We met using an online dating app in 2017, and quickly realized that we had found someone special. Amy asked Ben out on their first date since he was inexperienced with online dating, and we soon after met after work at a local bar. We immediately hit it off and began planning our next dates. We went to River of Lights (a tradition we still uphold), saw a movie, and celebrated New Year's together all within the span of a few days. During that time, Ben told Amy that he had joined the Army National Guard and would be going to Basic Training for 11 weeks, during which time we would only be able to write letters to each other. We grew much deeper in their relationship during that time, and when Ben came back home we spent nearly every day together until Ben moved in a couple months later. He proposed within a year of having met each other, and we were married 6 months later.

Ever since we met, Amy has set a great pace for our family and we've worked hard to continue building on our good communication and love and desire to always be together. We hope to continue growing their family so we can share ourselves and our love with others.

Being parents has been the most rewarding journey of our lives, though it's not without its challenges. The late-night feedings and early morning wake ups can leave us exhausted, but amidst the tiredness, we find new ways of growing together as a family. Supporting each other through the sleepless nights and putting our child's needs first has strengthened our bond in ways we never imagined.

What we adore most about parenting our two-year-old son is witnessing the world through his curious eyes and watching him grow and learn new skills. From his contagious giggles to his endless sense of wonder, every moment with him is a precious gift. We cherish the simple joys of bedtime stories, messy rooms after a full day of playing, and spontaneous dance parties in the living room. Despite the chaos, there's a sense of fulfillment in knowing that we're shaping a beautiful future together. Being parents means embracing the messiness of life with open arms and finding beauty in every milestone, big or small.

We can't wait to share our love and laughter with another child and continue this incredible journey of parenthood together.

Amy is the planner of the family. She has a brilliant mind that not only keeps track of everything we need to live our best lives day to day, but she also has the best ideas for finding better and better ways that we can spend time together as a family. She enriches our lives constantly through planning trips outside of Albuquerque, finding new restaurants for us to try, and helping find new toys for the kids to enjoy, among many other things. She also researches different parenting styles, safety tips, potty training techniques, and anything she thinks of that can best improve our children's lives. Ben is the emotional and physical rock of the family. He isn't afraid to get his hands dirty and take care of issues around the house, and helps bring to life Amy's great ideas of how to improve the household. He is also very even-tempered and has a strong emotional fortitude, which helps bring laughter and joy during otherwise stressful times. He also has a creative mind that brings imagination and fun to everyday activities to keep everyone engaged and active. One of our greatest strengths is how we use our separate blessings together to find new ways to keep our home exciting, rich with play and learning, and full of love and passion. We hope our children find their own strengths and build a great life with those as well.

We're lucky that both of our sets of parents live in the same city as us and have an active role in their grandchildren's lives. Amy's dad lives about 5 minutes away and so we regularly have dinner with him and his wife and during the summer, we take Paxton swimming at his house. Ben's very close to his dad and talks with him daily, usually playing video games with him as well. Ben's mother loves being Paxton's "Lita" (short for abuelita), and will have dance parties with Paxton when she watches him. Ben's brother and sister are a great uncle and aunt and dote on him and Ben's brother has two daughters of his own. Amy's mother passed away a few years ago, but she's watching over our family from heaven. Amy's two best friends from childhood are also considered "honorary" aunts and spoil Paxton whenever they come back to town and see him. Christmas time is a busy time full of traditions at our house - we do elf on the shelf, make gingerbread houses, bake cookies and fudge, walk through the river of lights (a huge display of Christmas lights at our city's botanical garden), and have matching pajamas that we unwrap the night before Christmas. This year we hosted and had a big brunch for all of the grandparents before opening presents.

Our home is in the middle of a quaint, family-friendly neighborhood where laughter and play are constants. There are many other families with children of similar ages in the neighborhood and you will understand why when you see the nearby parks and open spaces!

Step inside our house and you'll find a hub of activity, with our son's imaginative cooking adventures and play requests to play chase or duck duck goose adding to the lively atmosphere. We are blessed to have a spacious home with three extra bedrooms in addition to the owner's suite and an upstairs loft for children to play in.

We also have a private backyard with lots of shade where our son Paxton usually likes to spend his days in the spring and summer running around and splashing in his water table. Living in the most populous city in New Mexico, we are always able to find something to do on the weekends. The city zoo, the aquarium, and parks are always hits and the weather is beautiful here throughout most of the year.

During the fall especially, you are likely to spot hot air balloons charmingly drifting across the sky.

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us, we're so happy to share these parts of ourselves with you. We can't imagine the circumstances that you and your child are in, however we can undoubtedly say we would give your child a safe, nurturing, and loving home.

We first met with online dating in 2017. Although we may have crossed paths when we attended the same high school or the same college, fate seemed to have us wait until we were both ready for each other before connecting us. We immediately hit off and could see our future family in each other. After getting married, we were told we didn't have very good odds to have children of our own, so we had begun researching adoption and planned to grow our family that way. The day before we signed a contract to begin the process, we found out we were pregnant and had to put that on pause. However, since then we've always kept that desire in our hearts, and we've continued to have the love and means for growing our family through adoption.

We both currently work at one of the largest employers in New Mexico, on different sides of business. We spend the majority of our free time with our families that live here, and most of our energy is focused towards creating the kind of home and environment that is best for our current and future children. Whether we're traveling on family vacations, participating in clubs or events that our son has expressed interest in, or just playing and teaching and watching him grow, we make efforts every day to build each other up and share that love within our family.

Creating a family has given us more love and joy than we thought possible, and we're so excited for any opportunity to grow that further. We strongly believe in cultivating independence in our children, through education, enrichment, and play. Most importantly, we make sure our family knows that they are deeply loved every day. We're fortunate enough to have a large support system nearby that continues to pour their love out on our family, and they couldn't be happier in our decision to adopt.

We will share with you your child's growth and experiences through photos and letters/emails if desired. We will also be very honest with them about their adoption and how meaningful that has been. We would want this child to experience as much love as possible and to not be afraid of where they came from, so we would support any decision you may have regarding contact with them.

Thank you again for considering us and allowing us to share our hearts with you. This child would bring unimaginable joy to our lives, and we know we would be able to do the same for them. We know that you have a difficult decision ahead of you, so please know that you are in our hearts as well.

Sincerely,

Ben & Amy