Robert and Rachel

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From Us to You

We don’t know the emotional state you may be in or the feelings you are processing right now. Maybe this pregnancy was not part of your plan A, or even plan B. We want to say THANK YOU for exploring adoption during an overwhelming time in your life, and we deeply appreciate you considering us to be the adoptive parents for your child.

We were drawn to adoption even when we were dating. Years later, we discovered that we had fertility issues, which meant that adoption might be our only means of starting a family. While completing our first home study, we discovered we were pregnant with our son, Daniel. Soon after he was born, we found out we were pregnant with our second child, our daughter Ember. Still, we felt strongly that God had a plan for an adopted child to join our family. We are beyond grateful and excited for the opportunity to move forward on this journey!

As adoptive parents, we promise to be there for your child on the good and bad days, to care for them through any sickness, to create an accepting and loving environment, and to help them achieve their dreams. Our goal is to be understanding and steadfast parents who will help your child to flourish. More than anything, we desire to train your child to use their gifts to enrich the lives of other people. In our home, your child will find safety, love, and support at all times.

We promise that when your child asks about their birth family, we will speak highly of you. We will tell your child that their birth parents had to make a difficult decision, and they chose to give their baby the gift of life! We hope that you will tell your child about the factors that were involved in making that decision one day. In the meantime, we will remind your child that they are wanted and loved. Furthermore, we will tell them about the many people (birth family, adoptive family, lawyers, and social workers) who came together and worked very hard to give them this life.       

Please know that if you choose us to be your child’s adoptive parents, we do not want the moment that you relinquish your rights to be the end of your relationship with your child. We want them to know you and understand your story. We’d love to talk with you about your hopes for that relationship.

More than anything, we hope that, whatever you choose to do, God will bless you more abundantly than you could ever imagine. We want you to know that you are loved right now – at this moment. If you would like more information about us, we are happy to talk to you. We are “open book” people, and we would be delighted to do that.

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Why We're Choosing to Adopt

Adoption has been on our minds since we were dating. It wasn’t until we lost our first pregnancy and struggled for years with infertility that we realized adoption may be the only way for us to build a family. We believe that God can use our brokenness and make something beautiful. So, if we couldn’t have any children biologically, we took it to be a sign that God had a different plan for us – that somewhere a biological family is looking for a loving couple to adopt their child.

We were towards the end of completing our first home study when we discovered we were pregnant with our son, Daniel. A few months after his birth, we talked with our pastor to determine if we were crazy to still pursue adoption. He told us to pursue the call that God had placed on our hearts. We truly believe this is God’s plan for expanding our family.

We also believe that God uses adoption as a picture of His love for us (Ephesians 1:3-6). To us, it doesn’t matter if a child has our DNA. What matters is that we love that child, and provide them with the support they need to achieve what they have been called to do with their life. We talked and prayed about this decision a lot, and we kept feeling that God called us to this path. In essence, we are choosing to adopt because God chose us to be adoptive parents, and we are following that call whole-heartedly!

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About Rachel

Rachel is one of the most compassionate and caring people I know. One of the first things I noticed about her was her work ethic. No matter the day, she was always willing to put in the hours to achieve her goals. I have many memories of us studying together in the college library from opening to close. If it weren’t for her, I would not be where I am today. She has worked diligently over the years to complete her bachelors and masters in nursing, and, most recently, her doctorate in nursing education. Another thing I love about Rachel is that her idea of an incredible date is riding bikes together and grabbing dessert. The simplest moments can become quality time spent together. I have seen  Rachel do these same things with our kids. Whether teaching them to climb stairs, ride a bike, or reading with them, her priority is spending quality time with them and letting them know that they are loved. She is a wonderful mother!

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About Robbie

The first attributes that attracted me to Robbie were his intelligence and humility. Also, while we were dating, I was struck by how patient he was. I can be emotional at times, but that never fazes him. He’s always there for me when I need a hug and a shoulder to cry on. He knows how to make me laugh. If I’m having a rough day, he’ll do a Donald Duck or Abu (from Aladdin) impression. My favorite memories include cuddling on the couch and watching Disney movies, going biking or hiking, and singing Pentatonix songs out loud on road trips. Robbie is not afraid of hard work, and he is committed to achieving his goals. He is such an incredible man with a heart for people and service. You need to see him interact with our kids! Whenever he comes home from work, our kids are in full-smile-mode and run up to him while shouting “Daddy!” He loves spending time with them, making our kids his priority. Robbie is smart, brave, loyal, kind, and honest to a fault. He has worked so hard to become the man he is today. I couldn’t ask for a better life partner!

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Our Home

We purchased our home in June of 2021, and we love it! We have about 0.5 acres, and all of the backyard is fenced-in, with plenty of room to play. We love our community! The neighborhood is one of the safest in town and is a great place to ride bikes or take walks. The mountain bike trails are connected to the neighborhood, so we can start our rides from our house. We like to walk to a dessert food truck on the weekends right down the road from home.

