Choose A Family : Parent Profile

Beth and Chris

Dear Birthmother,
Thank you for taking the time to read our profile. We are very excited to introduce ourselves to you and give you a glimpse of what your baby’s life would be like with us.

We are Chris and Beth, and we come to you excited and scared, hopeful and eager to start the adventure of parenting. We can’t imagine the choices you have to make right now, the overwhelming information you are getting and the pressure you might feel.

We are honored you might consider us for the amazing privilege of raising your child and realize this probably is the hardest and most important decision you will ever make.

That’s likely even harder because right now we are strangers. A name, some photos … but strangers nonetheless. So we’d like to take this opportunity to give you an idea of the life we live and the type of life your child would live should you select us to raise your baby.

Love
We are the type of couple who laugh a lot, tell stories often and don’t get too upset by most things. We met in 2004 at a Big Brothers-Big Sisters fundraiser in West Virginia. Mutual friends introduced us, and we clicked. At the time, Chris was a bear biologist for the state, and Beth, a journalist, told him it was her lifelong dream to see a West Virginia black bear in the wild. We talked all night and agreed to go out the following week (to look for a bear, of course). We didn’t see a bear that trip, or the next two trips. But we did find each other. And that was better than any bear. Two years later, we were married. And we wouldn’t change a day of it.

About Chris by Beth:
Chris is the kind of guy who always makes me laugh. He’s got the quickest wit of anyone I know and loves to tell stories of his latest adventure. As a wildlife biologist, no two days at his job are similar, and they almost always involve some crazy tale of animals running amok.

Chris also is one of the smartest people I know. He grew up in the college town of Morgantown, W.Va., and received his Ph.D. in December 2009. He’s also the most patient man I’ve ever met. In our six years together, he’s taken it upon himself to teach me how to fish. Now, I’m not very good at casting, and I apologize to the fish when I hook them, but he’s right there with me, helping me learn how to cast, showing me how to reel a fish in and helping me take it off the hook. Not bad for a guy who’d probably rather be catching his own fish.

But that’s what our relationship is all about: helping each other, sharing experiences and laughing our way through it together even when things don’t quite go according to plan.

Looking ahead to the time when we are parents, I think those qualities about Chris will make him a great dad. I’m sure he’ll have your baby fishing much better than I’ll ever fish, and he’ll approach parenthood with the same humor, good spirits, strength and smarts that he’s approached the rest of his life with. He’ll be such a great, patient dad.

About Beth by Chris
Beth is kind, gentle and playful. Like me, she also grew up in a college town — Kent, Ohio. She would make a wonderful mother, and I really look forward to sharing that experience with her.

Beth is the type of person who loves adventure. She loves to whitewater raft, has been skydiving and bungee jumping (at a county fair no less). She has been to 49 states and 11 countries, and we hope to get to state No. 50 — Idaho — soon. She loves the thrill of seeing new places and exploring locations off the beaten path. And I know she can’t wait to explore new places and cultures with your baby.

Beth also is smart and curious. She’s always loved to read — her mother owned a Christian bookstore in Kent, Ohio, that her sister now runs — so she’s always had books nearby. As a result, I guess it’s no surprise that she became a journalist. It’s the type of job that blends reading, writing, asking questions and adventure in one.

When she’s not working, she loves to be outside, whether it’s getting dirty in the garden raising vegetables, herbs and raspberries; hiking with the dog, Matzo; or playing with the house rabbit, Willy, on the back deck.

She has the kindest heart of anyone I’ve met. She’s the type of person who sees a dog on the side of the road and will make a U-turn to pick it up. If she can’t find the dog’s owners, she’ll find new owners for it. Luckily, we’ve only kept one of the dogs she’s found. She also will pick up turtles, toads and frogs in the road and help them cross the street so they are safe.

That caring nature, balanced with her love of thrills and adventure, will make her a wonderful mother and ensure you child’s life is never boring.

Laughter
Our home is a quaint Cape Cod on a cul-de-sac in one of West Virginia’s larger cities. Our neighborhood is the perfect spot to raise a child. There are 10 homes on our street, and everyone knows each other. Several homes have children, ranging in age from newborn to teens. Children are always outside playing hide and go seek, basketball and tag. The kids often come over to our house to see if Matzo, our dog, can come out and play with them. Regardless of the season, you can always hear children laughing and playing together on our street.
One of the reasons we bought our house is the city park nearby. It is the next block over and has a Little League baseball field, basketball court and playground right there. It’s an easy walk or bicycle ride to the park from our house.

Faith
We both were raised in tight-knit, Christian homes, and our shared beliefs help mold who we are as individuals, a couple and a family. We attend church regularly and pray together daily. We firmly believe in a good God who loves to love us, wants only the best for us and has a perfect plan for everyone. Yes, it’s sometimes frustrating when his plan doesn’t mesh with the plan we’ve come up with. But each time that happens, we are reminded that God’s plan is so much better.
We both believe God puts families together. Sometimes those families are connected by blood. Other times they are bonded like a patchwork quilt, stitched together with love and patience into something warm and comfortable even though the pieces don’t look the same.

