We are Janelle & Michael. It’s so nice to meet you! We can’t imagine how you are feeling right now and admire the bravery and tremendous love you have for your child in making this decision. We can’t foresee the obstacles we may face in the future, but we can promise with all our hearts to love, protect and support your child through all of life’s journeys. Thank you for taking the time to learn about us.

We have always wanted to start a family of our own. Even though our journey has been a
bit unpredictable and sometimes challenging, this same journey also led us to adoption -
which is exactly where we are supposed to be. In many ways, we feel that our adoption journey has found us. We are so excited to learn more about you!

We have been married for 13 fun and adventurous years! As fate would have it, a work promotion brought us together and we had an instant connection. Two years after we met, we were married in an intimate wedding with close family and friends in Jamaica. We settled in Chicago, but through various job promotions we were fortunate enough to live in several parts of the country like Hawaii and New York. We really love to travel and meet people from different parts of the world but our absolute favorite place to be is home. A little over 3 years ago, we decided it was time to plant some roots and be closer to family, so we moved our lives to Southern California. Since the beginning of us, nothing has been more important than
starting a family of our own. We find ourselves more in love since the day we met and can’t wait to share that love with our own child!

We love our family time together and one of our favorite things to do is cook! We share stories and catch up on the day’s events – one of us always has something fun and interesting to share. Even though there’s usually a to-do list, we try to balance our weekends with fun activities like bike rides, trying out a new restaurant or spending time with close friends. If we’re really lucky, we get the chance to babysit our nephew Aiden. Recently we have taken up camping with Rowdy, which is more like “glamping”. It’s been so much fun to get outdoors and appreciate what a beautiful place we live in, plus we really like to grill and make s’mores. Summertime here is the best! We never miss an opportunity to enjoy a relaxing day at the beach and read one of our favorite books. We are really looking forward to our future family trips and new family adventures!

I had no idea what love felt like before I met Janelle. She is beautiful in every sense of the word. All I wanted to do was talk with her any chance I could get. She made me the best person I can be. I was always drawn to Janelle’s integrity, compassion, and helping the underdog mentality. Janelle is the perfect mix of hardworking and fun. People like to admire her positivity and supportiveness. Once I met her family, I knew she was the one I was going to spend the rest of my life with. Janelle is truly one of a kind, and I cannot wait to raise a family together.

Besides Michael’s good looks - he is fun(ny), compassionate, kind, motivating, smart, supportive, hardworking, and persistent. He has a “you can do anything” attitude that pushes me to solve problems and look at situations differently. He also keeps me balanced in stressful situations. One of my favorite parts of Michael is his heart and sincerity. He gives 100% of his time to support family and friends and never to asks for anything in return. The most endearing part of Michael is his relationship with his dad. They are best friends that talk at least 2 times a day. Even though they live many miles apart - they are literally inseparable! I know that Michael looks forward to a close parent-child relationship mirroring that of his relationship with his own father.

Home is our favorite place to be. Last year we moved to a quiet beach town, San Clemente, to start a family compound. Crazy right?! This is one lot large enough to have two houses - one for us and one for our parents. We couldn’t be more excited to start a family. We are so lucky to have the support of our family and friends to be a part of that journey. Our neighborhood is the type of place where people stop to chat on a morning walk or share a bowl of fruit from their backyard tree. We have a huge backyard with a place to grill, play fetch with Rowdy and more importantly have family parties. We are lucky to be close to several parks and beaches that have lots of room for outdoor activities like family picnics, swimming at the beach and cruising through the neighborhood on our bikes. We also have many great schools nearby for our child to attend.

The “Rowdster” and “Rowdyman” are just two of our nicknames for our 3-year-old Shi-tzu. Rowdy is a little gray and white 14-pound firecracker that is always the center of attention, He is super playful and loves chasing any toy while playing fetch in the yard.

He can take a little bit of coaxing to wake-up but he has the sweetest ritual of giving unlimited kisses until it’s time to get out of bed. He has also taken up camping with us! Not only has Rowdy lived up to his name, he is also a neighborhood favorite. We know his fun and gentle nature will make him the perfect companion to our future child.

Janelle’s parents, Tom and Paula, live very close by, you might say that we all share the same address! Janelle’s sister Wendy is also local, living just 30 minutes away. Most of Michael’s family lives in Chicago but his dad, Big Mike, spends half of his time in California. We love when Big Mike is in town but for those times when he isn’t here, Michael will call and talk to him at least two times a day. Michael’s cousin, Jenny is also close by; she has a little boy named Aiden who is 5 months old now. We love babysitting Aiden and we’re so excited for our child to have a cousin to play with.

We are very fortunate to have family and friends support us in everything we do. Holidays in our house are always filled with family and food. Christmas Eve and Fourth of July are especially fun since it’s also a celebration of our birthdays. We are fortunate to have a close-knit group of friends who are very supportive of our adoption journey and eager to be a part of our future child’s life.

We wanted to say thank you! We know this is just a snapshot into our lives, but we hope you have been able to get to know us a little bit. We have tremendous respect for the tough decision you are facing and we are honored to be considered to be a part of your child’s life.