Welcome! Meet:

Craig + Lauren

Part-Time Admissions Coordinator / Physical Therapist

Virginia

Caucasian

Christian

All About Craig & Lauren
Why Adoption?
Gallery
Family and Home
How We Met
Advice to Future Child
Perspectives on Open Adoption
Favorites

All About Craig & Lauren

Hey! We are the Mason Family from Richmond, Virginia. Craig and Lauren met in college at James Madison University. We got married shortly after graduating and decided to plant roots in Richmond. Both of our parents also live in the area and are a great support to us. Craig works as a physical therapist and currently manages an outpatient orthopedic clinic. He enjoys playing pickleball, cheering for JMU athletics, and playing board games. Lauren was a Special Education Teacher and then decided to be a stay-at-home Mom for a few years. She recently started working part-time as an admissions coordinator at a private day school in the Richmond area. She loves hosting people for dinner, running, throwing birthday parties, and reading.

We have two children, Silas (4) and Lydia (2.5). Silas is an old soul and loves to read books, create pretend games, and help his Mom cook. Lydia is the life of the party and loves to dance, play with whatever her older brother has, and create art. As a family, we enjoy hiking and going out on the river in our kayaks. We have a strong community of friends who have children around the same age and have committed to share in the parenting journey together.

Why Adoption?

We have known we wanted to grow our family through adoption from the time we started dating in college. When discussing adoption, we were not sure whether we wanted to try to have biological children first or pursue adoption. Ultimately, we decided to have children by birth first and gave birth to our son Silas in 2020 and then Lydia 18 months later in 2021. We knew we wanted to adopt a young child under the age of two because we want Silas and Lydia to be the oldest in the family, which is why we decided to pursue the route of infant adoption. They are thrilled to welcome another sibling to their lightsaber battles, duck duck goose games, and dance parties. We feel like we are gaining something special through pursuing adoption because of the potential for new relationships that come with an open adoption. We are excited to welcome not only a child, but a birth parent and their family into our family.

Family & Home

We live in a 4-bedroom house in a Suburban neighborhood. We have a fenced-in backyard with a swing set. We have a screened in porch where we love to eat meals when the weather is nice. We love our neighborhood. There are a lot of young children who live in the surrounding houses and our children really enjoy playing outside with them. The best part about our neighborhood is that our best friends live three houses down from us. They have two children, ages 2.5 and 6 months, so we spend a lot of time together. The local Elementary School is a short walk away, so we frequently walk to the playground after school hours.

How others describe me

Lauren describes Craig as calm and easygoing. He immediately puts me at ease. He is open and honest and usually the one to move towards resolving conflict first. I never have to question what he is thinking. He is very smart, hard-working, and loves to learn.

Craig describes Lauren as adventurous and quirky. She has a beautiful smile and deep compassion for others. She will drop everything and do anything to help someone. I love how she initiates dance parties in the kitchen with our kids.

How We Met

We met while working at a summer camp in college. Before we met, we had several mutual friends, and both attended James Madison University. While working at camp, our relationship was platonic, but when we returned to JMU the next school year, we started spending a lot of time together. It began as recounting camp memories, but quickly turned more personal when we realized we really enjoyed being together. Craig has a calm demeanor and could immediately put Lauren at ease, and still does to this day. Lauren is compassionate and cares deeply about others, and Craig really admired that.

Advice to Future Child

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t be afraid to lean on your family and your community. It is vulnerable, but also so life-giving. Acknowledge your weaknesses and allow others to step in and pick up the slack. We need people in life. We hope you know it is ok to fall short. We all fall short. We pray you put your trust and hope in Jesus who knows all about your shortcomings and loves you fully. More than we ever could.

Perspectives on Open Adoption

We are committed to supporting an adoption that is as open as possible, depending on the birth parent's level of comfort. We are excited about growing our family to include not only another child but their birth family as well. We are open to face-to-face visits with the birth parents as well as extended family. We commit to sharing pictures and updates and opening up our lives to a birth family.

Favorites

Craig

Favorite Movie: Remember the Titans
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of family, food, and football.
Hobbies/Interests: playing Pickleball, board games, and cheering on JMU football
Dream Vacation: an all-inclusive Italian resort vacation
If I Could Choose a Superpower: teleportation

Lauren

Favorite Movie: Harry Potter
Favorite Holiday/Tradition: My favorite holiday is probably Christmas because we have a lot of traditions- making Christmas cookies for our friends and neighbors, matching pajamas on Christmas Eve, leaving out cookies for Santa, and Christmas Eve dinner with our best friends.
Hobbies/Interests: running, reading, and hosting people at our house
Dream Vacation: Anything at the beach!
If I Could Choose a Superpower: The ability to fly!