Hi! We are Erika and Lee from Glendale, California! Thank you so much for taking the time to read all about us! We first want to let you know that we think you are a wonderful and amazing person to consider adoption for your baby. It is a deeply loving and selfless choice to make - and please know we admire you greatly.

We know you will look through many profiles and read about many different families. Our deepest hope is that as you read through our profile, you will be able to see that we are a happy, kind, generous, and loving couple, who love our life together and hope to share it with your child.

We have been married for over nine years – and for the last 7 years we have been trying very hard to have a baby. After many rounds of IVF, we finally realized God’s plan was for us not to birth a child ourselves, but to adopt one. It’s taken longer than we had hoped, due to the pandemic, but we know that timing is crucial and that everything happens for a reason. We feel very blessed to have each other, and a loving extended family and circle of friends, but know we are not complete until we can share our lives with a child. We have never been more ready.

We met online through a dating website and by our second date, we knew pretty quickly we wanted to spend all our time together. We got married in 2013. We truly are each other’s best friend, and feel we have a really blessed and strong relationship. The key to our happiness is how we communicate - we never run out of things to talk about, we like to make each other laugh, we both love music and to dance - it’s not uncommon for Lee to take out his guitar and for us to sing duets together (but not saying we always sound great or on key). We also balance each other out - so one is always able to be the strength and support for the other during a tough time. Erika grew up in a traditional Mexican American home with her parents and brother and sister. Lee grew up in Chicago and was an only child, but even though we come from different backgrounds, we’re very similar and share common interests and values.

We love exploring, traveling all over the US, Canada, Mexico, South America and Europe. In our spare time, we love to go to live concerts, plays and musicals, movies, comedy shows, and spending time at museums. We’re big foodies, so we love to try different kinds of cuisines and check out new restaurants. We have been known to travel across the world because we got a reservation at a hard to get into restaurant.

We definitely like to laugh and have fun. We definitely like to laugh and have fun. Visiting with family and friends is something we really value and make time for, as we are very close to them and love spending time with them.

I would describe myself as smart, funny, caring, ambitious, curious, and outgoing. Overall, I like people, and being social. I like new adventures - for me traveling and seeing new places and cultures is very important. I’m kind, generous, and express my love to my friends and family. I’m honest and try to be as transparent as possible with my thoughts and feelings. I’m a first generation Mexican-American and value my culture very much. I’ve always been a hard-worker, working and paying my way through college, and making my way up in my career in Entertainment Marketing. I create advertising campaigns for movies and TV shows, creating the trailers, poster art, and social media content. I’ve worked at Universal Studios and Disney - and I currently work for Netflix. It has always been my dream to be a mother. I had wonderful parents and am so grateful to have them as good examples and guidance. I have a lot of love to share and want to share the world with my child and give them every opportunity I can.

Erika is the smartest, kindest person I know. When you are in her circle of loved ones, you can rest assured that you are always protected and cared for. She thinks ahead to birthdays and big events and will spare no effort or expense to make sure those she loves to feel acknowledged and are having a great time. She loves to go all out on Christmas and shower everyone with holiday cheer and presents. She is always wondering if it is enough even though it is more than anyone else I have ever met.

You should see our tree on Christmas morning. She has taught me what it means to be in a family, and I am so excited to watch her as we bring a new member into ours. She will be an amazing mother. I watch the love and admiration she has for her own mother and I know that will be passed on to the next generation in our household. Her adventurous spirit has allowed me to see the world and have some amazing adventures. Now we are ready for our next adventure, and I couldn’t imagine a better partner to do this with.

I am very excited at the thought of becoming a father. I am a Chicago native who moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s for both the career opportunities and the weather (Chicago is crazy cold). I’ve worked in marketing for most of my adult life mainly in movies and video games, but have been working for Fiji Water and Wonderful Pistachios for the last 4 years.

I love music and am both a guitar player and record collector. I love to sing and play guitar around the house. I believe the arts are very important for children and look forward to making music and various instruments available to my child to help develop and express creativity.

