[HollyMom]

I am in the process of adopting my three year old foster son. I was soooo excited to see a forum about creating lifebooks and scrapbooks and then disappointed to not see very recent posts, so I thought I'd start a thread of my own.

I recently finally decided how the first page of my son's scrapbook should look. I wrote him a nearly full page letter and printed it on transparency with a light splotchy background that coordinated with the rest of the page and then put a photo from the first day he was with us. I titled it with his first name and across the bottom of the page with "Home at Last". (Particularly significant since he bounced through 20 foster homes in 8 months.

During the first year he was our son, we had biweekly visits with his first family. We were lucky enough to develop a good relationship with them and have photos from some of those visits. So I did the second page with highlighting those loved ones. I titled it "heritage", and put the words, love, memories, history, and roots around with the pics. Oh, and I used the quote I saw here "If a mother can love more than one child, why is it hard to believe that a child can love more than one mother?" -- unknown.

Other than those two pages, the rest of his scrapbook so far seems like any other scrapbook of a proud Mommy. I'd love to hear what others are doing to incorporate the parts of their childrens lives that are related to adoption.

Please share your ideas. You never know what will inspire someone.

Holly

[Marfrey]

We are adopting a newborn so I bought the book "Waiting for You - An Heirloom Adoption Journal For My Future Child" and got ideas from there. Check it out on Amazon.com (it's by Kristen Davis) and do the "look inside" option to view the Table of Contents.

I'm an AVID scrapbooker - really do enjoy it! I did a 22 page family profile/scrapbook for our agency and then scanned each page so that I could show it to friends online... I thought it came out pretty good but my friends have been absolutely blown away <blush>... one even said I should teach classes <big blush>. I do have a question for you though -you said you wrote him a nearly full page letter and printed it on transparency... is it possible/safe to put scrapbook paper/vellum through a printer (laser or color inkjet)? Or when you said "transparency" did you mean transparency paper meant specifically for printers? I'd love to be able to print on my scrapbooking paper but wasn't sure if I could safely run it through either of my printers. And if that's not advisable, I'd love to print on transparency and "glue" it to my scrapbook paper but wasn't sure what kind of "glue" would be suitable since transparency papers are, well, transparent - I'm hoping to get a tip or two from you!

[HollyMom]

hehehehe,

you had some of my same thoughts on the transparency. I was thinking vellum, which is the effect it had, but I didn't have vellum... What a failure as a scrapbooker I felt when I didn't have the supplies to fulfill my inspiration when it hit.

No I used transparency film intended specifically for printers. It has a pretty rough side so the ink will adhere to it. I purchased it at Staples or Office Max can't remember which and I don't remember the price. I knew it was only one page so I wasn't terribly worried about acid/lignin especially since all my photos are digital so I can always reprint if they get messed up. I am sure you can put vellum through the printer, I'll let you know if I try it soon. As a matter of fact, I remember seeing a page of vellum printed in a magazine... that's probably where I got the idea. I'll try to post a picture of the page soon.

I've been wondering and wondering how other people attach vellum as it is see-through as you mentioned. I mean, it was a lot less see through when I printed the background on it, but still transparent. I used double sided photo tape just in the very corners and tried to obscure the rest by hiding them behind the words.

I have to tell the printer I am printing on transsparency so the ink is laid down in a way best suited toward the film. I just change it in the same place I tell it that I am using glossy photo paper.

Thanks for your response. I'll have to go check out that book. I'd love to see your scanned pages, do you have a website with them?

Holly

[Memories]

Holly sounds like you lifebook is coming around quite nicely. Just wanted to tell you that I think it is great you are putting so much work into your childs lifebook.

[Lorraine123]

We were recently the chosen adoptive resource for our new daughter. She is 6 years old. Her therapist wants us to create a scrapbook introducing us that he can use to help her with the transition. She will get the scrapbook before we meet her. Any great ideas on what we should include? Also, we want to write a letter to her as the intro to the book, but I am at a loss as to what to say. I have so many thoughts in my head that I want to say, but I want to be sure its appropriate. Any ideas here? Has anyone done this? I feel its so important and I want it to be perfect.

[HollyMom]

Congratulations! How exciting and what a neat thing to have a book of her new family.

I would definately include pictures of the two of you, any other children, and any pets.

Let her know what your favorite things are with words and pictures and tell her how excited you are to meet her. Make sure she knows you'll fill up all the blank pages with her doing some of her favorite things when she gets with you.

Holly

[Memories]

Don't forget to include pictures of your house (inside and out) the back yard. Her bedroom. Things like that will make her feel more comfortable when she moves in. Pictures of other people in your family that she will visit often. Possibly pictures of the school where she will go if she has to change schools. Even pictures of teachers if you can find out who they are. When I visited the school in my area they were more than happy to let me walk around and take pictures as I wanted to. If she will have to attend daycare take pictures of that place and the people that will be taking care of her..

Try to include every person who will be involved in her life from the point when she moves into your family.


