Hello!  We are James and Jillian from Morgan Hill, California. We met almost 13 years ago while attending Fresno State University.  We became fast best friends and married in 2008.  From the day we met, we have nurtured a relationship based on love, respect, support, and commitment to each other and our families.  We adopted our son Trent three years ago, and parenting has helped us grow even more, not to mention, it is also a lot of fun.  This is why we can’t wait to grow our family through open adoption again, this time where Jillian will be a stay at home mom.   



Your decision to explore open adoption or to place your baby is one of extreme courage and selflessness and we admire you for taking these steps.  We hope our letter helps you get to know us better, including our desire to create a loving friendship with you and your child’s birth family should that be your goal as well.  Thank you so much for taking time to consider us!

Our Home

Our home is filled with lots of love and laughter!  On many days and nights you can find us playing in Trent’s room, the sunroom which has been converted to a playroom, or the nursery!  We love to play pretend, games, reading books, simply put just be together laughing and making memories!  Singing, dancing, and being silly is a regular occurrence in our household! We also love to be outside, our backyard is perfect for us, we have so much space that Trent has play structures, a trampoline big enough for him and all his friends, a sandbox, a basketball court, plus an entire area of rocks where he can dig with his trucks! Most nights when James gets home, Trent and him are in the back yard playing soccer or basketball or having water fights! 

 

 Jillian can usually be found in the kitchen, as she takes care of all the cooking and meals for us including breakfast lunch and dinner!  Trent is obsessed with Jillian’s meals but also loves any fruit or vegetable you put in front of him!  This is why we started a small family garden.  We don’t quite have the green thumb yet, but it is a work in progress.  In the mean time we love to explore our local farmers market and Trent especially loves getting to sample all the yummy local options. 

 

The idea of bringing a second child into our home excites all 3 of us!  When we were looking to purchase a new home, we did it with the idea of raising our children here.  We wanted to find a home that would be our forever home!  That is why we focused on making sure that Trent and our second child would have the space they would need as they grew up!  Both kids will have their own rooms, currently Trent thinks the nursery is his second bedroom!  In those rooms you will find lots of books, toys, and our favorite part, their rocking chairs.  This is one of our favorite daily routines, sitting and talking with Trent about his day, reading books, and just listening to him!  We cannot wait to get to have this same special time with our second child in their bedroom.

Our Community

We live about 10 minutes south of San Jose in a home with over a ¼ acre for Trent to run and explore on.  He loves to spend time in the yard with his two best buddies, Jakob, our golden doodle and Finley (or as he calls her FooFoo) our German Sheppard.  Though this is relatively new home for our family, we have already made so many fun and lasting memories here.

Our neighborhood community has a lot of families with kids the same age as Trent, and they have become our amazing support system and like family to us.  We rotate hosting Friday night dinners, watching the kids, 7 toddlers and 4 babies, run around, play and explore together.  It has been so much fun watching the little ones love for each other blossom over the years, which is how we know Trent will be a great big brother to our second child.

Our friends not only help us to be the best parents that we can be, but we also have all  decided that life is way more fun when you get to explore it with the people you love, which is convenient considering our small family oriented town of Morgan Hill has so much to do and see!  

We love getting together for holiday functions, town events, vacations, sports practices, and gymnastics!  It seems like most weekends we have some type of event that you can find us at.  We also love to take the kids to the local attractions, including the Aquarium, Zoo, Gilroy Gardens, Happy Hollow, or the Children’s Discovery Museum! 

Morgan Hill is very close to the scenic mountains that surround the south bay.  We feel lucky to have trails that back up to our neighborhood.  We love our nightly family walks in the cool breeze with the dogs and Trent.  These walks usually end up with us exploring the creeks in our neighborhood or stopping to see the cows, horses, goats, sheep and chickens that also happen to be within walking distance of our home.  We feel so fortunate to have one of the top rated schools in our town right up the street from us!  We can’t wait to walk to school every day when the kids are older.  We truly love our small family oriented town and are so happy that we get to call it home.

About James (by Jillian)

It is hard to put into words what an amazing daddy James is to Trent. Simply put, watching him with Trent is magical. James and Trent love to laugh together as they play cars, sing and dance, read books or simply just cuddle. James loves Trent with his whole heart! James works extremely hard for our family, providing me with lots of opportunities to be home with our son. 

 

James was born in New York and soon moved to Huntington Beach, CA.  Growing up in California James became “one” with the water.  Not only did James become an avid swimmer and water polo player, but he also was an ocean lifeguard for nearly 10 years at one of the busiest stretch of beaches in the entire world. As our children grow I know James will continue to teach them about his love of the water and hopefully they will have a love for it too!  Maybe even another lifeguard in the Howarth household!

 

 James is also an avid sports fan and has enjoyed teaching Trent about his love of sports. He loves watching his favorite baseball team, The Los Angeles Angels, and has even taught Trent how to say “Go Angels” and cheer for the team!  He will be our children’s biggest fan and greatest supporter in anything that they choose to pursue in their life!

