Anyone actually working on baby books for their kids?

[gatorsmom]

If so, how far into it are you? Would you say you are managing to keep it up with photos and milestones? Anyone experiencing any guilt over this?

As if I don't have enough other stuff to do, I've recently starting giving myself grief (I'm very good at it) to get the twins' baby books going so I don't forget/lose stuff for their books. There is just so much stuff to put in all the kids' books that I'm starting to feel guilty for not devoting a little more attention to them.

am I alone in this?

[Jenn30]

Just don't even look at me :shake: (we need some sort of ashamed smily).

I never finished DS1's book (notice he's 3 1/2). I have the baby book bought for DS2. I'm planning to, well, hoping to finish up DS1's book at the same time. I know I have the pics in digital form and I have some other stuff (lock of hair, ht/wt from doc appts) shoved into a first year calendar...somewhere... That's something I will try to do during maternity leave. I definitely feel very guilty. Oh, and I have a decorative wooden growth chart that you are supposed to put on the wall and stick pictures in. It still looks just like it did when I bought it.

On a side note, does anyone find the store bought baby books a little too involved? I started filling out the family tree information in DS2's book. I was thumbing through it and there is a whole page dedicated to when each tooth comes in. If you kept up with that, you are a much better momma than me. There are just so many pages I know will end up blank. It's seems tacky. DH and I are not the type to write letters to our infant. I will not be having a baby shower this time. That sort of stuff.

[gatorsmom]

.

On a side note, does anyone find the store bought baby books a little too involved? I started filling out the family tree information in DS2's book. I was thumbing through it and there is a whole page dedicated to when each tooth comes in. If you kept up with that, you are a much better momma than me. There are just so many pages I know will end up blank. It's seems tacky. DH and I are not the type to write letters to our infant. I will not be having a baby shower this time. That sort of stuff.

We must have the same book! I've decided that some of those pages (like the baby shower one- I didn't get a baby shower with DC2, 3 or 4) will be a photo collage and I'll just cover up the headings.

[kijip]

:hysterical:

That is all I have to say- I have started and neglected far too many books for my son.

[tnrnchick74]

I haven't even BOUGHT a baby book - and I'm 30 weeks along...and this is my FIRST baby!!!

I'm such a bad mommy already!!!

[TaChapm]

With Jackson's I kept up with every little thing. With Tyler I got off to a good start but he was such a fussy baby and I got pregnant with Jaci 5 months later so I didn't keep it up. With Jaci I took her book to the hospital and we did the foot prints and visitors comments but that is about all that I have in hers.

FWIW I have kept up with the milestones and cute sayings on post it notes. Each kids book has a stack of post it notes inside it so that I at least have the dates down. I figure later on when I have more time on my hands I will write everything down on the actual pages of the book.

[sarahsthreads]

If it weren't for my blog I'd have absolutely no record of DD's life to this point. We put her teeny-tiny footprints in the baby book, and that's completely it. I have her hospital bracelet, a lock of hair from her first haircut, her teeny-tiny newborn hat and a few other things in a keepsake box in her closet. I can't even find her ultrasound pictures - I wanted to show them to her before my u/s appointment so she'd have an idea what she'd get to see. I'm sure I put them somewhere safe almost four years ago...but I have no idea where. I am a terrible mother.

Poor DD2 is going to have no record at all of her childhood at this rate. ;)

Sarah

[cono0507]

Well, DS is 3 and DD is 7 mo. I started DS's baby book and got to about 6 mo or so. Now it resides in a large rubbermaid bin with all of the photos and momentos that I intend to put into a baby book whenever I finally get around to it.

I haven't even bought a book for DD. Just a rubbermaid bin of momentos waiting for a book.

For each kid i have a word document on my laptop of their milestones/events/etc so I have the dates, etc.

i really should get my act together one of these days...

[Jenn30]

I've decided that some of those pages (like the baby shower one- I didn't get a baby shower with DC2, 3 or 4) will be a photo collage and I'll just cover up the headings.

Ooh! That's a great idea. Glad to know I'm not alone.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I was more on top of things with ds1 but I do a pretty good job w/ ds2. My secret to success is writing everything down in a regular calendar then when I get around to it I fill in the baby book. But, I have all the big things quickly jotted down in the calendar so I don't forget.

I also try and take time at least once a month to include what our daily life is like (number of nursing sessions, sleep, activities...). That's been my favorite thing to look back on from ds1.

