Adoption Books

Right from the moment we met Benjamin, it was on my mind. How will I be able to explain adoption to my child. How can I make sure he understands the concept of adoption and just how amazing he is and how much we love him. I wanted my children to understand, as much as they could, at age appropriate levels. As we went through the adoption process, with each of them I kept a journal. A journal of what happened, how court went, who testified, meeting the birth parents...etc. But those are "adult" age journals, that I will give them after they are grown when they are able to really understand. What I needed was something for NOW when they are still too young for the "hard" parts of adoption, but old enough to learn about the basics. Of course we received classes about "Life Books" and I loved the concept, but I am SOOOO not a scrap-booker! I just can't do it. Sitting there and trying to come up with the page designs and the stickers to match and all that, just not my thing. So I decided to go with the concept and make it mine! I know I love to tell kids stories, and I love to write. And that is what I did. I sat down and wrote each child's adoption story in a Children's Book form! Something we could read before bed or after nap. Something that explained the basics, made them feel special and still was age appropriate. Even with this idea I knew I would need help. Help with the illustrating. Making the story come to life! And when kids are young, it is the pictures that tell the story to them. Since this was not my talent, I enlisted a family friend, Tabitha! She was so willing and I was grateful! She did a WONDERFUL job bringing these stories to life and my children light up when they see the pictures of themselves that she made. What a wonderful friend to give my children a life long gift like this! They point to the pages and talk about the colors and the objects and LOVE "THEIR" book! This is what I wanted. For my kids to LOVE learning about how they were adopted. Tabitha was such a big part of this! My words come to life for the kids, when her illustrations are added! It was NO small favor I asked of her, but she was the perfect one for the job! She will always hold a special place in my heart, for what she has done for my children. (THANKS Tab!) I wanted to share some of the pictures with you! They turned out so great! I have covered the words of the stories, making sure that the details of their stories are kept private, but wanted to show how great they turned out. That there is another option, other than just a scrap book, for those of us not gifted in that area!

Hannah's Cover

Dedication Page. I think she will cherish this book for years!

On this page is when we all met Hannah for the first time! SHE LOVES pointing to everyone!

The day we brought our Hannah home! (she loves the "baby Hannah's blankie")

This page talks about her being sick and flying in a helicopter when she was only 6wks old. She really thinks that its "COOL" she has flown in a helicopter!

This page talks about all the traveling we did for birth visits.

This is her favorite! The one with her "petty" dress on!

The last page! MY FAV!

Ben's Cover! ( HE LOVES THE "WOCKET"!)

Dedication page.

This page explains that every baby is born, and tells him when and where he was born! He seems to really be able to grasp the concept in the story form!

This page begins to explain birth moms and birth dads.

This page explains about his name!

I LOVE THIS ONE! This page is all about Ben being Native American and all about his tribe!

Thought I would share a bit about how the story is written.

He LOVES this page. He says he is "GROWING AND GROWING UP"

And MY Fav! Adoption DAY!