There are many wonderful waiting families that would love to be a mommy & daddy.
Hi, and thanks for reading our letter! We are a little family of 3, Buddy, Lauren, and a furry old beagle named Rusty. We are hoping to grow our family through adoption. We’ve been together for 16 years and will soon be celebrating our 14 year wedding anniversary. We are very excited about the thought of being a mom and dad, and we are thankful that you are considering adoption out of love for your child. We promise your baby lots of love, a stay-at-home mom, a caring dad, and a life full of wonderful opportunities. Hopefully our story will make it easy for you to decide if we are a good match for you.
Why we want to adopt
Adoption is without a doubt something that God has planned for us to do. Although we have dealt with infertility issues, adoption was an option we discussed in the beginning and is in no way a last resort. We both agreed that it made more sense to offer our hearts and home to a little one that was already created.
Adoption is not a foreign subject to Lauren as her father and her aunt were adopted as infants. This will be a great bonding experience for our child and their grandfather in the future. We also have quite a few friends at church whose families were created through adoption. We know this will be a great advantage for our child to know that not only was their grandfather and great aunt adopted but they are also surrounded by other families just like ours.
About Us
We first met in our high school gym class in 1991. Although we talked often in that class, we really didn’t see each other much outside of class. Then in the summer of 1993 we started hanging out as we had some mutual friends, quickly fell in love, and married in November 1995.
We absolutely love experiencing new cultures and have been fortunate to travel to beautiful places through our business such as Aruba, St. Kitts, Mexico, and Europe. Every summer for the past 8 years we have spent a week in Hilton Head, South Carolina with Lauren’s dad, stepmother, and teenage sister. We had many conversations on our Hilton Head trip this year about all the things they can’t wait to do and share with their future grandson or granddaughter.We have always had similar likes and dislikes when it comes to what we do for fun together. Traveling, shopping (yes, Buddy actually enjoys shopping), trying new restaurants, watching movies, and hanging out and drinking coffee are just a few things we enjoy together. But perhaps the biggest passion we share is music. We are both very involved in the music ministry of our church where Buddy is the bass guitarist and I sing.
Our faith plays a huge role in our lives. To us being a Christian is not just about going to church on Sundays. It is an everyday reality, and we hope that our faith shows in every aspect of our lives. We are members of a non-denominational church and attend church weekly. We always seek God’s will in our lives and in any decisions we make, which is what led us to adoption. Our son or daughter will be raised on biblical principles and these same beliefs. Although we will teach our child these things, we do believe it is his or her choice to make our faith their own.
Buddy owns a business with his mother. He is the president of the company, and works full time growing and managing the business. Lauren currently works there with Buddy 2 days a week as a payroll manager. This is great because Lauren can easily transition to working from home and allow her to pursue her dream job - being a stay-at-home mom. Because our business location is only about 10 minutes away from home, Buddy will be able to come home pretty quick if needed. Having our own business has also given us the flexibility to make our own schedules and be prepared financially for a family.
My husband Buddy
My husband is truly my best friend. He is encouraging, loving and always making me laugh. After being together for 16 years, he can still surprise me. For example, anyone that knows Buddy well knows that he does not like buying a real Christmas tree and very much prefers using our “faux”, pre-lit one. To him it’s a waste of money, makes too much of a mess and is a potential fire hazard. But, this past Christmas he had a change of heart. One December afternoon I heard him coming in the front door and as I went to meet him I was completely surprised. In his arms was the most beautiful, fragrant, live tree that he picked out just for me!
Not only is Buddy a wonderful husband and friend, he is a great leader in his family owned business. His employees absolutely love him (especially his payroll manager Lauren!). He has the amazing ability to create a relaxed and fun work environment while at the same time being very productive and goal oriented.
When he’s not running his business or hanging out with me, he will most certainly be playing. He’s quite the kid at heart and would play 24/7 if he could. Golf is his biggest love, but he also enjoys lifting weights and playing racquetball at our local YMCA, loves to play guitar and has just recently began biking again.I can’t wait to see him in his newest role as “daddy”! Buddy has so much to offer a child. I can already picture him making goofy faces with our little one, teaching him or her how to golf, splashing around with them in our pool, or playing songs on his guitar to entertain them.
My wife Lauren
Lauren is my best friend as well. She is way too good for me! And I feel very blessed to have her love. I have been told many times by my friends that I married UP!