I never did get my photos organized and put into the baby book though for ds1. I do have them all organized on the computer by date so it is a project I can someday finish.

My SIL complains all the time to her parents that they don't remember anything from her childhood. She was #4 or 4. They have no idea about any of her milestones.

I really find the baby book I bought this time around to be useless. It is vague and weird. It has a random page to jot down baby's routine, favorite toys...but only 1 of those pages. So, I am just supposed to pick some arbitrary date and record that stuff and call it a day? My book for ds1 was just better. I also couldn't find a good baby calendar this time around so I am using one of the gazillion free calendars we got this year from various nature groups.

Beth

[Davids-Coco]

I *was* good. I have a 50 page 12x12 pregnancy scrapbook. I did a full 1st year calendar. Our baby book is generally up to date... with the exception of the vaccine information (which our ped will print for us).

Other than that... his 1st year scrapbook is no where near started. He's 19 mo old now... so I am behind a bit. One day though.

[TahliasMom]

yikes. i have all the scrapbook stuff but i dont even have one page! lol. i have ordered all pics up to 1.5 yrs and they're all organized in albums. so lets say i'm almost 2.5 yrs behind! and on page 1 with the scrapbook. lol

[catpagmo]

I was just thinking about this the other day. I, too, am still working on DD's book. She is 2yrs and 3 mos. I'm pretty sure I have most of the milestone dates written down, though. When she started eating solids (at 6 mos), I started a food diary for her. That progressed into a daily diary that I still write in every day. (Thank goodness for that, because if I didn't have it, I wouldn't remember anything! LOL) But, like a lot of other mommies, I have a box of stuff shoved into my office closet, just waiting to be organized.

It's good to know a bunch of us have done this, as I thought perhaps I was the only one!

[BeachBum]

I had a lot of guilt over this at first. Then my mom gave me my baby book. And I didn't even care enough to flip through the whole thing. Where as she told me that she cried when she went through it before she brought it over.
I decided that the baby book was for me, and if I didn't care that much then I should just let it go.
I also "make up for it" a little bit by taking more pictures, printing them into albums and making comments/ journal about things that were really special.

[maestramommy]

I did keep a baby book for Dora, and now I'm doing Arwyn's. However, it is a struggle to remember to mark down when they hit certain milestones before I forget when they happened. As for putting in the photos forget it. That's one downside of digital photography. I never get around to printing out pic. Our bulleting board, nay, our entire place looks like we still only have one child. I finally bought a frame today so I can hang up Arwyn's 6 month portrait. So that gives you an idea of how on the ball we are:p

[traciann]

I did the same thing as a pp and would write down on a calendar things i thought would be fun to remember or milestones. I did a baby scrapbook, but it was simple. I did a month by month just choosing my favorite pictures from that month and doing a double page spread. I then used my calendar and would transfer over the information I wrote down on that month's page. I didn't actually work too much on the album until after she was a year, but it came together really easily and quickly. I am a middle child and have no documentation, so its important to me to have something. I kept this format simple so that I would be able to duplicate it for my next child.

[wencit]

My sister bought me this GORGEOUS handmade baby book for DS before he was born. It's still blank. He will be 2 on Saturday. Sorry, sis, I wasted about $70 of your hard-earned money. So not only am I a lousy mom, I'm a lousy sister, too.

I DO type up an ongoing letter to my son every couple of months, Doogie Howser style, that I have hopes of giving to him when he's an adult. Let's hope I get around to doing that, too!

[ellies mom]

I've got a pathetically short scrapbook for Ellie. But I did manage to finish a little 6x6 scrapbook for the first year. She loves to look through them especially the little one. I really need to get on the ball both on hers and the new baby.

[MontrealMum]

I bought a formal baby book for DS before he was born, but once he was here I realized that the prompts on the pages weren't all that useful. So, I bought a scrapbook, acid-free glue, ink etc. and did about a month's worth of putting in all cards, letters, ribbons, and a few pics. It's now 6 months later and I have a box that I store all incoming mementos in. I *hope* to catch up with this over the summer. I printed all the pics through Xmas but fell behind with that too. Sometimes I really feel like I'm letting DS down - I'm supposed to be a professional at this sort of thing - I'm a trained historian!

