Choose A Family : Parent Profile
Tyra and Phil
Dear Birth Mother,
Hello and thank you for reading our profile. We admire you so much for the choice you are making and we hope you will find us to be the kind of parents you want for your child. We wish the best for you and your baby.
We are Phil and Tyra and, if we had to describe our lives in three words, they would be love, laughter, and learning. Love—our home is filled with love for each other, our pets, our families, and hopefully soon a child. Laughter—we love to laugh and are happy (sometimes silly) people, although we are very responsible and serious when needed. Learning—we are passionate about education and learning, whether from books, at school, or from travel or other experiences. Fortunately, we aren’t limited to just these three words, so we have written the following pages from our hearts. We hope this will give you a glimpse into who we really are.
How We Met
We have been married for nine wonderful years. Shortly after we met, we found out that we both went to high school in the same small town, but never met there. On our first date, we realized just how much we had in common--we shared some of the same friends growing up, attended one of the same proms, and even worked at the same restaurant in high school. Yet we didn't meet until years later in a big city 300 miles from our home town. It was clear then we were meant to be together, even if we took a long and winding route in finding each other.
Our Path to You
We were married one year to the day of our first date. We bought a house with the big fenced in yard near an elementary school and planned to start a family right away. It was disappointing to discover then that we had challenges with infertility. At this point, we have accepted our infertility as a fact of life and know it doesn't mean we can't fulfill our dreams of being parents. We are excited about building our family through adoption and thank you for choosing adoption for your baby.
Where We Live
We live in an historic neighborhood with lots of mature trees, located just a few miles from Washington, D.C. In our neighborhood, there are several parks and playgrounds as well as a swimming pool right around the corner from our home. Most days we exercise by taking long walks in our neighborhood, stopping to chat with neighbors and pet their dogs.
Our Home
Our home might best be described as "warm and whimsical." We like to decorate with things that make us laugh and smile, so we have a hippopotamus on the end table, some dragons in the china hutch, and a ceramic turtle peeking out from around the bookcase. In addition to these critters, we have some real furry family members: Betsy and Sampson, our cats, and Skip the Dog. Skip is especially fond of children. We think he must have lived in a family with children before we adopted him from an animal shelter.
Phil is (by Tyra)….
- kind
- gentle
- nurturing
- intelligent
- funny
- humble
- responsible
- consistent
- romantic
- sweet
- a good cook
- a grill master
- a book store browser
- a good pet daddy
- a safe driver
- a valued employee
- a fair manager
- a voracious reader
- a good listener
- a Mr. Fix-it
Tyra is (by Phil)…
- my lifelong soulmate
- my best friend
- a young spirit
- a caring friend
- an experienced traveler
- scary smart
- a devoted teacher
- dedicated to her family
- a protective, loving pet-mom
- good hearted
- fond of the color red
- a beach goer
- (usually) laughing at my jokes
- learning to garden
- wonderfully witty and whimsical
We both grew up with an older sibling, although Tyra's blended family has grown so that she now has a brother, two step-brothers, and a step-sister--plus 11 nieces and nephews! We are both close to our families and enjoy spending holidays and vacations with them. They are all so excited and supportive about adding a new family member.
Tyra grew up in a small Southern town. Her favorite memories from childhood are playing at the beach and going to her grandmother's house for Sunday dinners. She and her brother were glad to live within walking distance of most of their cousins. That it was at the beach was a bonus! Tyra had a lot of friends growing up. She enjoyed school and was active on the debate team and student council.
Phil was born and raised in the Southeast, too. Growing up was full of lots of family vacations, camping trips, homework, school plays, karate, and baseball. One of Phil's favorite childhood memories as a child is sharing banana splits with his Mom, Dad, and big sister on Saturday afternoons. He also remembers having to mow the giant backyard with a push mower (Dad said hard work builds character, so he has a lot of that!).
Hobbies
We both enjoy cooking, although Phil is the primary chef in the family. When he's not outside grilling steaks or burgers, he's inside preparing homemade soups from scratch. Tyra is particularly fond of his kitchen cupboard cookies, which have just about everything yummy in them.
We also enjoy the great outdoors, whether hiking up a mountain trail or biking along the beach.
We are both voracious readers. Our home is filled with books on just about every subject imaginable. Our reading habit probably comes from our love of learning. We have both earned multiple graduate degrees. In fact, Tyra likes school so much she became a college professor so she never has to leave school!
Travel
We love to travel and have had some marvelous adventures to places far and near. Thanks to Tyra's work, we have had opportunities to travel to countries like England, Denmark, Spain, Greece, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Singapore. We have also had great vacations right here in the U.S. in big places like San Francisco, the Florida Keys, Portland, and Charleston and small places like Estes Park, CO, Jekyll Island, GA, and Taos, NM.
Tyra’s Job
Tyra works part-time doing several different things. She is a part-time college professor, a part-time lawyer (the helpful kind, not the scary kind), and a part-time public speaker. She loves teaching most of all and mentors her students as well as educating them. She once took a bus through a snowstorm to meet a student on campus (which was closed) who needed advice.
Because she teaches mainly online courses, Tyra works from home most days and this gives her a lot of flexibility over when and how she works, which will be important when we have a little one.
Phil’s Job
Phil is a senior research analyst for a company that does a lot of work for the federal government. He has been with the company for several years and loves his job. His job allows him to do online research, write, and make a difference. His company is very family-friendly and offers a lot of flexibility.
Because he enjoys helping others and sharing his experience, Phil also teaches an online course for a nearby college from time to time.
Thank You
Thank you for reading our profile. We hope the words we have written here have given you an idea of who we are as people and what we would be like as parents. We are excited about being parents and are willing and able to commit ourselves body, mind, and spirit to a child. We wish the very best for you and commend you on the choice you are making. Choosing adoption takes a great amount of kindness and courage.
If you would like to speak with us about adopting your child or have any questions for us, please contact your Adoption Advisor at AdoptHelp by calling 1-800-637-7999.
Thank you again and please take care.
Sincerely,
Phil & Tyra
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