| Mom | Dad | |
| First Names | Leslie | Chris |
| Religion | Catholic | Catholic |
| Ethnic Background | Caucasian | Caucasian |
| Education/Degree | JD | MBA |
| Profession | Lawyer | Economist |
| Ages/Names of Children | Thomas Lee (4 yrs old) biological & Eleanor Ryan (2 yrs old) biological |
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Family Video
Our Story
Hi! We are Leslie and Chris. Welcome to our page. We are so excited to share our story. We met in 2015 in Washington, DC. We met on Match.com, however soon realized we knew some of the same people.
Leslie – I knew in an instant that I had met an incredible man. He was confident, but considerate. So warm and thoughtful, outrageously funny and very smart. I happened to be traveling out of the country when we first started dating. He bought a plane ticket to come see me and quite literally swept me off my feet. A couple weeks later, I met his whole family at a tailgate for his brother’s college football game. They were so fun, so full of love, and everyone very genuinely liked it each other! I knew I found my home. He asked me to marry him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and I was speechless – after saying yes! We married at our home parish in DC on a cold and rainy January day. Less than a year later we were pregnant with our first child, Thomas, who was born in March 2018! A couple years later, his sister, Eleanor Hodge arrived! With two kiddos and a deep desire to have more children, we knew we needed space for them to run and we wanted to be closer to the growing group of cousins, so we moved to New Jersey in 2020. We have been so incredibly blessed. We cannot wait to share blessings and strive be a blessing to a new little one.
Chris – From our first date, I knew Leslie was special and by our second date I knew I wanted to marry her. Our chemistry was instant – we could talk for hours at a time about any and all subjects without a break from each other. Most importantly, we shared the same values and vision for our family. Our courtship was quick because, why wait? We wanted to start the most satisfying part of our lives as soon as possible. I feel so blessed to have Leslie as my wife and the mother of our children. She is the kindest, most thoughtful and most adoring mother and wife I could have ever imagined. I genuinely admire Leslie for her determination, her strength and her warmth. We are now settled in to our “forever home” in a wonderful community surrounded by family and friends and we share a strong desire to grow our family.
Family Life
Family is at the forefront of our life. Our family is big and growing so fast! The cousin group is young and we all live near each other. Because of that, it’s a wild ride of holidays, birthdays, kid’s sports games, and playtimes.
We value tradition, but not in a rigid sense. We just love to do the things that we know have brought us joy and bring our loved ones joy. So, for us, we find tradition in the small things – grilling on Fridays (rain or shine), counting our blessings with Grandma on the porch, watching the Eagles at home, breakfast for dinner once a week, reading books at night, saying our prayers.
We attend Church on the Sundays that we are home. In all honesty, the kids squirm through it all, but they get better every weekend!
We have no pets, but Thomas and Eleanor are strongly lobbying for a dog. So, we’ll see where that goes.
We value learning. And we are constantly trying to find ways to enrich our kid’s understanding of the world – whether that is a hike in the woods, a trip to Philadelphia, a book, an art project, whatever!
Lifestyle
We love to host gatherings, big and small, fancy and casual. We host a 4th of July cookout, a Kentucky Derby party, and a Christmas party every year. And most weekends, we extend impromptu invites to our friends and neighbors to just hang out. Brining our community together brings us so much joy. Whether it is seeing two people who have known each other for 50 years laugh together or introducing a new family to the neighborhood around our kitchen island – these are our great joys. We love to deepen bonds and forge new ones.
We are definitely a sports family. Chris played football in college, just like his dad and brother. We love football, basketball, baseball and hockey. We watch the pros on TV and go to local high school games when in season. Sports are such a fun opportunity to work together, play, and sweat a little bit. But not everyone in the family plays sports. Leslie enjoys the tailgates and the cheering more than anything.
In terms of hobbies, Leslie loves to bake. The kids have a “helper tower” so they can be at the counter to “help” the baking. She also loves to run and hopes one of her kids loves to run with her someday. Chris loves sports (see above). He is also a top-notch griller and budding golfer.
Adoption
We would love to have contact with you! If we are so fortunate to be introduced to you, we would love to discuss what is best for both of our families.
Should we be so blessed to adopt, we will work hard to incorporate and celebrate your child’s ethnic background. We will try to learn as much as we can and talk to folks in our community who share the same background. We will ensure that your child feels love, comfort, support and belonging. That will be our first-priority. As a baby, it’s easy – lots of hugs, snuggles, and attention. As your baby gets older, we understand that they need to own who they are, both within the context of our family and the broader world. This is our responsibility and we are ready.
We value diversity in our community and in our family. Having a diverse community enables one to have a full appreciation of everyone’s lived experience. We are all children of God. So, without diversity, you could argue that you are not able to experience the fullness of the kingdom of God.
Living in the Petworth area of Washington DC, we were blessed to have the richness of a diverse environment, where people from all parts of the world, all races, all ethnicity, and all economic backgrounds lived and worked together in the same neighborhood. We find now that we need to be a bit more intentional about ensuring that our kids are experiencing the fullness of our world. We find that at Church, in sports, and generally in our activities. Leslie’s family is a blend of Mexican-American and Anglo-American, so diversity is a lived experience.
Favorites
| Mom | Dad | |
| Genre of Music | 90s Alternative | Classic Rock |
| Childhood memory | Making Tamales | Christmas with family and extended family |
| Quote | “Strong back, soft front.” | “In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, liberty, in all things, charity.” Saint Augustine |
| Subject in school | History | Economics |
| Magazine | People | Sports Illustrated |
| Movie | Love Actually and Godfather II | Rocky |
| Hero | Chris | My Dad |
| Holiday | New Years Eve | Independence Day |
| Dessert | Chocolate Ice Cream | Pecan Pie |
| Actor | Reese Witherspoon | Denzel Washington |
| Sport to watch or play | Basketball | Football |
| Author | Cormac McCarthy | John Steinbeck |
| Mac or PC? | PC | PC |
| Coffee or Tea? | Strong Coffee | Coffee |
| Eat in or Dine out? | Eat in | Eat in |
| Early Riser or Night Owl? | Night owl | Night owl |
Best Wishes
Thank you so much for reading through our profile! We think we have built a really fun home. 😊 It’s not without work, but we are so committed to creating opportunities for joy for our kids. We understand that kids are not easy. We are under no illusions that babies are easy! But we pray for another little one. It would be a privilege to change another set of dirty diapers or rock a crying baby. By coming to this website and reading through this page, as a expectant family, you are also investing in your child, and that thought alone fills us with joy and hope. Please do reach out to us. We would love to share more about our crazy, beautiful family.
Ready to Contact Leslie & Chris
Drop us a line today!
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