My Favorite Book

Have you met our Family of the Week?  Go click over and meet the Foster's and end your Friday by blessing them with $1!

When we started the adoption process, I happened to be working as a long term sub at a local school.  It was a unique school set up due to the students that were enrolled there, so there ended up being 3 programs in one big room (the old library).  One of the programs was run by an adoptive mother.  She had a beautiful little girl, and an open adoption.

The friendship we developed over those 12 weeks has stuck around.  She helped me navigate the adoption questionnaires, gave advice on our profile book, and let me chat her ear off.  She also bought a whole bunch of books for our future child.  One of them was
"God Found Us You" by Lisa Tawn Bergren. 

 

It is probably one of my favorite books in our home, but doesn't get read that often, simply because every time I read it aloud, I end up crying. 

 

Isaac has just begun to understand emotions, and thinks that if there are tears, then you're sad.  The last time I read it to him, I finished the book, and he looked at me and said, "Momma, sad?".

 

I smiled and gave him a hug, reassuring him that no, Momma wasn't sad, but just like Momma Fox in the book, I was the "happiest Momma in the whole world."

 

Tips When Doing an Adoptive Parent Profile

The adoption profile is the first thing your potential birth mother will see when trying to choose the parents she wants for her baby. It can get overwhelming pretty quickly! Here are some tips to help you through that I learned from our adoption agency.

* Most adoptive families want to fit their entire life story in a profile. Big mistake. Birth moms are going through many of these profiles and most do not take the time to read about your childhood dog that died 25 years ago. Keep your profile short. Give a few sentences on you, your spouse, a very small paragraph of any children and/or pets, tell the short story of how you fell in love and how many years you've been married. Don't over do it otherwise most birth moms will just overlook your profile in search of a shorter one.

* Try to finish the nursery before you send your profile out that way you have pictures of what it will look like included in your profile.

* When doing your Dear Birth mom letter try not to be overly emotional. I know this can be difficult, but it's necessary. Just give the basics and again, keep it short.

* Always try to add lots pictures throughout your profile book and maybe add small captions to a few. 

* If you are like me and not good with scrap booking try Scrapbook Max. It's easy to use and I completed our 11 page profile in about 45 minutes using this. http://www.scrapbookmax.com/. Get as creative as you can. If you aren't creative then find a friend who is and try to work on it together.

* We asked 4 people we were close to to write a small paragraph about me and my husband. It was just a way for the birth mom to see the different people who would be included in their child's life and it also gave her a perspective of us from another persons views. Just remember, keep it short.

* (This is totally my opinion, but I think you should go with whatever works best for you and your schedule) I can't begin to stress the importance of doing your own profile. Getting help from a friend is one thing, but to have a company do it is another thing entirely. I know that we don't all have time to fit everything we'd like to do in one day, but this profile should be made with love from you to your birth mom. It's a very special thing and letting a stranger do it for you is like saying your heart really isn't in it as much as it should be.

* Include a picture of your home. Let her see, through pictures, as much as she can about the life her child will have with you.

* Be willing to travel to meet her if she wants and make sure you include that in your Dear Birth mom letter.

* Include the phone number of your adoption agency at the end of your profile :)

* If you are making about 150-200 profiles then have a party at your house! Invite friends and relatives to help you put all the pages together, bind them, and make sure everything is as it should be because trying to do this on your own will just stress you out. Have fun with this journey as much as you can.

I hope these little tips help make it easier as you tackle the difficulty of completing a profile for your future birth mom! Good luck on your adoption journey :)