Baby/Childhood Memories

[akichan]

What kind of keepsake are you putting together for your children? I don't want to do a scrapbook, but something more like a pregnancy or first year (or second year or third year) calendar or journal where I can write a few thoughts but not be pressured to do something every day. And I prefer to just buy something to fill in, not create my own, sorry.

I don't take many pictures/video. Anything else? Recommendations for a specific childhood memory book? There are tons of pregnancy journals/calendars so I assume there are tons for babyhood/toddlerhood/childhood, but I'm overwhelmed.

What do you use? What do you suggest?

[notjustmamie]

We just used a regular wall calendar and made note of baby's firsts in the appropriate square. I was always planning to transfer the notes to a baby book someday, but haven't yet, so we'll see if it ever actually happens.

[MamaMem]

I bought a nice book at Hallmark. Has spots for all those milestones. I love it.

[iwoodeb]

I also bought a book at hallmark - that had areas for fill in the blank, photos or just open journaling.

For my daughter, who is almost 5, I did that same. For me, it is important that I keep the book our and available all the time. That way, when something cute or interesting happens, you can just just jot it down in the book. Now, I enjoy looking back to jog my memory of those first few years.

My mother died when I was young, she had a baby book for me - she didn't fill out everything, just bits and pieces of information - but, it has meant a lot to me my entire life.

[myfairbabies]

I was given a first years calendar at my baby shower, and it's really cute and has stickers for things like "first tooth" and "first airplane ride" so it's super easy! You also get to put the month stickers wherever you want (so, since our babies are born in June, the first month in the calendar will be June instead of January). I also bought a cute Carter's baby book at a local baby store that has stuff to fill in. I've seen them at Target, Walmart, and bookstores like Borders. I love looking at my baby book and calendar and they have things my mom doesn't even remember, so I definitely want that for my kids!

[akichan]

Thanks ladies! I feel so negligent because I don't have ANYTHING for my first two sons, so I want to do a lot better about being organized and creating memories for this next one (and trying to catch up for the first 2), especially because of the divorce turmoil they are currently going through.

[akichan]

Originally Posted by iwoodeb

For me, it is important that I keep the book our and available all the time. That way, when something cute or interesting happens, you can just just jot it down in the book. Now, I enjoy looking back to jog my memory of those first few years.

My mother died when I was young, she had a baby book for me - she didn't fill out everything, just bits and pieces of information - but, it has meant a lot to me my entire life.

That's a good point - I need to keep it very accessible so I don't think of it as a chore to dig it out of the filing cabinet whenever I want to actually write something down. I think it's great your mom kept a book for you - my mom's memories of all of us are all jumbled together in her journal, so I want to create something special that's a gift from just me to each individual child.

[lexbeach]

I have this one to use for our baby, and I'm really excited about it (never kept a book for any of the other kiddos). It is less cutesy than some I have seen, and doesn't presume things about your family structure or what "firsts" your baby might have.

Lex

[Ianthe]

I have a little keepsake box for DS1 that I have his first little outfits, a lock of hair from his first cut, pictures of me pregnant with him, and stuff like that. I'm going to do the same for DS2.

[mischa.simpson]

I am totally not sentimental and think of keepsakes as clutter (bad mama, bad mama!) I wanted our child to have the memories though so I have been blogging vitually everyday. We take pictures of lots of momentos although the really important stuff will go in a shoe box for Junebug. We will then once a year publish the blog in the form of a nice book for our family (around 40$ bucks) because every memory book/journal I have every been given has exactly one entry in it.

Here is the blog publisher website http://www.blurb.com/help/video/blogbook

Our blog is : http://www.teammaab.blogspot.com