- Texas -
Hello! We are the Robins Family! We live in the Dallas Metroplex with our two fluffy golden retrievers. We spend our time doing projects around the house, listening to music, snuggling on the couch in front of the TV, cooking delicious food, and sometimes playing a card game or doing a puzzle. Our home is our happy place and we spend most of our time together there. Thanks for taking a look at our profile! We hope our love and good vibes shine through!
I am a caretaker at my core. I have a deep desire to care for those that I hold closest in my life. At home, I enjoy cooking for my family and friends, being a listening ear/confidant, coaching up those closest to me and providing for others in times of need. At work, I fulfill this need by ensuring that every student on my campus is provided with the highest quality education and has the ability to reach their full potential. In the past few years, I have worked hard on taking that need to care for others and turned it inward to taking the best care of myself. My perfect day would include; a family walk, cup of "fancy" coffee, a yoga class, listening to music and playing some cards/games with Colin and eating delicious food all along the way.
Hello! I'm Colin Robins. At work, I'm a UX designer, which means I figure out how to make apps and websites work really well for the people using them. At home, I like to relax, play with the dogs, watch some good tv, and generally just hang out with my wife, Christina. I really value learning, being kind to others, and doing my best to understand the world and what makes people tick. I think I’m a generally curious person, and I try to learn as much as I can about the world around me. Additionally, I try to be compassionate understanding, and give people the benefit of the doubt as much as possible. I’ve made plenty of mistakes in my life, and I think that’s a great opportunity to grow, rather than something to be ashamed or afraid of. I have been told I’m pretty funny, and generally a fun person to be around. I’ve been practicing my dad jokes in preparation for the adoption, so I’ve seen plenty of groans and eye rolls lately. All in all, I’m excited about this new adventure, and I look forward being a dad one day.
Hello!
Thanks for checking out our profile. No doubt there’s a million decisions to be made, so we appreciate you taking some time to look at us, our fun little family, and considering us as a possibility for your child.
It’s hard to know what to say in something like this. It’s a difficult and weird situation for everyone, and maybe that’s the first thing to acknowledge. The process is hard. We understand challenges come up in life. We’ve been through quite a few ourselves and have worked really hard so we can come out better for them. Make no mistake–it was neither easy nor fun, but we approach challenges like we approach almost everything. We take a deep breath, talk to each other, make a plan, and do the best we can trying to make that plan happen.
I can’t imagine what this scenario is like, but I can imagine how I would want to be treated. I’d want to be treated with kindness, an emotion in far too little supply these days. I’d want to be treated with respect, that the person I’m talking to is listening to what I say and not just waiting for their turn to speak. Finally, I’d want to be comfortable that the family that I chose was the right fit. These feel really simple, right? Kindness, respect, comfort, and ya know, a good amount of compassion and understanding.
Unfortunately in this letter, we can’t prove or show any of these things outright. We can with full certainty say that they are all true, but you can’t really know for sure, not yet at least. That’s just how it is. But hopefully, as you scroll through our profile and take a look at some of the things that we present, that we value, and in many cases, many many many things that we love, you can get a better sense of who we are and what makes us tick.
Regardless of how this all works out in the end, I hope you find a great home for your child, and I hope the process is full of kindness, respect, and a good amount of compassion and understanding.
Colin & Christina
We both are pretty curious and knowledge-seeking type people, so we tend to use every opportunity as an opportunity to learn. Even in the most hectic times, we tend to find interesting little moments of wonder and curiosity. So our parenting style is generally very consequences focused. I think that can sound negative–do something bad, something bad happens to you! We think of it as just the opposite. Children are little scientists; they want to try things out, learn, fail, grow, figuring out the world as they go. In a way, that’s just how everyone is sometimes, right? Try new things; learn from them; see what works what doesn’t; and try again next time.
We are also very structured, for better or worse. We plan things in advance, we set clear and communicated boundaries, and then we let things play out. But we also like novelty. We like learning new things. We seek out new experiences. We like trying different things.
Finally, and this is probably from how we were raised, we work as a group in almost everything. Everyone is on the team, and everyone needs to contribute. Sure, each person has to have activities and chores that are specific to them, but everyone does something to contribute to the greater good of the whole. Sometimes, families are referred to as a business, and that’s not quite right. Our family is like a little self-contained society, each person with an important and crucial role to play. We trust and rely on each other, and that seems to work really well for us.
Family Rules
Why try to describe something ourselves when someone else can do it much better? Our little nephew, Christopher, described our house as: “It’s so peaceful and beautiful.” Now, he’s 3 years old, so take that with a grain of salt, but we think it’s pretty accurate; or, at the very least, it’s what we want it to be.
