Andrew and Tarah

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From Us to You

Hi! It’s truly so nice to meet you and be a part of this journey together. We can’t imagine everything you’re going through, but we feel so confident in your strength and resilience as you make this choice.

Our conversations around adoption began long before marriage. It was important to us to be on the same page in building a life together, and we both agreed that regardless of our future family planning, adoption was absolutely something we wanted. We’re wholeheartedly ready to add to our family and provide a loving, supportive, and safe home to your baby.

Our recent move to the Washington DC area from California was all about raising our children and being the kind of family we want to be. Besides having access to the best museums and so many amazing things to see and do, we value diversity and want to show our children how important it is to stand up for what is right. If we can raise our children to be kind, open-hearted, curious and resilient, then we truly feel we’ve done right by them!

Parenting is the biggest and most worthwhile challenge we’ve ever taken on (and we think we’ve done some pretty big things already!), but adoption will surely be the most impactful yet. We’d be honored to embark on this journey of growing our family with you as the birth mother. We want our child to know about your sacrifice and desire for them to have the best life possible, and that we couldn’t be more overjoyed to have been chosen to raise such a remarkable child.

We have so much love to give, and the life we want to provide her will be overflowing with laughter, music, adventures… but maybe more importantly, listening ears, open hearts, and comforting arms whenever she needs them. We want to be parents who would do anything to protect and provide for her, but also remind her of how strong and capable she is on her own. And that no matter what, we will always be a safe space and home for her. We want her to grow up to be exactly who she wants to be, and to love her story.

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Family Fun Facts!

• We met in the dorms at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and were friends for years before falling in love and getting married.
• We talked about adoption even before dating as something we both wanted.
• We fully renovated our first home together in Orange County, CA and plan to do it again when we buy in Virginia. We love doing things ourselves!
• We both played multiple instruments growing up. Andrew’s high school punk band was on the radio!
• We’re happiest getting outside, but we also have a shared love of video and board games.
• We’ve run a marathon and 4 half marathons.
• We’re passionate about exploring the world! Our adventures have taken us to destinations both near and far, from Hawaii to Norway to Fiji, and many places in between.

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Our Lifestyle

We have so many hobbies and interests, but with a toddler, our lives mostly revolve around him! We’re finding so much joy in the change of pace and activities, and the DMV area is an incredible place for our family!

Weekends these days always include playing at home, going for walks, and riding the bus (a favorite of our son). We love going out to breakfast, riding bikes through Old Town, going on walks by the river, taking the metro into DC, or meeting up with friends at a brewery or park.

We love working on projects around the house – always something to do! Finn is becoming a great helper. Afterwards we walk to the grocery store together and cook a tasty dinner. We usually end the night once Finn has gone to bed by hanging out with friends at our place, playing games, or watching a new movie. Since travel is a big passion and we only recently moved across the country, we can’t wait to plan our next adventures either along the coast or to Europe now that we’re so much closer!

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Meet Tarah!

My wife Tarah was made to be a mommy. She is one of those incredible people that can be good at anything she chooses to be, and our children will be forever blessed that she chose to include motherhood. When I first met her 18 years ago, her passion, warmth, and generosity were instantly evident. She truly loves hard – she is endlessly loyal, fiercely protective, and the biggest cheerleader to everyone in her pack. I am tremendously lucky to call her my partner and co-parent. Her gifts go so much further though, as she is a capable entrepreneur and talented professional. Few people build their dream job from thin air, but as a hair and makeup artist, my incredible wife has done just that. I am so proud of her and everything she has accomplished, and feel motivated every day to be better just so I can keep up with her.

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Meet Andrew!

My love, Andrew! I’m continuously amazed by his compassion and eagerness to learn new things. On multiple occasions, I’ve found him emotional over stories of dogs missing their owners who have passed or eagerly talking about how important voting is because it helps protect and create laws for those not given equal opportunities. And the things this man can do!

From building a printing press for custom wedding invitations to his own gaming computer to renovating our first home. He’s adventurous but also enjoys making our home a place of refuge. He’s an incredible husband, father, brother, son, and friend by always supporting and giving his time and energy to show his love and devotion. Plus he’s so witty! Even as friends, I was instantly drawn to his comedic timing and clever quips. He often puts put my dreams before his, and shows me every day that there’s no one more kind, intelligent, funny, and full of love to share my life with!

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Our Home

We think we live in one of the coolest places! We’ve only been in Alexandria a short time, but we chose to move here from SoCal because of everything this place has to offer. Being able to take the metro into DC to visit the National Mall and Smithsonian, or hop on a bus ride or walk to Old Town, food, shopping, and the Potomac River, we feel truly blessed to call this place our home!

