We fell in love while teaching in Detroit, and we fell in love with Detroit while we were at it. We loved our school community: getting to know our kids, sitting down with their families, cheering at their games, and celebrating their wins in and out of the classroom. Our students came from all kinds of backgrounds, and they taught us as much as we taught them. Along the way, we built a network of friends who became like family.

Eventually, we moved to Indianapolis to be closer to our own families. Then one weekend, we went back to Detroit to visit. We took a walk down the street that connected our two old homes, he same street we had walked a hundred times as friends and then as more. Right there, Matt asked Jordan to marry him. In 2019, we said “I do” in Indianapolis, surrounded by the people we love most. Our first dance was to Beyoncé’s “XO.” Soon after the wedding, we bought our first home, one across from a park.

When we’re not working (Jordan helps run a school here in Indy as the President & Chief Operating Officer, and Matt is a leadership consultant guiding organizations to improve workplace performance), you can usually find us listening to music. We rack up so many hours on Spotify that our year-end Wrapped is always a sight to see, and we catch live shows whenever we can. Taylor Swift and Beyoncé sit firmly at the top of our lists, and we’re not sorry about it.

Jordan has a confidence that isn’t loud or attention-seeking. It simply comes from believing he can figure things out. I think about the time he decided to hand screen-print t-shirts for every member of the team he led. What started as a simple idea quickly took over our entire basement. There were screens, paint, drying racks, and stacks of shirts everywhere for what felt like weeks. He taught himself the process, designed the artwork, bought every supply, and refused to cut corners because he wanted each shirt to feel thoughtful and professional. We were stepping around t-shirts and wiping paint off surfaces for weeks, but to Jordan, every bit of effort was worth it because he had a vision for something that would make his team feel valued. He is incredibly creative, and once he believes something should happen, he makes it happen. Whether it’s a project at work or finding ways to make our home a more welcoming place, he’s always looking for opportunities to create something meaningful.

Whether life brings an unexpected challenge or an exciting new opportunity, he has a way of making the people around him feel like everything is going to be okay. Seven years into marriage, it is still one of the things I appreciate most about him. I’m someone who likes to think through every possibility before making a decision, while Jordan has an incredible ability to stay calm and move forward.

As much as I admire Jordan’s determination, the thing I love most is the way he loves people. He shows up consistently in both the biggest moments and the ordinary ones. At the same time, he brings so much humor into everyday life. He is never short on a joke or a funny observation, and he has an incredible ability to make even stressful moments feel lighter. Living with Jordan means laughing every single day, and that joy is one of the greatest gifts he gives to the people around him.

When I picture Jordan as a father, I think about all of these qualities coming together. I picture the dad who will assemble the crib in the middle of the night because that’s what needs to be done. I picture the one who spends an entire Saturday dreaming up an adventure because he genuinely loves creating experiences for the people he loves. Most of all, I picture a child growing up with someone who is steady, creative, joyful, and unwaveringly present. I feel incredibly lucky that Jordan is my husband, and I cannot wait to watch him become a dad.

The first time I ever saw Matt, we were at a training out of town, and I had just gotten back from a Target run. Matt mentioned he was about to head to Target himself. So naturally, I pretended I hadn’t just been there and went again. That was the first of a thousand trips we’ve taken together, and I’ve never once regretted the extra one.

Matt puts care into everything he does. Every friendship, every meal, every person in his life gets his full attention. He walks in the door after work and goes straight to his cookbook collection (and it is a collection), then spends the evening cooking up a storm. I can’t wait to watch him do it with a little helper standing next to him on a step stool.

The moment I knew? Watching him connect with people. Matt can talk to anyone from 0 to 99 and make them feel like the most important person in the room. In true teacher fashion, he can hold an hour-long conversation with a five year old without missing a beat.

He’ll be the fun dad, the always-on-the-move dad, the one building a whole world of play and pulling a kid right into the middle of it. Fair warning, though: you’ll know Matt is at the playground before you see him. His laugh carries from across the street, and more than one person has stopped to wonder if the dinosaurs came back.

They say it takes a village, and ours is ready and waiting.

Fun fact: Jordan became an uncle at four years old. Today he has 10 nieces and nephews, and some of them now have kids of their own, which means our family tree is always growing. Jordan’s sisters and their families are nearby, and getting together is just what we do: dinners, birthday parties, and holiday chaos in the best way. A kiddo joining our family would land right in the middle of a pack of built-in cousins.

Our family is also a multicultural one. Jordan is half Middle Eastern, and his dad’s side of the family still calls the Middle East home. Growing up between cultures, with different languages, foods, and traditions at the same table, is part of who Jordan is. A child in our family would grow up knowing that having more than one culture in your story isn’t something to explain. It’s something to celebrate.

