Jeff and Nicole

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From Us to You

We are Jeff and Nicole. We want to thank you for taking the time to read this letter and get to know us as potential adoptive parents for your child. Please know that as we sit here, eager to grow our family, we keep you in mind, knowing that you might be facing one of the hardest decisions for yourself and your child. We will never understand the feelings you are feeling or the challenges you are facing, but we promise to be present and listen and show our love throughout this journey. Should you decide to place your child with us, we would be forever grateful. To place your child with us shows a level of trust and faith that will sit with us forever. We promise to talk honestly and positively with your child about you, your family, and your child’s family history, and hope you will be a part of these conversations. However, we will respect whatever type of relationship you wish to have with us.

Let us share a little bit about us. We met ten years ago when Nicole’s friend set us up on a blind date. Now, we are six years into marriage. We enjoy traveling and seeing new places and playing different sports together. We knew very early on in our relationship that starting our own family was very important to both of us. We couldn’t wait to share our love with another life.

In early 2021, we were contacted by Caleb’s birth mother. We had no idea what to expect, but we made sure she was in charge of her journey. When Caleb was born, we felt so fortunate to be asked to be a part of his life from the very beginning. It is a story we tell him daily. We met him and our hearts grew bigger than we could have imagined. Raising Caleb has been our greatest joy. Watching him explore, learn and grow has taught us how to be better people. We feel grateful to have an open relationship with Caleb’s birth mother and hope we can have the same with you if those are your wishes.

Family is a priority to us. Your child will be welcomed into our family with open arms. They will have a grandmother that visits almost daily with fun activities planned and they will be spoiled and loved on by their other set of grandparents who visit monthly from out of state. They will also have aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins to play and grow up with! Our friends are our family too. We see them often and love raising our children together.

While there will be many, many happy thoughts, we also know that there might be thoughts of sadness for you and your baby. We want to listen and work through those as one unit. We will always look at our family and think about the selfless choice you made to help us grow. We promise to raise a strong, kind, and caring individual who will learn to be whoever they want to be in this world! Thank you for taking time to look at our profile and consider us as potential adoptive parents.

All our love,
Jeff and Nicole

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Why We are Choosing to Adopt

Shortly after getting married, Nicole was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure. This meant that my ovaries had stopped functioning and I had no viable eggs to conceive a biological child. After learning about adoption, talking to various parts of the adoption community, and attending workshops and classes, we knew this would be how we’d grow our family.

Family is everything to us, and when Caleb was born, we were thrilled to not only have him join our family, but his biological family as well. Being Caleb’s parents has taught us so much and has opened our hearts more than we could have ever imagined. We would be so happy to have the chance to add to our family and continue to share our lives and love with another child. As we watch Caleb interact with his cousins and friends, we know he would be so excited to have a baby brother or sister to grow up alongside him.

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About Jeff, by Nicole

Jeff is driven and has the most caring heart. He is patient and loves to have fun and be silly. When he isn’t playing his guitar, you can find him playing hockey or golf. He loves to watch football, specifically the Detroit Lions. On Sundays, you can find Jeff watching NFL Red Zone and keeping up with all of his fantasy leagues. During the summer, Jeff likes to golf and spend as much time as he can outdoors.

Before Caleb was born, lots of our friends already had small children. We would spend lots of time hanging out at their houses and they would all instantly love Uncle Jeff. I knew he would be a great dad, but watching him with Caleb has been so special. He loves to teach Caleb about all the things he loves, but embraces all the things Caleb enjoys and jumps right in to play. Jeff and Caleb love to eat chicken tenders and fries from their favorite restaurant and go on walks together.

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About Nicole, by Jeff

Nicole is the kindest, most generous person you will ever meet. She goes out of her way to make sure others are taken care of and happy. She is an amazing cook and is passionate about her job as a teacher. I couldn’t be more grateful to have her in my life.

It’s so fun watching Nicole play, dance and sing with Caleb. Whether they are building blocks, shooting on the mini basketball hoop or playing outside, they are always having so much fun together. She always puts herself second and would do anything in the world to make sure Caleb is the happiest kid. It’s no wonder that when Caleb wakes up in the morning, the first word out of his mouth is, “Mama, Mama.”

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Our Son, Caleb

Caleb is 2.5 years old. He loves to be outside and play with our dog Oliver. Caleb loves to color, build towers with legos, pretend play, and is a dinosaur fanatic. He also enjoys helping in the kitchen! On a typical day, you can find Caleb playing hide and seek after dinner, chasing Oliver around the kitchen island or throwing a ball with Jeff. He enjoys shows like Trash Truck, Peppa Pig, and loves the new Mario movie- especially Donkey Kong. Caleb is easy-going and loves meeting new friends. On the weekends, Caleb takes swimming lessons. He loves to be active.

During the work week, Caleb goes to daycare 3 days a week and is at home with Nicole’s mom the other 2 days. It has been so wonderful to watch the bond they have created by spending so much time together!

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Home and Neighborhood

We live in a large suburb right outside of a major city. We live in a cozy, 4-bedroom house, with two living spaces, one that we have converted to Caleb’s play area. There are lots of growing families in our neighborhood, many with young children. We have a close group of neighbor friends who we see at least once a month for a pizza night. Everyone brings their favorite pizza from a local restaurant. We hang out and the kids all have a great time playing together.

