We have a 3-year-old adopted daughter, Claire Lillian. Our first adoption experience was magical. We received a phone call that she had been born and it was an Easter Sunday. We were overjoyed and immediately began to plan our travel to the hospital she was born at. We met her when she was 3 days old and besides our wedding day, it was the best day of our lives. It was instant love and connection. She has bright blue eyes, long, curly hair, and is a beautiful little girl inside and out. We call her Claire Bear. We love to watch her grow and learn new things. It is amazing how quickly the past few years have gone and we are trying to capitalize on every moment. Her personality fits her so well. She's smart, stubborn, extremely funny, and genuinely sweet. She has a quiet soul that loves to play in her own world, but she also opens to up to people around her, especially family. We love her SO much!!

We have a nine-year-old Weimaraner that is the most fun pet we could have imagined. He is very much "family" in every sense of the word. We got Weller before we were even engaged and caring for him as a puppy was a true test to our relationship as we were living together for the first time. There were potty accidents, sleepless nights, and some poor furniture that he managed to conquer. Through it all, we survived and have grown to love our boy more and more each day. He is full of energy and requires daily exercise, which keeps us active. As he's gotten older, the three of us have gotten even more attached and it's hard when we have to leave him behind. We both work from home currently, so he has gotten used to having us around all day. Weller has been a great brother to Claire and can't wait to welcome another human child!

Tessa:

Lewis:

We live in North Carolina. It's a great place to live because we can go to the beach or the mountains and the weather is nice. We live in a great community that has many children of all ages. In fact, when we bought our house, our neighbor told us that every person who has moved into our house has had a baby shortly after. It's the perfect neighborhood for kids and has two pools, two playgrounds, a few large parks, and numerous sidewalks perfect for walking.

We've lived in our house for five years and have made some great friends, some of which have children. One of the unique aspects of our neighborhood is that there is a social committee, who plans year-round events and activities like pool parties, park get-togethers, Halloween activities, etc. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus makes an appearance on a firetruck!

We love our home. Tessa calls it a "Gone with the Wind" house because it has a wraparound porch. It's full of Southern charm and so cozy. We have five bedrooms (two of which are doubling as an office and exercise room). We already have the nursery ready for baby. Our favorite spaces to spend time are the kitchen and living room. There is nothing better than cooking a meal and relaxing on the couch after a long day.

We are blessed to have amazing families who are supporting us in our plans to adopt. While our families do not live in our city, they are within driving distance and we see each other as much as possible. The grandparents already gets lots of play time for Claire and can’t wait to love a 2nd grandchild.

Both sets of parents have decades of marriage to prove their love for each other. Tessa has one younger sister, and she and our brother-in-law have two little girls that we are absolutely in love with. Lewis has one younger brother, and we love spending time with him when we're together. We also have numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins that we see at holidays.

We have A LOT of fun together. We love to take vacations (especially to the beach), cook, laugh and play with our nieces. Every time we see our nieces, there is a new game or hot toy we have to learn about to stay "cool." Our daughter loves to play with her cousins.

Our parents instilled similar values in us as we grew into adults - Mutual respect, kindness, faith, perseverance, and hard work come to top of mind. These values have stayed with us through the years and we value those things in each other. We are working to pass these on to our daughter and hope to pass these along to our next child.

We want to thank you for getting to know us and our story. Regardless of if you select us to parent your child or not, we are in awe of you. We recognize the sacrifice, kindness, and love in the decision you are considering making.

We chose adoption over three years ago and are choosing it again because we physically cannot conceive. Tessa was born with a rare condition that doesn't allow her to become pregnant. She found out when she was a teenager. Although it was a challenging time, we know that God has a plan and works everything for good. When we met, Lewis quickly learned about this and it did not phase him a bit. We knew that if we wanted to become parents one day, we would figure out how. As our relationship grew and we got married, we truly enjoyed being just the two of us with our dog. At some point, we knew we wanted to be parents and began to pursue the adoption journey. It has been a truly miraculous experience to adopt our Claire and we know that our next adoption will be just as amazing. We could not be more blessed by the adoption process and God's favor on our lives.

We take this responsibility seriously and are preparing our hearts, minds, and home to welcome another baby into our lives. If you choose us, we will love this child with everything we have. We will do our best to stay positive when we're exhausted or having a bad day. We will try and be patient when things don't go the way we want them too. We'll look for the beauty in every experience. We'll laugh at the funny things this child says and appreciate their unique personality. We will make memories and have fun in everyday life. We will go on adventures together and try things we've never done before. We'll teach life lessons and math lessons, while learning ourselves about being the best parents possible. We look forward to helping this child to pursue their interests and be able to do as much as possible that they enjoy. We cannot wait to let this child grow and flourish into a wonderful adult one day. We'll make sure this child is loved, cared for, and told how incredible they are each and every day.

We would welcome an open adoption with you if that is something you would like. We have an open adoption with Claire's birth mom and it is such a fulfilling relationship. We text and send pictures to keep her posted on her. As our child grows and begins to learn he or she was adopted, we want to be transparent and open in telling his or her story. We want to share with them that while we are "mom and dad," there is a brave, beautiful, and selfless woman who brought us together. We want to share with them all that we learn about you, so they can appreciate where they began. How amazing is it that perfect strangers can be tied together by a child? We think it will be a beautiful story to tell and can't wait to tell it to our little girl or boy someday. We realize it may be challenging, but it's more than worth it.

This is our promise to you: We won't be perfect parents. But will be the best parents we can be. We will provide this child the best possible life we can provide. There is no doubt our home will be filled with love and acceptance, every day our baby wakes up in the morning until they go to sleep at night.

If you choose us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We love you.

Lewis & Tessa