Fun
While we both have solid careers, we both are blessed to work for employers who are very family friendly. Many of Beth’s co-workers with children work from home several days a week, and her bosses have told her that type of arrangement can be developed when we have children. Chris’s employer also is very family friendly and has offered the same type of arrangement. That flexibility will allow us to spend maximum time with your child and enjoy every minute with him or her.
When not working, we often will take weekend trips to one of our two farms. When we met, we were happy to realize that we both came from families who have weekend farms. Beth’s farm is in southern Ohio. Chris’s is in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle. Both place are within a few hours of our home and offer the perfect retreat from city life. Both have ponds that are the perfect place for your child to learn how to fish. They have soft grass to cushion him or her when learning how to ride a bike, barns to explore and plenty of trees to climb. Your child will learn about horses, cows and goats at our farms and may learn how to catch minnows and frogs in the creeks that run through them.

But we aren’t always on the road, either. Many weekends we stay at home, content to hang around the city where we live to take in a concert downtown, go to one of the many music festivals nearby or hang out with Chris’s two brothers, their wives and our large group of friends at the local minor league baseball park.

For us, having fun isn’t about spending a lot of money or making a big scene, it’s about being together, being with people we love and sharing good times. That can be as simple as laying in the hammock on our deck, watching the stars come out or grilling hot dogs and hamburgers on a Sunday afternoon. Those are what form memories, and those are the memories we want to share with your child.

Family and Friends
We both were blessed to be raised in loving homes. Both sets of our parents have been married for more than 35 years. Our parents raised us to care for others and to live our lives by placing God first, family second, and work third. And that is how we live to this day. Family is a very important thing for us and to us. We never pass up an opportunity to visit with them.

Chris’s parents are retired educators. His father is a retired middle school and high school principal. His mother is a retired special education teacher. Both have already promised to help your child with homework when he or she reaches school age!

Beth’s mother still is working at the bookstore and as the executive director of an association of independently-owned Christian bookstores. She already has a stash of books she is collecting for us to read at bedtime to your baby. Beth’s father, who was a professor, computer consultant and small business owner, died in 2002. He was the person who bought the farm in Ohio where Chris and Beth like to go each year on their anniversary.

We also are very close to our siblings. Chris has two younger brothers who are attorneys and live within five minutes of us with their wives. We often get together for cook-outs or to go for walks with our dogs.

Beth’s sister and her husband live near Beth’s mom in Kent, Ohio. They have three children who love hanging out with Aunt Beth and Uncle Rhino, as Chris is known, for a game of Wiffle ball, kick ball or to stomp around in the woods.
Both sides of our family are overjoyed that we are adopting and can’t wait to shower your baby with love. They are excited to meet him or her.

We also are blessed with a tapestry of friends both near and far who will support and love your child. Each will play a critical role in helping to shape your child into a wonderful adult. One friend raises horses and competes in equestrian competitions. Two friends are in the military. Other friends own small businesses, are in public service or work as for non-profit groups. All will be a part of the patchwork quilt of “family” that we will wrap about your baby.

Hope
Since we can remember, we’ve wanted to be parents. We’ve daydreamed about the baby’s first trip to our farms and the look on his or her face the first time he or she catches a fish. We’ve fallen asleep thinking of books we will read to your baby at bedtime, and we will be grateful to warm a bottle in the middle of the night.

Beth already has iTunes playlists of both quiet, bedtime songs she can sing to your baby while rocking him or her to sleep and a list of fun, up-beat songs perfect for dancing to in the living room.

Chris has long dreamed of teaching a child about animals, nature and how to tell one tree from another. He can’t wait to go camping, canoeing and hiking with a son or daughter and, once they get older, teach them how to drive our tractor at the Ohio farm.

We promise that we will provide a stable, loving home full of love, understanding and patience. While parenting is not all fun and adventure, we believe our commitment to each other, the support of our family and friends and our strong faith will help us navigate the hard times as one solid, loving family.

Our Promise
We can only imagine how difficult this decision is for you. We hope that this letter has helped us to seem a little less like strangers, and maybe more like a part of that loving family God is making for us.
Since we started on this adoption journey, we’ve been praying for the birth mother of the baby who will enter our lives. We’ve prayed for courage, wisdom and comfort for you, and for the safety of both you and your baby. This is a prayer we will continue to say for the rest of our lives.

We want you to know that we will always be grateful for the gift you are giving us, and we promise to raise your child in the best, most balanced way possible.

Good luck with your decision and may you be guided in making the right choice for both you and your baby. Know that whoever you choose will unconditionally love and support your baby.

Thanks for taking the time to get to know us.

Love,
Chris and Beth

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