I am trying to come up with some great new traditions that we can have to mark this very special occasion....any ideas?
This is what I have thought of: (I am not doing everything on this list! Still in the brainstorming stage!)
- family picture
- personalized letters from mommy and daddy (to be read and then kept in a journal)
- make a crown
- mommy will make a special edition home video of my daughter
- her court date was on May 5- I am thinking of having a small Cinco De Mayo party with just the three of us with mexican food and a pinata
- eat from an "I Am Special" plate (we need to get one first)
- doing something fun as a FAMILY- like going to the zoo, aquarium, or amusement park
- exchanging gifts with all family members
- sending a package to our birthmom with some of my daughter's artwork
game night, a family hike, camping trip, family walk, make dinner together - love your ideas too!!
ReplyDeleteAll great ideas...I love the idea of incorperating cinco de mayo in but my favorite is sending a package of artwork to the birthmom. Because my son Jaden's adoption is closed I don't get to do that, I do however send picture to the attorney that was in charge of us and the birthmom. I have a book called LifeBooks by Beth O'Malley...I made Jaden a scrapbook of where he came from for when he is older. The book just has different ideas on how to put together a lifebook for an adopted child.
ReplyDeleteit's not really an idea on what to do...but our friends have a daughter who is adopted & the adopted date is 3 months past her birthdate....so they celebrate that each year doing something their daughter chooses. But what I love is that they call it "Harmon Day" (last name is of course Harmon). I think calling it that makes it show that she completed their family.
ReplyDeleteI think just making a tradition to celebrate will be good enough. Doing anything on the list you've made will be great :)
This sounds like a great list, my favorite is sending a package to your birthmom. A family photo was the first thing that came to my mind, and then I saw it was first on your list. The only other thing I can think of is to maybe compile a "favorite memories from our first year together as a family" list?
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful milestone to reach, congratulations!
They all sound lovely, but the best (to me) sound like the letters to her and her birth mom.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your special day! Congratulations on this anniversary!!
What a special time! We are also blessed to have our children through adoption. We are LDS and went through the temple as a family in August. We plan on celebrating this date each year. We want to do something special and a little out of the ordinary as a family. This year we plan on spending a weekend away from home in our favorite mountain retreat. Our emphasis is doing something fun as a family. I LOVE your idea for a video. That would be really special. Family-centered gifts would be another neat idea as well. Like a book about the day you saw her. Or the date your adoption became final.
ReplyDeleteOne thing you said was letters from Mom & Dad...well, I just remembered something my sister-in-law did for her kids...she got everyone in the family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, & of course themselves) to write a letter to their children for their 1st birthday, sealed, for them to read on their 13th birthday. It was kind of fun to write, because you were writing to a one year old who would be 13 when she read it.
ReplyDeleteI also love Maryanne's idea of favorite things of the year...and since you love to do "mommy made books" you could complete a book for her :) And that is something that would be easy to do as a tradition...