We adopted our daughter Jackie in 2021 and she is the light of our lives. Watching her start to become an extremely curious and energetic little kid has been a wonderful gift to us. We would love to go on that journey again and give her a sibling.

She has repeatedly asked us if she can have a younger sibling; so, we know she would love to add another child to our family.

We like to tell her that she’s 4 going on 14 because she wants to do everything herself and in her own way. She loves to play and build things. Now that it’s warm outside she has become extremely interested in bugs, bees, and flowers so we’ve been learning a lot about gardens.

She also loves to dress herself and while her style isn’t fully formed yet – it certainly has a flare. She’s so much fun to be around!

Our lifestyle can be a little unique. We both work in the arts and while our careers have shifted to a pattern that is very supportive of a family lifestyle, it certainly is a little atypical. A day in the office can be a day in an actual office but it can also be setting up an orchestra concert or a new lighting system in a school. We both rarely have too many boring days at work, which is something we both love. We both really enjoy that we’ve found places in our careers that allow for the work we love but also have nights and weekends free to spend with our family and friends. Which is something that isn’t necessarily a guarantee in our industry. The first time we realized how unique our lifestyles were was one of the first projects we worked on together after we adopted our daughter. She was 15 months old at the time and that particular project involved lambs being on stage for a few scenes. When they weren’t in a scene she got to have her own personal petting zoo backstage. Beyond getting her own petting zoo she also got to listen to concerts and watch performances before she started nursery school. We can certainly see how much she has started to love the arts because she is always up for going out to an event.

Family, especially since we adopted Jackie, has always been a large part of our lives. Lauren comes from a large family with a lot of gregarious gatherings, and we love to spend time with them. Andrew’s family is lovely and more contemplative than Lauren’s – with them the priority is spending time together and enjoying the peace that togetherness can bring. Whether it’s an elaborate weekend adventure with the family or just doing some arts & craft projects at the dining room table we are always making sure to do things together. Spending time together is the best part of life.

Our other priorities lean towards work and community. We both love what we do for a living and Lauren’s father has always said, “if you love what you do – you never work a day in your life.” This leads us towards seeing shows, problem solving new challenges and learning the latest tricks. We also have a wonderful work community that’s rooted in sharing cultural and personal values. And our neighborhood is just as great, and we love spending time with both communities. Our neighborhood is vibrant with a lot of things to do for families and a great support system. We really value how good living in this environment is for our family.  We look forward to the day when these two elements merged and we’re working on the elementary school production of “The Lion King” with the highest expectations in the world.

Our extended families are wonderful and caring but could not be more opposite from each other. Lauren’s family is large with frequent gatherings that end in telling famous family stories of the past. We love to gather for holidays, eat too much and play with the kids too much. When Lauren was young - Thanksgiving day was full of “touch” football games that finally had to end because we struggled with following the actual “touch” rules - we went full contact. Lauren is an only child but grew up with so many cousins that it never felt lonely. Andrew’s family is a bit smaller, to say the least and is much more reserved. When they get together- they’re kind, loving, quiet, and full of incredible book recommendations. Andrew’s biggest family tradition (starting when Andrew’s father was a boy) is to get together for Christmas Eve dinner followed by going to look at Christmas lights all over whichever city the host’s house is located that year.

We both grew up just outside of Baltimore but we met after we both moved away from there for work. We are very fortunate to be able to visit Baltimore frequently and are blessed that we get to see both our families when we make those trips. Lauren’s family has several adoptees in it and having their support and guidance has been invaluable to us during this process.

We have been in a lovely rowhome in Pennsylvania for the past thirteen years.  Around the corner is the local elementary school where we regularly play on the playground. If the school's playground isn't the space of choice - there are 4 other parks with playgrounds within walking distance of our home.

Our neighborhood has a lot of families. Almost all of our daughter's current nursery school classmates live in our neighborhood allowing for playdates to happen regularly. Our neighborhood also hosts multiple family friendly events - once it starts to get warm out the largest park near us hosts movie nights, pop-up food carts, a farmer's market every Saturday and even plays.

The home is about a hundred and fifteen years old and is a lovely Victorian rowhome. We like to sit on the front porch and watch the summer storms roll in, or have a picnic lunch/dinner out back in our small backyard listening to birdsong. We have a small garden out back where we (attempt) to grow vegetables every summer - we usually get a least some cherry tomatoes.

Hello,

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our profile and read this letter. We promise that we would give everything we are and have to raising this child in a loving and meaningful way. They will always know that this was a decision made out of love. We would love to keep you updated on the child in whatever way feels best to you - emails, letter, pictures or phone calls and we would love to do visits if that feels possible. We also understand if you aren't sure exactly what you want right now - and we want you to know that we are open to having this be an evolving conversation if that is what feels right to you.

We will have been together for fourteen years and we have been married for ten years. We joke that we were children when we stared dating but it's worked out well for us. Quickly into our relationship we realized that we both grew up on opposite sides of Baltimore from each other. It was a wonderful surprise that allowed us to get to know each other's families more quickly then normal since going down for one family's event would allow a visit to others. Plus Baltimore isn't that big a city - we've discovered at several points how much the people in our life nearly overlapped before we meet. Although our favorite is still Lauren's aunt realizing at our wedding that she knew Andrew's best man's father from high school.

We bonded early in our relationship over our shared passion for the arts. We both love making live theatre - thinking through and discussing the artist choices we make and how those choices impact the performance we're helping to shape. We love knowing that at least some of the work we do will impact others.?We also love playing board games, video games, reading and hiking. If Lauren could spend every moment of her day outside she probably would; even though Andrew has taught her the joys of being the occasional homebody. Andrew loves cooking large meals for gatherings of family & friends, and once in a while just for us.

We adopted our daughter, Jackie, in 2021. We cannot express the joy she has brought to our lives. Getting to teach her the joys of life (jumping in puddles, watching bugs, building Legos and coloring) has been the most wonderful experience. We would love for her to have a sibling. We have an open adoption with wonderful family - we really treasure the gift that is knowing them.

We are very lucky to have a very supportive family, friends and community. Our family has been supportive of us every step of our journey.?We have a great network of friends that have been there for us when we needed them and have given our daughter a few "bonus" cousins to grow up with. We also love our neighborhood and the community that we had found at a daughter's nursery school which has introduced us to even more of our neighbors.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. We cannot imagine how difficult this must be for you and we know you will find the perfect family for your child. If that family is ours - it would be an incredible honor for us.

Andrew & Lauren