Jake and Maddie

We are Jake and Maddie!

Hello!

Thank you for taking the time to get to know a little about us and our family. We wish we could give you a hug and tell you face to face that no matter what choice you make for you and your baby, we have been and will be praying for peace for you. We recognize that what is an exciting time for us may be one of the most difficult for you. We honor and hold space for whatever you are feeling right now and in the days to come.

God has given us three precious boys who make our hearts and home joyful and sweet (and loud!). Parenting has been the greatest joy of our lives. But, postpartum recovery has been difficult for Maddie in the past. About a year ago, we started talking about adding to our family again, and the Lord began placing adoption on our hearts. We are surrounded by many families at our church who have adopted, and involvement in foster care, adoption, and care for children and families are priorities for our community. We began praying and educating ourselves on adoption from the points of view of birth parents, adoptees, and adoptive families. It became clear to us that adoption was a journey God was inviting us into.

For us, choosing adoption is choosing a lifelong commitment to unconditional love for any child that joins our family, along with their birth family. One of Maddie’s family members was adopted during the “baby scoop” era. He had no knowledge of or connection with his birth family, and very little, if any, support around his adoption. Because of this, we would love to have as open of an adoption as everyone involved is comfortable with. It is very important to us that any adopted child that joins our family would always know their own story (as much as they are developmentally ready for), and have the resources they need to flourish spiritually and emotionally. For us that also means prioritizing a meaningful relationship with their birth family as much as they are comfortable with.

Being parents has been one of the most challenging, amazing, humbling parts of our lives. It has brought us closer to God our Father, and more aware of His great love for us as His children. We pray you feel the closeness of His presence and His love for you and your baby!

About Us

Our Story

We met our first year of college at Baylor University. We went together to a dance for Maddie’s sorority. We had to ride an hour on a bus there and back. That time talking on the bus, plus the dance, gave us plenty of time to get to know each other! We dated throughout college, and got married after our senior year.
Shortly after we got married, we moved to Nashville, TN, so Maddie could work on her PhD at Vanderbilt. We didn’t know a soul there! It was our first time moving somewhere completely new. During our time there, we really grew into ourselves as a couple. We learned to trust God completely with our lives, and to choose to love each other sacrificially each day. While we were in Nashville, we welcomed our first two sons–Calvin and Everett.
When the Covid pandemic hit, Jake was offered a job in Texas. We decided it would be best for our family to make that move and be closer to our families. Several of our closest friends, as well as Maddie’s siblings, live in this area. Our third son, Archie, joined us shortly after we moved!
Our life together has been filled with great joy, but also many challenging times where we had to rely on each other and the Lord. These tough times are what have helped us grow strong as individuals and as a couple. We are each other’s biggest supporter and closest friend. We laugh together A LOT, comfort each other, and encourage one another.

Our Family

We usually spend Christmas and Thanksgiving at our parents’ houses. One favorite tradition is our Christmas morning ribbon race. At Maddie’s parents’ house, the presents have secret code names on them, and no one knows whose is whose until Christmas Day! On Christmas morning, the kids all race to follow their assigned colored ribbon all throughout the house until they reach their present and find out what their code name is.
What family and holiday traditions do you have?

Our family

Both sets of grandparents and several of our aunts and uncles live close enough to visit a lot! We love having them around for sports games, special occasions, and school events. It is so important to us that our kids grow up surrounded by their families. We’re so thankful our families feel the same way! Jake’s parents live on a farm in Louisiana. His sister has three boys that are very close in age to ours. They live in Connecticut, but we see each other as often as we can. Luckily, the farm is only about 3 hours away. We get out there whenever we can to escape city life and be in nature. Maddie’s parents and grandparents live about 3 hours away in Oklahoma. When we had our first baby, Maddie’s mom retired to become a full time “Honey,” so she gets to visit us quite a bit! Maddie’s brother and sister live in the same town as us. We see them both a lot! Merritt, Maddie’s sister, lived with us for a while too, so she became very close to our kids. They’re our go-to babysitters, great playmates, and just good friends to us and our family! We also have a very close group of friends in our city. We’ve been friends for about 15 years now, and they’re very special to us. We all have kids about the same age and love to get everyone all together. They are all so excited to welcome a new baby into our community!

Things to Know About Us

1. Our faith is the foundation of our relationship.
2. Our relationship is built on mutual respect, sacrificial love, and friendship.
3. We love to laugh together.
4. We cheer one another on to flourish individually and together.

Our Home

Our home

We’re so thankful for our cozy home! Our goal is for our home to feel comforting and welcoming to everyone. We have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and several areas to play, read, and spend time together. Some of the most precious things in our home are things that represent our loved ones. We cherish pictures of our grandparents who have since passed away, special trinkets friends and family have brought back to us from their travels, and books that remind us of themes, places, and stories that are important to us. We are eager to incorporate special items, art, pictures, and books that you cherish into our home as well!

We love our neighborhood too–it has excellent schools, lots of playgrounds, and a nature preserve where we can explore together. We spend a lot of time playing outside and enjoying what our neighborhood has to offer! We also live close to our friends, church community, and Maddie’s siblings, and love getting to spend time with them often.

Final Thoughts

Before you go

No matter what you decide is best for you and your baby, we want you to know that we are and will continue to pray for you to feel God’s hope and peace cover you every step of the way. He loves you and your baby so much. We trust God is big enough for any and every feeling, worry, or hope we carry, and pray you feel comfort in His presence. If you were to decide to place your baby in our family, we promise: To always love, protect, and care for them To regularly pray for them, for you, and for your family To teach them about Jesus and pray for their salvation To tell them their story in an age appropriate way from the very beginning, and to make sure they know your choice to place for adoption was one of strength and love To incorporate traditions from and representations of their birth family and community into our home and daily lives To always speak of you and your family with the utmost honor To keep our hearts and home open to you and your family Love, Jake & Maddie

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