A glimpse.

i'm giving you a peek.

into our photo book.

the one that hovered over my head for months and months.

you know the one.

the one that can determine who and when we may get our next child.

 

this book.

is all that a birth family sees for them to make a decision if they want to meet us, interview us, or PICK US!

 

that's it.

everything in this book has to represent us.

this book may be what leads us to our next child.

 

well I was really happy after 3 different reviews from our caseworker and some editing, that we got what we felt was best, what represented us, and what we felt we wanted a birth family to know.

 

we had a guideline and requirements to follow.

only so many pages, so many pics per page, and different things that we needed to include. all to help balance and represent us fully. And most pictures had to be recent. That can be difficult when you find that you mainly only take pictures of your kid. and not of yourself or as a whole family!

 

so here is just a glimpse:

 

cover. there is a vellum type material in the front.

cover.

 

our dear birthparent letter.

that was a hard one.

how do you thank someone you don't even know for the greatest gift ever?!

 

some oldies!

 

last page.

 

well there it is....

 

I hope that this represents who we are in a whole to a family.

and hopefully we will be picked SOON! :)

 

shoot... I would pick us.

Adoption "Baby" Book

while doing some research on finding some adoption themed books for our future child I came across this "baby" book.

 

I ordered it from amazon and got it the other day.

I LOVE it.

 

its a memory book, but there are parts that are centered around the age of a baby.

if a child is adopted at an older age, and there isn't any past information known, some parts could be tough to fill out like.

like first steps and first word.

 

but all in all, i'm in love with this book and I think it's absolutely perfect for us!

not to mention, it's adorable!

 

 

My Family, My Journey

 

here's a glimpse into the book:

{poor photo quality courtesy of iphone}

 

 

Waiting: plans & preparations we made

The Match: when matched, how we found out, how we celebrated

 

Coming Home: when, trip home, what you wore

Your New Home: pic of room, thoughts of home, first day home

 

Your Adoption Day: date, judge's name, people who were there, celebration

Picture for adoption day!

 

Things that you make you smile

Things that make you cry

What we know about your birth family & where you came from

 

first year with us: spots for pictures

there is a page for every month, for the first twelve months with us

 

the back has this awesome pouch to hold important stuff!

 

there are also spots for important people who helped us find you, family trees, journey, first meeting, all about name & birthday, baby shower, before you were born, adoption story and MORE.

 

I love this book and i'm so excited that I find a baby book for adoption.

List of Adoption Books

I thought that I would list some adoption and/or parenting books that I have read or have bought and plan on reading! :)

 

 

Dear Birthmother

 

Adopt without Debt

 

Parenting with Love & Logic

(this isn't adoption specific, it's just a great parenting book)

 

Labor of the Heart: A parent's guide to the decisions and emotions in adoption

 

Raising Adopted Children

 

Setting Limits: How to raise responsible, independent children by providing clear boundaries

 

How to Talk so Kids Can Learn

 

How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk

 

I will add some more books as I come along them and we have a great list of books from our agency!

 

I have some great suggestions for adoption books for kids as well, but i will save those for another time.

Adoption - Individual Interview

I had my individual interview on Tuesday!

Bubba had his on Monday.

Of course I was a nervous wreck before the meeting and was imagining all of these questions that our caseworker was going to ask me and if I would answer them “wrong”

The whole drive up to seattle was exhausting just from all of the thoughts in my head.

I mean this lady, our case worker, is the one who writes up everything about us as a family and presents us to the whole office staff. Puts us on display! How could I not be freaking out about this interview!!

Well, as usual, she was super nice and reassured me that it was informal and that there is no right or wrong answers.

The interview went so well and I actually felt good by the end of it. I thought for sure that I would end up crying during it and I didn’t. only one time I got tears in my eyes, but no tears actually fell. Yay me!

Even though she was nice enough to have a box of tissues waiting on the table for me after bubba told her that I would probably cry during it. Haha!

The questions were simple enough, basically clarification and expansion on questions asked in the autobiography. Surprisingly, some of the things that we talked about were about the process and things that needed to be done and not everything was about my autobiography.

After the interview was over I got the chance to peek at some of the photo books that other couples made. It was so great seeing some examples because I wasn’t all that sure how it’s supposed to look.

Now bubba, he has a “more complicated history” as said by our caseworker so he didn’t get his interview finished in his 3 hour allotment, so he gets to go back at the end of March to finish his.

We also found out that our joint interview, rowan’s interview and our house inspection will all be done at one time!! Yay! All at our house on one day. I’m so excited about this for many reasons!

Another thing done!

Although, I’m finding as we go along with this process, that just as we get something else done I feel like we have more stuff pop up that needs to addressed and gets added to our list.

I now need to get a doctor’s letter and bubba also has to get a doctor’s letter , just make things clear with no questions, to be a part of the homestudy.

While I understand that our caseworker is telling us these things to HELP US and plus it’s her job, it can still be frustrating, but I just try to remind myself that while things keep adding to our list, it’s for our benefit and for our future child.

Now we need to work our parent resource plan, open adoption assignment, and everything for our house inspection (including a fire extinguisher (we have one, just not the one that we are required), first aid kit with certain items, a crib, etc) our photo book and our letter to the birth mother.

I'm also still trying to finish my book DEAR BIRTHMOTHER.

Lots to do !!