yesterday's photo was taken at the grocery store,
today's photo taken by Adrian on our Easter lunch date
does it seem like I'm obsessed with expectant mother parking?
So here's what I could use your advice and opinions on:
Scrapbooking.
I've loved it for quite a while.
I have scrapbooks I've made dating back to my childhood.
I have A LOT of scrapbooks.
Scrapbooks take up a lot of room and they also take a lot of time to make.
I enjoy making them and enjoy looking at them from time to time.
So, I'm about to have a baby. We'd like to have several babies.
I do not want to become enslaved to scrapbooking my kids' lives.
I'd like to have wonderful, precious memories documented and I'd like to enjoy doing it and not get caught up in any guilt trips or "I shoulds" or to feel like I'm behind.
So, how do you sanely scrapbook/document/whatever you want to call it YOUR kids' lives?
I'm looking for ideas that are fun to do, easy to keep up with, specific, etc.
Thanks!!
Kelly
14 comments:
Someone suggested this idea at a MOPS meeting last year and I loved it. I'm not a scrapbooker, but wanted to do something. I started a birthday book in which I'll have 2 pages for each birthday (up to age 10, I think). I'm using 6x9 envelopes as the pages so I have a place to put mementos from the parties. I'll be happy to send you pictures of what I've done so far. (No, I haven't finished Emily's yet, but the 1st birthday pages are done!)
I love scrapbooking too--the traditional kind where I get to cut and paste and use stickers and paper and all of that. BUT, with small children there isn't always as much time for that as I would like. I still do that and plan that kind of scrapbook for each of my girls, but I had to face that I couldn't get everything into a traditional scrapbook. So, I have done a few of the photo books that you can do online. I love them. If you sign up for an account with Shutterfly you will get special deals occasionally and I have gotten several free books. I have done a father/daughter book for Jes, a sister book for Amy and Emily, a ABC book for Emily (pictures for each letter of the alphabet using pictures of our family), and last year at the end of Amy's last year of preschool I did a photo book that was pictures of all of Amy's artwork from the year (they painted every day and had an art show at the end of the year--so there was a lot of art). Photo books are a great way to put a book of pictures together quickly and less expensively. And they are great for a small collection of pictures that don't really fit in a regular album, such as a special vacation, or the ideas that I used before. They are also great presents for grandparents who can never get enough pictures. :-) Then I have regular albums for the girls first years. I have started a school years album for Amy that will just be her school pictures. And I am thinking that I might do a Christmas album that just has pictures from all of our Christmas celebrations. It would have 4-6 pages per Christmas and then I would add to it every year. So basically my traditional scrapbooks are albums that cover a longer period of time and can be added to over time. The photo books are a quick easy way to get recent pictures into a form where we can look at them often and enjoy them.
I had the same question. I made a journal for her first year with a tab & section for each month. I put pictures, little notes, etc along the way. {I need to catch up though!!!} But a first year calendar is a great way to write a quick reminder of when something happens. That way later you can have something to refer back to when trying to catch up. I made this one on my own, but there are lots you can buy.
http://snowplacelikehome.blogspot.com/2009/08/diy-babys-first-year-calendar.html
Hope you find the perfect solution!
You can create your blog into a book. My weekly post is how I document Noah's growing up.
I like to take a lot of pictures and post them on Facebook so that our families can see the everyday stuff. I usually wait a month or 2 and then print only the ones that I'm crazy about knowing that I don't have to document everything in an album. Then, when I print I categorize them with tabs in a file and get at least 10 layouts done in 2 hours. I can almost catch up to real time every few months or so just doing it that way.
The layouts aren't as cute as those who spend an hour on each layout, but it looks better than in a file.
I did a one year album for both my boys and now I've chosen to just do two albums at once. One ongoing family album chronologically and one for cool trips we go on.
I plan to make the boys their own digital albums with year highlights when they are older.
I used a "baby's first year" calendar for both of mine. Then I write in journals. I do have a scrapbook, but it only has things I can't put somewhere else, like the hospital bracelets etc. I really like the journal and try to write in it each month or when they do funny things. If I don't have time at the moment to write in their journal, then I just make a note on a post-it so I can write about it when I have time. As far as pictures, I'm in the process of doing a photo album for each year using Shutterfly so I have pictures somewhere besides my computer.
