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One of the greatest gifts my wife gave to our son is a HUGE Photo/Scrap book chronicling our entire adoption search, along with the first five years of his life. I can’t tell you how often he pulls out this triple-volume book set to enjoy and share with his little friends.
It includes pictures of his Birthmom while pregnant, pictures of our hospital visit when he was only 1 day old (with photos of all three of us passing him back and forth to each other), photos of his birth-Grandparents, and photos of our welcome home party given to us by our wonderful neighbors.
As well, it continues with the upcoming five years of his life, including birthday parties, learning to walk, and all the milestones that enrich our lives.
But I hear you asking, "HOW DO I FIND THE TIME to keep track of all of this?"
Here are a few ideas:
Journaling your Adoption Journey:
As we began our Adoption Search, I my wife bought for me a WONDERFUL gift...a hand-held tape recorder...you know...a Dictaphone. You'll notice SHE bought it for ME! That meant, of course that it became MY job to document our entire Adoption Search process. And after I got started, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way!
Every day or so, I would confide in this little machine, her’ s and my deepest, most intimate thoughts, feelings, fears and joys. Some days were mundane. Some days CRAZY. But they all added up to be the Journal of our Journey To Adoption.
Once a week or so, I’d take time for myself and transcribe my ramblings into the computer. This gave me a chance to "fill in the blanks" as I typed, massaging the words and thoughts, adding and deleting what was really important during the last few days. When I was done, when our son was about 1 year old, we had (and now have) the most incredible 72 page account of our every thought, fear, sorrow, joy and happiness for the most important 2 years of our lives.
These memories now include everything we did, felt and thought. From contacting agencies and attorneys, to finding leads for birthmoms...that eventually fell through. From finally finding that one very special Birthmom that would be giving birth to our beautiful boy, to her phone call to our agency (while she was in the delivery room of all places!) asking for a girl's and boy's name from US, so she could name the child OUR NAME just as it was born. And even our first shopping trip to Target, with our little boy in our arms, to buy onsies, diapers, formula and baby nail clippers.
Tears fill my eyes at this very moment as I write this, the power of memory! Without our Journal, many, many of these memories would have faded into nothingness. And now, every time we read that journal, we sob tears of joy as we re-live the most intense years of our lives.
Photographs: Digital and 35MM Film
Don’t wait until baby arrives to start photo-documenting your Adoption Search. Take pictures as you visit to your Agency or Attorney. Take pictures of your shopping trip to the furniture store, as you pick out the new crib. Take pictures during your Work Party. Take pictures just about any and everywhere you can, as you live through these pre-adoption days, seaching for your wonderful child.
While digital cameras allow you to organize your pictures easily on your computer, don’t get complacent. Be sure to keep the photos organized and BE SURE to back up your computer’s hard drive OFTEN. (Don't have a Digital Camera? Order one here: Digital Cameras more! RitzCamera.com  )
A Digital Photo HINT: On a PC, in Windows, if you right-click on a digital image file, and select, “Properties”, you can click the “Summary” tab and type in details about the image. Do this to track important memories about your Journey to Adoption. (I’m sure something similar is available on the MAC.)
For 35MM hard-copy prints, be sure to write on the back of all the important photos, with a date, names of all people in the photo, and situation: location, events happening, etc. Buy picture storage boxes that keep your pictures safe AND organized.
You will be SO HAPPY if you make this one of your priorities!
Warmly
Sandy and David |