Monday, October 17, 2011

Adoption Profiles, Birthmother Letters, Websites Oh My!!! HELP WANTED!!!

Ok, I know that I am probably putting the cart before the horse, but I am on fall break this week and am thinking this would be a good time to get on the ball with the profile and birthmother letter...
CAN WE SAY OVERWHELMING?!?!?!?!

So this is where I am enlisting your help... Did you do it yourself? Use a designer? How much did it cost you? I was just looking at a few sites and am thinking there is no way we can afford the designers... $800 for something I can do on Shutterfly or Pages??? Then of course I am thinking your are paying for the less stressful route. But, we can't afford almost $1000 bucks.... The profiles I really liked were on a site that didn't list the prices... You know they must be very expensive. So, tomorrow, I might be peeling myself off of the floor when the lady emails me back.

Now this is where my flaws come in... I am a perfectionist with certain things... this being one. I also obsess about decision making...again not the best quality when making, what I know and read on a site, is the MOST IMPORTANT thing about adoption. This is going to be my new obsession... Going to have to drop caking making like its hot!

So I know some of you have previously posted about these things, so please give me your advice. I read a good article about what pictures to use and which ones not to use. Makes lots of sense. I almost feel like we need to go have some pictures made of us... we haven't been out there in pics in a while. Last Christmas was the last time we really took more than a few pictures together.

I will be checking this for comments (probably obsessively)... That might help occupy my mind, since we have 2 more days to wait until we find out if this little miracle is a boy or girl, and if we will have the opportunity to interview with the BM or not.

4 comments:

  1. It is an overwhelming task, but don't worry- you'll get it done!

    I would recommend having someone take some pics of you guys. That's the first thing a bm looks at, so why not make sure they are updated, you like them, and someone who knows what they are doing to make them look good. :) For our letter, I prayed and I also looked around at other adoption profiles for ideas. I think once you have an outline of what you want to say, after the first sentence, the rest will just come out. Best wishes! :)

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  2. I'm not an adoptive parent, so take this advice with a grain of salt b/c it hasn't worked yet ...
    The most daunting task was our Dear Birthmother letter. We had a "guide" of sorts that our adoption worker gave to us. Sit down and do a section at a time. Once you start, it does get easier. Do you have a guide from which to write the letter?
    Regarding your profile book, we used Mixbook.com, which I really loved. If you are a crafty person who doesn't enjoy scrapbooking in real life, this is the site for you! They have templates already done, which you can use or edit to your hearts desire. The books are pretty inexpensive (about $30 for all the personalization) (we opted to get 8.5 x 11 hardcover). If you search for a Mixboo.k coupon on the web, you can get a discount (we found a 25% off coupon!).
    Our agency is a very small local agency w/o all the designers/etc as some of the larger agencies, but we just don't have the savings to use a larger agency now. The Mixbook looks very professional. I was impressed!
    (If you use Mixbook, keep all your template picture inserts out about 1/2" off the page so you don't a gap between the end of it and the page. If you google Mixbook problems, you'll understand what I mean.)
    Email me directly if you have any questions. I can show you what we did for our Mixbook / BMom letter if it helps .... :)
    HOW EXCITING!!!!!

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  3. Thank you both for your input! I am on the hunt for a good photographer.. Our friend is booked up that did them last year. I am going to check out the Mixbook tonight for sure.

    I was thinking of just looking at the professional ones and make an out line from that. So we shall see... :) I will for sure be emailing you :)

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  4. From a bmom's point of view...don't start with "Dear Birthmother"...use "Expectant Parent/s" instead. A birthmother is someone who has signed TPR and placed her child. Until that is done she is still the mother of that child and deserves that respect.

    Good Luck! :)

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