We met in college in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and we were married a couple weeks shy of our 15-year anniversary. It was, by far, the best day of our lives — until the day in 2016 when we brought Harry home from The Cradle.

OUR LIFE

We were originally drawn to each other because of our shared values and love of laughter — even after twenty years together, we still truly crack each other up. We share a strong work ethic and the desire to do things the right way. We’re both curious and love learning about new things.

At home, Chad makes big southern meals in between rounds of playing songs at the piano. When Devin’s not singing along, he’s decorating (and redecorating) our house. It’s a place where people always feel welcome and comfortable, where we play records and take Polaroid pictures, where we don’t freak out about spills and where we always have dessert.

Chad works for an educational publishing company and he spends his days thinking up ways to make math fun. Devin has his dream job as a vice president for a home furnishings company, where he spends a lot of time discovering cool furniture, artwork and other fancy junk at flea markets. We both love our work and, having worked hard for many years, we have the flexibility that we need to raise kids.

OUR LIFE AS PARENTS

Becoming parents not only showed us how much love we have to give a child, but confirmed for us that we wanted to have an even bigger family. We know, without a doubt, we have so much love to give your child.

We love traveling with Harry. We think nothing of getting on a plane with him and spending a few weeks in France or Spain. We’re not the types to get stressed out about bringing him to museums and nice restaurants. We love taking him to friends’ houses and letting him meet new people. And, of course, we spend a lot of time on playgrounds these days.

We love living in a city that is filled with culture, diversity and interesting people, and one of the many blessings of having Harry is seeing Chicago through his eyes. We go to the Lincoln Park zoo just about every weekend, but also make time for all of the city’s great museums. We love going to the farmer’s market and to the beach (an easy walk from our place), and we go swimming at a nearby pool pretty much every week. In many ways, our life revolves around Harry’s routine — from naps to soccer practice — and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Our life is joyful and easygoing, busy and balanced. We love it.

ABOUT CHAD – BY DEVIN

Chad is famous to all who know him for being extremely easygoing and fun to be around. He is the kind of guy who wakes up singing (sometimes whistling) and has the ability to look at the bright side of any part of life. He is calm, stable and steady.

Chad loves to learn and always knows what’s going on in the world — from politics to pop culture. He is also a fantastic cook and serenades Harry and me on the piano on a daily basis. He loves documentaries, cries like a baby during “Les Miz” and looks good in a blazer. He’s incredibly devoted to family.

I fell in love with Chad, in large part, because I knew he would make a great father — kids have always been fascinated by his big eyes and funny voices. But now I know I could not have been more right! From the very beginning, he was a complete natural. He brought patience and calm to having a newborn and now brings an endless sense of fun (and more patience!) to having a toddler.

ABOUT DEVIN – BY CHAD

Devin has two qualities I think best describe who he is. First, his quick wit, which somehow manages to be intelligent and silly at the same time and second, his fierce loyalty to his friends and family.

His career allows him to travel all over the world searching for beautiful things, but at the end of the day, what Devin loves most is making a home for our family, a place that is warm, inviting, and fun.

I always knew Devin would be a wonderful dad and I see proof of that every day in the relationship he has with Harry. Devin is the rock in our family, providing a sense of stability and surety that I know makes Harry feel safe and loved.

But the best evidence of how right I was in my estimation of Devin’s potential as a father is in seeing how much Harry absolutely adores him.

ABOUT HARRY

We fell in love with Harry as soon as we saw him (maybe before, actually). We would have loved him no matter what, but it just so happens he is smart and funny and extremely adorable. He has an infectious laugh, a remarkable memory, and an easygoing personality. He loves all animals, the water, reading books and “Yo Gabba Gabba!”

He very much wants to be a big brother and has already been telling people that he IS a big brother… perhaps he has a flair for the dramatic, too.

But when the time comes, Harry will be the best big brother ever. He is loving to his core, sweet and thoughtful. There’s no doubt he will be the perfect older sibling.

ON PARENTING

It’s important to us to give our children as many experiences as possible — and more than anything — we believe it’s essential to give them a strong sense of self-worth, the confidence to embrace who they are and the room to make mistakes while always providing a safe place for them to grow.

The most important value we can instill in our children is a love of learning and the value of kindness. We want to provide a family life similar to the ones we were both fortunate to have, where a child can explore their curiosity, grow and learn from their mistakes in a safe and secure environment.

Above all else, we believe that our role as parents is to guide, support, and love unconditionally.

ON OPENNESS

We believe an open adoption allows us to have an ongoing conversation with the best interest of the child as the priority. It helps children understand how many people love them and how much care went into creating the best home possible for them.

But what’s different for us this time is that we have some experience with what openness really means. When we first met Harry’s birth parents we understood the hard choices they had to make, so we let them know we would always be here and we would always want them to be a part of his life. Nowadays we see them often and text and email even more often so they can see all the funny stuff Harry is doing lately.

We would be honored to welcome you as part of our family — but we understand how complicated this can be. So if you’re not ready for that, we can start with pictures and letters, or figure out a plan that works for you. And if things change (they usually do), we’ll still be here and we can make a new plan together. Ultimately, it’s up to you.

Thank you so much for spending some time getting to know us better.