Category — Adoption Lifebooks

Well, let me just say I have the neatest aunt, Karen Deerwester, who has authored several great parenting books.  Her most recent one is just awesome - I highly recommend it to anyone who will be potty training a child!  It’s called the Potty Training Answer Book.  Buy it!

Anyway, she alerted Maria Bailey, host of Mom Talk Radio, to my blog as well as the adoption lifebooks I’m selling and I was interviewed today on her show.  She’s also a mom through adoption, as well as pregnancy.  My 15  minute segment will air tomorrow in South Florida on WJBW at 10am, and be available next week on iTunes, as well as here: www.momtalkradio.com/shows. 

I am slightly embarrassed, as I think I sounded like a total moron.  I’ll now be tormenting myself about how I could’ve better answered her questions, instead of rambling on nervously!!  I can’t believe some of my answers now that I’m thinking back.  Ugh! 

Just want to mention that I am now an official Hotslings distributor and will be selling pouches to people interested in promoting attachment through babywearing.  I’ll have pictures of the fabric prints up in the next few days.  I’m selling them at 10% less than they retail. 

Please email me if you’re interested!

The baby carrier I use for Jackson all the time is one of the many Hotslings prints I’m selling.

I’ll be in DC until next week for my med school graduation. I hope all my blogging buddies get good news about their babies and upcoming travel in the meantime!

Ok, so a few weeks ago, I had this brilliant idea (I thought so anyway).  Trav and I were brainstorming for fundraising ideas just after I had spent hours scrapbooking Jackson’s first few months home, and I came up with the idea to start a company making lifebooks for Vietnam adoptive families.  So, we went to local book binding shops, Kinkos, but didn’t find anyone who would do a good job printing and binding my books for a reasonable price.  I started looking into online options and found some not so user friendly, but excellent quality software.  I spent forever figuring out how to use the program, and once I did, I spent about 5 hours making a lifebook for Jackson.  I figured I’d see how it turned out when I ordered it, and then possibly affiliate with this company and start making adoption lifebooks for VN a-families as a fundraising effort for our adoption. 

I did find a company online that does the same thing (but not VN specific), and they’ve already formed what appears to be a pretty successful business doing it.  My reaction was “oh crap, they beat me to it.”  BUT…here are the reasons you should let ME make your adoption lifebook:

1.  I will not charge as much as that company

2.  It appears as though we’re using the same software, but I’ll spend more time on your book than they would (I gaurantee it!)

3.  I will make Vietnam specific lifebooks with a special page included about Vietnam

4.  You know me

5.  I’m broke

6.  I’m like the hardest worker you’ll EVER meet (no really, I’m a perfectionist, determined, and will fixate for HOURS until a task is completed flawlessly- it’s a disease I have:)

I will walk you through what most people feel should be included in a lifebook (I have a PDF guide to show you) and you can just provide the pictures and the text you want included.  Save yourself the 5 hours of actually arranging the photos, choosing backgrounds to match, and playing with this program that will crash your computer often!  I’ll do it for you, then show you what I made before ordering it so you can tell me if you hate one of the pages or something, in which case I’d redo it.

If, however, you would like to make your own, I TOTALLY respect that and encourage you to do it.  It’s actually a pretty fun way to reminisce, and if you have an older child, he/she would probably enjoy making their book with you.  It’s a great bonding exercise!  So if you want to make your own, I have set up an affiliate program with the company from which I got my software.  If you access them through my link, it will not cost you a dollar, but I will get commision for your referral.  PLEASE PLEASE go through my link.  Please.  Remember reason #5 from above:) Click here to make your own lifebook.

I will be posting from DC, as I have a pharmacology refresher course there next week, but can start on making others’ lifebooks as soon as I’m back home with the software.

And since I’m fair, if you want to check out the other online company who does lifebooks, email me and I’ll patch you through- no hard feelings (but they are pricey).

Without further ado, here are some pictures from the Jackson’s lifebook, similar to what yours might look like if I make it.  For privacy, I omitted pages that are personal to our family, his first mom, or Jackson’s story.  His book is 18 pages (9 pages front & back), and I’m showing you half of that (note: what you see here is not the complete book- private pages are missing).

If you’re interested, leave me a comment or shoot me an email.  I’m charging $75 for a hardcover (linen) 20 page book that includes 1 page about Vietnam with photos (I’ll provide) of the countryside.  A suede leather cover is $10 extra, and each additional page is $3 extra.  Shipping not included.