Chris and Jennifer

Dear Expectant Mother,                  

Hopefully, through this letter, you will begin to understand who we are.  We are Chris and Jennifer.  We met 13 years ago through our roommates.  A group of us went out and we were introduced.  We have been inseparable ever since! The rest is history!  At the time we were both 21 years old, Chris working in Austin, and I attending college in San Antonio.  I remember thinking he was a really nice guy, but I did not have immediate sparks.  Chris on the other hand has always said, “he knew I was the one the night we met.”  We dated for a year, it was a sweet courtship.  We would go to the movies, out to eat ice cream and go on outings. It was extremely noble of Chris and flattering for me that he would come from Austin to San Antonio to take me out for a short date and do it again a day or two later.   On our one year anniversary Chris proposed!  I excitedly said,” yes,” and a year and a half later we were married.  We have been married going on 11 years, and we feel we are more in love today than the day we said “I DO.”  How time flies!

Let me tell you about myself. I was born and raised in San Antonio. I have a younger brother Jeff who I adore.  He is married and has 3 children of his own.  I am fortunate to also have both my parents in my life, and a step-father which is an added bonus.  I enjoyed my childhood.  I participated in many extracurricular activities from student council, marching band, basketball, track, volleyball and my greatest love softball. I loved school and knew that I would continue to college to pursue an education.  The college experience was amazing, and I absorbed every opportunity!  I have been a teacher for eight years, and I know now that teaching was my calling!  I love my job and the kids that I teach each day.  I have been a kindergarten teacher throughout my career and enjoy this age group!  The things I love the most about teaching are,  knowing that I am making a difference, the moments of brilliance from a child, or the exact moment when I see a student finally get it!  There are not many professions that offer immediate gratification such as being a teacher.  Once the school day is over, I look forward to returning to our home.  I feel I have made our home a peaceful beautiful place for us to come to each day.  Once I am home, I look forward to seeing Chris, making dinner, playing with our dog “TUBBS,” watching some of our favorite shows together, reading a book, and in the past year and a half have rediscovered my love for exercising.  On our days off, you usually find us spending time with family.  Family barbecues, movie nights or meeting for dinner are usually what our weekend consists of.  We also have many friends.  We enjoy watching sporting events with them and their families and once again hanging out at a barbecue or two.   During my time off in the summers, I spend majority of the time at home relaxing or hanging out with my nieces and nephews.  It is not odd to find them at our house for several days at a time.  We go to the movies, the zoo, the museum, swimming with my teacher friends and their children or just a day at our house baking cupcakes or having movie of their choice marathons.  Chris and I also like to take vacations.  Some years nice extravagant ones out of state and at other times small quiet ones to the beach a car ride away.  I like to sit out on the pier and read a book while Chris patiently waits for that one big catch to reel in!  This is our life and I love it! 

Let me tell you about Chris.  He is an amazing kind hearted sweet man.  He is a very laid back kind of guy.  I am the worry wart in our family while he is the calm that we need.  What I love most about Chris is his determination in life.  He has the strongest work ethic of anyone I have ever known, and it has paid off in his career in management.  I love the way Chris is understanding and compassionate.  He is the strongest man I know.  He is my rock and has made it bearable to withstand the hardships in life as well as exciting to share the successes that have come our way.  Chris is funny!!!!  There is not a day that goes by that he does not crack me up.  He makes me smile!  I love that Chris is himself no matter if he is alone with me or with a group of his childhood buddies.  I many times ask “how did I get so lucky to meet such an amazing man?” 

