Doug and Cheryl

We are privileged and humbled to know that you are taking the time to read our profile and hope that you can envision your child with us. It is obvious the courageous plan you are making is being done out of love and selflessness. Wherever your journey leads you, we hope you find comfort in knowing that your sacrifice means more than words could ever convey to a childless couple like us. As we are sure you can imagine our decision to start a family has not been taken lightly. We hope by looking at our photos and reading about our lives you will find comfort in knowing how much we want to share our lives with a child.

About Cheryl (by Doug)
When I met Cheryl, I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and I wanted to start that life as soon as possible. I moved across the country to be with her. We have been married for 13 years and I have taken a moment every day to smile about my life with her and the direction it went. Cheryl is my best friend and soul mate. Wherever I am, I know it would be better if Cheryl was with me. I learn from Cheryl every day.

Fun facts about Cheryl

• Favorite sound: Doug’s laugh
• Favorite books: The Hunger Games Trilogy (Katniss rules!), Twilight Saga (Team Edward!) and the Harry Potter series (Hermione is my favorite!)
• Impressive dance move: The robot
• Embarrassing but true: I sing loudly when I dance. Music moves me!
• Guilty pleasures: Cupcakes and Jersey Shore

About Doug (by Cheryl)
Doug “gets me” even when he doesn’t get why I think the way I think, do the things I do, etc. If I am doing something wacky, he usually shakes his head and laughs at me or plays along with my situation. Children flock to Doug and are immediately smitten with him. Our friends and family call him “The Doug Whisperer” (like the Dog Whisperer) since children can instantly see the fun and playfulness in his eyes. He relates well to children and they relate well to him. Doug is my rock and my life support. My life is better with him and gets better each day because of our love for each other.

Fun facts about Doug

• Favorite source for inspiration: Cheryl
• Embarrassing but true: I can recite every line from the movies Dirty Dancing and Pretty Woman
• Favorite smell: Turkey roasting in the oven
• Foods that gross me out: Mayonnaise and onions
• Favorite sound: Our Lab, Chief snoring

Some of our favorites together

• Visiting Disneyland and amusement parks! We are Disneyland annual pass holders and visit all the time!
• Spending time with family and friends
• Traveling by land (we love road trips!), air or sea!
• Out nerd each other by quoting funny movies like Dumb and Dumber and Napoleon Dynamite
• Watching our favorite TV shows- Modern Family, Tosh.0, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Office, and 30 Rock. We also love watching educational shows on Discovery Channel and History Channel
• Playing board games- Warning: we are embarrassingly competitive, but always fair!
• Cheering on our favorite sporting teams. Doug's favorite: Philadelphia Flyers and Cheryl's favorite: Anaheim Angels
• Playing Wii, especially Rock Band- Cheryl is a microphone hog!
• Listening to 80s music
• Laughing until it hurts!

Our careers
Making a difference in the world is important to Cheryl and she gets an opportunity to do that doing a job she loves. For over 10 years, Cheryl has provided HIV education and testing for adolescent and adult clients. Cheryl’s supervisor is supportive of our adoption journey, allowing her schedule to be flexible for family life. Doug has been doing accounting work with the same supportive company for almost 20 years. His work assignment has been taking place in our home for the past seven years, which is beneficial in regards to childcare in our home.

Our family
Our families are thrilled with the thought of us becoming parents! We have experiences with adoption on both sides of our families. Everyone is excited to expand our families through this journey! Cheryl’s parents, sister and brother all live within 15 minutes from us and we see each other weekly, and talk more often than that. A blessing for us falls with Cheryl’s Mother’s recent retirement; she has made it crystal clear that she cannot wait to be a Grandma and help watch our little one when we are working. Although Doug’s family is not close geographically, we are all close emotionally. We talk on the phone and through Facebook all the time. We are fortunate to have families that enjoy each other’s company so much that we have all vacationed together!

Family traditions
We have some traditions with our extended families that we are both excited to introduce to our child when we become parents!

• Making spaghetti using Cheryl’s family recipe that has been handed down from her Great Grandmother from Italy! Cheryl’s Grandpa used to be the only one who made it but now we all do….even Doug has mastered it!
• Attending sporting events for our favorite teams…. often rooting for rival teams!
• Each summer, Cheryl's extended family has a family reunion which includes fabulous Italian food, lively conversation and fun games!
• Going on annual trips with family to Del Mar to stay at our family vacation home and to Lake Tahoe where Cheryl's parents own a vacation home

Our friends
All of our friends have been very supportive of our adoption journey. They cannot wait for their children and ours to have play dates when we are blessed with a child. We like to get together at each other’s houses or go to fun places like Disneyland. We are very active in our family and friends’ children’s lives. We are Godparents to our best friends’ six year old daughter and spend weekends cheering her on at her soccer games and dance recitals. We are also a doting aunt and uncle to our nieces and nephews and love attending their sporting events, dance recitals, and school events. We are both very hands-on when playing and caring for the children in our lives. We have annual traditions like going to the County Fair and having bonfires at the beach. Places we have vacationed with our friends include Hawaii, Disneyworld, Big Bear, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.

Introducing Chief!
Hi there! My name is Chief and I am a seven year old black lab. I am so excited to become a big brother! I’m not the type to brag, but everyone says I am the most well behaved dog they have ever met. I would describe myself as gentle, intelligent, loyal, fun, goofy, and handsome. I love children, other dogs, and even cats! I also like going to the beach, swimming, hiking, sunbathing, going to local events in our community and won’t turn my nose up to the run-of-the-mill walk around the neighborhood. I would gladly show you some pretty cool tricks for a pet on the head or a treat! I would also like to put in a good word for my owners- they are just the best! I hope that you think they are as awesome as I do!

Where we live
We had waited to buy a home in our neighborhood because we both felt it had a quaint and inviting feel to it. Our home is on a very quiet street without much traffic. We have nice neighbors and there are several young children who live on our street. We love our home and neighborhood so much that we said we would not move even if we won the lottery! Our family and friends say that our home is comfortable and inviting- they know that they can kick off their shoes and put their feet up! We love spending time in front of our fireplace in the winter and in our backyard the rest of the year barbequing, relaxing and playing endless rounds of fetch with our Lab, Chief.

We both wanted to live in a community with a rich history. Our community has much to offer. We enjoy attending the weekly farmers' market, art walks, museums, concerts in the park, and theater events. Once a year our city trucks in mounds of snow for an annual winter wonderland for children! Just three blocks from our home is an elementary school, making it easy to walk a little one to and from school each day. We are fortunate to live within district limits of K-12 award winning schools. We love that fact that we live close to the beach, the mountains and the desert. It also makes us smile knowing that we live very close to Disneyland too!

In closing
Our parenting promises

• Support open, lifelong lines of communication
• Share a life full of love, fun and adventure
• Dedication to growth through education, experiential and social opportunities
• Uphold strong values to ensure good self-esteem
• Be each others teammates ... and cheerleaders!

Thanks for taking the time to view this small glimpse into our lives. We are more ready than ever to start our family through the journey of adoption. We look forward to giving unconditional love to a child and will strive to offer support, stability, and laughs. We cannot wait for the opportunity to see the world through a child’s eyes. We hope you are comforted in this time of difficult decision. Thank you again for considering us and we both extend our best wishes.

Sincerely,

Doug and Cheryl

If you have any questions for us, or would like to talk to us about adopting your child, please contact an AdoptHelp advisor by Calling 1-800-637-7999 or clicking the "Contact Us" button below.

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