JEROD +
IDLAURA #2088773
HELLO THERE.
+ THIS IS CRAZY
WE HAVEN’T MET YOU
Let’s be honest. This is a strange letter to write to someone we’ve never met about a baby who may or may not be ours one day. It’s probably strange for you too. We imagine you’ve read quite a few letters from strangers telling you how brave and amazing you are. These things are absolutely true, but you may not feel brave or amazing right now. You may think these letters are totally weird.
You don’t know us, but we hope one day we can know each other so we can tell you what a courageous mother you are in a less awkward and much more genuine way.
We will never understand what it’s like to flip through pages like these with conflicting emotions as you make life-altering decisions for yourself and for your baby, but we do know a lot about making decisions that feel impossible for the sake of our children.
In 2019, our twins, Vivienne and Margot, were born more than 17 weeks prematurely—weighing just one pound each. We spent 224 days in neonatal intensive care begging God to let them live, and we had to make dozens and dozens of big, scary decisions about their medical care. The outcomes were always uncertain. It felt unbearable most of the time.
The twins are big, healthy girls now, and they are so excited to have a baby brother or sister one day.
We are Jerod and Laura. We met volunteering in our church’s high school ministry in 2017. We ended up on the same mission trip to Ethiopia that year, and the running joke is our first date was a 10-day trip to Africa.
Jerod is a commercial real estate broker. Laura works part time from home as a writer. Good food is a big deal to us. Laura makes from-scratch meals about a million and eleven times a week. We spend a lot of time outside—from farmers’ markets and art festivals to botanical gardens and the zoo. When the broiling Florida heat hits, we aim to make our way to the mountains for reprieve.
We were married in 2018. Adoption was always part of our plan. Two of the couples who mentored us since before we got married have big, happy families with a blend of biological and adopted children. There is an open-heartedness in their families that we knew we wanted to cultivate in ours.
Growing this wild little bunch of ours fills us with a gazillion times more joy than a toddler in a bubble bath (which is to say, A LOT).
We respect whatever level of openness you want, and we can be flexible as life changes. Whatever you decide, we want you to know you are welcome into this open-minded, open-hearted family we’re building.
We hope this book gives you a little insight into the life we’re creating. As awkward and hard to believe as it may sound, we pray in the midst of these complicated circumstances, you know we already love and appreciate you.
JEROD & LAURA
Our marriage is based on shared values and an open invitation to hold each other accountable. We try our very best to follow Jesus and live like he lived—always loving everyone, continually asking questions, and never condemning. We believe in every day fun and in having dance parties while we cook, and clean, and pull weeds. We believe in hard work because we want to leave a legacy for
our kids. We believe good food and fun exercise makes for great health. We believe in creativity and in patiently navigating big feelings. We believe in open communication. We believe in big tears and hearty laughter because it means we’ve created a safe place for everyone to feel their feelings out loud. We believe in messy kitchens because it means meals are lovingly prepared here. We believe in toys on the floor because it means little hands play here.
JEROD
PROVIDER
Jerod is patient, gentle, and hardworking. He will go to the grocery store six times in the same day if that’s what he has to do to feed his family.
HISTORY
Born and raised in Melbourne, FL. Youngest son of a North Dakota sugar beet farmer and a Southern Belle.
EXTRACURRICULARS
Retired sprint triathlete. Learning Spanish in his old age. Bringing Laura’s dead plants back to life. Leadership podcasts.
MOST LIKELY TO
Give you his second to last tortilla chip.
LAURA CREATOR
Laura is fiery, focused, and always creating something—sometimes it’s stir fry; sometimes it’s an adoption profile book. She believes in everyone’s dreams and always has a plan to make them come true.
HISTORY
Firstborn daughter to Cuban immigrants, and a native Spanish speaker. Born in New Jersey and raised around the world—From the California Coast to the Mediterranean Sea.
EXTRACURRICULARS
Half-marathoner. Competitive reader. Worse-than-average gardener. Musical Theater Lover. Private chef to four-yearolds.
MOST LIKELY TO
Send you an email at 4:17am.
THIS IS OUR LIFE
A day in our life may involve ripping a thousand sheets of paper into tiny pieces and trying to color on them with jumbo crayons. We give our daughters a lot of freedom to explore their creativity. It’s messy and it’s worth it.
We see the grandparents almost every day. Our evenings are centered around homecooked meals and family routines.
We spend our weekends cooking together, visiting Orlando’s museums and gardens, gardening, picking blueberries, and enjoying friends+family dinners.
We spend our vacations in places with delicious food, beautiful music, good hiking, impressive art, and great weather.
In our house, there is nothing more important than a kitchen dance party. We are always happy to put down the potato peeler and share a song with the people we love most.
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.” – Albus Dumbledore (J. K. Rowling)
“Las palabras son, en mi no tan humilde opinión, nuestra más inagotable fuente de magia, capaces de infringir daño y de remediarlo.” – Albus Dumbledore (J. K. Rowling)
No hay mejor consuelo que aquel que se encuentra entre los brazos de una hermana.
