When we think about our dreams for the future, they are surprisingly simple. We hope to build a home filled with love, laughter, curiosity, and connection. We look forward to family traditions, bedtime stories, holiday celebrations, vacations, everyday adventures, and all of the moments that make up a life together.

Our dreams for a child are not tied to a specific path, accomplishment, or career. Instead, we hope they grow up feeling deeply loved, supported, and confident in who they are. We want them to know they can pursue their interests, ask questions, take healthy risks, and discover what brings them joy, knowing they will always have a family cheering them on.

We also hope to raise a child who values kindness, empathy, resilience, and respect for others. Above all, we want them to have a strong sense of belonging and the confidence that comes from being loved unconditionally. Our greatest dream is simply to walk alongside them as they grow, helping them become the person they are meant to be while celebrating every step of the journey.

Many of our passions are centered around creating meaningful experiences and bringing people together. We both believe that some of life's greatest joys come from strong relationships, shared memories, and being fully present with the people we care about. Music has always been a significant passion in Andie's life, both personally and professionally. She loves everything from discovering new artists to attending live concerts and experiencing the energy that music creates. Sports have long been one of Ryan's greatest interests, and he enjoys the excitement, tradition, and sense of community they bring. One of the things we love most about our relationship is sharing those passions with one another, whether we're attending a concert, cheering on our favorite team, or introducing each other to something new.

We are naturally curious and enjoy exploring the world around us. Traveling, discovering new restaurants, experiencing different cultures, getting lost in a good book, and learning new things are some of our favorite ways to spend time together. At the same time, we find just as much joy in the simple moments; hosting friends for dinner, gathering with family, watching a movie, or spending a quiet evening at home. More than any particular hobby or interest, we hope the way we live reflects what matters most to us. Ryan's calm, dependable nature brings steadiness to our family, while Andie's creativity, curiosity, and ability to make others feel genuinely welcomed bring warmth to our home. Together, we value integrity, humor, resilience, and showing up for the people we love. Those qualities shape the life we are building together and the kind of parents we hope to be.

Ryan has two teenage children who are an important part of our family. While they do not live with us full-time, they are very much part of our lives. We spend time together regularly, celebrate milestones and holidays, stay involved in their activities and interests, and enjoy the conversations, laughter, and traditions that come with being a family. Watching them grow into thoughtful young adults has been a joy and privilege. Andie came into their lives when they were already teenagers. While she has loved building those relationships and embracing her role as a stepmom, she has never had the opportunity to experience raising a child through the everyday moments of childhood. Becoming a parent has been one of her greatest hopes for many years. In fact, long before meeting Ryan, she had spent time exploring adoption and even considered pursuing it as a single parent.

As our relationship grew, we discovered a shared dream of raising a child together. When we learned that having biological children would not be an option for us, adoption felt like a path we were already prepared to embrace. Adoption is already a foundational part of our family’s story, and it has reinforced our belief that family is built through love, commitment, and belonging rather than biology alone. For Ryan, becoming a father and adopting his son, Ethan, have been some of the most profound influences in his life. Those experiences taught him patience, flexibility, and the importance of showing up for the people who depend on him. They strengthened his belief that some of the most important things a parent can offer are consistency, encouragement, and unconditional love. Ryan’s children have been supportive of our decision to adopt and are excited about the possibility of welcoming a younger sibling into the family. Because they are older, we look forward to them being positive role models, sharing their interests and experiences, and building a strong relationship with a child as they grow. Their encouragement and enthusiasm have made this journey even more meaningful for us.

Family is a big part of our lives, and one of the things we are most excited about is sharing that with a child. While our families do not live in the same town, we stay very close and see each other often. Whether we are traveling to visit them or welcoming them into our home, spending time together is always a priority.

Our families are the kind of people who show up. They celebrate milestones, support one another through challenges, and never miss an opportunity to gather around a table for good food and great conversation. Ryan's family loves cheering on their favorite St. Louis sports teams, following Formula 1 racing, and getting surprisingly competitive during games of dominoes. Andie's family is adventurous and fun-loving; she grew up riding dirt bikes and still treasures the memories and confidence those experiences helped build. Some of our favorite traditions happen around the holidays. Every Christmas Eve, Andie's family writes down a wish for the coming year and reads the previous year's wishes to see what came true. It's a tradition that has become a meaningful reminder of hope, gratitude, and the passing of time. When we shared our adoption plans, both families responded with excitement and support. They are already looking forward to welcoming a child with open arms, creating new traditions together, and sharing in all of life's big and small moments.