We live very close to the Blue Ridge mountains, and take off time in October to enjoy all the fun things Fall has to offer in our area. We love to make time for pumpkin patches, gorgeous hikes, corn mazes, and parkway drives. We enjoy all four seasons here, and, last year, Daniel and Ember got to experience their first snow day. They loved seeing our yard completely covered in snow.

One of our favorite community events is the Bright Lights on the Bluff Walk in downtown Lynchburg at Christmastime. This past year, the kids got to meet Santa and loved seeing all the amazing lights!

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Our Families

Rachel is very close with her family, and has many cousins and extended family. She has one sister and two brothers, and loves any chance she gets to spend with them! Her family is incredibly tight-knit. They all love music, and nearly everyone sings and plays an instrument. Recently, we celebrated an early Christmas together and all her parents’ grandchildren were present – all four of them. It was lovely chaos!

Robbie has a smaller family consisting of his Dad, Mom, sister, and brother-in-law. His family is also filled with love and support. Both of our families cover us with prayer daily. We talk to our parents at least once a week, and we try to visit our families several times a year.

We would do anything for our friends, and vice versa. Our local support system primarily consists of friends we met through our church. We met our other closest friends (the Sunday Funday crew) through medical school and residency. We love to get together, share a meal together, and play a co-op board game.

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Our Kids

Daniel is 2-years-old. He is a very active boy. His favorite activity in the world is going to a playground. He loves them all! At home, he loves to read. He flips through ALL of the board books we have at least once a day. He also loves to play with his trucks, especially his firetruck. He is a great big brother, and loves to give his sister hugs. Daniel loves to help! He is constantly tidying up and handing us things that did not get put away properly.

Ember is just over a year old. This past December, she discovered that she could walk, and she has not stopped moving since! She loves a good playground, as long as she can explore everything. She is very interested in playing with our dog Reeses, and has loved to learn how to pet her. Right now, she is working very hard on repeating every word we say. She has the brightest smile and offers the biggest hugs. Ember is such a bright light.

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Family Traditions

Beach vacations with Rachel’s family: Rachel’s family goes to the outer banks about every other year. Our favorite things to do there include reading by the water, building sandcastles, going on bike rides, playing family games, grabbing fudge and ice cream, eating southern food, playing Putt-Putt golf, and visiting family members who live in the area.

Saturday mornings: Another tradition is cooking a fun breakfast on Saturday mornings. This meal usually includes waffles, eggs, bacon, and fruit. It’s like a mini celebration of the weekend.

Thanksgiving: We usually spend Thanksgiving with Rob’s family. We go crazy with the cooking and always have an amazing turkey, homemade sides (usually cooked from scratch), and delicious pie! During COVID, we had “Friendsgiving” with our Sunday Funday crew. We love to get our hands dirty and make an incredible feast!

Christmas: Our favorite time of year is Christmas! At the Christmas Eve church service, we love to worship and sing “Silent Night” with our church family under candlelight. This service embodies the true meaning of Christmas for us. On Christmas day, we take turns picking up a present and everyone watches as the recipient opens the gift. It makes that time so much more meaningful and less hurried. When we celebrate with Rachel’s family, we also partake in an Italian feast complete with lasagna.

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Our Faith

Our faith in Jesus is central in our lives, and it influences how we raise our children. We tell our kids consistently to treat everyone with “kindness, gentleness, love and respect!” You will often hear us chanting those words with our kids. We believe all people are made in the image of God. So, we desire for all our children to treat others in a way that reflects their innate worth as God’s workmanship. Every person should know that they have value, and should be treated with respect and love.

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Our Careers

Our passion for healthcare brought us together, and we helped each other through the nursing program. In the middle of nursing school, Rob felt called to become a physician. After graduating, he completed extra courses while working as a nurse to get into medical school. While working as a nurse, Rachel found that she loved training nursing students. So, she pursued a Masters degree in nursing education, and later completed her doctorate in education. Apparently, we are over-achievers.

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How We Met

We met while attending college. Rob was serving as a tutor for his community service, and Rachel was doing her best to ace her freshman courses so that she would be accepted into nursing school. After several tutoring meetings, and hearing from the professor that Rachel was an excellent student, Rob worked up the courage to ask her to grab some ice cream, not knowing about her extreme sweet tooth! Three years later, that same professor was our wedding officiant.

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Our Lifestyle

Our lives center around church and children. We make a point to be involved members in our church, and strive to be with our community at least every Sunday. As parents to two little ones, our home life typically revolves around keeping the kids active, engaged, and learning. We love to visit playgrounds or go outside together, trying to minimize screen time when we can. We know ALL of the local playgrounds and strive to give our kids that play time every day. Our lives also revolve around routine. We have found that our kids appreciate structure, and we try to keep that stable (and flexible, because people come first). Our kids are still in a napping stage as well. So, we plan our days around their nap schedule to ensure they get enough rest to keep on playing and learning.

