Sales / Stay at Home Mom
California
Caucasian
Christian
Shawn is 35 years old and works in sales. He has one brother and three sisters. He enjoys golfing and wake surfing. Claire is 34 years old and is a stay at home mom to our three year old daughter, Charlee. Claire has one brother and four sisters. Claire's hobbies are baking, gardening and wake surfing. We have a three year old daughter, Charlee Mae, who is so excited to be a big sister. Charlee is very independent and loves going to her ballet/tap class and building puzzles.
As a family, we love traveling— whether it be a camping trip to the lake with our seven year old Australian Shepherd dog or taking a family vacation to Tahoe or Cabo. We are always on some new adventure. Our day to day looks like your average family's activities. Shawn goes to work while Claire stays at home with Charlee. We eat dinner around the dining room table and our weekends are filled with going out of town or staying local and spending time with friends and family.
Growing our family has been a struggle. In 2018, due to complications while I was pregnant, our son Wyatt was born premature and passed away a few days after he was born. Our daughter Charlee was born a year and a half later, safely. However, due to further complications I incurred with Charlee's pregnancy, I am no longer able to have children of our own. We don't believe our family is done growing yet and would love to continue to expand our family through the possibility of adoption. We feel we have so much more love to give and are hoping for the opportunity to do so.
We live in a small town in a quiet neighborhood. We have a nice park across the street from our neighborhood that's within walking distance that we visit quite often. Our home is a newer three bedroom, two bath with an office. We have an open floor plan which Claire loves because she can be cooking in the kitchen and still be watching Charlee play in the living room. We have a large backyard with grass, big trees, lots of toddler toys and a trampoline. We are about thirty minutes from a large lake that we visit often during the summer.
We both come from large families and are very close with them all. The majority of our family lives within 30-45 minutes of us, aside from Shawn's mom who lives 2 1/2 hours away and one of Shawn's sisters who lives out of state. Our weekends usually consist of either a cousin's little league game and BBQ of some sort, a day out on the lake wake surfing with friends, or a trip to the coast to see Grandma. Charlee has 15 cousins and counting who she loves getting to play with. We are fortunate that the majority of our friends and family are in similar dynamics and have children too, so our activities and events are all family oriented.
Shawn is all that I ever could have asked for in a husband and more. He's funny, caring, easy going, compassionate and most of all thoughtful. He's hands down the sweetest person I know. Not a day goes by where he doesn't compliment me on something. He's the only man I know that sends both his wife and his daughter flowers randomly for no occasion. I know he does it just to make us both feel special and loved. You can find him most Fridays at the park with our daughter Charlee. That has kind of become their little weekly tradition together and I think it’s adorable.
Shawn is an amazing father and provider. I thank God everyday for him. He is a natural with kids and such a good dad. I love watching Charlee run to the back door when she hears the garage door open and yells "Daddie's Home" and then jump into his arms and ask him if he "brought home the biscuits"!
Claire is everything to me. I thank God every day that he brought us together. She is kind, passionate, driven, caring and most of all she is a wonderful mother. She is at her best when she's around Charlee. Even though it can be a bit hectic at times, she seems to handle it with grace. From the day I met Claire she has always wanted to be a mom and is loving every minute of it now. Her ideal day would be waking up, have her cup of creamer with a little coffee and hitting the road. Whether it be taking us to the lake to do some boating and swimming, or heading to the mountains to teach Charlee something new, she loves enjoying life first hand.
Outside of motherhood Claire likes to garden, cook, and by the way our house looks I would say her favorite thing is cleaning (just kidding) I would say her favorite thing is just spending good quality time with family. No phones, no tv, just old-fashioned outdoor fun. On the weekends if she's not planning a project for me to do around the house, she's planning a backyard bbq for any family or friends that want to come over. When it comes to mothering Charlee and any other kids we are blessed with in the future, I know they are getting one of the best and purest people on earth.
Shawn and I met in 2005 and were high school sweethearts. We dated for 10 1/2 years before getting married in 2016. We were fortunate in the sense we got to experience our young life with one another and grow up together.
Life is a journey that will be filled with ups and downs. But those ups and downs mold us into the person we will become. It doesn't matter what obstacles we run into, it's about how we choose to overcome each of those obstacles and grow from the experiences.
We have both agreed that there is no reason to withhold someone from showing our child love. If a birth mother would like to stay connected with our adopted child we are happy to welcome that relationship.