Just in case you were looking for a few ideas of what to include in an adoption scrapbook/Life Book, here is a list compiled with help from members of the Guatemala-Adopt list community:
Life before Baby/Child
--type of work you do
--places you've lived
--hobbies
--pets
--what a typical weekend would be like "before baby"
Adoption Process
--story of how you decided to adopt (and why)
--how you chose country (if International)
--how long the process took - steps involved
--photos of homestudy and agency personnel
--description of talks with birthmother (pictures if possible)
--home study
--referral picture and docs that arrived with picture
--referral call, what you were doing when you got it
Birth and Foster Families
--socio-economic background of the birth mother
--names (and photos if possible) of the birth mother, father, grandparents
--names (and photos if possible) of the foster mother and family
--a birth and adopted family tree
Legal Section
--place of birth
--places where the child has lived (foster families, orphanages, reasons for
moves)
--birth certificate
--social security card
--citizenship copy
--court petition (readopt) and decree
The Name Game
--a description on how you arrived at baby's name
--what the name means
--a list of your top choices
--child's name written in their language
The Nursery
--photos of fixing up the nursery
--descriptions of why you purchased what you did
--what was the most popular theme at the time
Travel Section
--airplane ticket stubs
--money from the country
--maps
--a local newspaper from the birth town/country
--brochures from museums and theatres that were visited
--a little bit of the orphanage (a stone from outside, a small handful of dirt,
etc.)
--their name written in their language
--pictures of orphanage, caretakers, homestay families, drivers, interpreters,
judge, sightseeing, airport and everything else that happens on your Int'l
journey.
--for domestic--pictures of the hospital, birthmom (if possible), hotel you
stayed in, and everything else that was a part of the "travel"
experience.
--what you were doing when you got the call saying it was time to travel
Baby Showers
--baby shower(s) invitation
--photos of baby shower(s)
--piece of gift paper and card for each baby gift (this could get big, so maybe
a small collage)
--names of people who were in attendance
Arrival Section
--first family photo after joining the child
--photos of arrival (the plane)
--date, time, airlines and place of arrival
--description of travel with child
--photos of passport/visa
--if child was escorted, escort information & photos, write any comments
escort made regarding the trip with your child
--photos of people meeting you at the airport
--pictures of your house if someone decorated it before you got home
--pictures of family/friends holding the baby with huge smiles
--short personal handwritten notes from family/friends welcoming the baby
Personal Section
--baby's favorite food, toy, book, etc.
--list sleep and nap patterns (incl. picture)
--describe how they like bathing (incl. picture)
Medical Section
--report of each physical including updated measurements at each
doctor visit
--immunization record
--full physical, history and clearance for adoption
--hand and foot imprints
--birth statistics (height, weight, head circumference, etc.)
--pictures of the doctors at the orphanage, Embassy and home pediatrician
Political & Current Affairs Section
--who was in office
--anything that you find interesting about the current state of affairs
--International adoptions could include: political picture of country, people in
office, economic picture and any state of affairs you find interesting about
that country.
--International adoption can include flag of country
--list the current hot sports stars and teams
--list the current hot actors, actresses and movies
--what food was chic--what restaurants
--what fashion was hot
Cost of things
--cost of movies
--price of diapers, formula, Big Mac, etc.
--average annual income for the nation
--average home price for your region
The Adoption Announcement
--include the adoption announcement
--describe why you picked that particular one
Customs/Holidays
--pictures of all the child's "first" holidays with your
family
--describe the feelings of having your child present for these special occasions
--a list of holidays from the home country and a description of how they are
celebrated
Christening/Dedication Ceremonies
--pictures of ceremonies
--copy of invitation to ceremony
Ceremonies
--naturalization/citizenship pictures and any documents received
--visa appointment
--readoption court appearance
Gotcha Day Celebration
--for International adoptees, pictures of the family celebrating
gotcha day
--description for any particular reason you chose to celebrate the way you did
Poetry
--You can either have a section of adoption poems that you love or
space favorite poems throughout the book. Perhaps put one at the beginning of
each chapter?
Year 2, 3, 4 and so on
--Collage of photos with captions and momentos of the year. At the
end of each section is a handwritten summary of the year's events.
Drawings by child, school work, stories, report cards