We live in Tennessee in a welcoming, family-friendly community where it’s common to see neighbors out for evening walks, children riding bikes, and families gathering for seasonal festivals, farmers markets, and local events throughout the year. Our home sits on a quieter road, which we love, but we're still close to parks, playgrounds, walking trails, and great local restaurants that are easy to walk to. We’ve built wonderful relationships with many of our neighbors and genuinely enjoy being part of the community. Our home is often a gathering place for family and friends. One of our favorite spaces is our cozy upstairs den, where we spend time playing games, watching movies, listening to music, and catching up with the people we love most. It’s easy for us to picture story time before bed, birthday celebrations, holiday traditions, and the simple moments that often become the most meaningful memories.

We also love the character of the area where we live. Music, creativity, and culture are woven into everyday life here, and our community is welcoming, diverse, and full of people from different backgrounds and experiences. It’s a place where individuality is celebrated, neighbors know each other, and families of all kinds feel at home. We feel fortunate to live in a place that feels so connected and welcoming, and we're excited to share that with a child.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about us. While we will not pretend to fully understand your experience, we recognize that this is a deeply personal journey, and we approach it with tremendous respect, compassion, and gratitude. We know the care and thought that go into considering an adoption plan, and we are honored that you might spend a few moments getting to know our family.

We are Ryan and Andie. By the time we met, we both had a strong sense of who we were, what we valued, and the kind of life and family we hoped to build. Because of that, we quickly recognized in one another the qualities we had been looking for in a partner. We have now married over a year, and we feel incredibly grateful for the life we are building together.

One of the things we appreciate most about our relationship is how much we genuinely enjoy doing life together. We love spending time with family and friends, traveling, attending concerts and sporting events, trying new restaurants, and creating new memories together. At the same time, some of our favorite moments are the simplest ones like sharing a meal at home, reading a good book, watching a movie, or spending an evening talking about our day. While we each bring different strengths to our relationship, we share the same core values: kindness, integrity, humor, loyalty, and a deep commitment to family.

From the beginning of our relationship, we knew we wanted to welcome and raise a child together. While having biological children was not an option for us, adoption felt like a path we were already prepared to embrace. Long before we met, adoption was something Andie had thoughtfully considered as a way to build a family, and Ryan had already experienced adoption as part of his own family story. Today, we are pursuing that dream together.

Our hope is to raise this child in a home filled with warmth, belonging, encouragement, and unconditional love. We look forward to the everyday moments of parenthood just as much as the milestones: bedtime stories, family traditions, helping with homework, cheering from the sidelines, celebrating accomplishments, providing comfort through life's challenges, and embracing the messy, funny, and wonderfully unpredictable moments along the way. More than anything, we want this child to grow up knowing they are deeply loved, supported, and free to become exactly who they are meant to be. We look forward to sharing the traditions and experiences that are meaningful to us while also discovering and celebrating the interests that make this child unique. Whether that means reading bedtime stories, exploring a new hobby, attending a school performance, cheering from the sidelines, or simply listening after a difficult day, we hope to create a home where this child feels safe, supported, and encouraged to grow into exactly who they are.

We also believe that every adoption story is unique. We are committed to speaking about adoption with honesty, gratitude, and respect, and we believe every child deserves to understand their story and the people who are part of it. We will gladly provide letters and photos so that you can share in milestones and watch this child grow. We are also open to additional communication, whether through emails, phone calls, or another level of contact that feels comfortable and appropriate for everyone involved. We believe these relationships work best when they are built on trust, mutual respect, and a shared focus on what is best for this child.

As you consider what is right for you and this child, please know that we do not take this opportunity for granted. If our paths were to come together, we would approach that privilege with love, humility, and lifelong gratitude.

With warmest wishes,

Ryan & Andie