[icunurse]

I have used a "My First Year" Calendar for both kids and do reasonably well keeping up with it. DD definitely doesn't have the same details, number of pics, etc, but I hear that's pretty normal when you have mroe than one child. I also have baby books for both of them related to not only their baby stuff, but their adoptions. I only got up to DS's 2nd year, so I need to get moving and I don't have a thing written in yet for DD. I also have beuatiful frames that people gave me whemn I brought them home and you are supposed to write a letter to your child on their first birthday. Well, missed that one, too. So I am going to do a big bonanza letter for DS (and eventually DD) detailing everything about their individual adoptions. Also have all the materials to make both kids Lifebooks, but those may never see the light of day the way things are going.... I guess I'm not doing too well, huh? :)

[rlu]

Started out pretty good, missed some of the first year milestones though.

Last year I wrote things in a calendar in my bathroom - what happened that day sort of things.

This year I'm writing in a journal every night - what happened that day to me, DH, DS, dog, etc. I plan to just hand these over to DS along with all the digital pictures we never print.

No stress about this allowed - do you hear me? You love your kids, that's enough.

[tny915]

I have no baby book for DD#1 and never even printed out pictures for at least a good year or so.

I did do a month by month website for almost her first 3 years where I posted favorite pics and list milestones. After that I moved on to a blog where I post things from time to time. I consider it her digital baby book. Hopefully I'll be motivated to do the same for DD#2.

[Sillygirl]

We got lots of baby books - they're all blank. They're waaaay too involved about stuff I don't really care about. I have maintained a blog for the last three years, though. I've managed to update at least once every month. I found I really liked having it once Alex was here and I wanted to compare milestones. The family really likes being able to keep up on the boys, too.

[muskiesusan]

Neither boy has a baby book. I get out the video camera if they are doing something new, but even that is a stretch. I have boxes that I throw keepsakes into and it will be a gift to a future DIL to do something with is she's into that sort of thing. :D I figure it is a good way for her to get to know him!!! As for pictures, I haven't printed any for the past 5 years.

I figure my laziness will pay off when the kids are older-no arguments over who was the favorite by the physical evidence. There won't be any evidence!!!

[JillSP]

I bought one when I was pregnant with our first. It might contain the footprint card from the hospital. But that would be it.

I don't feel guilty about it for two reasons: (1) I think I have seen my own baby book once and as I recall, I don't think it was complete and I didn't care; and (2) my sister, the third child, actually completed her own baby book in 5th grade.

I have no opinion on whether people should do them except that I believe that if you don't want to do it, don't do it and don't feel guilty about it. I highly doubt any child would complain about the absence of a baby book and, if they do, let them do their own like my sister. (She didn't complain about the fact my mom never did hers, she just wanted to have one and so she did it).

[hillview]

Umm yeah. So DS #1 has a baby book for his first 12 months. Done when he was 2 and a couple of months before DS #2 arrived. It was done on Shutterfly.com. All the cute stuff I saved for his baby book are in a file in a box (we moved). It is on the list of things to do ... maybe after he goes to college.

SIGH
/hillary

[JTsMom]

I like to scrapbook, so I decided I'd do that instead of a traditional baby book. I'm just starting it- I don't even have one page done, and DS will be 3 in May. His first year, DH and I typed up a letter about his life that month, so I have that to go off of, and I did take about a million pics, so that helps too- all of the dates are on the files, so I can use that to cheat from. I also do the jotting on the calender thing someone mentioned above.

I really think that it's pretty rare to keep up with the books, and I'm betting boys especially won't even care about it- I'm doing more for me!

[Happy 2B mommy]

I have 2 baby books for DD that I got as gifts. The first page of one is filled out and the rest is blank. Like the pps said, some the info/pages are too involved or just weird. I write things down on the calendar and have pics organized by dates on the computer, so down the road I'll just make my own scrapbook or album.

I found my baby book. I was an only child and all my mom had in it was my birthdate, time of birth, weight/height and who visited her in the hospital. The rest is completely blank. Guess it's genetic.

Kerri

[o_mom]

DS1 had a calendar for the first year and I was OK about writing in it. DS2 had a calendar that was pretty sketchy. DS3 I didn't even get a calendar. I did manage to do a 'birth book' for DS3. Of course it was the one I bought for DS2....

[kedss]

I made DS a baby book that is just pictures in a scrapbook. I decorated the front with comic strips from the day he was born and, a clipping about the earthquake that happened about 6 hours before he was born, and scraps of wrapping paper from his shower presents.

