To a brave young lady,
I love this part. I love the beginning when I have no idea what will happen in the future, but I know I will get to feel the hand of the Lord guide our lives and help a miracle come to past. I look forward to having a woman we've never met suddenly become an important and amazing part of our lives forever. I love knowing our hearts are open and ready to add a member to our family. I love adoption.
I am Mel and my husband is Warren and we are so very grateful for the love of mothers. Both of our two wonderful daughters Maxine (4) and Virginia (2) have birth mothers who love them dearly. We thank them both for loving their babies and trusting us to care for them. The miracle of adoption has already blessed our lives beyond measure.
Warren is the 2nd of 7 children and grew up in Arlington Virginia. He served his mission in Ventura, CA and then went off to BYU in search of a degree and a bride. I (Mel) am the youngest of 4 (hooray for being the youngest!) and grew up in Mesa Arizona. I took off for BYU at 17 to pursue my dream of being a nurse. My Junior year I met a goofy, charming, genuine, and loving guy who thought I was pretty awesome too. After a year of friendship we finally woke up and started dating each other. We were married in the Mesa Arizona Temple in August of 2001. I'm delighted to say after 8 years we've become an amazing team and are more in love than ever. In those 8 years we've both graduated college, moved, built a house, changed jobs several times, become parents, served in numerous callings in the LDS church, and many other smaller adventures and milestones. The excitement of being newlyweds is fun, but I much prefer our marriage now that we've experienced so much, both good and bad, together. We are committed to one another and will remain loving and faithful. We're grateful for the example of our parents who have both enjoyed 35+ years of marriage each.
We always knew it would be a journey for us to become parents. I must emphasize that adoption was not our last resort. We considered it a wonderful option that was just as appealing as any other way to having children (now that we've adopted we think it's the best!). My mother and aunt are adopted and all three of my siblings have a mix of birth and adopted children. That means that a child joining our family not only has 2 awesome adopted sisters but several cousins as well! This familiarity with adoption in our family means your baby can join without a label. Although we love and advocate for adoption your baby will not be known as the “adopted one.” Instead they simply get to join a family and will be surrounded by people who can better understand how they feel as an adoptee and help navigate those emotions as they grow into adults. We think this is a wonderful gift we can offer a child.
Speaking of family, there is lots to go around. My entire family lives within 20minutes of us. That means Sunday dinners, birthday parties, and holidays are spent with Mom and Dad, 2 sisters, Grandma and Papa, Aunts, Uncles, and 13 cousins. My favorite part is all the smaller things we get to do together, like cheer on cousins at their football games, choir concerts, dance recitals, and enjoy sleepovers, zoo trips and such. In contrast to my local family, Warren's family is spread all over as his younger siblings grow up, get married, and settle in different parts of the country. This gives us a great excuse to travel and many vacations are tied to a wedding or where a baby is being blessed. Just this summer we enjoyed a trip to Virginia and stayed in Warren's childhood home with the entire family to celebrate his sister getting married. It is wonderful to have so many people to support us and love our children. We are also grateful for the example set forth by our parents
It's not always easy to know what kind of dad a guy will turn out to be. I always knew Warren was kind and patient, but we weren't around kids much the first part of our marriage so I wasn't completely sure. Wow, he is amazing! He's the dad who arranges his work schedule to get home early and spend time with his family. He runs around with the girls, wrestles, tells stories, changes diapers, plays games, runs errands, reads them the scriptures, fixes toys. He doesn't think of watching his kids as “babysitting.” He is incredibly loving and consistent in his great attitude and righteous living. He is a great partner in life and an amazing father.
[from Warren-] Mel is a loving wife and mother who is kind, friendly, intelligent, and outgoing. She has always been tremendously supportive of my personal and career goals, church service, and family priorities. After she graduated and obtained her nursing license, Mel went straight to work as an ICU and ER nurse where she had a tremendous positive impact of patients and their family members. Four years ago she put her career on the shelf to become a Mom. Her passion for caring for others continues to make a difference in her interactions with our children. When our children want to play, read a book, or snuggle and watch a movie, I get my share of attention; but when they're having a rough time and need band-aids, consolation, or hugs, only MOM will suffice. She takes an active role in their intellectual, spiritual, physical, and social development and loves having a front-row seat to all their first steps, first words, and all the rest. I am looking forward to anything the future brings with her at my side.
Now a little about the kiddos. Maxine joined our family in December of 2005. Her ultrasound said she was a boy, so we got an extra surprise when she was born missing a few parts! As if being a new first-time parent isn't shocking enough! After switching gears to girl world, she was named after my grandmother Maxine who adopted my mom. Now a big 4 year old, Maxine(Max, Miss Max, Maxeenee, Maximus) is the kind of person who soaks up life! She is active and intelligent, social and observant. She currently loves preschool, teaching her sister to talk and anything that involves cousins. She's the girl who wants to play cars and dinosaurs while wearing princess shoes and butterfly wings. There is nothing she can't do and her confidence in all things is inspiring. She loves the spotlight and will tell anyone and everyone what's on her mind! She loves to sing, dance, write, ride her bike, and is learning to read. Maxine is an amazing kid who made me a mom and changed everything. She is a very devoted big sister and would love to share herself with someone new. We love her dearly.
2 ½ years after the mighty Maxine joined the family came Virginia. Not to be outdone by Maxine, Virginia staged her own exciting way to join our family. We'd just flown home from a failed adopted in California where we watched a boy be born and took care of him for several days before finding out he would stay with his birthmother. We explained to Maxine that she would not be getting a baby brother after all and mom and dad would be sad for a bit, but it was okay. Only two days later we got a call for a baby girl who was already 3 days old and could we fly out the next day and come get her. That week was the most emotional roller coaster of my life and the most I've ever put my life in the Lord's hands and trusted He was guiding us where we needed to go. Once again we had a little girl with no name picked out and once again we turned to a family name. This time Warren's mom was honored and we had another pink bundle. When Maxine first saw Virginia at the airport, she said, “Mom, you brought me a baby? Thanks!” Virginia (Ginger, GinGin, Ginginater) has brought so much light and happiness to our family. Since joining us in June 2008, she's had two very busy years learning about her world and trying to keep up with her sister. Virginia loves baths, our labrador (named Zero), playgrounds, throwing food, her grandparents, shoes, and snuggles. She's learning to talk, but is already an expert at dumping drawers and writing on the walls. Just tonight I told Warren how boring our life would be without kids because how else could the dog food dish end up in our master bath? Kids are such an adventure and Virginia is the cutest explorer yet.
We feel blessed in every aspect of our lives and thankful for everyone that has become an important part of it. We are active in the LDS Church and find true joy in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have loving family nearby, a good home, wonderful kids, and plenty of chances to work and serve others. We pray you are blessed with much love, support, and guidance during this very important time. We hope we can add to that peaceful feeling by demonstrating that adoption can be a wonderful time of hope and celebration for everyone involved. We love and support you in your adoptive choice and in your search for the right family.
With love,
Warren and Mel