Lauren has a HUGE heart. She is the most selfless person that I know. She rarely puts her desires or needs ahead of others. Even when she wants something really bad she always puts the interests and feelings of others first. This many times means that she does not do/get what she wants, but she is always content in knowing that others are happy.
She is very creative and artistic and loves to make handmade cards, scrapbooking, and photography. It is amazing to see what she can do with just a little bit of paper. Lauren also has a very structured and organized side that is equally as strong as the artist in her. She makes lists for everything, always keeps a written schedule, and she loves to organize and clean. Everything has its place in our home, and is neat and organized, I appreciate how much she cares about it.
Lauren is great with kids. She babysits quite often, and she does it out of joy not out of guilt. I often hear the kids wanting to come back and see her again soon. She really wants to be a mommy, and I want to see her realize that dream.
I just can’t imagine being married to anyone else. Lauren is my best friend and so much more than I ever imagined as my wife…I actually knew the first week we dated that we were going to get married! And strangely enough one of my friends told me he knew we would be married the second time he met her.
The beagle
We’ve mentioned him a few times already, but we thought since he is such an important member of the family he deserves his own little paragraph. Rusty is a 14 year old beagle that loves to go on walks, sleep, eat, and…of course sleep some more. He actually has a lot of experience with children. Our nieces and nephews, and friends’ children visit often, and Rusty has always been well behaved. If Rusty could talk we’re sure he would tell you how excited he is to have a little human baby to cuddle up to and lick, I mean love.
Our home and neighborhoodOur house is located in a large, suburban neighborhood of Virginia. We live in our dream home that we designed and built 4 years ago. There are 5 bedrooms and lots of space for a growing family, including one very special nursery. Our backyard has plenty of room for running around and playing, a pool, and a large patio and deck for family barbeques. When we’re home and the weather is nice, we’re often walking the beagle around the neighborhood or hanging out in our back yard enjoying the pool. We love the fact that we’re 5 minutes away from our church, our commute to our business is about 10 minutes, and just about everywhere else we go is 10-15 minutes away. Even our parents are only 10 minutes away. This is one of the main reasons we chose to build where we did because it’s centrally located to everything that is important to us.
Our Family and Friends
Not only are we looking forward to being first-time parents, our future child has 3 great-grandparents, 3 sets of grandparents, 3 uncles, 4 aunts and a whole lot of cousins eagerly anticipating the arrival of a baby girl or boy into their family. Not to mention all of our friends and church family; they are very excited and praying for us.
Most of our family members either live in the same city as us or neighboring cities. Buddy’s parents and Lauren’s mom and stepdad live around the corner from each other and we get to see all of them quite often. We love the fact that we talk to and spend time with our parents on a regular basis and are so blessed to have them so close. Some of Lauren’s family members live in South Carolina which includes her dad, stepmother, sister and all of her grandparents. We try to see them at least 3 or 4 times a year either driving down to visit or having them stay with us in our home in Virginia. We’re pretty sure we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of them when there is a grandchild in the house.
Our friends play a huge role in our daily lives. We have a lot of close friendships with some dating back to high school. We are very active in our church and we have a group of friends there that are very dear to us. The people we sing and play music with in our worship band at church have become some of our closest friends.All of our family and friends are very supportive of our decision to adopt and we’re comforted by the fact that we have such a great support system.
What we can promise to you and your child
Your child will always know that they were placed in our family by you out of love and in the best interest of their lives. We plan to share his or her adoption story with them right from the start in an age appropriate way and will always make them feel comfortable to discuss or ask any questions about their adoption.
We will raise your child with compassion, respect and unconditional love. We’ll provide them with a stable home full of good times and make great memories. We promise to fill their mornings with butterfly kisses, their days with discovery and fun, and their evenings with bedtime stories, family prayers and hugs and kisses from mommy and daddy (and probably a big, wet kiss from the beagle too). We will encourage them to do their best and give their best to others.
As they grow older and go to school, we will be involved in their education and give them the opportunity of a college education if that is where they are led. We want to support and encourage our child to pursue whatever it is that they are interested in and passionate about. Most importantly we want to lovingly guide and encourage them to grow into the unique person God created them to be.
Thank you again for considering us as adoptive parents. We want you to know we have nothing but the greatest respect for you and your adoption plan. If you would like, we are open to sharing and exchanging photos, letters, or emails to keep you updated in the future.
If you have any questions or want to learn more about us, please contact us through our email buddysmithadoption@gmail.com or you can call our adoption agency, Shore Adoption with HOPE at 757-687-8602.