Lee is funny, smart, kind, and a good-hearted man. He is enthusiastic about the things he’s interested in - whether it’s music and playing guitar, or discovering new shows or comedy. He’s definitely someone who sees things through a glass half full perspective - and can quickly act when something goes wrong. He’s a very kind, considerate person and always thinks about my needs and the needs of our house and our pets. He puts us at the top of his list. He is a very genuine person and isn’t performative.

He doesn’t like fakeness and is authentic to himself. Lee is funny and appreciates humor in others. It’s a real wit and kindness that comes with being truly good-natured. Lee does most of the cooking. At first he wasn’t very good, but now he’s so confident in the kitchen that he’s become the chef of the family. Lee is going to be an amazing father. Our friend’s kids gravitate towards him because he is funny and kind and patient. He never talks down and enjoys listening to them.

We bought our dream house in Glendale in 2021. We live in a very charming neighborhood, which is a designated “historical” area, where many of the homes are landmarks. Our house is a charming 1936 home, done in the English countryside Tudor style, with high beamed ceilings and fireplaces. It is 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths - with an office, a breakfast nook, and a formal dining room. We love to have a very large Christmas tree in the living room due to the high ceilings. The house is situated above a non-busy street, so there’s lot of privacy and security. Our front yard has a large gated patio, and we have a small backyard that’s completely enclosed where we play with the dogs. Lots of beautiful trees, flowers, and bushes frame the property. The neighborhood has a lot of community activities, like block parties, and summer festivals. Nibley Park is walking distance from our house. The school system is highly-rated and the community has diverse families with kids of all ages. We love to spend time cooking, and taking long walks with the dogs. We are close to the mountains and 45 minutes from the ocean. The weather here is warm and spring-like most of the year.

Church is something we value and find necessary in our lives. We attend a local Parish where we attend weekly mass services. We really love it there as it’s a welcoming place and they do lots of good works in the nearby community. There are lots of diverse families with kids of all ages that attend. They also have an excellent school, so a lot of the children participate in the church.

We have a very close relationship with Erika’s family as they are in close proximity. Erika's sister is married and has two sons, Zachary and Gabriel. Erika is their Godmother and we’re very close to both of them. Her family lives in Newport Beach, where her sister bought their parents a home to retire in and they lead very active lives living near the ocean. Erika’s brother also lives in Newport and works in the family business. We see them regularly, either traveling there or them visiting our home. We never go more than two weeks without a visit. Lee’s parents live in Chicago, and although they live in a different state, we are close to them and speak to them several times a week. Since Erika grew up in Southern California, she has a tight-knit group of friends that she’s known since being a teenager. Most of them have kids of all ages, and we always spend birthdays and holidays together. We also have close friends we work with - and do lots of activities - whether it’s dining out at a new Spanish restaurant, getting box seats at the Hollywood Bowl for summer performances, or going to movie premieres. We are lucky to have wonderful and generous family and friends - and such a tight-knit community.

We love the holidays! Erika is usually putting out Christmas decorations the day after Halloween because she’s too excited for after Thanksgiving. We have a huge Christmas tree - and put decorations inside and outside the house. We always go to Christmas concerts at the Walt Disney Music Hall and see the Christmas light displays at Descanso Gardens. We always have a big Thanksgiving celebration. We also celebrate 4th of July at the Hollywood Bowl to see the fireworks.

Thank you so much for opening your heart to learn more about us. We hope that this book has given you a glimpse of who we are, how we live our lives, and what we hope to share. While we can never be in your shoes and completely understand how you are feeling, please know how much we appreciate and respect you. You are a wonderful and special person - brave and selfless. Please know that the child that joins our family will be loved immensely and unconditionally. They will be given encouragement and opportunities to pursue their dreams and live to their greatest potential. They will be reminded of where they came from, and the love that their birth mother has for them. We will honor what you have done - and to love this child with our whole heart and soul. We wish you the best on your adoption journey and the decision on what is best for you and your child. You are forever in our thoughts and prayers.