Ted & Kayla

Hello from the Twin Cities! As a couple, we’re passionate about using our skills to help others and to make a positive impact on the lives of those around us. We have a loving, supportive network of family and friends who are all behind us in this journey to adopt. It’s exciting to be in this process to adopt our first child! Our lifestyle is pretty simple, and we love fun vacations and quality time to make memories. We long to share all we have with a child. We truly hope to get to know you and thank you for considering us as adoptive parents for your baby.

Our Life Together

We met on a dating app and had our first date at a coffee shop where we talked for hours. After about 7 months dating we knew we would get married, but we waited until Kayla finished nursing school to take the next step. We’ve been happily together for over 6 years now.

Early on we talked about adopting a child one day. When we experienced infertility and health complications trying to get pregnant, we prayed about our path to parenthood. It became clear that adoption is the direction for us and we’re so happy to welcome a child into our family this way!

Things we enjoy as a couple:
• Cheering for our favorite sports teams
• Playing a game of chess
• Cooking
• Walks with our dog
• Lazy weekends binge-watching a show (we’re currently into Top Chef!)
• Trying different restaurants (Ted is a big foodie!)
• Traveling a few times each year (especially for beach vacations!)

This is Kayla

In Ted’s Words: Kayla is smart, kind, and essential to my life. She is a positive influence for everyone around her. She truly has a caring, nurturing heart for others, as seen in her work as a nurse and desire to become a nurse practitioner in hospice care when she’s finished with her degree. She brings her patients and their families a sense of peace and comfort. I believe God made Kayla to be a mother. She will love our child unconditionally and use her abilities to give that child the best life she possibly can.

Kayla’s interests:
• Crafting (she’s a big crafter!) and learning skills to make new things
• Crocheting and quilting
• Projects around the house
• Weekly Bible study at our church
• Studying for her nurse practitioner degree

This is Ted

In Kayla’s words: Ted is a wonderful partner who loves and protects me in so many ways. I love how patient, loving, goofy, determined, supportive, and caring he is. It’s such a joy to watch him coach high school baseball. I imagine him coaching and cheering on our future children in any activity they choose. Ted will be a very involved dad who will love and protect our child with his entire heart. He’s always willing to put his family first and stand up for what he believes in.

Ted’s interests:
• Coaching baseball for local high school kids
• Playing Dungeons & Dragons or other video games
• Writing for a local baseball blog
• Playing basketball

Our Home in Minnesota

We live in a suburb in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota, just far enough from the city that it’s quiet and peaceful, but close enough to enjoy the different city-life attractions. Kayla’s parents grew up here too! Our home is in a nice condo neighborhood that’s within walking distance of 3 schools. Everything we need is within a 5 minute drive. Here we love the walking paths, friendly neighbors, big dog parks, many lakes, and great school districts.

Our house is very special to us because it was Kayla’s grandparents’ home! It’s a two-story condo that we’ve completely updated and renovated. We love the large loft area between the bedrooms and the openness of the living room, dining room, and kitchen. Our place is at the end of our street, so we have a large yard with a big hill (Kayla has great childhood memories rolling down that hill for fun!). Across the street is a large elementary school playground too. We’ve been working on the nursery, painting it in a soft light green to be ready for a boy or a girl. We’re excited to raise our family here!

Our Families

We are close with both sides of our family. Ted comes from a bigger family (so many cousins!), while Kayla has a smaller family. Ted has one older brother; Kayla has two younger sisters and one step-brother. Our parents are all excited to welcome a new grandchild (first one on Kayla’s side!) and everyone in our family has been excited about and supportive of our plans to adopt.

Most of Kayla’s family lives in this area, except for her sister in Nebraska and her grandparents in Florida. Ted has family in Wisconsin, an aunt in California, and another aunt in Taiwan. We love traveling and seeing new things with our extended families and there are many young first and second cousins who our child will grow up with.

Heartfelt Thoughts...

We believe that our job as parents is to give our children the best possible life we can. We want to help our son or daughter find and embrace their passions and to know they are loved and fully supported, no matter what. Your child will grow up knowing how much you mean to us, hearing about the love, trust, and respect that went into us all coming together through adoption.

We promise to:
• Make your child’s well-being our top priority.
• Always be looking for the best ways to meet your child’s needs and tackle challenges.
• Make sure he or she develops a strong sense of identity, knowing where they came from and that we’re here to answer any questions they have about their adoption, and beyond.
• Provide every opportunity we can, including quality education for the path they want to pursue in life.
• Raise your child with Christian values and show them how to love and be open minded.
• Honor an open adoption connection, if you want to share updates or plan occasional meet-ups in the future.

Thank you for considering us as adoptive parents for your child. We would love to hear from you! To contact us, please call or text Lifetime at 1.800.923.6784.

With love, Ted & Kayla

In Closing

What an honor and joy to be considered as a possible family to adopt your child! We are thankful for your time to learn about us and the life we would love to share with your baby. It would be a blessing to connect and get to know you more. We'd love to know what you want for your child's future and how you want your adoption plan to look. To talk or do a video chat, just ask Lifetime about us! We hope to hear from you.