IN THE COOKIES OF LIFE, SISTERS ARE CHOCOLATE CHIPS
THEY ARE: fearless explorers, social butterflies, bilingual, super affectionate, baby lovers
VIVIENNE: assertive, quick, determined, always thinks of her sister MARGOT: stealth, silly, satisfied, always thinks of her sister
ABUELOS | GRANDPARENTS
88 YEARS OF MARRIAGE COMBINED & GOING STRONG
Jerod’s parents, Nancy and Herb, and Laura’s parents, Nivaldo and Martiza, are amazing examples of how beautiful marriage and raising a family can be. They have taught us what it looks like to have peaceful and productive marriages focused on following Jesus and having fun.
Laura’s parents live just 10 minutes away. They are a huge support—always lending a hand with cooking, cleaning, gardening, and kissing boo boos. Jerod’s parents live 45 minutes south on a beautiful lake and they make weekends special with boat rides and other extraordinary activities.
Lauren and Jeff live in Conneticut. Family is a very big deal to them. They visit Florida often and their big, beautiful New England home is always open to visitors. They’ve been married more than 17 years, and it’s a privlege to witness the way they love each otherl.
Luke and Faith are amazing big cousins. They are so generous with their toys. Luke is always eager to show off his frog catching skills and Faith is a professional at DIY manicures.
AUNT LAUREN + UNCLE JEFF COUSINS LUKE + FAITH
Austin and Alyssa live just a few minutes away from us. They love to travel and they are ridiculously adored by all their nieces and nephews. They are affectionate and not afraid to be silly. They are great gift givers, amazing cooks, and we always enjoy our time with them.
Sammy is the most doting uncle. He is a super cool, creative video producer in San Diego. He has a soft spot for his nieces, and he cannot wait to add another little one to the family. He visits often and “hangs out” with us on Facetime to make sure no one forgets who he is.
UNCLE AUSTIN + AUNT ALYSSA UNCLE SAMUEL
THESE ARE OUR PEOPLE
Jerod was a groomsman in 10 wedding between 2012 and 2016; when he met Laura, she added all his friends’ wives to her community of good-food loving, good-book reading, overall good people. These are friendships we can always pick up where we left off—even when we spent two years apart because of pandemics, crazy jobs, and babies. Our church and our friends have stood with us through our very best and very hardest days.
Between the two of us, we spent 16 years as volunteers in our church’s high school youth group. Along the way, Laura cultivated a community of pre-teen girls who are grown women today. They are a huge part of our lives. Laura talks to them every week and they always come to visit when they are home from college. Jerod’s guys are in their mid 20s now, and they still call him whenever they get themselves into a mess they need a real adult to solve.
During Vivienne and Margot’s 7-month NICU stay, we grew our family with dozens of nurses and a few amazing doctors who will forever be a part of our lives. They helped save our daughters’ lives and it makes us cry super-happy tears to get to watch all our babies grow into big kids together.
FAMILY INFORMATION
OCCUPATION: Commercial real estate broker
EDUCATION: B. S. Agriculture Minor in business administration
RELIGION: Christian, Protestant
DATE OF BIRTH: 01.28.1985
HAIR COLOR: Dark blonde
HEIGHT: 5’11”
FATHER’S NAME: JEROD
MOTHER’S NAME: LAURA
OCCUPATION: Writer
EDUCATION: B. S. Marketing Some graduate school (hospitality mangement)
RELIGION: Christian, Protestant
DATE OF BIRTH: 06.11.1986
HAIR COLOR: Dark brown
HEIGHT : 5’1”
DATE OF MARRIAGE:
September 8, 2018
CHILDCARE PLAN:
We homeschool our daughters and we plan to do so for all our children until we get to know their learning styles and are able to determine the best learning environment for each one. Additionally, Laura’s mom and aunt care for and help educate the children two to three times a week.
OPENNESS TO BIRTHPARENTS:
We are open to visits and phone calls and would be delighted to send photos and letters as often as you’d like.
WHY ADOPTION:
Adoption was always part of our plan. Our mentors have adopted children and we always said if we were in a position to financially and emotionally bring a child into our home through adoption, we would.
HOME:
We live in a 4 bedrom 3.5 bath home near downtown Orlando, FL. Our neighborhood is tucked away from the bustle of the city; it’s full of families with children from babies to teenagers. It’s such a pretty, friendly neighborhood and a lovely house. We hope to be here a very, very long time.
INTERESTS + HOBBIES:
Gardening, playing music, literature, cooking, health + nutrition, storytelling + making short family films to capture memories, travel, foreign languages.
CHILDREN:
Biological twins, Vivienne + Margot (pronounced Margo), born 12.15.19 + 12.17.19 (yes, two days apart!)
May the road less paved be the road that you follow.
Here’s to the hearts that you’re gonna break.
Here’s to the lives that you’re gonna change.
Here’s to the infinite possible ways to love you.
I want you to have it all.
-Jason Mraz, Have it All
Contact:
Nightlight Christian Adoptions info@nightlight.org nightlight.org