Our community is so peaceful and beautiful, and inside our home, you’ll find it’s cozy, colorful, and inviting. Making sure our home was set up with children in mind was a priority. We can all play, cook, and enjoy meals together while looking out at our charming street. We have space for both of us to work from home, as Andrew is remote and Tarah owns a wedding beauty business, while still having room to play and a place to relax in the evening after Finn’s bedtime. Our plan is to buy nearby soon so we can make it even more our own and have extra room for our growing family!

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Our Family

We’re fortunate to have loving family on both sides, especially to love on Finley now. Living on the East Coast makes visiting a bit of a journey, but we enjoy any chance to travel back to sunny SoCal, our home for 35 years. Family, friends, and Finn’s Godparents are all there, so every trip is packed with time spent with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close friends. We love catching up with everyone while enjoying the beach, parks, Disneyland, wineries, breweries, and, of course, getting our In-N-Out fix!

We also have several other close friends that are all over the country. We keep in touch with virtual game nights and catch ups when we can’t fly to Seattle, Minneapolis, Portland, or Austin to see them all. We only recently moved to VA, so we’re still building up our community of people here. We’re thankful for old high school and college friends we’ve been able to connect with, and who have helped introduce us to so many wonderful people here.

Racial and Cultural Diversity

We feel ready to welcome a child from another race into our family. As kids, we grew up in communities where everyone had different backgrounds of race, religion, and income. It was fun to enjoy what made us different. As we got older, that turned to curiosity and a love of food, travel, and culture. Now as parents, we see that grow into a responsibility to our children. Their personal story will be honored and celebrated in our family, and we’re excited to help them feel connected to that story. Whether it’s food and museums here in DC, reading together, traveling to special places, or finding local groups to participate in, our job is to help them in any way we can.

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On Adoption

We plan to do our best to hold space and provide resources to our future child on their adoption. It’s important they know where they came from so they can feel secure in themselves and the life they plan to build for themselves. Their origins, adoption and story of their birth family will be shared openly and often. This also includes healthy boundaries, and respecting our children’s autonomy. We want them to grow up with confidence in a consistent environment. We’re open to sending updates on their growth and engagement with the world! We also hope to give them the option to connect with their birth parents in a safe environment once they feel ready.

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Meet Finn!

Finley (Finn) is an energetic, silly, sweet, curious, and clever toddler. We feel incredibly blessed to be his parents!

He loves to walk, run, swim, read, play with toys, travel, and explore outside. We love seeing the world through his eyes and can’t wait to see him become a big brother. We think he’s going to be so helpful and kind and want to protect her fiercely. Just as big bros should!

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Family Traditions

We love Christmas! After Thanksgiving, we get so excited to put up the tree, go out to look at lights with hot chocolate in hand, and open new PJs on Christmas Eve after homemade lasagna (Tarah’s family tradition). Christmas morning involves fresh baked cinnamon rolls, presents opened by the fireplace, and a leisurely afternoon playing together and watching movies. We’re so thrilled that the holidays now include visiting the National Christmas Tree too!

Outside of the holidays, Andrew grew up visiting his aunt in Lake Tahoe to swim, hike, fish and barbecue all summer. We’re incredibly blessed to continue this tradition with Finley now too.

We also know there will be more traditions we’ll create as a growing family, and definitely want our children to have say in them. Whatever background your baby has, we would be honored to celebrate and incorporate her culture in our family to help them feel empowered, supported, and appreciated for all they are!

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A Final Thank You!

The best way to describe our parenting style is with The Danish Way of Parenting’s PARENT acronym to help build resilient, happy adults by focusing on Play, Authenticity, Reframing, Empathy, No ultimatums, & Togetherness. We try to embrace childhood, be open & honest in communicating, find the positives in situations, encourage respect & autonomy, and spend quality time with loved ones.

We truly feel we were meant to be parents, and we want you to know your child will grow up understanding the choice you made for them and the love and optimism that brought them into our lives. You’re entrusting us with a precious gift and a tremendous opportunity. We promise to endlessly honor that choice.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. Most importantly, for considering us in the decision you are making to provide a safe, secure, and loving home to your baby. We promise to love your child unconditionally, providing them with every element of emotional and physical security. We’re committed to creating an environment where they can find the most wonderful version of themselves in a home filled with learning, laughter, and endless adventures too!

We also vow to afford them every opportunity we can to develop their talents and wholeheartedly pursue their dreams. Our family and home will always be a refuge where our children will be supported, accepted, and cherished endlessly.