Josh and Erica

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From Us to You

We truly admire you for having the courage to consider us as the family to raise your unborn child. Your decision to explore the adoption process shows that you are evaluating all of your options to ensure the best future for your child. We know we can provide the ideal love-filled, nurturing environment in which to raise children. Indeed, it is our dream to grow our family by bringing another child into our home, and we hope that you bless us by making our dreams come true.

Our lives became intertwined back in 2009 on Halloween night. We had an instant connection that has only grown stronger since we first laid eyes on one another. What can we say, we absolutely adore each other, and we cannot wait to bring another child into the beautiful world we have created with our son, Isaiah. By the way, our beautiful world also includes our adorable pup, Enzo! He is such a sweet boy, and oh so loving around babies and children.

Rest assured that any child that comes into our lives will not only be loved dearly but will also be set up to thrive! You see, Erica spent seven years as a kindergarten teacher and early childhood educator, and she is so excited to play games, inspire, and teach our children in the same way she did with so many other children. Erica is now a registered nurse, so any cuts, scrapes, or bruises will be well cared for!

After practicing law for just shy of eight years, Josh switched careers to pursue his true passion – running a business.  Josh now runs a business for a large company that offers employees ample work from home flexibility. And on those days that Josh goes to the office, he is consistently home just after 5 pm, leaving plenty of time for stories and playtime!

For the past 18 months, Isaiah has been hard at work training to be a big brother. He has a couple of baby dolls (and stuffed animals) that he enjoys pushing around the house in the stroller and pretends to feed at mealtimes. Isaiah is such a smart and responsible kiddo, and he is so ready to teach, protect and care for his future little brother or sister. Isaiah is going to be a great big brother!

Our family enjoys an active lifestyle! Afternoons and weekends are often spent riding bikes by the lakefront, playing at one of the many parks and playgrounds scattered throughout our neighborhood, and having multiple dance parties throughout the day. We love teaching Isaiah new dance moves, and he has taught us a few as well! We also enjoy taking sun-filled walks with Enzo around our neighborhood and listening to tunes while cooking dinner or barbecuing outside. We cannot wait to share all of these moments with another little one!

It is hard to communicate through a letter how important family is to us. In short, there is nothing more important. Living in Wisconsin, Erica’s entire family is within two hours of our house, so we regularly enjoy family gatherings at the family-owned campground. And although Josh’s family lives primarily in California, his mother relocated to Wisconsin to be closer to her grandson, Isaiah. And she is over-the-moon excited about welcoming another grandchild into the family. Please understand that our families molded us into the people we are today by showering us with love, support and devotion, and we so deeply want to bring another child into our family so they can experience all the same wonderful things.

We imagine that you have a million questions swirling in your mind right now, or certainly enough to feel completely overwhelmed. That being said, if there is just one thing you take from our profile, we hope it is that our love for one another – Josh, Erica, and Isaiah – is immeasurable, and we are more than ready to share our love with another child. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for taking the time to review our profile.

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

We are adopting a child because we want to bring even more love and happiness into our family. We have been unable to conceive a child through natural or doctor-assisted fertility treatments. We’ve even tried transferring our embryos to a surrogate on two occasions, with both attempts failing to result in a pregnancy. Though surrogacy did not work for us, our surrogate and her family have become life-long friends of ours, who we get to see regularly because they live just up the street from us!

Though it took some time to adjust to the reality of never having a biological child, we always knew adoption would play a role in growing our family. When we adopted Isaiah, he brought so much joy and purpose into our lives that we knew we wanted to grow our family further by bringing even more children into our home. Adoption has blessed our lives with a child to nurture and love and we want nothing more than to do it again. Plus, we think Isaiah will be a terrific big brother!

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About Erica, by Josh

Erica is truly the woman of my dreams; she is beautiful inside and out! One of the things I love most is her caring nature. When you get to know Erica, it comes as no surprise that she is a remarkably caring person; she shows it every day in the ways she prepares Isaiah for the day, teaches him new things, feeds him wholesome foods, bathes him after an adventurous day, and reads him delightful stories before bed.

While in college, Erica studied Early-Childhood Education. She started her career as a kindergarten teacher in the inner-city, where Erica routinely found herself consoling, caring for, and inspiring young children who had undergone traumatic events in their lives. She is now a registered nurse, where she shares her caring ways and talents with a much different population – our nation’s military veterans! Our veterans sacrificed so much for us, and Erica always makes sure to provide her patients and their families the best care possible to show her appreciation for their service. The love and care that Erica shows the world is truly amazing, we are truly blessed to have her in our lives.

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About Josh, by Erica

When Josh and I met all those years ago, I knew I had found the right partner for me. He is thoughtful, caring, driven, smart, a problem solver, creative, the man I get to call my husband, and the father I always wanted for my children. I see his drive and passion for life daily. It can be something simple like putting together a bookshelf for our family room, or something much more life-changing like ending his career as an attorney to go back to school to become a marketer.