I did a hard-copy scrapbook for each of my boys' first year of life (okay, so I haven't started Daniel's yet). Then, four years ago, I embarked on a wonderful new journey--online scrapbooking. Though you don't get your hands dirty like with traditional scrapbooking, it is a quick way to put a full year's worth of picture/journaling into a hard-bound album. My boys pull those out and go through them regularly. The other great thing about them, is that because they are saved on my account, if something ever happened to the hard copies, all I have to do is print out another one. I'll show you mine sometime.
I love Mindy's idea of the ABC book and the artwork book. I always learn new things when I read your blog!!
OK, please know ahead of time that I realize this is not what you requested, but.........
First you put pictures into an album that you later realize has turned yellow with age.
Then, you pull all the pictures out and put them in boxes planning to organize them at a later date when you have the time.
Then you say to those you love (every few months) "I am going to organize all those pictures."
You are so much better at this than your mom. You don't need my advise, just my comic relief. Love you.
I keep a running document in Word for each of the girls...their "journal," and I just hop in there and add cute quotes, milestones, etc., as they occur. Not pretty, but it sure has been good to look back on. I've kept one of these with 4 out of my 5 pregnancies, too...that's been a real help in comparing each pregnancy, reminding me that, yes, I did get really irritable in late pregnancy, or whatever! :-)
Other than that, I take lots of pictures. I rarely get them printed, but when I do, I just stick them in photo albums - the kind with little lines for comments.
Oh, one last thing: those little blank 13 month baby calendars are WONDERFUL for keeping track of first year milestones and trends. I always kept mine in a convenient place, pen beside it, so I could jot down things, including sleep habits, food introductions, etc. So even if some of the first few months is lost in a sleep deprivation fog (I hope not for you!), you'll have some memories written down!
Our blog is her scrapbook. :) I also love scrapbooking, but I just haven't had enough time. I don't like to work on one unless I have a good chunk of time, and that is difficult to come by these days! When there is a break, I now spend it with my husband or busy with housework. I'm planning to have a book made of each year - and as we approach her 2nd birthday this week, I still haven't done the book of Year 1, but I know it won't be difficult once I decide to do it (and I already have the pictures posted and journaling done!).
I once loved scrapbooking, now I am happy to get the pictures printed in any kind of timely fashion. With 4 kids, I have gone to the slip-in style books. For our most recent addition, I've purchased a book and inserts from Archiver's from the We R Memory Keepers line that has the plastic inserts that have different configurations so I can do plain photos on one page and bigger on the next a slot for something bigger (like footprints, etc.) and a few pictures. I think that is going to really work for me. If I can just be sure to get photos printed and in order, I figure I can always go back and make them into more ornate scrapbooks. But that is simply not the season I am in right now and I've kinda even lost the desire to spend lots of time on beautiful spreads. If I can remember the stories and have the photos, I'm happy.
I love scrapbooking but don't get to it much. Our blog is a form of scrapbooking for me. I also think I'm going to start buying those photo books. You can get them at many photo sites but check out www.artscow.com. It is in Hong Kong but the prices & quality are great! When the kids are in school (or of school age) you can get them a book that has a page for each grade but the pages are really pockets. http://www.amazon.com/DELUXE-SCHOOL-MEMORIES-KEEPSAKE-SCRAPBOOK/dp/B000NHWJ22
well I started scrapbooking while Nick and I were dating and Rylan has two full albums of her birth to six months.. and then it halts why... I was pregnant with Cade. gulp.
haven't since.
but I have printed my blogs into family books which I do document things into.... since there is an awful lot of stuff about them.... :)
also like your first poster said.. we do that exact thing for a Christmas book and I love love love it.
Well, I keep a journal of the funny stuff summer says or does, anyways. Keep a photo safe glue stick on hand--slap one picture in there, and be done. No worries about money for stickers, etc.
Another Idea, do the same thing on the computer. Copy and paste a pic. in...just like you do the blog, but don't publish it. Or do...depending on what you want.
As far as scrapbooking, the first year is the hardest because EVERYTHING is so important. After that, just do 1 or 2 pages a year, just to capture the highlights and holidays...and put everything else in a photo album with a simple label.
FINALLY, invest in scrapbook-sized picture frames. Make one for each kid, ONE or so a year, then when the next one gets completed, replace it, stick the older one right in the scrapbook. If you have to look at it hanging on the wall all the time, you might be more apt to change it more often.
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