Courtney & Brad

Brad here! I’d love to tell you how Courtney and I met. It was back in 2008 at a college rugby game after I gathered up the courage to make a joke that got her attention. The game ended and we went our separate ways, but I spent the rest of the day telling my friends I wanted to find “the cute redhead.” The feeling was apparently mutual because Courtney asked a friend of hers to call me to try to find out where my friends and I were going to hang out that night. She tried to play it cool, but she was trying to see me again! We talked all night and I didn’t want to say goodbye. For the next two and a half years we spent countless hours in cars and buses traveling back and forth to see each other, as we lived in different cities. We went on trips, got to know each other’s families, and built a strong and supportive connection. I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her and I wanted to make the proposal as special as possible. I’m a business manager in the music industry so I pulled a few strings at work and proposed to Courtney while on stage in front of 10,000 people at a Rascal Flatts concert. The band played “God Bless The Broken Road” as we danced together on stage. In 2012 we got married surrounded by all of our family and friends on Courtney’s parent’s farm. There was lots of singing, a choreographed dance, a flash mob, and even a bounce house for adults. We spent the next five years growing as individuals and as a team by traveling the world, building our careers, and raising all the animals we could fit in our apartment. All of this created a solid foundation for bringing a child into our home.

When you first see Courtney, you are likely to notice her sweet smile and gingery hair. Once you move beyond those features, you learn she is kind, caring, sharp, funny, and did I say kind? She is my best friend, and I am biased, but I think she is the most wonderful mom/spouse around. Courtney grew up on a small farm in the Pacific Northwest, spending her days horseback riding, hanging out with her family, and doing arts and crafts. Courtney loved her home, but also always liked to chart her own course, which is one of the reasons she decided to move across the country for college. In college, she was always known for being the person to go to for advice, a theme party idea, or help sewing a costume. After College, Courtney found herself in yet another new city, working in the TV/entertainment industry. She has worked hard, been promoted, and is an all-around incredible woman of the working world. Courtney is the glue that holds our family together. She likes to stay organized, make lists, and plan. We are absolutely co-parents, but I would be lying if I said we have each packed the diaper bag an equal amount of times. She is always the one to remember the sunscreen (for us pale people), the snack, and the extra diapers. Courtney was already a stellar human but with the birth of Finn she has become an incredible mom. She loves deeply as she fully gives her heart and her commitment to the people in her life. Courtney’s care extends beyond her immediate circle with her compassion for others and a desire to try to do her part to volunteer in her community and make the world a better place. She makes me a better person through her example. Finn and I are so lucky to have her in our lives. Favorite TV shows: The Great British Baking Show, Friday Night Lights & The Bachelor Favorite Movie: Almost Famous (and Love Actually at Christmas time!!) Other Interests: Sloths, crafting, cooking/baking, reading, volunteering, Christmas

Brad is a rare find in a partner. He is a paradoxical balance of strong and sensitive. He will cry at sad news stories and at the same time will be the first one to stand up to defend someone who can’t or won’t defend themselves. Brad is fun, cheerful and entertaining. People notice when a tall, loud, ginger walks into a room and he makes people happy. Brad dreams big and then makes it happen. He pushes me out of my comfort zone and helps me grow. When I was nervous to take a 6-month-old to Europe, Brad said “We can do it!” and we made wonderful memories. Brad is kind. He is the most supportive partner that I could ever imagine. He is truly a co-parent. We share the responsibilities for diaper changes, feeding, cleaning and everything else. We work together and ignore the traditional gender roles. Brad is hard-working, but makes sure that professional growth is not at the expense of spending time with his family. His determination applies to not only his job but our life together. He can push through any challenge despite the physical or emotional obstacles. He can carry 100 pounds of luggage through an airport or comfort me and my family through difficult times. Favorite TV Shows: Parks and Recreation, The West Wing, Scrubs Favorite Movie: The Shawshank Redemption and The Goonies (“Goonies never say die!”) Favorite Band/Artist: Everything from The Beatles to Lizzo...and everything in between! Other Interests: Woodworking, singing, listening to music

We hope we succeeded in showing you “us”. Our goal is to put aside any polish and to truly show who we are. Parenting has not been easy but every difficult moment has been worth it. We are excited and ready for round two! If you choose us to parent your child, we promise to show them love, and bring them up to be strong, compassionate, and kind. After placement we will be taking an extended leave from work for bonding. We did this with Finn and we fully plan to do the same again. We promise to love your child in every moment...whether they are sleeping like an angel or crying because their teeth are coming in. We will love them through tantrums and giggle fits, through sunny days in the park or rainy days cooped up in our home. We promise to provide them with an excellent education through school and the real world. We promise to recognize their strengths, their wishes, and to help them be the best version of themselves. We promise to give them a loving home filled with holiday traditions, shared experiences, Saturday morning pancakes, blanket forts, and an abundance of fun. We promise to always be honest, to tell you how we are feeling, and to care about you. We cannot wait to add more love to our home. We care deeply for our family, and no matter how everything turns out, a birth parent that is connected with us will be a part of our family too.

