Nathan and Chelsea

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From Us to You

Dear Expecting Mother,

Our greatest hope is for you to know just how much we will love your child. It is our goal to  to provide your child with the best childhood and upbringing we can, filled with fun, family, activity, and a lot of love. We understand we could never fully fathom the enormity of your choice and the internal struggles you might be going through, and we respect and appreciate your bravery.

We realize that a few paragraphs and a couple of pictures are a hard way to build a relationship, but we will do our best to convey our true and authentic selves. We have known and loved each other for over a decade. We are high school sweethearts who met working at our local grocery store. Through that time our love has greatly evolved – from simple puppy love to a true and unshakable type of love. We’ve worked hard to build a foundation on faith, love, and respect and are excited to grow our family and be introduced to the wonder that parenting can bring.

Being together for so long there really isn’t a whole lot we haven’t discussed. And the topic of parenting is something we’ve spent a lot of time on, especially on long car rides when there is a lull in the conversation. We will be the type of parents that are fun-loving and energetic yet remain consistent with setting boundaries. Our plan is to create a bond with your child through respect and trust. We will practice guidance through teachable moments and be sure to end each night with giggles and goodnight kisses. Our wish is for him/her to have every opportunity to learn, grow, love, and make connections. We want to be their home, where they feel the safest and most valued and will be his/her biggest supporter and loudest cheerleader. As they grow up they will never have a day when they are not told how loved they are.

We will do our best to provide opportunities for them to experience a full and wonderful life, as well as encourage them to step back and look at life through multiple lenses to really appreciate all that there is in this life. He/she will introduced to the faith community and hope that he/she will come to experience the love and compassion that God has gifted us. We hope to instill a deep and unwavering belief in themselves, and to encourage kindness, confidence, and self-awareness and that no mistake is too big and they are always worthy of love.

Your selfless decision is not something we take lightly. The love that you have for your child does not go unnoticed. We may not know you yet, but we have been praying for you and loving you from the moment we decided to take this path to grow our family. If you decide we are the right parents for your child we hope to establish a relationship with you, in any form that you are comfortable with. As your baby grows, we promise to share all their milestones and accomplishments with you through pictures and letters, if that is something that you are open to. It is important to us to honor your wishes through this journey.

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

We have always known we were meant to be parents. After getting married we tried to conceive naturally for many years. Unfortunately, we have struggled with infertility. Over the years, we have gone through 5 rounds of IVF, resulting in heartbreak and crushed dreams. After our last loss, we took a step back from all of the hospital visits and doctor’s interventions to reevaluate what was most important. We knew we wanted to be parents and felt God was changing our hearts. We know we will love a child unconditionally whether they are biological or not. Our struggle with infertility is not something we typically look back on with fondness, however, if we were to look at the silver lining it is how much we grew together and learned. We learned that going through multiple devastating heartbreaks is really only manageable when you are married to your best friend and you can hold one another without having to explain anything – they just know. We learned that you have to find the joy in the little moments of every experience and not sit too long in the hard. And most importantly, we learned how much we want and are ready to be parents.

Adoption has always been something we’ve talked about together. Growing up, Chelsea spent time on mission trips in Mexico at an orphanage. Each summer after returning home she’d share about her experiences with the kids with Nate and knew eventually fostering or adoption would be a part of her life. Seeing that excitement and love, Nathan was instantly on board.

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About Chelsea, by Nathan

Chelsea and I first met while working at a grocery store. It took me a while, but I finally worked up the courage to ask her out on a date. Our first date was a movie and pancake eating contest. I won the pancake eating contest, but the biggest prize was knowing that I had found the one. We still to this day enjoy movie nights and pancakes.  Everyone who knows Chelsea will tell you she is the kindest and most selfless person they know. She always tries to help anyone who has a need. She is very passionate about teaching and has always known that it was going to be her career from a young age. Chelsea also is a youth group leader at our church and she’s a positive role model to her students and the children at church and enjoys seeing them grow.

Chelsea has always been amazing with children and loves spending time with our nieces and nephews whether it’s teaching them how to bake, crafting, or working on a puzzle. I know with all my heart she will be a wonderful mother and raise your child to become strong, confident, and loving like her.

