Introduction

Dear Expectant Parent(s),

It’s our pleasure to introduce ourselves, we are Melissa and Andrew and we are excited to share a little bit about ourselves with you. We live south of Boston, Massachusetts with our two-year-old son, Grayson, and our dog Keira. We are an active family who enjoys spending time with our extended families and friends. The thought of expanding our family is very exciting to us and our family, so we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for considering us for one of the most important jobs we could ever be honored to accept – becoming adoptive parents to your child.

Our Story…

We both went to the same high school, but never knew each other. We actually first met because Melissa is friends with Katie, Andrew’s sister-in-law. After many birthday parties, run ins, and nights hanging out with friends, we began dating. A little over a year after we first started dating, we went on a vacation to Italy. Little did Melissa know, her life was going to change on our trip. One night, as we stood on the steps of a church in Rome, Andrew proposed. It was a perfect vacation and proposal, but we were excited to come home and tell our families. Less than a year later, we were married on a beach off of the Cape. It was a beautiful day! After our wedding, we bought and moved into our dream home. We’ve since made many changes to our house, but we’ve enjoyed making it our own as we’ve prepared to grow our family.

Our dream life together was having two biological children and then adopting two children to make our family complete. Because of this dream, we started trying to grow our family right after we got married. We both wanted to be parents more than anything, but throughout our long journey of trying to conceive a child, we have sadly had many heartbreaking moments, including stillbirth and miscarriages.  As we experienced all these ups and downs, we somehow grew closer and became more determined to become parents together. Through our trials, our dreams have also evolved. Now, we dream of simply becoming parents to children, no matter how they come into our lives.

In July of 2017, we had our son Grayson. It was a complicated pregnancy and birth that ended with Melissa needing a hysterectomy. Despite the complications, we were so thrilled to finally share our lives with our beautiful baby boy. As he began growing, we knew he and we were meant to have more love in our family, so we knew it was time to adopt.

Our Families…

Family is very important to us, so we are very close to ours. Luckily, most of them live an hour or less away from us, so we spend many weekends with them. From celebrating achievements and birthdays, to simple beach days, we enjoy spending time with them whenever we can. We have three nephews and a niece. They are all older than our son, Grayson, so they love to dote on him. They are wonderful “big” cousins and it is so cute to watch them play with him. We also spend a lot of time going to their sports games. We hope that our niece and nephews look back at their childhood seeing Andrew and I at their big life events, along with our little ones. We also can’t wait to see our nieces and nephews play with the newest addition to our family once we adopt. They are looking forward to teaching our future adoptive child to play ball, play in the ocean, and do all the things they love to do.

Our Interests…

We love being with our family and friends, but we also love going to the beach, boating, traveling, watching baseball or football, and taking family adventures.

We try to take a vacation every year. Cruises, Florida, Aruba, and North Carolina are some of the most recent adventures we have taken. A few years ago, we went to North Carolina with Melissa’s cousins on a cousin vacation and with her extended family to a house in Orlando, Florida. This past year we explored Aruba. We enjoyed playing in the sand, and doing things together as a family.  In the fall we will also be traveling to Sedona, Arizona for a wedding and mini-vacation. We are excited to explore more of the U.S. and look forward to having another little one explore the world with us in the future.

We also try to go to a couple of baseball games and football games every year (Go Red Sox and Patriots!). We enjoy this family pastime very much and can’t wait to be able to take our children with us.

Every summer we go to the beach with all of Andrew’s siblings and their families. We try to go at the beginning and end of every summer. The family spends the whole day at the beach playing and then we grill up a delicious feast for lunch. We are very blessed to live very close to the water, so we spend a lot of time there and boating. We both grew up spending a lot of time at the beach, so we look forward to giving our children the same kind of upbringing. We can’t wait to teach our adoptive child to swim, fish, and enjoy all that the ocean has to offer.

Our Plan

Our plan for the foreseeable future is for Melissa to stay at home with Grayson and our future adoptive child. Melissa was a teacher, but the preschool at which she worked closed when Grayson was an infant, so it seemed like the perfect time for her to stop working and stay home. We will revisit our childcare plans when it is time for Grayson and our adoptive child to enter Preschool or Kindergarten. Melissa will either continue to stay home or work part-time while our children are in school. Luckily she is a teacher, so if she goes back to work she will have the opportunity to work their school schedule and be home with them when they are not in school.

Andrew as a Dad (by Melissa)

Andrew is an incredible dad. He works full-time as a HVAC service mechanic. This is a very physical job, so he has to work hard, but he is always full of life when he comes home. Even after a long day at work, he is on the floor playing with Grayson as soon as he comes home. I love watching this moment, because Grayson lights up as soon as Andrew walks in the room. Andrew is strong, caring, and supports all of us in our everyday lives. Both Grayson and I feel like we are number one in Andrew’s world. Andrew is also my best friend and love of my life. There is nothing more fun than watching him being a dad, so I can’t wait to adopt a child with him!

Melissa as a Mom (by Andrew)

Melissa is the most caring and supportive wife I could ever dream of having. Every day, I feel incredibly blessed that she is in my life. She is always in my corner and her tenacious spirit always helps our family grow. I can’t imagine what Grayson and I would do without her. She is our rock. Every day I marvel at how patient and loving a mother she is. When I watch her teaching and nurturing our son, I am proud because I know he is one lucky little boy. He is lucky to have a mother that will shower him with love and strengthen him as he grows. Grayson and I are both lucky to have Melissa in our lives, as will be any child that joins our family.

Thank You

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us! We have enjoyed sharing our life with you. We understand how difficult it must be for you to consider making an adoption plan and to consider adoptive parent for your child. We are honored that you are considering us for the most important roll we could ever wish to fulfill. Thank you and please call Full Circle Adoptions at 1-800-452-3678 if you would like to learn more about us or speak with us.

Sincerely,

Melissa & Andrew