Shannon

[Geri]

Hi,
I am just about to start a lifebook for my 6 month old daughter. She's been with us right from the hospital. We were at her birth and have many photos of her and her birthmother. I'm an avid scrapbooker but I'm soooo afraid to start this book! I feel so responsible for saying just the right thing. I bought Beth O'Malley's book and it's been very helpful. From what she says, the book should be geared toward a 4yr old. It should have all the information in it that you have but should be stated simply. It is a door opener for future conversations as the child gets older. Has anyone created such a book yet and do you have a general outline of the order the info should be presented? Thanks for any input.

[robleto]

We just adopted a 4 year old, and I am working on her second scrapbook. The first one followed this format:
1. Poem to our daughter that I wrote myself (I'll share it w/ anyone who's interested)
2. A page explaining "How We Found You"
3. "The first time we saw you" page w/ pictures
4. A section on "Bringing you home" with a copy of the birth certificate (even though we didn't get her from birth)
5. Letters related to our court cases
6. Cute doings and sayings page (This one was fun!)
7. Photos
8. Information on birthparents
9. Clippings of notes/emails people sent when they found out the adoption went through
10. "The World as It Was"- descriptions of popular things during this special time (i.e. big movies, news headlines...)
11. Hand and foot stamps (yes, even though she's 4! She LOVED IT-- We put a picture of us doing it next to the actual thing)
12. Invitations, pictures, notes, etc. from several showers held in her honor.
13. "Mommy's and Daddy's Wishes for you"-- We each wrote a personal note to her
14. Our family tree-- One page for each person
15. More pictures of memorable moments
16. A clipping of her hair
17. Her favorite things-- page w/ pics of things she likes
18. Early travels (pictures-- we travel a lot)
19. Immunizations, physical info to be continued through the years (height, weight...)
20. A year of memories... I kept a journal during the year we were having visits with her and waiting for the adoption to go through.
21. Her first drawing of our family
22. A birthday page
23. Preschool memories- pics and work samples
24. Pictures of our home, holidays...
25. Copies of the records of court proceedings
26. In the very back I have a pocket for things like: a calendar page with all the events of our first month together, the paper I doodled on while getting our first information on her, her first letter to Santa...

Hope this helps someone out there... Sherry

[Geri]

THANKS FOR THE INFO, SHERRY.

[Geri]

THANKS LYNN....MY SISTER IS A CM CONSULTANT....I'LL GET A BOOKLET FROM HER.

[khnath]

Thanks for the tip on C.M. I'm always looking for new and different items for my son's book. I didn't know that CM had an adoption booklet. I'll have to check it out!

[adoptivemom2000]

Geri,

Glad I could help. Don't be afraid to start the book! We adopted our daughter at birth. We met her the first time at the hospital the day after she was born. I have done her book just like any other baby book. We obviously don't have pictures of the birth, etc. I didn't try to gear her book to any certain age, etc. I just told about where we were and what we were doing when we got the phone call. I think alot of people worry too much about what to put in a lifebook--and I think the use of the word "lifebook" adds to their discomfort. I just scrapbook everything that has happened in a book. Each year I start a new book for Madison and a new family album. Because of the adoption, we have a two page spread on our adoption day. I put a copy of the wording the judge used when we "offically" became a family, and the pictures we took.

If you have information that you don't want shared with everyone, I think you should do a small album for the child. You can put birthparents pictures, and other information the child might want to know---but not want to share with family and friends. These are just my opinions!

Lynn

[crathke]

I didn't start scrapbooking until by bio son was nearly three years old, so I didn't have a lot of "pre-birth" pictures for him, either. In our family scrapbook, he just kind of "appears" and for that I made a page that consisted simply of his birth announcement on a beautiful background paper. Then I went back and scrounged for photos from showers, etc--even just pictures from the summer before where I was 'showing' to "create" that buildup. It was interesting to try and re-create four years of "pre-kid" history so we had a complete story of our family (I went back to our wedding as a starting point)

So although I am much more 'conditioned' now to view everything as a "photo-op", I didn't think it would be fair to have a big build-up to our younger son's arrival home. What I am doing for him is the same thing--he just "appears" in our family history with a copy of his adoption announcement. I will then go back and create pages like "waiting...." with some of the photos we got from our agency, etc. I've also taken tons of pictures of "firsts" for him to try and make up for the 2.5 years that aren't recorded. Hopefully it will balance out!

[TarainNC]

I am adopting an older child (12) from foster care. We are his visiting resource right now, but June 12th he should be with us full time.
I have another connection, as once upon a time 4 years ago, I was his social worker. Unfortunately the lifebook I started for him 4 years ago no longer exists. I have almost no pictures of him for the last four years he has been in a children's home. Or the first 12 years for that matter!
I do remember things about him and am writing them down. I started his new lifebook with his birth certificate and was wishing I had his baby picture or foot prints. I had a thought and shared this with our foster parent association. I am taking ink and stamping the side of his fist and making a print(this looks like a baby foot print) and then each fingerprint( to make the toes).
Looking for ideas for an adoption announcement if anyone has any ideas.
I am a single parent and I have two other children as well.
I am doing a page of all of us with this verse:
"Some of my children grew in my womb and some of them grew in my heart, but now that we're a family, I can't tell them apart. "