Matt’s side of the family lives on the East Coast, and they’re every bit as close. His parents get a phone call from us every single Sunday, no matter what. Between his brother, his parents, and visits back and forth, distance has never made them feel far away.

And then there are our friends, who at this point are just family we chose. Many of their kids call us “uncle,” and honestly, when we call our oldest friends these days, we end up spending more time talking to their kids than to the people we grew up with.

Here’s how we know our village is ready: from practically the moment we said “I do,” the questions started rolling in from parents, siblings, and friends. “When are you having kids?!” It has not stopped. There is a whole crowd of people out there who have been waiting years to love a child of ours, and they ask about it every chance they get.

We knew this house was ours the moment we saw it. Right across the street sits a city park: playground, green space, and almost always a game of something going on. And out back? A big deck overlooking a massive yard that is just waiting for a kid. Waiting for someone to chase Cass the dog around it, to help pick out a jungle gym, to catch fireflies in a jar on a summer night.

We share the house with two four-legged family members. Fletcher the cat came first, and she mostly runs the place from the nearest sunny window. Then came Cass the dog, which was a big deal, because Matt had never had a pet and wasn’t so sure about the idea. Fast forward to today: Cass is not just a member of the family, he’s the star of it. Cass is convinced that everyone he meets is his best friend, and when he gets to spend time with kids? Best friends for life, instantly. He’s more than ready for a permanent one.

Our neighborhood is one of our favorite things about our life. Our street is home to families of many races, cultures, and backgrounds, with kids of all ages, and that’s a big part of why we chose it. We wanted to put down roots somewhere a kid would grow up seeing all kinds of people and all kinds of families, including ours. Jordan is active in our neighborhood association, so we’re not just living here, we’re invested here.

And when it’s time to venture out, we’ve got a secret weapon: Jordan plans the field trips for his school, which means he knows every great kid spot in the city. Museums, splash pads, farms, festivals. Our future kiddo will have a personal tour guide to childhood, and we can’t wait to show them everything.

We’ve both known our whole lives that we wanted to be dads. Not in a someday, maybe kind of way. In a “this is the plan” kind of way. For us, adoption was never a backup plan or a second choice. Adoption has always been how we pictured building our family.

Here’s what we believe about raising kids: being a parent is a privilege, and it means being all in. It means learning and growing right alongside your kid, not just teaching them, but letting them teach you.

We both grew up in homes that shaped how we want to parent. Our families encouraged us to try everything, then commit to what we loved. Swimming, Cub Scouts, yearbook, all of it. And when we fell short or things got hard, our parents were right there, helping us see that those moments make you stronger. That’s the home we want to build: one where a kid feels safe to try, safe to fail, and always, always loved.

We’ve thought a lot about the practical stuff too. We both get 12 weeks of parental leave and have flexible schedules, so we’ll be home with a kiddo from day one. And as two people who’ve built careers in education, we’ve already started looking into childcare with strong early learning, because we know how much those first five years matter.

Part of being “all in” means being intentional about the village around a kiddo. We know that if our child is a child of color, love alone isn’t the whole job. They’ll deserve to grow up around people who share their identity, and to see themselves in their friends, their neighbors, their books, and their heroes. This isn’t new territory for us. We’ve spent our careers in diverse school communities, and Jordan’s background in child development taught him how much identity and belonging shape a kid’s confidence. We live in a neighborhood we chose partly for exactly this reason. And openness with a birth mom, if that’s what she wants, is part of the same promise: our kid will grow up knowing every part of their story, surrounded by every person who loves them.

What are we most excited about? All of it. Learning what brings comfort to a newborn at 2 a.m. The pitter patter of little feet down the hallway and into the kitchen for a snack. Picking out the books that will bring the whole world to a kid, one bedtime at a time.

First, before anything else: we see you. Reading profiles like ours while you think through a huge decision takes courage most people will never understand. Whatever you decide, we think you are strong, and your child is lucky to be so loved and so carefully considered.

If you choose adoption, and if you choose us, these are the values we promise to raise your child by:

All In. Being a parent is a privilege, and we will never treat it any other way. Every scraped knee, every school play, every 2 a.m. wake-up. All of it, always.

Honesty. Your child will always know their story, told with love and pride from the very beginning. Adoption will never be a secret or a surprise in our home. It will be part of how they know they were loved twice over.

Openness. You will always have a place in this story if you want one. Photos, letters, visits, whatever feels right to you, at whatever pace feels right.

Growth. We will raise a kid who feels safe to try new things, safe to fail, and certain they are loved through all of it. And we’ll keep learning and growing as dads, because they’ll deserve our best.

Joy. Music in the kitchen, fireflies in the yard, a dog who thinks he’s their best friend, and a whole village of family and friends who have been waiting years for them. We promise a childhood full of laughter and a home full of love.

Thank you for taking the time to get to know us. Whatever path you choose, we’re wishing you and your baby every good thing.