Adoption Profile
Part of our process is putting together a profile for parents to look at as they make an adoption plan. We did not realize it at the time, but this is QUITE the daunting process. During our home study, we talked about getting out "book" together quite a bit. Amy stressed making sure that we remained true to ourselves - you never know what someone is going to connect with as they look through our book.
There is really no set of rules to follow as we put the book together - we were advised to keep it about 20 pages and to talk about us. 20 pages seemed like a lot to fill up, but we found as we started describing our lives, that we could have filled much much more. We talked about what we like, our home and neighborhood, our hobbies, traditions - our families, our faith, and our pets. Marley made several appearances.
We were very blessed to have a friend of mine offer to take new photos for us to put into out book. As it turns out, Nate and I don't have a lot of good photos together - I'm making faces, or he looks half asleep. Who knew?! But anyway - Marla is a very talented photographer, and she helped us take some photos and set up some shots that helped us tell our story. They turned out GREAT. She even helped us with the layout and design of the book - which took SO much time. 10 total drafts - yikes!! We had many friends and family proof it and help us fill in the blanks we were missing, and tell us where we were being too long winded. We are so very blessed to have so many people looking out for us. Truly - thank each of you!
I cannot thank Marla of Claussen Photography enough for helping us. The book looks amazing. If you are looking for family photos, seniors, infant, wedding, newborn, or need help designing a photobook or adoption profile - call her. Truly. Awesome work!
In reality, each mom gets about 8-10 books at a time to look at, which I'm sure is an overwhelming task for her. She can decide to meet potential adoptive parents from that group, or she can pick a couple without meeting, or she can decide that none seem to be a good fit. We just don't know how or what someone will like (or not like) about us at this point. We just wait.
So - please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we wait to hear if our home study has been approved.