• Julie’s note: Here’s a great article about a subject that’s very personal to me – adoption. I really like this idea, we did something similar, but I like the scrapbooking aspect of Lisa’s article. Enjoy!

When you are waiting to adopt a child, especially your first, it can seem to take forever, regardless of how long or short the wait actually is. One way to pass the time is to start your adoption scrapbook album now. As you begin to record some of your thoughts at the time you’ll see why it’s so important to still take the time after your child arrives.

[1] Adoption albums don’t have to be overwhelming. The best place to start is with a list of topics about the adoption experience. These can be found on a variety of web sites including my own which has over 150 topics.

[2] Decide what style of book you want. You can buy a hard-cover book at your favorite bookstore that resembles a typical baby book. Or you may want to consider purchasing a pre-made adoption album, or even hiring a freelance scrapbooker to do a pre-designed book for you. One of the best options in my opinion is the Adoption Scrapbook Album which is twenty pages of overlays, where you get to choose five that specifically fits your child’s experience. These transparency overlays make your book look like it was designed by a professional, but with the price tag of doing it yourself.

[3] Go visit your local craft store or scrapbook store to get some stickers and other embellishments. I rarely find more than a couple that specifically mention adoption, but buy some that have sayings about family, baby happenings, love, and other life events. You can use these in your book when you have a little spot to fill. It adds some style.

[4] Get out your digital camera and snap photos around the house that first year of your child’s life (and later too!) Photographs of that day-to-day stuff like spilled Cheerios all over the living room floor and the towering pile of laundry will give you interesting journaling topics. Down the road you will be so glad you journaled about and photographed the uneventful things as well as the vacations. Your child will have a terrific time reading about it too.

[5] Be imaginative, but don’t get obsessive. Unless you want to make new friends, don’t join “cropping parties.” Buy a decent paper cutter, only cut your photos with straight edges (avoiding circles will save hours), matte your photos using solid-color card stock, and purchase the patterned paper in bulk (craft stores call them “slabs.”).

[6] Write it down now. It’s a good idea to get the adoption scrapbook album done sooner rather than later so your toddler can look at it, at least start keeping notes as you go so you will have lots of journaling ideas to choose from. Purchase a small notepad to carry around in the diaper bag so you have it handy when you want to write down something that happened or just record your thoughts.

My son turns five-years-old this month. The first year of his life I grew so tired of strangers telling me, “It goes so fast.” Now I find myself smiling at little babies and telling the new mothers, “Cherish it. It goes so fast.” Adoption is such an amazing experience and every time you look into your little one’s eyes you think you will remember every single moment. But our brains can only hold so much and our children do change quickly. Record those treasured memories now.