Josh is also a very thoughtful person. He enjoys writing handwritten thank you cards, checking on our elderly neighbor to see if she needs anything from the grocery store, bringing home flowers when I am feeling down or stressed, and taking Isaiah out to the park for some much needed father-son time, while wearing matching t-shirts of course 😊. If there is a roadblock we are facing as a family or if his home improvement project does not go according to plan, he adapts and comes up with a solution to the problem that oftentimes is even better than the original plan. I admire Josh’s drive and determination, and he is a really great daddy! I cannot wait for Isaiah and your future child to see these characteristics and values in their dad.

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Lifestyle

We have a rather active lifestyle. We spend as much time as we can outdoors soaking up the sun, taking walks up and down the sidewalks throughout our neighborhood, swimming at the beach three blocks from our house, biking along the lakeside, hiking through the nearby nature preserve, playing at one of the many playgrounds sprinkled throughout our town, celebrating with friends and family at the local fairs and cultural events, or splashing in the water park we set-up off our back patio. In full transparency, our ‘water park’ is simply a small inflatable pool, a splash pad that we connect to the hose, and a water table complete with cups and buckets, but to our son, Isaiah, it’s a splash-tastic good time! Indeed, we are a pretty busy family, but it is well worth it because the activity keeps us healthy and we sure do have a lot of fun!

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Home & Neighborhood

We live in a small community, which lies on the shore of Lake Michigan just outside of a city. We were drawn to our community for its top-ranked school district and all of the family-friendly events that take place within our close-knit community. For example, it is known throughout the state for its huge Fourth of July celebration, which includes a fun-filled parade that spills over into the park just two blocks from our house, where kids play and listen to live music. In the fall, our community comes together at the Great Pumpkin Festival to celebrate Halloween. The festival offers something for all ages, pumpkin carving, live music, hot apple cider, spooky decorations, and most importantly, great friends and family. There is also a Christmas Parade that weaves throughout the village, offering local children an opportunity to see Santa before he sets off for the North Pole.

We absolutely love the location of our home! We are just one block from the local elementary school and two blocks from a big park that includes a huge playground, tennis courts, a large grass area, a walking path, and beautiful beach access. Our neighborhood is filled with the laughter and squeals of children playing in their yards and riding their bikes and scooters on the sidewalks. This is truly a special place to raise a family.

Our home is very cozy. Our main level provides ample space for family dance parties, while our lower level serves as a playroom, outfitted with a jungle gym and plenty of toys to keep Isaiah and your baby busy for hours. And we can’t forget to mention our living room that has just enough space to inflate a bouncy house for indoor bouncing parties!

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What We will Teach

We are looking forward to teaching our children many different things! Erica is ready to use her background in education to enrich her kiddos’ lives. Over the years, Erica has collected heaps of educational materials, games, and books that she is ready to explore with our children. Erica has already taught Isaiah how to say all the colors of the rainbow and they are currently working on pronouncing animal names!

As for Josh, he is ready to teach our kiddos how to play tag and fix things around the house. He is a master at researching home improvements on YouTube and figuring out how to fix things around the house himself. Isaiah is already showing some good skills using daddy’s wrenches! Josh can’t wait to pass his knowledge on to our children!

We both enjoy cooking very much and Isaiah loves to join us in the kitchen as we prepare meals, although he does more dancing than cooking! We are so excited to cook as a family once our children are old enough. Most importantly, we will teach our children to be kind to themselves and to others. We are modeling positive behaviors for Isaiah, and we will do so for all of our children to help them grow into kind and loving people.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

We are adopting because we want to share our love with another happy and healthy child; that means we are open to any child’s ethnicity. As is, our family is a bit of a melting pot, Erica is Caucasian, Josh is Mexican American and Isaiah is African American. We strongly believe that our ethnic differences, together with our open-mindedness, enrich our lives and make us an even stronger family. We support each other’s cultures and strive to incorporate them into our lives as much as possible. For example, we get Isaiah’s hair cut at a black-owned barbershop in a historically African American section of the city. We could easily take Isaiah to get his hair cut at a barbershop much closer to our home, but then we would not get the opportunity to share a very important cultural experience with Isaiah, nor would his hair get the proper treatment. All this is to say that we are open to adopting a child of any ethnicity, and further, we promise to prioritize your child’s ethnic heritage to ensure they stay connected to his or her cultural roots.

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Our Families & Friends

We have an amazing group of families and friends that are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new member! Our families and friends have been with us every step of the way through our struggles with infertility, and they celebrated our joy and happiness when we finally brought Isaiah home. They want nothing more for us than to bring another little one into our home to love, teach and care for.

Childhood for our kids will be filled with family visits and cousin play dates! We are fortunate to live within just two hours of Erica’s entire family, so rarely will a week go by without getting a chance to spend some quality time with the grandparents, having an impromptu dance party with cousins Mara and Kylie, or camping with Erica’s countless number of aunts, uncles, and cousins at the family-owned wilderness campground. And Josh’s mom moved from California to Wisconsin once Isaiah was born to be close to her first grandchild. Now she is overwhelmingly excited to be a grandmother a second time around!

