I am told all the time that these years when the kids are young are the best times. I will say that the days are long. But I also realize these years are short!
I am conflicted on the best way to write down cute things they say and do. I know I will not be consistant about it but a little is better than none. I am thankful that we are in a day when taking pictures is easier than ever and virtually free as long as you keep them on the computer or saved onto a cd.
Let me make it clear that I don't have time to scrapbook yet.... I just want to keep simple records of what is happening and what the kids say and do. I often think... in 20 years will my son really care that I wrote down when he began potty training? Probably not. So I just am not writing much down. Then when they say the darndest things I tell myself I need to write it down but don't cause I don't know where to write it.
Is it best to keep indvidual note books on each of them? Or to do a family log? Any other easy and quick ideas? How do you do it?
I write blogs on myspace and then can print out the ones that have the cute happenings. Those I put in a 3 ring binder.
It also has the upside of keeping my extended family updated on how quickly they are growing up...
Hello S.!
Something I have recently decided to do is make a "yearbook" of our family... I go on to Shutterfly.com and make a book out of our digital photos from each year. Currently I am working on 2007 (it's the first year I had a digital camera) and I hope to finish that by mid-year and begin on 2008 so that I will then be up to date when 2010 rolls around and I can complete 2009 at that time! It's a really great site - I made a book for my Mom for Christmas and I was truly impressed with the quality! I just think it's a great way to preserve memories from each year (trips to the beach, the zoo, holidays, cute things our boys did, silly faces they made, etc.) because not only do you get all your pictures in one place, but you can also "journal" along side of them if you wish. The BEST thing about it is I can save it and come back to it - I can work on it whenever I have time and it doesn't make a mess (as with scrapbooking). Hope this helps!
K. :)
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Hi S.,
For starters I had a box with a cover that I kept papers of things they did from school and then I eventually chose the ones I wanted to put into a 3 ring binder with clear pages to have available when I put together their graduation open house. May seem a long way off, but it goes so fast. The sooner you put them in the binder the better..gets to be a very big job later. I put them in the binder from kindergarten and then up through the years. You could have a notebook that you keep in their box to write the things they said and did. You could even put a picture of them at the age they were when they said or did the cute thing. The box was a lifesaver...it contained all the things of their life. Getting pictures arranged in order ahead of time is a huge help too...thinking of all you will have to do later can motivate you to do a little at a time. My youngest is 20, sure do miss the days you are in right now!...
Blessings,
C. B
I keep a notebook on each of their dressers and when they say or do something I am going to want to remember I put the date and what they did. So it isn't a real formal record and I don't log everyday but I do write down those things that someday will be fun to go back and read about.......good luck
S.,
I keep a plastic box with a snap on lid for each of my 5 boys. Everything from the doctors progress notes, locks of hair from the first haircut, wristbands from when they came home from the hospital, and school papers eventually go in, and when its full I start a new one. One thing I do that I find manageable is to write down some things on a sheet of note book paper. I date it and write the childs age and just some thoughts and observations about the child, I then just put the note in the box with all the other memorabilia, someday when they go through all the stuff they will find it.
Something else I do is to video tape them when they are young. I try to do it regularly but sometimes time gets away from me. I try to catch something on tape that I think is special that they may be doing often at this stage of their development, or maybe they say certain words so darn cute that to document it on a piece of paper just wouldn't do it justice. When the tape is full put it in the box, maybe transfer it to DVD if you know how to do that sort of thing and put the CD in the box.
My mom is a scrapbooker and does scrapbooks for each of them so extra photos that she doesn't need also go in the box, as do report cards.
One more thought, I also have quite a few photographs from when I was young and my parents were young, that did not end up in any of the scrapbooks, I went through them, sorted them, and divided them evenly among their boxes, so someday they will all have some of the family photos to call their own.
Hi S.,
I'm a terrible scrapbooker and terrible with journaling. I keep a calendar. It just seems easier for me. My daughter is just 17 months, so I was able to find one of those 2cd year calendars online.
However, next year, I just plan on either getting a cute girly calendar or making a photo calendar on snapfish or kodakgallery and writing stuff down. I like the calendar because my husband also write on it things that our daughter does or says with him! It's great. I have one for her first year, and plan to continue for awhile.
Once she is in school and bringing home stuff, I most likely will have some sort of momento box to keep her treasures in.
Good luck! These days go by so fast and I totally understand... you want to keep a record of how they grow.
Oh... and just a little fyi ... I'm not sure if you've ever heard of www.howfasttheygrow.com it's really the only scrapbook thing I have time to do. It's ALL digital! You just upload pics to the site and pop them in premade pages that are TOTALLY cute and adorable. They call it the 7 minute scrapbook page. It really is. You just have to know what you want the page to be about. But, it's a great way to make a picture book of memories and the page layouts really are just awesome.
Hello S.,
I just had and idea (which I wish I had thought of long time ago)
when they do something funny... write down (w/ time and date and city) and take a picture of that note. if the note gets misplaced... you have the digital picture which will be along other pictures of chronological importance.
I don't have time to scrapbook either. I just got introduced to smilebox.com ....check it out! you can put a few pictures together and e-mail it and also make a dvd for yourself. (btw, I don't have stock on that company...hmmm maybe I should!) anyways, keep taking pictures and writing down what you can! ~Carmen~
I keep an online blog. I've been writing in it since I was about half way through my pregnancy. It's great to be able to go back and not only see pictures, but to read about what happened when.
There are many sites to do this on, it's all about finding the right one for you. Plus, you can choose to share or not to share it with friends and family.
Hi S., first of all congrats on being a mommy,what a blessing they are, and yes they are a gift from God. My daughter is 11. I wrote in her baby book until I ran out of room. I then put it on a sheet of paper and stuck it in the book until the next funny incident. She took it out and laughed histerically over it. I also by a newspaper every year on her birthday. They may not care when they were potty trained (however she has asked that question) but they may want to know what in the world went on the year they were born and each year after. It's neat to compare prices of things, world events etc. I also painted her little hands and feet each year on her b-day with fabric paint and put them on a shirt I will some day wear when she is grown. I recorded her first words as she grew, onto a tape so I could remember her voice. How precious that is. And of course I have framed pictures through out my house of her on each year of her b-day. I hope this gives you some ideas. PS I can't end without saying "pray with them always, memorize scripture together, and let them know God has big plans for them. Tell them daily how much you love them, and that they mean the world to you and that you are proud of them. Blessings to you all, have a God day. C.
