Ashley & Austin
RACE OF CHILD INTERESTED IN ADOPTING:
Caucasian/African American, African American, African American/Hispanic
Dear Birthmother,
Dear Expectant Mother,
We want to thank you for being strong and brave. We truly admire your courage in considering adoption. We would be grateful and beyond blessed to be able to love and raise your precious little one.
We are focused on family, Jesus, and making memories. We believe in the power of prayer, and we have been praying for you and your baby for a long time. We like playing Uno after dinner and making monkey bread for birthdays and holidays. We like dressing goofy for Halloween and being with family on Christmas. A new baby will add so much to our family: more laughter, love and memories.
About Us
We are Austin and Ashley. We met in our senior year in college, and after dating, we were married on New Year’s Eve 2005. We have been happily married since. Austin is outgoing, a hard worker, and a wonderful provider. Ashley is caring, selfless, and highly organized. We like playing in the backyard and going on family walks. We also enjoy traveling together and serving at church and in our community. Austin owns his own advertising company, and Ashley stays home with the kids. Since Austin is his own boss, he has a flexible work schedule and is able to be at all the kids’ events.
Our Home
We live in a very family-friendly area in Illinois with lots of kids, parks, and three schools in our neighborhood. We have been in our home 14 years and have made many updates to make it our own. We have a great backyard with a swing set, rope swing, and trampoline. We also have a vegetable garden in the summer and lots of flowers. We spend hours in the backyard every day, and on nice days, Austin likes to work in the back. Other favorite places in our town are the library and ice cream shop! We also have a five-year-old dog named Rascal. He loves running around with the kids and eating all the food on the floor.
Our Extended Family
We are blessed to have both of our parents within 10 minutes of us. We see our parents and siblings often for birthdays, holidays, and kids activities. Family is important to us, so we make it a priority to support each other and see each other often.
Austin’s parents have a lake house a little under two hours from our house; we have made many wonderful memories there. We enjoy going a few times a month in the summer and love to swim, water ski, and go on the boat. Ashley’s parents come over frequently just to say hi and get hugs. Our kids love to have sleepovers with grandparents for their birthdays and other special events.
We have several family friends we see at least weekly. Our kids all get along like siblings, and we are thankful for good friends to support us.
What Led Us To Adoption
After our youngest daughter was born, we knew we didn’t want more biological children but we also knew our family wasn’t finished. We fostered for about three years and had 15 kids of all races in our home for a period of time. We loved the diversity that brought to our family. Each goodbye was hard, so about three years ago, we decided to adopt. We added our amazing son to our family and are so thankful. We feel it is very important for him to not be the only member of our family who is a different race and the only child who was adopted. We are excited to start the journey again and excited to share our love with another child.
Facts About Ashley
- Occupation: Mom
- Religion: Christian
- Education: Bachelor’s degree
- Favorite Food: Pizza
- Favorite Hobby: Reading
- Favorite Sport: Baseball
- Favorite Holiday: Christmas
- Favorite TV Show: The Amazing Race
- Favorite Subject in School: Math
- Favorite Vacation Spot: Aruba
Facts About Austin
- Occupation: Marketing
- Religion: Christian
- Education: Bachelor’s degree
- Favorite Food: Steak
- Favorite Hobby: Gardening
- Favorite Sport: Baseball
- Favorite Holiday: 4th of July
- Favorite TV Show: Shark Tank
- Favorite Subject in School: Math
- Favorite Vacation Spot: Hawaii