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Telling their story in a book

purplerhipurplerhi
in Adoption

Has anyone written their child's story in a book for them-beyond baby/memory book?  A friend of mine growing up was told her story in the form of a bedtime story and I thought it would be neat to do the same for DD; however, I want to have it bound in a book with pictures.  I have started DD's book on Mixbook (loved the profile book I made on there).  

My ? is .....should it be in first person (we went etc) or would it sound better written like "DD's Mommy & Daddy, they did this"

What are your thoughts? 

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Re: Telling their story in a book

  • Art TeacherArt Teacher

    We did this just a few months ago!  I used snapfish to print it in hardcover.  We titled it "Zoe's Story" and has pictures of her on the cover from the day of her birth up until this past summer.  This is what I wrote:

    Mommy and Daddy got married and wanted to start a family (with a pic from our wedding.)

    Mommy and Daddy hoped, wished, and prayed for a baby to love. (with a pic of her crib with her bear in it)

    One morning in June we got a telephone call.  Your birthmom wanted to meet us!  (A picture of us grinning after we found out we were chosen by a birthmom...yes, I actually took a picture of us!!)

    You grew in ____'s tummy.  ______ wasn't able to be a mom then, so she looked for someone else to be your parents, and that's how we found each other.  (I included a pic of her birthmom holding her in the hospital)

    This is the hospital where you were born (I took a pic of it.)

    This was your bed in the hospital (Pics of her id tag and her bassinet)

    Your birth grandparents ______ and _______ held you and spent time with you in the hospital.  (Pics of the birthgrandparents holding dd - given to us by dd's birthmom)

    ______ chose adoption for you because she loves you so much.  (5 pics of her in the hospital and with her birthmom there.)

    Daddy and Mommy held you and couldn't stop smiling.  You were so beautiful!  (2 pics of us holding her in the hospital)

    You wore a tiny purple hat that was too big for you.  You were very small (pic of her in the hat)

    We talked to you and fed you a bottle (Pics of my husband holding her for the first time and of me feeding her)

    The next day  you were able to come home with us (pic in the carseat before we left the hospital.)

    You got the hiccups as soon as we walked in the door!  (Yes, I took a pic of this, too!!!)

    This is your house (just a picof what it looked like two years ago)

    Our family was so excited to meet you!  (Family pics on two pages - lots of them!)

    We love getting together with ______ and her family!  (Pics of DD with her birthmom, birthgrandparents, and her birthuncles.)

    We are so happy that you came into our lives and made us a mommy and a daddy.  You made us a family!  We love you, Zoe!  (pic of 3 of us)

    She loves the book.  She even showed it to her birthmom when she was here for a visit :)

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  • Art TeacherArt Teacher

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  • purplerhipurplerhi
    Thank you.  That was along the lines of what I was thinking.  For now DD's adoption is closed, but we did meet BM so we have knowledge of her and the whys.  I wanted to incorporate that info in without specifics so I thought a book would be good.  Thank you for sharing.
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  • erinmc1erinmc1 member
    This is such a fun idea!  It would be cute to do a book with photos, only alter the images in Photoshop so they look like illustrations/drawings!
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  • cadgirlcadgirl member
    ArtTeacher, thanks for writing all of that out!  I'm such a concrete thinker that having an example to go off from is very helpful!  What a neat thing that she can look through it and share it with others!
    Foster parents turned adoptive parents :)
    Adoptive daughter born 08/07/13... growing so fast
    BM due again end of March 2015 so any day!
    Bloggy blog
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  • buggerfly12buggerfly12
    I just wanted to say this is such a neat idea!! I wonder if I have the right kind of pictures to write something like this for DS...
    ~Julie image Lilypie Angel and Memorial tickers Lilypie Waiting to Adopt tickers
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  • ctbride08ctbride08 member

    imagefredalina:
    I am doing this for Christmas, but for some reason first person feels right. Maybe because she loves "Clifford" books and they start like this: "I'm Emily Elizabeth and I have a dog." Any so it will be more like "I'm Charlotte and this is my story. When I was born..."

