jensen just proves it. Ever since Jensen was a baby, Charlie has cried when he cries, plays when he plays, and eats when he eats.

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Our Families & Friends

Our family and friends mean everything to us and we’re lucky enough to have a lot of them! Our parents have shaped the people we have become and we’re so grateful for the support they continue to give. Together, we have one niece, one nephew, and more aunts, uncles, and cousins than we can count, many of which live locally. Any occasion is a reason for our family to get together including holidays, weddings, birthdays, school plays, and football games. Some of our closest friends also live locally and we see them often for hiking, brunch, and game nights.

Some of our most precious relationships are with our sisters and we each have two. Christa’s family moved right before she started high school and it was a hard adjustment. Her older sister, Shannon, was also attending the new school and took it upon herself to check on Christa every day, ensuring she was ok and had someone to eat lunch with. It was a hard adjustment for Shannon as well but she was always there for Christa and never made her feel like a burden. It was a long time ago but continues to mean so much to Christa.

There is an eight year gap between Justin and his older sisters which led to wonderful relationship dynamics he wouldn’t trade for the world. His eldest sister always kept his secrets via the all important pinky swear, and his middle sister is best known for being Justin’s wrestling bud and sneaking him down at night to watch “Beavis and Butthead” after their parents were asleep.

Our close relationship with our siblings is one of the main reasons we want our children to have siblings of their own. They will have each other to lean on, share new experiences with, and have a dependable life-long bond built on the special childhood memories they share.

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Family Traditions

We love holidays and the traditions we have built around them! Whether it’s cinnamon rolls on New Year’s Day, something yummy and green on St. Patrick’s Day, or Easter egg hunts and delicious family brunches on Easter, we celebrate all holidays big and small! Our favorite time of year starts on Halloween and continues through the end of the year. No Halloween is complete without carving pumpkins, dressing up for a family Halloween party, and going trick or treating. Thanksgiving means a big homemade dinner with family and friends and wouldn’t be complete without Christa’s homemade pecan pie. Christmas is a month-long celebration that includes hanging Christmas lights on the house, picking out and decorating our tree, celebrating Christmas Eve with family and friends, and having tamales on Christmas morning.

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Leisure Time

We love spending time together as a family, whether it’s cuddling up to read a good book, chasing Jensen and Charlie around our backyard, or watering the plants. Family and friends are also a big part of our leisure time and we’re always happy to see them. Some of our favorite hobbies are home improvement projects, football, Disney, movies, and family adventures to the park, zoo, or aquarium. We have been fortunate enough to travel to South Africa, New York, Boston, New Orleans, and others since getting married. Our vacations have been local since having Jensen but we plan on taking him (and hopefully his brother or sister) to Japan to visit his aunt.

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Our Promise to You

If you were to choose us, we promise to love your little one unconditionally. We promise that he or she will have a happy, stable home full of laughter, dance parties, celebrations, family and friends, silliness, and love. We promise that we (and our family and friends) will always be there to support your little one in all endeavors whether it’s attending soccer games or school plays, helping with homework, or teaching him or her how to cook. We promise that your little one will always know how loved he or she is and how lucky we are to be his or her parents.