We are part of a small group of friends that we call the “Sunday Funday” crew. The name started ironically. It began as a small study support group that met on Sundays while Rob was in medical school. This small group has turned into a life-long family. These friends are our chosen family, and we love to catch up on life, play board games, and watch the “Masked Singer” together. We are a constant support in each others lives. Our motto is “We’re here through the highs and lows, through thick and thin!”

We LOVE to go mountain biking together. We discovered it while Rob was in medical school, and it became our personal form of therapy and stress management. On the top of our bucket list is visiting all of the major national parks in the United States, and we hope to incorporate these kinds of trips into our family vacations. One of our favorite things to do together is grab boba tea. We know all the best places in town, and it always brings a smile to our faces. Also, we love to exercise together in the mornings – specifically high intensity interval training workouts. Finally, we love to start the day with a devotion and prayer time together. It keeps us connected and grounded.

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Our Personalities

Rachel: I would describe myself as kind, colorful, friendly, supportive, faithful, honest, goal-oriented, and a rule-follower. Growing up, if you weren’t early to an event, you were late, and I love being early! There’s something about having that margin of space that eases my mind. I love being creative and doing arts and crafts, like a paint night (canvas or pottery), knitting, cross-stitch, or interior design for my house. I also enjoy refinishing old pieces of furniture to give them new life. Music is one of my biggest loves, but don’t ask me which genre because it depends on my mood or what I’m doing. I also serve on my church’s worship team. Church service is very important to me, and I love using my musical gifts to help my church.

Robert: I would say I’m honest, funny, hard-working, patient, understanding, and inquisitive. I guess the fact that I became a doctor suggests that I love to learn. Most of the time, though, I love being “hands-on,” whether it be yard work or home projects. I value taking that mental break from my job by doing something more physically active. I’m definitely more of an introvert. I have a select group of friends that I love to spend time with, and I would do anything for them. While I’ll be friendly and respectful to anybody, I definitely prefer time spent with close friends. My favorite part of the week is getting some downtime going biking with Rachel. I can shut my brain off and just focus on enjoying nature, sunshine, and having fun. I love new experiences, and I hope to travel the world someday.

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Racial and Cultural Diversity

While the child will be raised in a Caucasian home, we want them to know about their ethnic origins and be connected to their biological culture. We want to teach that child about their unique heritage and how beautiful and rich it is.

We believe that the key to raising a child from a different ethnic background is to connect the child to their culture so they can function in both worlds – that of their adoptive family and their biological family. In doing so, we hope to actively address the child’s needs for identity and belonging.

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Education

While we both have doctorate degrees, that is not an expectation we would place on your child. We completed those degrees because they were necessary for us to do what we wanted to do for our careers. For Robbie, that was being a physician. For Rachel, that was being a nursing professor. If your child wants to go to trade school, we will support that decision whole-heartedly! We just want them to finish high school. The rest will depend on their specific gifts and goals.

We plan to send your child to a private, faith-based school, such as a Classical Christian School. At those schools, the teachers make sure that children learn to think critically and express their ideas clearly. Rachel graduated from that type of school, and it helped prepare her for college and life. While that is our desire, it is not a necessity! We understand that parents need to consider each child’s specific needs. If your child has a learning or cognitive disability, or if the school is simply not a good fit for them, we will find another school that will better meet their needs and help them meet their level-specific learning goals. In essence, we want to meet the child where they are and help guide them so they may have a wonderful life.

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Our Relationship with our Parents

When we were growing up, we both had loving parents who knew when to be strict and when to be relaxed. They laid out the family rules for us so that we knew what was expected. They also loved to foster our creativity and imagination. We owe so much to our parents; they were instrumental in helping us to achieve our goals and pursue our passions.

We both have very positive relationships with our parents and in-laws. We know we can ask for help with anything, and they will respond as quickly as they can. They also know how to give advice without pushing it on us. We are our own family unit, and we make our own decisions, but we have the gift of access to their wisdom whenever we need it. We love them all, and they genuinely love us and the family we are trying to build. They have supported this adoption process, and cannot wait to spoil their future grandchild!

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In Closing

Thank you for viewing our profile! If you were to choose us to be the the adoptive parents for your child, we cannot fully express our gratitude for what you will have done for our family. You changed your life around to prepare for the birth of your child. You let your body change, provided your little one with a place to grow, and made sure your child had a safe place to go and to call home. Our lives will forever be different because people, who used to be strangers, allowed us to become their child’s parents. We can’t think of a more extraordinary gift! Please reach out to us to discuss more about an open adoption plan. We want your child to know you, and we’d love to talk with you more about that.

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Our Promise to You

• We promise to love your child unconditionally, every single day.
• We promise to tell your child about God’s always-and-forever love for them.
• We promise to work for their good above our own.
• We promise to have family meals and to ask them about their day.
• We promise to kiss their boo-boos until they are all better.
• We promise to sing Disney songs with them at the top of our lungs.
• We promise to dress up with them for Halloween and take plenty of embarrassing photos.
• We promise to teach them to treat others with kindness, gentleness, love, and respect.
• We promise to end every phone call with “I love you.”
• We promise to pray for you and this child every single day.
• We also promise that you will always be a part of your child’s story.