[scrapandtell]

rebeccasusan: The way I did mine was a little at a time, even when it came to the story. I mean, I had all of the basics of the story in my head so I just decided to start typing the text (my first draft of it anyway) into the computer. As I sought more feedback from others and read more on the concept of lifebooks, I went back to revise my text.

Then, after I had chosen the words, I thought of what embellishments could be used to make it aesthetic for my daughter, for whom the book was ultimately created. It has to be more than words (at this age anyway) to hold her attention.

After having the story solidified and picking out the materials, I did the layouts on the computer (rough ones anyway) and then finally put together the actual lifebook page. (I did most of hers scrapbook-style but there are several pages where it looks more like a storybook than a scrapbook.)

For my kids, I am starting with their birth and stopping at the homecoming...actually I will have one more page, for the official "readoption" in my home state. I have separate scrapbooks for everything past that. It's really a matter of preference though...I just thought the book would be too big if I didn't cut it off.

One thing that might help you is to gather once per month with a group of adoptive parents that are also working on lifebooks. I do this, and it helps not only with motivation but also you can bounce your ideas off of others if there are difficult topics to address.

One other suggestion might be to set a goal...like, I will have this lifebook done by September 1, 2004 or by the recipient's birthday, etc.

Good luck! If there is anything more I can do, let me know.