Anna loves to be creative. She has a collection of cookbooks and enjoys learning about different cultures through food. Her favorite thing to make is bread and she has recently gotten into making tortillas out of heirloom masa after Eric got her a tortilla press for Christmas. She grew up gardening with her grandparents, and a few years ago built herself a couple of fenced in raised garden beds to give it a go herself. She also loves puzzles and more recently, Legos. She is interested in learning about the paranormal, things like aliens and Bigfoot, which usually makes Eric roll his eyes and laugh.

Eric loves all things sports. He collects baseball cards and enjoys purchasing boxes of old cards to open with his friends and to trade. He loves riding his bike and you can find him at the gym every morning where he enjoys lifting and working out. He has won awards for his chili recipe and has a true talent for making breakfast foods. Breakfast sandwiches and pancakes are his specialties. He has a bright orange Chevy Colorado truck, which frequently gets compliments from strangers and makes Anna roll her eyes and laugh.

Together, we play games and eat pizza on weekend evenings. We dance in the kitchen with our dogs. We love going to the movies. We also frequently have several TV shows that we won't watch without each other. We are goofy and happy and can't wait to share it all.

Going on adventures is one of our favorite things to do together, and we can't wait to share that with a child. We love traveling to other cities to see concerts, to try new foods and drinks, and to experience the world outside of our home in the Midwest.

Every trip we take usually starts with either booking a concert or a sporting event (usually baseball), and lots of research on Instagram on where the most interesting places to eat and visit in that city are. Anna is always in charge of booking the travel, and Eric is in charge of the experiences. We never officially decided that's the way it would be, but it always seems to work out that way and it works great for us.

Colorado has won our hearts over the past several years, so we usually end up there at least every other year. We love to hike and see the beauty of nature, and Colorado seems to have it all.

In recent years we have also been to Nashville, Northern California, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Chicago, Tampa and New Orleans. Anna gets to travel for work occasionally and has trips to Canada and London planned for this year. Eric also just got back from Mexico on a recent work trip.

We are excited to show a child what an exciting and interesting world we live in, and to experience as much of it as possible together as a family.

Over the past year or so, the two of us started noticing that something was missing, something that was bigger than just the two of us. We were missing the joy of an addition to our family; a child we can share our love with. Given some issues each of us have had to go through in recent years, having a child on our own wasn't looking to be a viable option. We weren't about to let that be what held this opportunity back and feel like adoption makes sense for us. We tend to do things a little differently than the standard and always put a lot of thought into things before making decisions. The decision to adopt a child however, seemed natural and like it is the right path for both of us.

Anna has two cousins that were adopted, Eric has friends that are adoptive parents, and the CEO of his company is also an adoptee. All of these people have shown us not only how much adoption can change the life of a family, but also that children who are adopted can thrive and live wonderful full lives. We would love to get the chance to provide every opportunity for a good life for a child, and to potentially also gain long-lasting relationships with the birth mother and/or parents.

We live in a quiet Missouri suburb in a three-bedroom house with a finished basement. We have put a good amount of work into our house and yard in the past several years, including a newly renovated kitchen which is our favorite place to spend time. Outside we have a patio where we spend time grilling, sitting by the fire, and listening to music while watching the dogs play.

Anna has built an extensive fenced-in garden area that includes two raised garden beds and several planter bags. During the warmer months, she grows all kinds of vegetables and herbs that she loves to use in her cooking. We also have flowers and plants all around the outside of the house, bird feeders, and an abundance of wildlife that loves to hang out. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bunnies are common to see in our yard.

We are close with our neighbors across the street who just had a baby girl. The child we adopt will potentially already have a friend and playmate to grow up with. We live within walking distance of an elementary school, middle school and high school so there are always children playing in our neighborhood.

There are also a number of parks and playgrounds nearby where we frequently walk the dogs on nice days. We think this is a great place to love and raise a child.

Eric's parents live less than 2 miles away from us. During the week we take our dogs, Emmy and Stevie, over to play with their cousins (Lillie and Bella) while we are at work. We see his parents weekly and his mom often cooks meals for us to enjoy with them or to bring home so we don't have to cook on a busy night.

Recently, the entire family has started to learn Pickleball and play together on the weekends. This includes both Eric and Anna, Eric's parents, his brother, sister and her husband, and our nephew. None of us are particularly good and we rarely play by the rules, but it's a fun way to spend time together.

Anna's family lives further away in Illinois, so we see them less frequently. She is very close with her sister, and enjoys sending silly Snapchats back and forth with her niece and nephew. The kids always come over to bake pies before Thanksgiving, and we have an annual cookie baking day before Christmas where we bake way too many cookies and then share them with everyone we know.

Both extended families are very excited and supportive about our plan to adopt a child.

Hello!

First of all, thank you for considering us and taking the time to read our profile. You are such an important part of all this, and we know there is so much to think about. We want you to know that we really look forward to having you and your child in our lives. We see this as an opportunity to gain relationships with not just a sweet new baby, but also another wonderful human. We are totally open to whatever kind of contact you are comfortable with, and will do our best to make things as easy and as open as you need.

We have been together for 10 years, married for a little over 2, and have loved every minute of it. We have two dogs that we adore, loving families and friends, but really feel like it's time to move on to the next chapter in our lives. We want to be parents. It's funny, those who know us thought we would be well into parenthood by now, but we decided to take life at our own pace and waited a little longer than most to start trying to have children. Adoption was always on the table in our minds, and after finding out we couldn't have children the old fashioned way, looking into adopting felt very natural and truly like a good fit.

We make each other laugh every day. We enjoy traveling, cooking and eating new foods, listening to music, spending time with the dogs in the back yard, riding bikes and so much more. We really do feel lucky for this life we have built together, and want to share it beyond just the two of us.

This child will have so many people that love them right off the bat. Anna's 9-year-old niece hasn't stopped talking about how excited she is to have a cousin to play with, and has already declared that she will babysit anytime we want her to (when she's older, of course). There will be cousins and aunts and uncles on both sides. Most of our friends have children at this point, and our neighbors across the street just had a little baby girl of their own who this child will have the chance to grow up with.

We live in a quiet neighborhood that is within walking distance to schools and beautiful parks. We live in the Midwest, so the winters are cold and the summers are hot, but you get to experience all four seasons. We can't wait to build snowmen and go sledding, teach the child to garden like Anna did when she was young, go bike riding and swimming, and experience all the wonderful things that childhood brings. We want to give this child every opportunity to live life to the fullest, and to be loved and cared for.

Thank you so much again. We can't wait to meet you.

Eric & Anna