WE ARE ADOPTING

Hi! We’re Alyssa and Alex. For years now we’ve been eager to have a child. We think of ourselves as two big kids and we’d love to add a new member to our little club. We were both raised with lots of aunts and uncles, big gatherings, multiple celebrations of every holiday so that we all had a chance to see each other. The dynamic of a big family has shaped us, provided strength and a support system throughout our lives and is still strong today. And now we want to give that same gift that has been such a blessing for us, to someone new. Fertility has been an issue for us despite our efforts, and while it has been trying, it is not something we’re letting define the story of us starting a family. Adopting a baby is just as magical to us as having one naturally. Someone we can care for, create with and raise. We’re so excited to meet the newest member of our family, to hold them, nurture them and help them on their journey through life.

ABOUT US

We’re a creative, adventurous and fun-loving couple who call Tennessee our home. Our story started in an old fashioned way, through mutual friends and happy circumstances. One chance meeting on a street corner was enough for us to catch each other’s eye, and while we didn’t start dating immediately, neither of us forgot about the other and eventually the stars aligned for us.

While Alex is the cool, calm and collected one who wants to learn everything he can and weigh all the options, Alyssa is enthusiastic, vibrant, and imaginative, dreaming big for herself and all those she loves. In the 15 years we’ve been together we’ve shared more moments than either of us can easily remember and have become the best of friends. Those years have been spent learning each other, learning life and learning how to make a relationship something that can last a lifetime and withstand the trials life sees fit to throw at us.

ALYSSA

I was born and raised in California and grew up surrounded by art, music, and a deep love for all things creative, and it’s shaped who I am today. Being raised by a close, supportive family of musicians taught me the value of encouragement, connection, and following your heart. Throughout my life, from an early pursuit of competitive figure skating, and later touring as a musician, to now acting in film and television, I have always been held by the steady support of family, who remain my best friends.

I’m truly excited to step into motherhood as a stay-at-home mom, cultivating a warm, creative home filled with home-cooked meals, art projects, laughter, and meaningful time with friends and their children.

ALEX

I grew up on Disney movies, Sunday funnies in the newspaper, G.I. Joes, and puzzles like Rubik's cubes, and I learned early in life the power of laughter and the need for a healthy sense of humor. If there’s something I come up against that I don’t know about, I’ll be diving headfirst into the subject until I have a firm grasp of it. When my dad got me a camera for Christmas at 13, photography instantly became an obsession that over the years has evolved into a deep passion that I’ve pursued in many forms.

When it comes to work I’ve managed to stay close to that passion, producing documentaries, commercials, and narrative projects in Tennessee and all over the U.S. I count myself lucky to have a wide, warm circle of friends, many of whom I’ve made on the productions and sets I’ve worked on.

HOME & COMMUNITY

Franklin is as charming as you’d expect a historic town outside of the big city to be: boutique shops, great restaurants, town events & gatherings, always bustling with families from nearby neighborhoods. There is no shortage of parks in the area, a farmer’s market on the weekends that shouldn’t be missed, and access to the Harpeth River, a few minutes from our house. Our house is 5 minutes from downtown, and we talk often about how our little community feels like a time capsule from the 90s, in the best possible way.

We take daily walks and exchange hellos with our neighbors, frequent the swimming pool and tennis courts in summer, or try to spot geese around the small lake nestled in the neighborhood. Our property is nicknamed “tree house” because it's view of the backyard makes you feel like you’re in one, with plenty of room for a family of 3 or even 4 to spread out, or play out front or by the creek in the backyard.

FAMILY

Our families are such an important piece of who we are. Alyssa grew up with more “tias” or “aunties” than she knew what to do with, whether they were blood related or adopted relatives, and it meant god sisters and god brothers galore. With multiple siblings on either of his parents’ sides, Alex was no stranger either to aunts, uncles, cousins, and all of the big family gatherings that come with them.

Our memories of childhood, of growing up, of home and friendship, are all of them inextricable from the large, lively families that have and love. And any one who becomes a part of that family is guaranteed the same support, protection and admiration that we’ve been raised with throughout our lives.

CREATIVITY

Whether helping with auditions, filming music videos, social content, or podcasts, or working together on productions, exactly how we collaborate is less important to us than the fact of being with and supportive of each other in the creative fields. With parents of such high caliber in the field of music, not to mention two brothers with the same level of talent, all working in the arts, it’s hard not to gravitate towards aesthetic pursuits.

Outside of those professional pursuits, art is interwoven into us, such as Alex’s several books full of comics and cartoons he drew while in school, still preserved and perused and even added to occasionally. Alyssa’s set of pens and watercolors is always waiting on her shelf and has been the medium for a line of children’s art that she sells locally in Nashville, and hopefully soon across the U.S. The bottom line is, art is a part of us, and one of our favorite parts.

GAMES

Games are a daily part of our lives. Seldom does a week go by that we don’t spend 3 or 4 of our dinners playing our favorite board game or card game. And a month hasn’t been fully spent if we haven’t hosted a lively pizza night with group charades, attended a group game night with friends, or gone head-to head with our parents at their favorite card game Canasta.

We can get very competitive when we’re in the thick of it, but at the end of the night, its a way for us to be close, have fun, and stay engaged and present with each other no matter what the day brings.

TRAVEL

A big part of both our lives, even before we met, travel has been a means to explore new cultures and customs and experience the world more broadly and deeply. Alyssa’s youth included cultural trips to Paris, London, Florence and the Amalfi coast, but also Tokyo & Kyoto, Quebec & Montreal, and Mexico, not to mention sailing with her Uncle through the British Virgin Islands (yes, she’s a certified sailor).

Alex’s travels tended to be more eclectic, such as when he filmed for a Human Rights organization in countries like Belgium, Macedonia and Albania, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Taiwan and Nepal, among others. There are many more stops on our list and we’re doubly excited to share our adventures with our little one, exploring the world together as a family.

PROMISES

We promise that we’ll watch your favorite Disney movie with you, even the 100th time and every one after that. We promise to teach you how to drive a car without yelling “watch out!” every two minutes.

We promise to show you our secret blanket fort blueprint, and help you build the perfect one.

We promise that your sweetheart can come to Christmas dinner and dad won’t be too annoying while interrogating them. We promise that your room is your room.

We promise to read you The Book With No Pictures loudly and proudly.

We promise there will be pets in the house, ALWAYS. No home is complete without some creatures roaming around.

We promise not to run into a Home Alone situation on any of our trips abroad.

We promise to introduce you to Monty Python, Mel Brooks, Steve Martin... so you learn to laugh early and loudly.

We promise to give you DJ privileges in the car and not just listen to millennial throwbacks.

We promise to cheer louder than all the other parents from our seats in the auditorium or from the sidelines of the field, or wherever you choose to excel.

We promise Disneyland days, holding your hand on Space Mountain, then making the silliest faces on Splash Mountain, and laughing at the ride photos forever.

We promise to give you an education that doesn’t just live in books. You’ll learn math at the grocery store, science in the kitchen, history through stories, music in the living room, and empathy by watching how we treat people. We’ll make sure you know how to think, not just what to memorize.

We promise our love won’t depend on grades, moods, or mistakes. It’s yours on the good days and the hard ones... always.

We promise lots of family gatherings; crowded kitchens, long tables, too much food, stories told twice, and love everywhere you look.