The idea of a baby book is so sweet and fantastic! Keeping up with your child’s first everything. Being able to compare from one kid to the next. Who talked first. Who walked first. When baby P got her first teeth. But lets be real for a second….who in the heck actually keeps up with that? And how many times do you ACTUALLY go back and read this stuff? If you are one of the super human, organized, mindful, and timely moms who actually does —- MAD KUDDOS to you!! Seriously!! I feel like every person I talk to (myself included) says “oh yea I’ve gotta update my kids baby book….starting with 3 years ago!” So yea – I haven’t exactly kept up with P’s “baby book” per say. But I do have a long laundry list of “firsts” in my phone for that day (probably never) when I sit down and transfer them all over to her book. Does that count?!?!
Keeping up with a baby book rarely happens. That’s just the fact of the matter. Which is why I’m totally obsessed with this little “5 year memory book”. It was given to me as a baby gift and I try to give one to every expecting momma friend I have! It’s a simple, easy way to keep a few memories from each day. Each page of the book is pre-dated for all 365 days of the year and is divided into 5 chunks – for the 5 years that you keep your “data.” You just fill in the year and gets to writin’! There are about 6 lines of space for each day so you have just enough room to write your most significant memory, but it keeps long winded mommas (like myself) to a minimum!
I keep mine beside my bed and every night I write something significant from the day. “Parker took her first steps today. We were playing in the living room and she just let go of the couch and off she went.” OR “We got home from our trip today and I never imaged I would miss her this much. I’m thankful for the time that Tom and I get to invest in us. I hope we always set a good example of marriage for her.” OR “Today was a really difficult day. Parker was sick for the first time and she’s so dang crabby! These are the days I pray for patience and those mommas with chronically sick children.” Stuff like that! Some good. Some bad. But all about my P!
So tomorrow I will write for the THIRD time on the paged dated Oct 20th. How is that possible? I can’t believe we are working on her third year of life! NUTS! But this is probably my MOST favorite feature of this book. Now that we are past year one, every night when I sit down to write my memory I read what we were doing 1 year ago today. How cool is that? Some memories I remember. And others not so much. (which side note – how in the heck do you forget SO much in just one years time. It makes me super sad actually when I cant remember some of the stuff). But even the stuff I don’t remember completely, it jogs my memory of times when she was smaller. And that’s what it’s all about right? Remembering! We mamas want to remember it all!
There are so many cute designs when it comes to this book! Snag one for yourself or your favorite expecting girlfriend. And if your kid is 6, still order one! It’s never too late to start!
(and just a little trick – for those days that I forget to write something – I can usually go back to my camera roll and see what pics I snapped of her that day. And I remember enough to write my memory 😉
xoxo
-Meghan