Let Chris tell you about himself.  I was born and raised in the small town of New Braunfels about 30 miles outside of San Antonio.  I loved growing up in a small town!  I pride myself in still having my small town values.  Living in a small town gave me the opportunity of growing up in a safe environment surrounded by family.  My mom and dad still live in the house I grew up in.  I also have an older brother Thomas who is married with two children and lives in Austin.   As a child, my brother and I always had someone to play with since most of our cousins were just doorsteps away.  My best friends today are still the same 5 guys I met in elementary school, and spent many of my childhood afternoons playing with.  Although, as many small town boys do, I wondered what life outside of New Braunfels had to offer.  So, I moved to Austin with my 5 childhood buddies.  At the time I was attending college and working.  My career began without even knowing it was happening.  The store that I worked for moved me into a management position.  At the time I thought I could work and complete school, but my responsibilities as a manager made it difficult.  I had to make a choice.  I chose the career that was presented to me with the promise to myself, that one day I would return to complete my college degree.  Living in Austin was amazing and the memories I made with my best friends out there are priceless.  During this time, I met Jen, and once again my life went into a new direction.  She was in college and I knew if I wanted to be with her, I was the one that would have to uproot my life to allow her to complete her dreams.  I quickly found a job in management in San Antonio and began my life with a beautiful fiancé and a great job!  I am now a regional manager and handle south Texas for a national company!  My job affords me many opportunities such as working from home and a very flexible schedule.  I love what I do!  I love managing people and fixing day to day issues. I believe my work ethic and intensity have kept me moving forward in my career and gained me the respect of my peers, superiors, and especially the people I manage. Believe it or not my workday is usually over before Jen’s.  Especially now, since several days out of the week I am handling my accounts from home.  At the end of the day I look forward to being in our home, and being greeted by our dog “TUBBS.”  It’s not unusual to find me grilling dinner on our deck listening to music.  After dinner we like to catch up on our day, watch a few shows and sometimes watch a movie.  Before bed I enjoy reading a chapter or two to unwind.  I look forward to weekends,” it’s my time to relax.”  My weekends usually consist of yard work, barbecue cook-offs, watching football or basketball, and spending time with family or friends.  Whenever possible, I enjoy the driving range or a nice round of golf, but my all-time favorite pastime is fishing!  The best thing about all these activities is that Jen enjoys doing most of them with me.  We do enjoy our time alone but it is twice as much fun when you have someone to share it with. 

Let me tell you about Jennifer.  Jen is what we call her.  She is a kindhearted person. She always puts others in front of herself and is the person you can depend on.   When you meet her, she is the type of person who people want to be friends with.  I guess this is why she has so many friends.  Even my best buddies love her to death and call her their friend.  Jen is a much disciplined determined person who never settles for second best, she continuously strives to be the best she can be. One of the initial attractions to Jen was how amazing and smart she is!  I love that she is so intelligent!   Jen puts family first!  Her family is extremely close and she is always there to love, and support them.  Especially our nieces and nephews, who she loves to spoil!  When you see Jen with them or her students, you see a very tender loving side of her.   She is my everything, my love, my support and to sum it up my best friend! 

It’s interesting how life works out.  We have been talking about “our children” since before we were married.  We have both always known that children would be a part of our life.  We waited several years after marriage to begin trying.  We wanted to have all our ducks in a row, home, career, finances etc.  Six years ago we began trying and became concerned when we realized it was happening so easily for all of our friends and family, but time kept passing for us and still no baby.  We consulted doctors and specialist and till this day do not have an answer as to why this has happened to us.  Doctors tell us we are a perfectly healthy couple, but sometimes that may not be enough. We sometimes wonder if it would be easier to know the exact reason but often feel blessed that there is not a reason, no one to feel guilty.  As we met with doctor after doctor, fertility treatment after fertility treatment we were extremely discouraged and devastated.  Through this we feel our marriage has become stronger.  We feel that we know each other in a way that we may have never known each other, if this had not been our path.  We have had thousands of conversations of what to do or not to do.  The most important conversation we have ever had, was the one day that we sat each other down and asked the question, “what is it that we want?”  We both answered “a child” followed with “to be parents.”  This is the day we knew that there were other options for us.  This is the day we chose adoption!  Interestingly enough before we began trying to have children we had discussed of one day adopting.  It is something that we both felt was in our path, we just thought it would be something we did after we had children of our own.  Our life has been enriched with children.  Our relationship with our nieces, nephews and god-children is beyond an aunt and uncle type of love.  As young children do, they ask questions and make comments but the most special comments they have ever made are the ones when they say, “Aunt Jen, when you have a baby, they will be so lucky!”  “Uncle Chris, you’re going to be an awesome dad!”  Although they are too young to understand what we are going through, their comments back up our belief that we are meant to be parents. 

We’d like to end this letter by thanking you for considering us in what we would have to think is the most difficult but courageous choice you will ever make.  Chris and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our baby!  We have been ready for a very long time!  Please know that we will be very loving, supportive, encouraging parents. The best mommy and daddy we can be.  Our child will be the center of our world!   Words cannot express our heartfelt gratitude towards you.  Thank you for your unselfish love and gift of life, and allowing us the privilege of fulfilling our dream of becoming parents.  You will be in our thoughts and prayers always.

With Sincerest Love and Respect,

Chris and Jennifer