I put in pictures of his ultrasound, we scanned in the originals and made prints so they would last. And I put in pictures of his family, both sides so he knows what everybody looked like before we get old. And of course pictures of him when he was a baby, LOL. :)

I'll try to do one for Hannah like that too...we'll see how that goes. :)

[spencersmommy]

Not so good keeping up with the store bought baby books, but one thing I do and makes it easier to keep up is keep a family journal in a notebook. A friend suggested I keep a notebook when the baby is born and jot down down things weekly. I did that for both babies. Now it has evolved into family journals. Every few days or weeks (really) I write down some notes about the what the kids are into, saying, something funny they have done. I have a journal for each child and 2 for our family,and it hasn't taken a lot of work or time. I can flip through and find the first tooth or first steps b/c it was done weekly or monthly. My DH just found out I do it and was amazed and happy.
Try it, it doesn't take much time at all. If you are a scrapbooker (like me), then you can flip through and find things to scrap, too. :-)

[Puddy73]

I'm so glad that I read this thread. Makes me feel a little less guilty about my slacker tendencies. DD has a fairly simple baby book that I kept up with for a few months. I received a beautiful, elaborate baby book for DS that hasn't even been touched since he was a week old. It has entries for things like baby's first dirty diaper. Seriously, is that something that you need to record for posterity?

[kimberley-k]

If you use a digital camera, I highly recommend making a digital photo book instead of taking the time to print and arrange photos in a regular album.

I also recommend keeping a family journal (as the previous poster mentioned), just create a file on your computer and add to it once a week. I've found it very useful when going back trying to remember what worked and didn't for things like sleep training and tantrums.

I have combined my photos and journal by using Blurb.com - you download their free Booksmart software, which makes it incredibly easy to create a photo journal book ($20 for softcover, $40 for hardcover with jacket). You just select a page layout, drag and drop your photos, and then cut and paste text from your journal into the text boxes. Blurb.com is the only one I could find that had text boxes large enough for journal entries (most photo books only allow a short caption with each photo).

I am 7 months pregnant and just caught up with 4-yr-old DS's books (I do a 40-page book for each year of his life). It actually only takes me about 6 hours to do a whole book as long as I have all the info I want for it in the family journal file on my computer, and of course I have all my digital photos on my computer.

Good luck!

-Kim

[AbbysMom]

I just wanted to thank you for starting this thread! I pulled DD's out last night and grabbed all the sticky notes with dates and milestones and wrote them in. Mine is also a ridiculous book with spaces for the date every tooth came in and where they want you to list every vaccination (what kid wants to know that?) I also didn't have a shower and there are tons of pages devoted to that! I actually got mad that I started pasting thigns already because I was thinking I should have just made my own scrapbook. But now that it's partially started, I'll be pasting pictures over all the empty pages. And I've resolved to work on it all week to get it more updated now that she's over a year! Thanks again!

[KBecks]

I am feeling the pressure to have more entries done in Alek's and John's now that I know Baby 3 is coming. I will get one going for baby 3 also as soon as we know the gender so I can fill out the pregnancy part, maybe I'll have all 3 going at that time.

I hope to fill in as many parts as I can but I don't expect 100% completion of any book.

For more than a year I had a special pen that I only used in the books, but now I just use anything and don't worry about my handwriting either.

Maybe I would do a digital baby book for baby#3. One thing we did that was nice was for the 1st birthday make a photo album with photos from every month of the first year. We did a good job of that.

[KBecks]

[QUOTE=Jenn30]J I was thumbing through it and there is a whole page dedicated to when each tooth comes in. If you kept up with that, you are a much better momma than me. /QUOTE]

I've seen that style and avoided it. It must be the baby book for dentists!

[infomama]

With DD1, I was able to journal on the computer daily so her "book" is pretty detailed. When DD2 came along I realized I had alot less time to journal so in an effort to keep her book just as detailed, I have resorted to jotting down things on a paper journal during the day and when I get 45 minutes to myself (usually once a week), I quickly enter the info into the computer.

I also do a Shutterfly book for each year of their lives, everyone oohhs and aahs over them and it's nice to pull out a book n flip through the photos (like old times) rather then looking at a computer screen.

[Melanie]

Define "working on."

LOL. I finished Ds' first year when I was PG with Dd. I'm not getting PG again so I'm not sure what will get hers done. I do journal, though, and make note of milestones. And she does HAVE a book. LOL.