    This is how we did it - The title of his book is "How did I get here?"

    The feel of it is a little different since he is a foster child, but it has been a wonderful tool for him

    Blogs: Our Growing Family - CT Working Moms
    Lilypie Kids Birthday tickersLilypie Third Birthday tickersLilypie Second Birthday tickers

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  • Art TeacherArt Teacher

    imagecadgirl:
    ArtTeacher, thanks for writing all of that out!  I'm such a concrete thinker that having an example to go off from is very helpful!  What a neat thing that she can look through it and share it with others!

    You're welcome!  :)

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  • Art TeacherArt Teacher

    imagefredalina:
    I am doing this for Christmas, but for some reason first person feels right. Maybe because she loves "Clifford" books and they start like this: "I'm Emily Elizabeth and I have a dog." Any so it will be more like "I'm Charlotte and this is my story. When I was born..."

    I love this idea, too...maybe I'll use that for when we make her a 2nd book! 

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  • AshleyyyyyAshleyyyyy member

    imagefredalina:
    I am doing this for Christmas, but for some reason first person feels right. Maybe because she loves "Clifford" books and they start like this: "I'm Emily Elizabeth and I have a dog." Any so it will be more like "I'm Charlotte and this is my story. When I was born..."

    That is so awesome, Fred. I would love to hear more about it when you're done, if you don't mind. I want to make a book when everything is final.

    DD 8/1/2009
    DS 4/12/2013
    TTC in 2017 (maybe)
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  • MummyGruetzieMummyGruetzie member

    I've been working on DDs book with a similar format as ArtTeacher. Its in iphoto and has a layout where there's one large photo per page. My plan was to have it done for her finalization, but now I'm thinking Christmas. :)

    As a backstory: We adopted through fta and have never met DDs birthmother, though we somewhat know her story. DD is very ill and has multiple special needs. Her sister, our bio daughter, is the same age and we wanted this to be something we could read to them both together. Also, DD came to each visitation with bruises and was clearly not being taken care of while in FC and has some pretty severe attachment issues. We wanted to acknowledge her physical and mental pains in the book. . . Feel free to offer any input!

    Our's goes like this so far....

    (cover) L's story.

    Once upon a time, there was a precious little girl who was looking for a family to love her. Her name was (birth-name).

     And there was a family with a Mom and a Dad and a ("sister" or "sister's name"?), but something was missing. And they weren?t quite sure what it was. 

      And then one day the Mommy found out about the little girl who was looking for a family. And she made lots of phone calls to ask if the little girl was okay.

     And she found out that (birth-name) really needed a Forever Family. 

     And the Mommy and the Daddy talked about this. And they wanted to meet (birth-name).  

    And so the Mommy, the Daddy, and (sister that is our bio.daughter's name) road in the car for a very long time to go meet (birth-name).  

     And when they met her, they fell in love with her. 

     And their hearts were sad when they had to go back home.

     And they thought about (birth-name) a lot. And prayed to God and asked Him to help keep her safe until they could see her again. 

     And when the Mommy, the Daddy, and (sister) got to see (birth-name) again they were very happy. And it made them smile a lot.  

    And again their hearts were sad when they had to go back home. And they cried.

    And they asked God to help (birth-name) be part of their family forever.  

    And He listened to their prayer. And (birth-name) got to come home with her family. 

    And her new family loved her so so so much. 

    And (sister) and (birth-name!!) did lots of things together. 

    They went on walks. And they played games.  

    And (birth-name) liked having a family.  

    But sometimes she was sad. 

    And sometimes she felt ouchy and sick. And she went to the doctor a lot.

    And the Mommy and the Daddy and (sister) asked God to help her feel better.

    And sometimes she did feel better.

    And sometimes she was very very happy. 

    The Mommy and the Daddy loved (birth-name). And so did (sister). And they wanted her to be part of their family forever. So they decided to adopt her.  

    And so they did. 

    And the family was very happy together. And they smiled a lot. 

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