We’re Meredith and Peter. Thank you so much for taking a moment to look at this snapshot of our lives. We’ve known each other for 15 years and we’re looking forward to getting to know you too.

Our story began in 2007 when we met in college through a mutual friend. An outing to a corn maze is when we first spent time together. After that, we began spending more of our time with one another, and got to know each other better when Meredith took a semester off to complete a work study at a nursing home. During this time, Peter found himself setting an alarm for 11:00pm every night so that he could chat with her online when she got out of work. We knew we had each found someone special when we could spend all night talking until 4:00am. Soon after that we began dating and were married in 2013.

We were the foundational support in each other’s lives as Meredith developed her career as a nurse and Peter earned his PhD. We always take the time to listen to one another and support each other through whatever life throws at us. We’ve struggled with infertility issues for two years, but we’re committed to being parents. We have chosen to grow our family through adoption, and we can’t wait to invite a child to share our lives with us.

• Peter is patient. You can really tell he’s a teacher! If he can teach college freshmen how to do advanced physics and math, he can teach anything. He is so good with our friends’ children, showing them how to bake cookies and pick vegetables in our garden.

• Peter can teach himself almost anything and he isn’t afraid to tackle complicated projects. He made a violin without any prior woodworking experience. He took up gardening and went from growing spinach out of an old recycling container on our apartment roof, to a large-scale garden in our backyard. Once he sets his mind to doing something, he just goes for it with no fear. Peter will be the dad who is ready to take on new projects, hobbies, and ideas—I know he’s already looking forward to future science fairs.

• Peter’s not afraid to be silly. He loves singing and like a songbird, it’s how I know he’s happy. He enjoys cracking jokes, even when teaching.

• He is kind. Peter’s love language is food, so he’s always cooking for people or even just making me a cup of tea after a hard day’s work. He makes me a special birthday cake from scratch every year, too. I know he will be the kind of dad who makes Sunday morning waffles and spontaneous trips for ice cream.

• He is thoughtful. Peter is never hasty; he likes to think things through. He is a great active listener and an excellent source of advice.

• Strong and determined: Meredith knows herself and what she wants. I have always loved this aspect of her, and it shows a self-confidence which anyone would aspire to.

• Kind and empathetic: Meredith is a kind person who is generous with her time. She never hesitates to help out the host at a party and will take calls from patients even on her time off. She also has a strong moral compass which points her in the direction of helping people.

• Unwaveringly supportive: Meredith has always been unconditionally supportive of me in my career and my many hobbies, even as they have changed over the years, as well as being my emotional support. I can see her being a mom who encourages a child to follow their passions no matter what they choose to do. She is also someone that her friends lean on when they are having a tough time and she is the person that they chose to be with when they are having a good time.

• Fun loving: Singing and dancing while doing ordinary household tasks is a common occurrence. Meredith is not afraid to express herself and bring brightness to our home that always shines through her. I know that she is excited to bring a child to toddler singalongs at the library.

• Dedicated and organized: When Meredith sets her mind to something she always follows through. She never hesitates to approach challenges and is essential to keeping our household running smoothly. I have no doubt that she will be a caring and attentive mother.

Our home is the focal point of our relationships with friends and family, and we would love nothing more than to share our home, our love, and that of our friends and family with a child. Our home has an open floor plan combining the living room, dining room and kitchen, with large skylights letting in natural light. We love hosting get-togethers in this space. We also have a wood stove to help keep us cozy during the cold winters.

We live in a semi-rural suburban town in Central Massachusetts. Our home is on almost an acre of land and Peter has transformed the backyard into a “food forest”; we have a very large garden and many fruit trees. We are walking distance from a local elementary school, park, and library where Meredith is on a first-name basis with the librarians. Meredith also attends a community ukulele jam session.

Our best friends and their children live five minutes away. Meredith’s immediate family lives within 40 minutes of our home. There are many local hiking trails that we use. We are also close to local farms where we pick fresh fruit with friends nearly every weekend in the summer and fall, which is something that we love about our wider community.

Both of our immediate families are in Massachusetts. Meredith’s parents and grandmother live nearby and are very excited to have a new grandbaby. Meredith’s brother has a three-year-old (with a baby brother due in July) who can’t wait to have more cousins. Peter’s parents and extended family live an hour’s drive away and we see them on a regular basis. They, too, are overjoyed at the prospect of welcoming a grandchild into their lives.

Holidays are when we gather with family. In recent years we have taken on the role of hosting Meredith’s family for Christmas and Easter, and we love the warmth and joy that these gatherings bring to our home. For us, the holidays do not end in a single day. We travel to see Peter’s family around every holiday and always have a wonderful time together cooking, talking, and just simply sharing each other’s company.

We have many close friends, and we are “Aunt and Uncle” to their children. These people are truly our chosen family, and we could not see ourselves raising a child without their support. It is a rare weekend that we are on our own. At least one of our friends will stop by our house for lunch or dinner or just to chat. We can’t wait to share this busy, loving, fun-filled group of family and friends with a little one.

In the summer we love to go camping. We sometimes go by ourselves but often we round up as many friends as we can and head out to the forest. We camp in a mixture of locations; some near cultural centers with many outdoor events and some at state forests near small mountain towns. Wherever we go, we always eat well. Campfire cooking is a wonderful experience that we can share with each other and our friends. Salted whole fish grilled over a bed of hot coals and finished with a squeeze of lemon is the best fish we have ever eaten.

The fall in New England is a beautiful time and it’s when we do our most long-lasting traditions. We frequently go apple picking with our friends and bake wonderful pies. Throughout the season, we will take long weekends to enjoy the foliage and explore the hills and valleys in our surrounding area. We also visit the corn maze yearly where we first became closer friends. As autumn comes to a close, we gather at our house with our closest friends the weekend after Thanksgiving for a potluck dinner where the centerpiece is a roast turkey; the biggest one we can find from the post-Holiday sales bin. This tradition started in 2014 when we lived in a small apartment and Meredith worried about the weight limit of our floor and how many people we could squeeze in. We have kept this tradition and the guest list has grown ever larger.

Thank you kindly for letting us give you a peek into our lives and considering us as adoptive parents. We’re so excited to begin this next chapter in our lives. Regardless of your choice, please know that we support you.

We promise to provide a child with love, guidance, and a good education. They say “It takes a village to raise a child,” and there are so many in our lives who are eagerly awaiting this special arrival. If you choose us, your child will not want for people who will love and support them through the highs and lows of life.

We want to support you and will follow your lead in how open you would like this adoption to be. Our wish is to make you comfortable. If you’re willing, we would love to welcome you into our lives. We believe very strongly in “found family.” We’re the couple who host Sunday night dinners for our friends, who offer up our couch when it’s snowing and the roads are bad, who bake Christmas cookies every year with our best friends’ girls, and who organize the group camping trips and hikes.

If you would like to learn more about us or speak with us, please contact Full Circle Adoptions at 1-800-452-3678.