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About Nathan, by Chelsea

Nathan is the best person I have ever known. I loved him the first moment I saw him in his black and white uniform (working together at the local grocery store). Even though I was only 16 when we met, I knew that he was going to make a big impact on my life. I love that I have been able to grow up with Nate. I have seen him mature from a wild and goofy teenager to this strong and responsible man. At first, when you meet Nathan he is reserved and quiet. Once he feels comfortable, you are able to see his funny and passionate side. Nathan always sees every situation through an optimistic lens. Despite how many challenges we have faced he is continuously excited and ready to begin the next big adventure. He is my one true constant in my life. I have never had to question whether or not I could count on him.

Nathan is the type of person who will drop what he is doing to help someone in need. He never judges or asks questions – he just shows up with a helping hand. One of my favorite qualities about Nathan is his ability to connect with children. He has always had a natural way of relating to kids. He’s always the favorite uncle with our nieces and nephews, Godchildren, and younger cousins. Nathan has a great passion for anything outdoors. This passion is something he has been able to share and experience with all the youngsters in our life. Teaching them about his love for the great outdoors while spending quality time with them out in nature. When around them; Nathan is fun-loving, firm yet fair, energetic, and imaginative. He is going to be an amazing father.

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Lifestyle

We have been married since 2016, but have been together since 2010. Through that time we have gone through and experienced pretty much everything, yet still, find new ways to stay connected and experience new things together.

We have a great blend of independent and mixed interests. Chelsea enjoys waking up early, dancing while she cooks, and curling up with a book. Nathan likes staying up late, working in the garage, hunting, and building things with his hands. Despite our individual interests, we make an effort to mix our personalities together, finding things that we can enjoy together. Activities we like to do together include: going on bike rides, taking the dogs on long hikes, movie marathons, and going to new restaurants to try out their menu.

We are active in our church community. Having a faith-centered life has been of great importance to us as we have gotten older. We have really come to make lasting-strong friendships with other members.

With Chelsea being a teacher in the high school and coaching cheerleading she stays pretty involved with school events. We make an effort of attending different athletic events and fine arts productions to go and support her students.

Our life can be pretty busy during the school year but summertime is for relaxing! Most summer nights you can catch us on our patio playing fetch with the dogs and grilling out. We love taking the boat out to go fishing or to watch fireworks. We travel to a new place each summer, exploring all over the United States. We’ve been taking turns with outdoorsy vacations and beach vacations – it’s what we like to call balance and compromise!

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Our Furbabies

We have three German-Shorthair Pointers. Skye, despite being 11 years old, is the most energetic of the three. She loves swimming, chasing birds, and sitting at mom’s feet while she cooks. Rusty is our old man pup. We rescued him from a shelter, where they thought he was about 3 at the time, making him about 9 now! He is a gentle giant who has a loud and booming bark but gives the best puppy cuddles. Finally, we have Chief. He’s our baby – even though he is 7. One evening Nathan came home with this little puppy in his arms and casually asked if Chelsea liked what he brought home. It took Chelsea a solid 20 minutes of loving on him before she realized there was a ring in his collar and Nate was asking her to marry him! It was one of her favorite surprises. Chief was meant to be Chelsea’s dog but he quickly bonded with Nate and to this day they are pretty much inseparable. When we tell people we have 3 dogs – who stay in the house with us, they always look at us like we are crazy but we love it! They are entertaining and always make a bad day good.

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Home & Neighborhood

Our town is a cozy bubble. The kind of place where you always feel welcomed and safe. We live in a community where relationships matter and people look out for one another. It is a growing community and has great opportunities with exciting places to visit, yet it is still safe and comfortable like a small town. When we decided to move here three years ago we were fortunate enough to find a lot in a cul-de-sac we loved. It is in a newer development that is close to the school where Chelsea works and has lots of bike/walking trails, parks, and baseball fields. Our neighborhood is constantly growing with new houses being built all the time. When the weather’s nice it’s common for the families in the area to be out on walks with their kids and dogs, kids riding their bikes, and a very business savvy lemon-aid stand run by 3 entrepreneurial young girls!

Our house is a new build, which we were fortunate enough to design ourselves. Working directly with our contractor, who was able to bring our dreams to life. Our main floor is a spacious open floor concept; it includes our master suite, kitchen, living room, and a spare room that will be converted into your baby’s nursery with a full bathroom. Currently, our basement is unfinished but will be soon turned into three additional bedrooms, a third bathroom, and a family/playroom.