During the summer months, our neighborhood has “Flamingle Friday.” Each week, a new neighbor offers to host families on their driveway. This is a fun way for families to connect and get to know each other. We live near lots of close friends, immediate and extended family.

Our house is a block away from a neighborhood park where we visit daily if it’s nice out! We have a large common area that backs up to our backyard with lots of space. Caleb loves to chase Oliver around or pick up as many sticks as he can find. The neighborhood school is less than a mile away and is known for its excellent education.

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Our Dog

Oliver is a 6-year-old German Shepherd mix. He is full of energy and loves to get outside to play and lie in the sun. He is a fan favorite in our neighborhood because he will stop and lie down when he sees people on our walks. Oliver and Caleb are best friends. They love to chase each other around. Caleb is generous enough to share all of his snacks and food with Oliver and Oliver is extremely grateful for it.

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Our Families

We both come from very tight-knit families. Jeff’s parents and extended family live in Michigan. We see them almost every month. When we are together, we like to go out to eat, watch movies, or find the newest shops in downtown Detroit. Nicole has a large extended family. She is the oldest of 24 first cousins. When we all get together, there are up to 75 people!

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Lifestyle

We love to stay busy! From visiting family and friends, to traveling, there is rarely a weekend we have nothing to do. During the summer months, we are outside as much as possible. We love to go on family walks, play at the park, blow bubbles and eat dinner on the deck. We also spend lots of time at Nicole’s aunt and uncle’s pool and boat. When it’s too cold to be outdoors we visit open gym at the park district, go to the library and indoor play places and hang out inside with friends or families.

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On a Typical 3-Day Weekend

It isn’t unusual for us to have a family or friend’s birthday party or get-together on a long weekend. If that’s not the case, we usually take advantage and go visit Jeff’s family in Michigan or our friends and family in other parts of the country. During our most recent 3-day weekend, Jeff’s parents came to visit and we took a day trip up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We visited Discovery World Museum. We saw lots of local sea life and Caleb got to run around a big ship and pet a sting ray.

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Family Traditions

Every Father’s Day we spend the day strawberry picking up towards the Wisconsin border. We do this to honor Nicole’s dad who passed away. We pick strawberries because Nicole’s dad loved sweets. We spend the morning picking the best strawberries and sharing stories about Nicole’s dad. When we are done, we buy apple cider donuts (Caleb’s favorite) and frozen strawberry lemonade from the farm shop.

Winter holiday traditions are some of our favorites! We spend Thanksgiving in Michigan with Jeff’s family. Jeff, his dad, brother and close family friends run the annual Turkey Trot. We also get to spend the day after Thanksgiving with Caleb’s birth mom and family.

Since we got married, we started a new tradition – Chrismukkah. Every year on December 23rd, we host a Chrismukkah party with our immediate family. We celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. We eat pizza and homemade Christmas cookies. This year, we taught Caleb how to play dreidel.

We can’t wait to create new traditions as our family grows!

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Hobbies

Nicole: I enjoy working out and baking for friends and family. I also love to read. This year I set a goal to read 10 books. If walking around looking at things in Target is a hobby, that’s my favorite!

Jeff: When I’m not playing my guitar, you can find me playing hockey, reading, or watching TV. I am a sports fanatic! In college, my friends and I drove 4 hours to watch the Detroit Tigers in a baseball game. I can talk sports with anyone!

Together, you can find us going on family walks or chasing Oliver in our backyard. When the weather is nice we love to go on bike rides to a nearby lake. We also like to go out and try new restaurants. Mexican and Italian restaurants are our favorites. When Caleb is asleep we watch new movies or TV series. We are currently watching Kaleidoscope on Netflix. Nicole is also a big reality TV fan.

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Our Relationship with Caleb's Birth Mom

In early 2021, we were introduced to Caleb’s birth mom through a friend of a friend. From the beginning, we wanted her to know that this was her journey and ultimately her decision when it came to an adoption plan. Throughout her pregnancy, we stayed in touch through text message and Facetime calls.

We were overjoyed and so thankful to be invited to the hospital to visit a few hours after Caleb was born. Since his birth, we have had a very open relationship with his birth family. We text several times a month, FaceTime once a month and visit often. We also share pictures and special moments and milestones through a mutual photo app.

We have been talking to Caleb about his adoption since the day he was born. While he is still very young, we continue to educate ourselves to be prepared to have open conversations about his story as he grows older. We will always encourage him to share his feelings and ask any questions. From the beginning, our promise to him and his birth mother were that we would remain open, honest and create a safe space for him share his thoughts.

While we would love another open adoption, we respect that this is your baby and your choice. We are open to discuss what the future may look like, making sure everyone involved feels comfortable. Not only can we promise to give your child unconditional love, but we want to share that love with you and anyone else you’d like to be involved in your child’s life.

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Our Promise to You

Every day, we promise to make sure your child knows they are loved, not only by us, but by you. They will be surrounded by family and friends who love them unconditionally. We promise to raise a strong individual who knows they and their opinion matter. As parents, we will continue to demonstrate kind, caring and respectful behavior and teach your child the same. They will grow up knowing that it is OK to have and share all of their emotions. We will provide your child with as many experiences and opportunities as we can and make sure to teach them to be whoever they want to be in this world! We will talk openly and honestly about their story and follow through with whatever commitments we made to you and your child.