We're Rick and Laura, and we first want to thank you for considering adoption! We have tremendous respect for you and appreciate the opportunity you've given us to share our story with you.

We have been happily married for almost eight years and have one son, Christopher, who is five years old. We live in a safe, Midwestern suburb. Our home is nestled in a close knit, subdivision. Our house was home to Laura's sister and her family until they outgrew it, when they were expecting their fifth baby. We jumped on the chance to buy it since we've always loved it, and Rick has done a lot of the maintenance work on it (he's handy like that!). The house is a pretty, two- story, brick with 4 bedrooms, a big yard and in-ground swimming pool. The neighborhood is filled with children of all ages, and our house seems to be one of the favorite gathering spots. Some of our dearest friends are also our neighbors. Laura's sister and her family (including 5 kids!) now live about 1 miles away. So, on any given weekend, the gatherings are at our house for barbeques, pick up basketball games or swimming.

Rick has been working as an insurance appraiser for 15 years for the same company. He works from home and gets to set his own appointments, so his schedule is extremely flexible. Laura also works from home as a pharmaceutical sales representative. Her territory is local, so her schedule is also extremely flexible. It's the perfect "mom" job because it allows her to be at all school functions, doctor's appointments, sporting events and home on sick days, plus the benefits are wonderful! Both of our jobs are fabulous in that they offer so much flexibility. One of the greatest gifts parents can give to their children is their time. We both make one-on-one time with Christopher a priority and look forward to spending much needed one-on-one time with our new baby, too!

It's been ten years already - since we first met. We were both members at the local community fitness center and met while exercising (or trying to, at least)! After a workout one evening, we decided to go get a bite to eat. And so, it began..

I love a guy with a great sense of humor - and Rick is armed with one. I quickly realized that his schoolboy teasing was actually flirting! What did it for me was when we started dating; my parents took to him right away. You might wonder why that would be such a big deal, but my parents were very protective of me - I am the baby of 4 kids. So, when my mom told me that she and my dad loved Rick like he was their own son, I was hooked. It's not hard to fall for a guy that your whole family has fallen for! We dated for two years before we were married on October 24, 1998.

I was immediately attracted to Laura's good looks and friendliness. Her pleasant nature and nurturing tendencies make her even more attractive. When we were dating, I was also very surprised to find a girl who loves sports as much as I do! One of Laura's other loves is cooking - and she is a good one. She can whip up something we all like - and usually it's something pretty healthy (although her all time favorite food is pizza!). Mealtime is very important to us. It's when we can all reconnect as a family and share our highs and lows of the day. We have a little rule that when its dinner time, the TV is off, the phone is not answered and we all sit at the table together. Although getting dinner on the table every night can be challenging with our weekday schedule, we look forward to this time together. This commitment only lends support to the strength of our relationship which is our faith and the mutual respect and devotion to our church. Giving our time and talent at church is what we enjoy doing as a family and look forward to including our new baby, too. We've volunteered to help with our parish picnic, shopped for less fortunate families at holiday time and visited homebound and sick church members. We know that children learn so much from our actions, so we involve Christopher as often as we can. It is our hope to teach our new baby about the importance of helping others and stewardship.

Rick grew up on a farm in a rural setting, and I grew up in the city. Even though we come from different worlds, we really balance each other nicely. We also share many of the same ideas about things, including raising children. We both had values instilled at young ages, attended church every week, had hard working parents who knew the value of a dollar, and were taught to treat all adults with respect. These are the values we teach Christopher and will teach the baby we hope to adopt. We really believe that our marriage gets better every year; we continue to learn about each other as the years go by. Rick is at his best when he is with Christopher. It warms my heart to see how he interacts and cares for not just Christopher, but all the kids in our family. He is everyone's favorite uncle! He has so much to offer a new baby!!

Besides sharing sports, church and outdoor interests, we also shared the desire to have children soon after marriage. We always said that if giving birth to a child were not possible, adoption would be our goal. Immediately after Christopher was born, we began treatment again. After 2 infertility cycles, we called it quits. We then made the natural progression towards adoption with the hopes of growing our family. We really do realize that the greatest gift we can give our children is the gift of time - and we have and desire the time with a wonderful new baby! Of course, our experience as parents and our unconditional love will only help support that quality time!

Currently, Christopher keeps us very busy. He loves basketball, football, baseball and soccer. He enjoys family bike rides, swimming and fishing with his Dad. Rick treasures the time he spends with Christopher and looks forward to spending that same time with our new baby. Christopher is also a chip off the old block when it comes to hanging out in the kitchen. He loves to cook and help mom in the kitchen. He's mastered toast and microwave popcorn, and currently working to perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

I like to teach my nieces to cook when they're over - only problem is, they conveniently forget to clean up.don't worry, I remind them!!!! I seriously do love the company in the kitchen, and I really look forward to having another little set of hands to help me roll out dough or stir in the chocolate chips! So does Christopher. He is very anxious to become a big brother and tells everyone he sees that he will be one soon. He asks us when "our baby" is coming because he has all of his baby toys saved for his new brother or sister. You may be wondering if we could love your baby as much as we love Christopher. The answer is yes, without a doubt. Rick and I both love our nieces and nephews like our own - and we frequently tell them. We also know that we both have a vacancy in our home and in our hearts for another child whom we have so much love for already. So, biological or adopted, Christopher and the baby we hope to adopt will be loved and valued equally because our family's love and foundation is based on the unconditional love that God has for each of us.

Having a sibling is one of the greatest gifts in life. Speaking from experience, we don't know what we would do without our brothers and sisters. We were all there for each other growing up, in good times (family vacations and holidays) and bad (having the chicken pox at the same time). As adults, we are each others' best friends and advocates. We know we can always count on one another for support especially when dealing with what every family goes through - making decisions about caring for aging parents or college plans for our children. With Christopher as a big brother, our new baby will be protected, cherished and most of all, unconditionally loved.

In addition to showering our children with love and encouragement, our family can provide the resources that make many opportunities available, whether they are educational, cultural or athletic. We believe that private education has been shown to boost a child's success rate and are prepared to provide this for our children. College education is strongly encouraged, and we will provide for our children to attend. We also maintain a strong spiritual life and are very involved in our parish. Christopher has been involved in religious education from age three and will continue his spiritual development through grade and high school. We are prepared and look forward to providing the same for any other child. A new addition to the family is anxiously awaited by Christopher's seven cousins, 5 of whom live within a few miles from us. Our families are very close - we see each other several times a week and often share Sunday dinner together.

We've told you a lot of information - hopefully you want to learn more about us. It's so difficult to express to you what kind of parents we are and what we can offer in a few pages of a letter. We guess what we want to say is that what really matters are having those sleepless nights when Christophers got the flu, singing "You are my sunshine" 6 times at bed time because that's his favorite, making his favorites for his school lunch and enclosing a surprise note to make him smile, "camping" in our family room and giving Eskimo kisses. The little ordinary things define how much we care.

If you would like to learn more about our family, we would welcome the opportunity. Please contact us through our attorneys, Steve or Joel Kirsh. Their number is 1-(800) 333-5736. If you call after business hours, their answering service will page them and they will return your call promptly. Please be assured that they will not pressure or influence you in any way. Additionally, you may call (317) 517-3298 to reach us directly. Please know that by calling, you are not obligated to proceed with adoption. We will strive to provide any information you may need in order to make an educated decision. Likewise, we would be happy to send you letters and photos letting you know how your baby is getting along, if you wish.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to share our story with you. May God bless you and your child and best wishes for a healthy pregnancy and safe delivery.

Sincerely,

Rick and Laura