 

The role model and supporter James will be of our children is true also of the children that he has chosen to support in his career. James began his career as a Special Education teacher working with students who are severely disabled but recently got his administration credential.  He has since moved out of the classroom and has become the Coordinator of Student Services, an administrator overseeing the special education programs of our school district. James passion for helping others, especially those in our community with special needs, is a true testament to the kind hearted man and father that he is.

 

James loves Trent and I with his whole being and I know that adding another child to our family will make his love multiply by thousands. He is calm and collected when the world seems chaotic, but most importantly he is a man with a big heart and lots of love to give. He is an amazing husband, daddy, and friend, and I am excited to watch him with our children as they grow over the years.

About Jillian (By James)

Jillian is a tremendous mommy to our son! Trent’s entire world revolves around her. Whenever she walks into a room, Trent instantly beams and calls for his “mommy.” He knows that she would move mountains for him and do anything to make sure he is well taken care of and happy! I know she will do exactly the same for our next child.

 

Jillian was born in Sunnyvale, California. Growing up, Jillian was active in many sports like softball, basketball, and volleyball.  I have no doubt that Jillian will be coaching and teaching our children about her love for sports.  She has already begun those skills with Trent, teaching him how to throw a ball to her and dunk a basketball!

 

Jillian like James also works in the field of Special Education.  She has focused her career around working with moderately disabled students teaching them basic academic skills in reading, writing and math.  With James new job, it has opened up some opportunities for our family, one of the biggest opportunities is that Jillian will now be a stay at home mom while our kids our young.  She loves her career and the students whose lives she has influenced but even more so, she loves being a mom.

 

She for the last 3 years has worked full time but has arranged her career so that she is home every afternoon.  In those afternoons she has taken Trent to playdates, classes, outings, and has been dedicated to creating an enriching environment for him and he is thriving because of it! 

 

Jillian has really embraced becoming a mom.  She has loved meeting new moms and kids the same age as Trent through joining different mom groups in our area.  She and Trent go on many play dates, and outings with the different groups weekly.  Jillian is very excited to become a full time stay at home mom when we welcome a second child into our family.  I know that means that they will have a busy schedule with lots of fun times for both of our children.

 

Jillian is truly an amazing mom. She has so much love to give our children and is extremely caring and loving. She is a person of the utmost integrity and will no doubt provide our children with a loving, nurturing, and supportive home.

 

About Trent

Trent is our spunky, energetic, happy, loving, free spirited little boy.  He is an amazing son and we know he is going to be a great big brother.  He loves to interact with his friends and cousins, and we know how excited he will be to have his own sibling, partner in crime, best friend, and someone to share adventures with.  We are so excited to watch our children grow and learn together over the years!

Family & Friends

We are beyond blessed to have the love and support of our family and friends.   Trent has so many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who love him to pieces!  Not a vacation goes by that we are not off doing some type of fun activity with them.  Holidays are especially fun getting to watch all of the kids run around together!  Trent’s cousins range in age from 1 to 9 years old.

Our favorite family holiday is Thanksgiving when Jillian prepares a gigantic feast for our entire family, including enough leftovers for everyone to take a meal home. It is a day filled with fun, lots of yummy food, kids playing, football watching, and our traditional football game at the park!

Jillian’s family lives close by in the San Jose area. Everyone is extremely close. On most weekends you will typically find Jillian’s family rotating from one little league baseball game to the next, all supporting and cheering for each other!   We all enjoy barbequing, going to the park, going to baseball games, or just hanging out together! It is a very close-knit family filled with love and support. The only problem with such a big family close by is deciding who gets to babysit Trent! It is usually an argument because everyone wants to spend time with our little man! We know, without a doubt, that they will always be there for our children and us! We love being a part of such a strong family unit where there will no doubt be at least one family member at every soccer game, science fair, or holiday play of our children's!

Jillian’s older sister, Jenni, is one of our best friends.  She and her husband, Mike, have two boys who we love so much.  Trent loves going to Auntie’s house and will take off running as fast as he can as soon as we walk in the door!  He loves playing with his cousins and exploring life with them!  They are his biggest fans and cheer him on, teaching him the ropes, keeping him safe, but most importantly being his big cousins!  I know that when we have another son or daughter they are going to be great big cousins to both our children.  Auntie Jenni and Unky Mike are pretty cool too; they are a huge supporter of our family and love Trent and our future children as if they were their own!  We are so lucky to have them!

James’s family lives in Huntington Beach which includes his parents and sister.  Trent loves face-timing with his Grandma and Grandpa and we all love our adventures down in Southern California. James and his dad are especially excited to teach Trent how to surf, a passion they both share, they have even gotten a small surf board made for him so he can start to learn! We know James parents’ will be thrilled to welcome another grandchild into their family.

Thoughts on Parenting

We have been blessed with great parents who have modeled for us what it means to be parents. We know that our children will be raised in a home with endless love, support, guidance, and respect. Being a parent truly completes us. Watching Trent grow and learn new things is one of the greatest rewards we have in our lives. He constantly brings a smile to our faces. We will protect, guide, love, and care for our children giving them everything they need.  We cannot wait to grow our family again through adoption.

We know that this is a very difficult decision, but we would like to say thank you for taking the time to read our letter and considering us to raise and love your child. Thank you!

All the best,

James, Jillian and Trent