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i don't even know what to call it. i just know i am supposed to make an album about my family that communicates who we are and what we like. but do i make it into a real book, like on shutterfly? how long or short is it supposed to be? i'm less concerned about what someone will think about my family, and more concerned i'll break some unwritten rules and make it too long or write too much.
are there any generic pointers you can offer?
i looked around online for profile ideas, but every site i found just showed examples of 1 page print out profiles or online profiles, and i have to have a book. i can't find any examples like that. if you know of a site that will show me that, will you pm that to me? :)
thanks in advance!
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We met with a social worker that showed us books that were created like at shutterfly they were maybe the minimum like 20 pages long each spread had a theme: his family, her family, our house and neighborhood, about her, about him, how we met marriage, and a letter kinda to birthmom like a conclusion as an ending.
We made ours on Picaboo versus Shutterfly. Some of the more artistic people make an acutal scrapbook. Then of it as a photo album with a few extra words that tells about your family.
Our first book the agency used for about six months and then we got a new social worker that said it was too confusing with all of our extended family in it with long stories about each (we have a large extended family). They suggested keeping the book to mainly talking about our immediate family with little parts that show how involved we are with the rest of our family without naming all 50 people :-)
A friend of mine just put one together for her first adoption and she did a really cute job of showing things / activities around our town and how a future child would enjoy them and kind of what environment they will live in.
Basically, everyone's is a little bit different and no matter what you put in yours it will be perfect for the birth mother that chooses you :-)
Meli caught all the topics pretty well and explained it well. I would add in a two page spread on activities you enjoy as well as a 2 page spead on your current kids and maybe make the "our house and neighborhood" page a two page spead with "our hometown" on the first page of it. I am not familiar with Picaboo but I know on shutterfly you can upload all your pics and mess around with it for free -- basically make the whole book without ordering. You can also make your own pages and put them in an albumn and then have the whole thing copied at an office supply place. Unless you are very artistic, that probably will not look as good as the profiles you will be "competing" with.
Also, before you get too excited, find out the page size requirements from your agency. Most want letter sized books.
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Every agency or facilitator or attorney I worked with had their own criteria. Basically the same stuff content-wise but very different formats. One agency suggested Shutterfly and another wouldn't accept a bound book, she wanted it stapled or tied with a ribbon (I think she put them in a 3 ring binder with other waiting people's profiles). So I would check before you put much effort or money. PDF is great so it's email-able if you plan on sending it around. I thought the Shutterfly one came out really cute.
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