Courtney has always wanted to adopt. It has always been part of her plan for how to build her family. It was something we talked about 11 years ago when we first started dating. We will be honest and say the thought never really crossed Brad’s mind before meeting Courtney, but Courtney and Finn helped him fully understand. It is so clear now that adoption is our path to growing our family. Finn happens to look a lot like us, and while that can be fun, it is not even remotely what is important in raising him. The real joy comes from seeing him learn and grow. For us, it frankly does not matter if a child shares our genes. It does not make a difference in the joy and opportunity inherent in raising a child. We love our family and we are ready for it to grow. We are ready for Finn to have a sibling!

Courtney's Family - I grew up in a family of educators. My dad, John, is a retired professor who now enjoys life on their farm, horseback riding, writing books, and hiking through the miles of trails off of their property. He's intelligent and very supportive. I grew up in an environment where I was told I could be anything I wanted to be and that positively impacting the world was a better judge of success than money. My mom is a semi-retired kindergarten teacher. After retiring, she went back to work one day per week as a PE teacher. She loves kids and loves being kept busy. She is a former Olympic high jumper. Despite being a top athlete, she never pushed me and my sister, Dani, to be competitive. She is loving, independent and strong. We also love to travel with my family in order for us all to spend quality time together. I have cousins, aunts and uncles all over the country. We all get together for Christmas, weddings and other events throughout the year. Brad's Family - I grew up in a loving, supportive home, with parents who exemplified kindness. Both of my parents were teachers, so summers were often spent together having fun at home or traveling. We would play catch in the backyard, swim at a lake, or help with yardwork (if we HAD to). I am the youngest of six kids. I have eleven nieces and nephews as well as six great-nieces and nephew! We have a big family that is spread around the country. I am very close with my immediate family who all live nearby. We always celebrate birthdays, holidays, and other milestones together. My sister Caryn lives nearby and also has a son the same age as Finn, which has been wonderful. She is hoping to have another child in the next year, so it is possible that all of our children will be close in age and grow up as friends.

Our dog, Huntley, is an incredibly sweet pup. He is a mix of a Beagle and a Jack Russell Terrier (but we think he looks like a baby deer). He is protective of his family but he is ready to quickly become friends with anyone who shows him kindness. We rescued him from a high-kill animal shelter when he was two years old and we have shown him tons of love ever since. We told ourselves we would wait until we were married to get a dog...we pretty much walked in the door from our honeymoon and started looking for a rescue pup to take in. Huntley can often be found under Finn's highchair eating the food that Finn drops (sometimes intentionally). Our cat Babar is the boss of the house. He is friendly and sweet but also knows how to keep Huntley in his place. He is probably the softest cat you will ever pet!

A few years ago, we won a housing lottery in our city and as a result, we are lucky to live in an apartment that we absolutely love. It has two bedrooms (one of which is our nursery), two bathrooms, and a large terrace overlooking a river and the city skyline. We watch boats and float planes go by and we see incredible sunsets each night. The apartment is rent-stabilized which essentially means it will always be affordable. We mention this because it allows us to save our money for other things that we value in our life (travel, excellent daycare, toys, etc.). Our building is filled with other young families, many of whom (like us) send their children to the daycare center on the ground floor of our building. We live across the street from a beautiful waterfront park with several playgrounds and fields. Our neighborhood is calm and peaceful but full of life. We love that we can walk everywhere: the grocery store, the doctor, the park, and the ice cream shop. The best part about our home is that it is about 25 minutes from both of our offices, so we get to spend less time commuting and more time with Finn.

Finn is a tiny ginger bundle of love and energy. As we write this, he is toddling around, climbing everything, and learning how to open every baby gate in our home. By the time you are reading this, he will probably have learned ten new tricks that keep us on our toes. Finn loves running around, playing with cars, and giving hugs (which are THE BEST!). He enjoys petting our dog (and sometimes pulling his ears). He also loves being thrown in the air by Brad and tickled until he giggles. Finn has been to fifteen states and two countries in his first fifteen months of life! We LOVE to travel and we have not let having a baby along for the ride slow us down. We have arguably traveled more since Finn was born, and he has loved it. We hope to instill a sense of curiosity and wonder in him. When people ask us what we want him to be when he grows up, we say “kind and happy.” We are raising him in an environment of love and don’t let a day go by without telling him how loved he is.

• Traveling & exploring new cities as a family or with our friends • Taking old furniture and turning it into something new/fun • Sending out ridiculous Christmas cards • Planning epic scavenger hunts for our friends • Going to as many concerts as we can (our son has slept through Alanis Morissette and Eric Church!) • Animals