Laura About Josh: Josh is my best friend and I feel lucky to have him as a partner. He is so generous with his time, love, and resources. Before we met, I had never been anywhere international other than Canada. He has since given me adventures as we explore the world, while keeping us grounded in our day-to-day life at home. When you meet him you think he's a serious guy, but then when he laughs it's with his whole body. When we brought each of our dogs home, I saw his heart open wider than I could imagine. I can't wait to see him open his heart to our child. He has a love for music and movies that will be so special to share. His surprise goofiness, dedication to education, and love for quality time with family are just a few reasons for why he'll be a great dad.

Josh About Laura: Laura is my best friend (lucky how that worked out!). She is extremely sweet and thoughtful of others and looks forward to the day she can be a mother. She is very smart but humble. I love that she has dedicated her life, as a physical therapist specializing in pelvic care to the wellbeing of others, especially new and expecting mothers. Coupled with a nesting instinct, and the way she puts others ahead of herself, she will make a very caring, attentive, and loving mother to any child.

We have several hobbies that we do both separately and together. Laura plays the cello, she started a few years ago, after wanting to play the instrument for most of her life.

Josh is an avid reader, particularly of fiction and Cold War era history. Josh also enjoys going for long drives, getting lost (which is harder to do these days with GPS) and enjoying the exploration. Together we enjoy longer drives to explore outside of Chicago, to see what the small towns of Wisconsin and Michigan have to offer. We also love going to the movies. These all come from activities that we did with our families growing up and look forward to sharing our love of exploring music, movies, literature and the open road with a child!

Speaking of reading and exploring, we were both brought up to really value higher education. College and grad school helped us each to grow as individuals and develop our passions for our respective fields and that continues to be reflected in our hobbies and our day-to-day lives. We want this child to not only learn in school, but to have experiences outside the classroom that shape their learning and their leisure time. Living in a big city and traveling often will allow us to teach a child about different cultures and communities and hopefully instill the curiosity in them that was instilled in us growing up.

Most of our family traditions are concentrated around gathering for the holidays. Josh's mom always made every holiday important growing up and she has continued to do so as a grandmother. We travel to Ohio for Christmas, but before we do, we have our own tradition in Chicago of putting on Christmas movies, listening to holiday music and putting up the Christmas tree with ornaments that we collect from around the world, near and far. Most recently we have collected ornaments from Duluth, MN and Istanbul, Turkey - quite a range. This allows us to remember where we have been, think about where we would like to go and share these experiences with our friends and family.

We got married in New Orleans - Laura was born there and Josh fell in love with New Orleans while on his first work trip there - and now make sure that we visit again at least once a year. We try to visit around our wedding anniversary, but if that's not possible, we at least make sure we go sometime during the year. It's a wonderful town full of vibrant music, food, culture, and fun!

We live in a single family home on the northwest side of Chicago. While we're in the city and have all the culture and amenities close by, our neighborhood is really residential. This area is where many of the firefighters and police officers of the city live, so we feel extra safe. We have a fenced in yard with a back porch, fire pit, grill, picnic table, lacrosse net, and bocce set. We have table tennis in the garage that can be set up anytime, especially for summer get togethers. We also love to do outdoor movie nights with a projector when it's warm out. Chicago in the summer is a really fun time with lots to do, feeling extra special after cold Midwest winters. Our street has a block party every year and the kids have a great time riding bikes and jumping in bouncy castles.

Our neighborhood also hosts a St. Patrick's Day parade each year. We go with friends and now get to watch their kids Irish dance down the street. Walkable from us are multiple parks, including a park district pool, playgrounds, elementary schools, and forest preserves. We are a short drive to family friendly Chicago attractions including the Shedd Aquarium, science and art museums, Alder Planetarium, zoos, and botanical gardens. There are batting cages and some mini golf courses nearby as well.

Fortunately, we have really wonderful families who are very supportive of our adoption journey. Both sets of parents are still together and are great examples of strong marriages. Josh is one of five, and many of his siblings still live in Ohio where he's from.

His sister in Oregon has two girls, and we love our Portland nieces! Every year, there is a family trip somewhere together in the US with Josh's side. Usually with a pool for the kids. Every Christmas is spent with all of Josh's family. His parents also come to Chicago and we go to Ohio every few months.

On Laura's side, she has two siblings. A brother in Michigan, where they all grew up, and a sister also in the Portland area. Laura's sister has a little girl as well, who can't wait for a cousin. Laura's sister also has a house in southwest Michigan for summer family vacations together where they spent summers as kids. Thanksgivings are spent with Laura's side each year, and trips to Michigan are easy and frequent.

We're so humbled that you would take the time to look at our profile. We hope that you see our fun loving attributes mixed with a love of learning as you peruse our pictures and words. We think of you often, and what you might be going through. When you're ready to, we'd love to meet and talk about this beautiful human you're bringing into the world.

We met like so many these days, on a dating website. Laura approached Josh's profile first, and asked him out pretty quickly. It was the beard for her. After 10 years together and 7 years married, we are ready to expand our family through adoption. Our road toward parenthood has been a rocky one. But it has made us stronger as a couple and we have even more love for each other and our future child.

Laura was raised in Michigan and came to Chicago for physical therapy school. She loves getting to work with patients on becoming more mobile and pain free, and over the years has helped many new moms recover from childbirth. Her hours are flexible and she works close to home. She enjoys baking sourdough bread or making homemade ice cream on the weekends. When the weather is nice, she likes hiking urban and forest trails. Her desire to become a mother is largely influenced by the fact that she had a loving childhood and wants to give that experience to another.

Josh was raised in Ohio and came to Chicago for grad school. He works hard as the deputy executive director for a medical non profit. The work week includes a few days at an office building nearby our home, and from our home the rest of the week. He is an avid reader, music lover, and world traveler. He loves to drive and road trips are planned often. What matters most to him above all is family.

Entering our own little family over the last few years are our dogs, Dasha and Dexter. Dasha came to us as a puppy, while Dexter was a rescue who we brought home when (we believe) he was about a year old. They bring us a lot of joy and we love to take them on walks around the neighborhood, to our local dog park, and they love to go for car rides with the wind in their faces. Rounding out our pet family is Bindi, a semi aquatic turtle from Chinatown.

We love adventures big and small in this family. Whether home or abroad, we don't take for granted the fact that we're extremely lucky to be able to experience different people, places, & cultures near and far. In addition to exploring the U.S. with family and friends, we have had the opportunity to travel all over the world and hope to pass on that sense of curiosity and love for adventure to a child. As parents, we hope to provide a stable environment where a child can feel safe exploring and learning all about the world around them.

We know that we'll be matched someday with the right birth family and child. Our lives will change drastically, and we're ready for it. New to our lives will be an open communication with a birth family, if we are chosen by one. We welcome open communication via calls, texts, emails, letters, and visits. We're ready to be as open as you're comfortable with, embracing you and your family as an extension of our own.

Thank you for taking time to consider us.

Josh & Laura