Our friends cannot wait to welcome a new member into our family! Our friends have thoroughly enjoyed spoiling Isaiah with love, toys, sweets, and experiences. And there is no doubt in our minds that our friends will provide an incredible support system to your child and shower him or her with the same love and attention that they have shown Isaiah.

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Our Relationship with Isaiah's Birth Mother

Our relationship with Isaiah’s birth mother has become more and more open over the past year. Throughout Isaiah’s first year of life, we would send pictures showing his growth and adorable smile with letters describing his development, favorite books and toys, and first experience tasting different foods. More recently, we have been communicating with Isaiah’s birth mother more frequently via text message and are even planning a trip in the near future to introduce Isaiah to his birth mother and birth sister. With Isaiah’s birth mother, our preference is materializing; we are growing a relationship with her that is based on close communication and in-person visits. We feel this is important for Isaiah and maintaining a connection with his culture. That being said, we understand that not all adoptions are the same. While we would love to build an open relationship with you, we will only do so to the extent that you are comfortable. Please understand that your comfort level is our main priority.

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What We will Share

First and foremost, our home is a safe environment for our children to ask questions about their birth mothers, and we will be open and honest in responding to those questions. To have those discussions, we hope to learn about you during your pregnancy so that we can share with your child when the time is right. Of course, our children’s adoption stories will evolve as they mature, but the main point we want to communicate to our children is that their birthmother made the love-filled decision to place them with us to ensure they would have a wonderful life and upbringing. And by deciding to place with us, their birthmothers made Mommy and Daddy’s dream come true!

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Family Traditions

We have created many special family traditions that bring us great joy and memories and we cannot wait to share these traditions with another child. Each October, right around Halloween, our community throws Pumpkin Fest. Each year we look forward to this fun-filled festival that includes pumpkin carving, food and beverages, live music, and spooky decorations. It is so much fun to catch up with our neighbors and watch Isaiah dance to the music and play with his friends in the park.

Just a couple of months following Pumpkin Fest, as the weather begins to get colder, we prepare for another one of our closely-held family traditions: making Christmas candy for our families! Josh and I have been participating in this tradition since before we were married and it started with one of our first trips out to California to visit with Josh’s family during the holidays. We made candy to share with his family and they loved it so much that they requested it each year thereafter! And when Isaiah joined our family, the tradition became even more meaningful because we began making Christmas candy together as a family to send to his birth mother. Isaiah really gets into the candy-making process, he gets chocolate and peanut butter ALL over the place! But the mess is well worth the happiness and memories that we create together.

One of our favorite summer traditions takes place on July 4^th.  The day is jam-packed with activities, including a parade through the streets of our community, kid games and live music at the park, a barbecue for our friends and family in our backyard, and fireworks at the beach three blocks from our house. It is always so much fun to spend the day with our family and closest friends, creating memories that will last a lifetime!

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Vacations

Our vacations are very important to us. Not only do they serve as opportunities for us to spend quality time together as a family and recharge our batteries, but our vacations have also evolved into family traditions that we can look forward to each year. Every fall our family can count on taking a vacation in Door County, where we spend time together hiking through the state park, kayaking in Lake Michigan, window shopping in the cute local stores, and enjoying a show and meal at one of the famous fish boils!

Every winter we are fortunate to spend a vacation or two at one of the indoor water parks in the Wisconsin Dells. It is so much fun to ride water slides inside in the 80-degree weather while watching the snow fall outside through the windows. Plus, Isaiah is a little water baby, so it brings huge smiles to our faces to play with him in the indoor water park!

This past June we traveled to Oregon to tour the city of Portland and attend Josh’s family reunion in the Deschutes National Forest. It was so much fun to visit with everyone and watch Isaiah play with his cousins until he just couldn’t stay awake any longer. Isaiah’s cousins love him so much and they can’t wait to welcome another member to the family!

Every summer we go camping at Erica’s family’s campground in central Wisconsin. It’s a beautiful place to enjoy tubing down the river with friends and family, sharing a barbecue next to the river, and sitting around the fire pit at night roasting marshmallows. Each camping trip gives us such wonderful memories that we will cherish for the rest of our lives!

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Our Promise to You

We truly admire you for having the courage to consider us as the family to raise your child. Should you choose our family, there are several promises that we will make to you – First, we will love your child unconditionally, with all of our hearts, for as long as we shall live. Second, we will provide everything your child will ever need to have a joyous and healthy childhood. Third, we will always speak lovingly of you and your reasons to pursue an adoption plan. And lastly, we will gladly maintain an open relationship with you to the extent that you are comfortable. Please understand that it is our most heartfelt dream to grow our family by bringing another child into our home, and we hope that you bless us by making our dreams come true.