The outside world is pretty wild, and it can feel overwhelming at times. We spent a lot of time (like, so much time) making sure our house is comfortable, chill, and we hope a little inspiring. We have a big living room with a fluffy oversized couch and comfy pillows for watching movies, filled with plants that catch the light in interesting ways. Our dining room and kitchen are in heavy use. We love cooking and having friends over, spending time with our group in an easy-going atmosphere. We have a fun backroom we affectionately call “The Party Room,” because it’s a bit of an undefined space. Right now, Colin’s drums and instruments live there, as well as storing various baby-related things. We’ve had Thanksgivings back there; we’ve played cards back there. It’s just a kind-of funky, flexible space that can be whatever.
Upstairs, it’s nothing but bedrooms and calm. Colin’s office is there, right next to the baby’s room. Our house is really dense, so the downstairs and upstairs are really separate (and quiet). We have some artsy things we’ve collected over the years, plenty of family/friends pictures, and far too many books. Our bedroom is upstairs as well, and it follows the Rule of the Upstairs. It’s calming, quiet, and a good place to get some sleep, do a little work, or read a book.
When we bought our house, it was in bad shape. We’ve spent years crafting each room into something that we want, creating a space that exemplifies the things we value: connection; fun; flexibility; learning; and maybe every now and again, a little weirdness. Oh, and drums. Definitely the drums. They are a big hit with everyone (nailed it).
The nursery is calming. We tried to make the nursery representative of how we feel about the adoption process. It’s an inclusive space that’s comfortable for anyone from everywhere. There’s a nice comfy day bed for taking naps and resting. There’s a really unique style crib that as the baby grows, can be transformed into a larger crib and then finally a kid’s bed. We have some art that a friend of ours did, a 3 part series of different plants that we have around the house.
While a nice place to relax, it is definitely full of childish charm and color. We love using color and that is evident throughout our home and we definitely stayed true to that in designing the baby’s room. It is based in greens with accents of blue, pink, yellow and orange.
This is what we have chosen for the baby that we do not yet know; but the room will certainly change and grow as our child does. We are firm believers in creating a space that is right for you as an individual. A space that makes you feel good, creative and brings out the best in you!
We have two dogs, both of whom have the best life of any dog we’ve ever met. These kids have it made. For example, they routinely get more Christmas presents than both Christina and I combined. When they go to Grandma’s house when we are out of town, they get doggie ice cream, a swim in the pool, and then a nap on the couch. Some would say they are spoiled; we think they are just well cared for and treated with love.
We have a golden retriever named Jake, who looks and acts like every golden retriever you’ve ever met or seen on TV. He’s loyal, loving, and kind to a fault. One time at the dog park, another dog was trying to fight him and get him riled up. He didn’t know what to do so he just walked away to go play with someone else. Jake is just a sweet boy who loves everyone. We call him The Mayor. He’s constantly following someone around, making sure they are okay. At 80 pounds, he thinks he is a lap dog, and he has no problem wiggling his way into some belly scratches. He’s a sweet boy.
Next up we have Ethel, a golden retriever and we think Pyrenees mix. She kinda looks like Jake but is white instead of golden, and she definitely has a different personality. Ethel’s had a rough go of it; when we adopted her she had just had her first of 3 surgeries to repair her back legs. So we rehabbed her over several months, got her back to healthy, and then did that two more times, driving down to College Station each time to make sure she got the care she needed. That seems like ages ago. Now, she gets around great, and we lovingly call her The Hot Mess. Even though she is differently abled and needs some help around the stairs, no one ever told her. She runs around, constantly wanting to play with Jake. She’s a troublemaker for sure. Ethel is obsessed with all of our nieces and nephews. She follows them around and sits next to them the entire time they are at our house. Everyone’s kids are her kids, and she watches them and keeps them close.
Together, they are a really funny pair. Jake is trying to follow the rules, and Ethel is seeing what she can get away with. There’s never a dull day around here with the two pups.
Our family support system includes those who we are blood related to and a group of friends that are our chosen family, aka framily.
Christina is the oldest child in her family. She has always had a super close relationship with her younger sister Catherine, whose family (including a niece and nephew) live locally. Catherine is also a special education teacher and they work together. Christina’s mom and her significant other live about 15 minutes away and we see them frequently – especially to use their pool! Christina’s dad lives out of the country with his significant other and comes to visit regularly and stays in close contact through FaceTime.
Colin is the youngest of three brothers. One brother, Clay, lives in the same town with his family (an additional niece and nephew) and they love to come play video games at Uncle Colin’s house. Charlie and his family, with three additional nieces, live in Kansas City. We lost Colin’s mom a few years ago and it was one of those big life challenges that we spoke about in our letter – we miss her a lot, especially in this process of growing our family.
Our friends are 100% a part of our family and part of our amazing circle of support. They come to family holiday gatherings, show up on our doorstep with meals when we need it (and vice versa) and we have the best times together – traveling, watching sports, and cooking together.
