We recently received a request to send pictures to Viet Nam. We didn’t know that we should have sent them in along with our post placement report, so our agency director asked us to send them in to accompany the report. I have about a trillion pictures of Ella and of us as a family to choose from, but I wanted to choose pictures that best illustrated her life here with us.

I chose pictures that spanned the past few months, but most were from recent holidays and events. They will see her enjoying Christmas, Easter and Tet and flashing her big old cheese face on regular everyday-type days. We sent nine pictures and it really is amazing to try and sum up the past six months in nine pictures. I am so proud of her and our family and am happy that her birth country wants to know how she is doing. I hope that by cooperating and taking our agreement (to send reports and pictures) seriously that we are helping future adoptive families.

Every now and then I come across an adoptive parent who is complaining or feeling resentful about sending post placement reports. I am always shocked to hear that some people feel this way. I don’t see it as proving again and again that we are fit parents; I choose to see it as letting her birth country know that she is thriving and happy in her new family. I appreciate that they are concerned about their children’s well being and want to know how they are doing. Perhaps I'm wearing rose colored glasses, but we have no choice anyway, so I choose to see it this way.

This picture is one that I included. There’s something about that smile and those teeth that just make me smile. I hope that when the Vietnamese officials (and maybe even her caretakers) see this picture that they can feel this baby’s joy and spunk and happiness. It really is amazing to think that less than a year ago we were receiving our referral pictures of Ella from Viet Nam. Now we’re lucky enough to be sending back pictures of her to show how well she is doing...and how cute she is!


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