[barbhuff]

We're knee-deep in preparation for our son's adoption celebration, and I'm looking to you experienced adoptive parents for more ideas for his party.

He's eighteen months old, been with us since he was seven months.

We have the church reserved. Food planned. Cake ordered. Lifebook almost caught up.

What all can I do to make it special?

Thanks in advance!

[turbett55]

First I want to say congratulations on the adoption!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Does he have a favorite character like: Mickey Mouse,Barney,etc.... maybe if you could get your hands on a costume of his favorite character and have someone dress up it in for him.

Also, as your guests are walking in there could be a colage of pictures of his journey to adoption with you.

How many people do you have coming? Because you could also have a parting gift for your guests to remember the special day too.

Just a few ideas hope this helps . Wishing you all the happiness.

Christy

[leaabc123]

You could have a theme, like Aloha for example. Everyone gets a leigh to wear. Music is always good.

But congrats and I am sure whatever you do will be great

[mallory4]

I'll try to keep my jealousy at bay long enough to say congratulations and hooray for you and your family

Sounds like you are already doing a lot to make the day special, and I am sure you will treasure the memories.

Two things people have done for me (for non-adoption but big life-change special occasions) that I really cherish years later are:

A friend distributed squares of fabric and fabric markers at a moving-away party, and guests drew pictures or wrote messages for our family, etc. She collected them as folks departed and made them into a quilt. It is not fancy by any means, but when my kids (age 1 and 3 at the time of the move) see the drawings and messages, it really lets them see that they were born into a community of friends, and gives them a sense of connection to people they now only see on vacation trips.... A treasure!

The other one, and this could be incorporated into that life book you're almost caught up on is a guest book where guests write a wish for the child's future, or something special they appreciate about the child. You might even be able to get a photos of some or all of the guests to put in beside their comments. My daughter loves reading about funny things she did and said that people wrote about at her 1st birthday.

And, from my own experiene with my baby book from way back in the old days--keep the cards! My favorite part of my baby book isn't the notation about the first day I ate stewed prunes or whatever my mom was obsessed with recording--it is the baby shower and 1st birthday cards people sent. I love the old fashioned look of them, and the fact that they express happiness at my arrival, etc.

Good luck and happy celebrating!

[barbhuff]

Originally Posted by mallory4

I'll try to keep my jealousy at bay long enough to say congratulations and hooray for you and your family

Good luck and happy celebrating!

Oh honey, I understand the little green-eyed monster, believe me. This has not been an easy journey for us. First, we had a failed private adoption due to miscarriage (and as someone who has suffered a half-dozen of them myself, that was not a good experience for us...) Then, our first foster placement and her sister (the third placement) were unexpectedly reunified with a grandparent after thirteen months. I was very proactive, and then we were initially matched with a baby in Florida-- only to fall through days before we were to fly down and spend some time with her-- because her doctor voiced a concern with infection with our four-year-old at the time. Eighteen more kids came and went with three more strong possible matches from all over the country that didn't work out. Then a legal-risk baby who goes to grandparents. Then another legal-risk newborn who returns to his parents when they decide there wasn't enough evidence. Then we turned down an adoptive placement for a teen we'd been doing weekend respite with-- we felt strongly that she should be with her twin and we couldn't do that. (They were adopted together.) Then we find out we are matched with a sib duo from our agency whom we had turned down for foster placement after our first babies left (it was the next day-- too soon for me) only to find out after meeting them that their foster parents changed their minds and wanted to keep them. They change their minds again. And again. And again. And again. They're keeping the girls. Then two beautiful little babies come along from another foster home-- going to be permanent. Do you want to adopt? Total disaster. After nine months, we finally agree that they need to be with their older sibs and they leave. BUT my Tre-Tre is already in my home, and I couldn't let myself believe what my heart was telling me. This one was the one.

And now, my girls are back. Three years later. We find out Friday if they are going to the other grandparents or TPR. That's everyone's recommendation. YEAH!!!!

I understand. Hang in there. Your time is coming.

[Mommy77777]

I think it's important to give these kids every opportunity to make choices for themselves. We asked our foster daughters what they would like to do for their party (somewhat afraid of what their answer might be), and they said they want to go skating. So, we will rent out our local skating rink, and have a big blow-out party!!

[westernmom]

We finalized our 3 yo adoption in September. He loves firefighters & firetrucks - so that was the theme. It was kinda like a birthday party with a pinata, cake, balloons, etc. as we figured he'd never had a party in his honor before. We just had it outside in our backyard.

I took the picture from his adoption announcement and double matted it. I had everyone sign the mat and write a note to our little guy. I also put my dad in charge of making sure that there was a picture taken of everyone who was there (for the scrapbook). We invited his speech therapist, caseworker, adoption worker, our agency worker - anyone who had been a part of our little guy's life.

Congratulations!! Your adoption day party has been a long time coming! Enjoy it & spoil your little one rotten.

[mallory4]

Barbhuff, OMgoodness, there is no way I could take going through all of that. What a journey!

I think in addition to your little one having a party, you should treat YOURSELF, too. I know the adoption party will be a celebration for you, too, but I hope you go out with dh or whoever you enjoy spending time with and have a fabulous dinner or a day at a spa or something that you really enjoy, too!

Thanks for the inspiration!

[AmyAnne]

We let our son pick the people he wanted to invite. We will have a low-key celebration at home, because A does not do well if he gets overstimulated. We'll grill out some burgers and hot dogs. Being so close to Christmas we've requested only the gift of our friend's attendance be given. We had a Christmas ornament engraved with A's full adopted name and below it "December 8, 2005. Adopted with Love". The kids can play board games or Air Hockey (we have an air hockey table) The kitties will spend the 2 hours of the party camped out in the master bedroom since they both despise children. (One likes A pretty well and the other still only tolerates him.)

[barbhuff]

Thanks for all the great ideas and notes of congratulations. I appreciate them. Tre is too young to be doing much of the deciding on his own, but I think he'll just love being the center of attention!

[Boulderbabe]

My son's adoption party was the best day of my entire life! Here are some special things we did:

Before the party, we had some time for just the two of us. I took him to the park, and there was a guy there testing the sprinklers. I thought, "what the heck" and taught him to run through the water! He kept yelling "3...3...3..(trying to count when you only know the one number is hard)......DING THE WAWO!" and then we would run through and pretend to be drinking the water. That right there is the most incredible memory and I will always treasure it.

We had important people in his life come up and make short speeches. I invited his GAL and his SW to speak, too. It was incredibly moving and I taped it all for him. (He's only 2).

I put out cards for people to put what they wish for him in his life. Then I put the cards in his lifebook next to the pictures of the people that were there.

The only thing I wish I'd done: gotten more pictures of the two of us together! The party was so fun, and there were so many kids for him to play with, that we didn't end up spending enough of the party just the two of us!

[pugmamma]

I am weeks away from final approval & this has been on my mind as well. I was thinking today, while I was listening to the Rascal Flats, God Bless the Broken Road.and decided when the time comes I am going to make my guests all cd's with this song as the first title.