We have a spacious backyard where we spend countless hours in the summer with our 3 dogs, family, and friends. Our home is one of our favorite places to be. A place you can pretty much always count on something baking in the oven, music or one of our favorite TV shows playing on repeat in the background, and a dog or three willing to jump up on the couch and cuddle with you with just one command. Together we have created a fun-loving environment that is safe and warm.

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Our Families & Friends

We have a close-knit family who we spend a lot of time with. In the summertime, we take turns hosting Sunday Family grill outs; which normally consist of competitive yard games, tons of food, and lots of laughter. Both of our sisters have 5 kids so we spend a lot of time with our nieces and nephews. They range in age from 12 years old to newborn. Most recently we were able to take two of our nephews and godson to Skyzone which was a blast! We have always enjoyed spending time with them and know they will love to have a cousin they can spend time with in the future. Nathan comes from a big family with lots of cousins close in age who have become some of our closest friends. Most of them have already started having children and are eager to see us become parents ourselves. We look forward to the day when we can plan vacations together, watching our children make their own memories in some of the same spots we have our fondest memories.

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Racial & Cultural Diversity

We are fortunate to live in a community that is racially and culturally diverse.  The high school that Chelsea teaches at has a wide range of students who come from diverse backgrounds, and she has built relationships with these students and enjoys learning about their different cultures.

Nathan’s sister is married to a Black man, and together they have 5 children who are bi-racial.  And whenever we travel or meet someone from a different background than us, we love to learn about their culture.  If we are given the opportunity to raise a child from a different race than us, we understand the important of having them growing up with role models like them, to be able to celebrate the cultural identity and to grow in their racial history and to celebrate all of our differences.

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Family Traditions

Over the past decade of being together, we have come up with some special family rituals that we do together as well as with our friends and family.

We love to celebrate birthdays, sometimes we even stretch it out for the whole week! Birthdays are a chance to celebrate you and all your favorites, so we make a point to eat a special meal, do a favorite activity, and always a special birthday treat. Chelsea loves to make homemade cards for special occasions and events. Typically, they are full of cheesy puns and lots of glitter explaining just how loved you are.

Nathan really shines during the 4th of July. He loves to make a big production of grilling or smoking something on the grill. We spend the day with family and friends on the beach or out on the water, then end the day with a fun firework show put on by him and a few of his friends.

Prepping  Christmas season starts the Saturday following our Thanksgiving celebration. We like to go to our local Christmas tree farm. There we grab a map and a saw and head out to find the perfect tree. Nathan is usually picky and it seems like we look at over 100 trees before finding the perfect fit for our home. Once we have our tree we haul it home and get all the decorations from storage then spend the rest of the afternoon decorating the house for Christmas. This is Chelsea’s favorite holiday and the holiday baking normally is nonstop until she returns to school in January. While we like to have one day at our house just for us as a family, we still enjoy going to our extended family to celebrate together.

Every year at Nathan’s parents we like to have a friendly crafting competition. Our latest favorite was painting birdhouses that his dad built. Once we get them all completed we send out pictures and take a poll on the most popular one. Usually one of the nieces or nephews wins with all their creativity! At Chelsea’s sister’s house, we play some sort of game with everyone before dessert is served. Over the past couple of years, our Jenga skills have grown quite impressively!

Family summer vacations are always a hit. Not every summer works for all the families to get together but when we do it is always a blast. We usually try to find a lake house somewhere that is big enough for the entire family. Our last vacation was on a lake in Michigan. We hauled our boat up for tubing and fishing. The water was unusually cold for the time of year, but the kids didn’t mind and still enjoyed being pulled on the tube and swimming/playing king of the mountain on the floating mat. Even if we cannot all get together for a big vacation, we make a great effort to do Summer Sunday Family Dinners. This is where we rotate around hosting and spending the day eating, playing yard games, and catching up as a family.

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Our Promise to You

We promise to love and cherish the opportunity to raise your child and become parents to your child is not something we will ever take for granted.

We understand and respect the magnitude of what you are sacrificing, and we promise to honor your story. Your child will grow up knowing the love you have for them in making this decision.

We promise to respect however much involvement you are wanting to have with your child as they grow up.

We promise your child will grow up with a full support system from all sides of our family. They will be loved and spoiled by aunts, uncles, and of course grandparents.

And we promise that we will be forever grateful for the opportunity to raise your child to become strong, confident, and happy.