It has been a month of milestones in the Hunter House. Hudson has achieved several new things – including peeling an orange and opening a fruit cup (seriously – those are hard for ME to open), and Finn is just growing up way too fast, with many “firsts” occurring during the month of December. With all of these first, I keep meaning to get the baby book out and fill it out with care, but, to be honest, I don’t love our baby books, so I’m not that inspired.
Which got me to thinking…maybe I need a new approach to recording and documenting our memories. When Hudson was born, I received a Baby Calendar as well as a Baby Album. I used both and filled out every detail, however, they had their pros and cons. The calendar was cool because I could just jot down little things and there were fun stickers to keep track of. It was the very simplest thing – which was nice. The baby Album has a lot more space for writing things down, but still not much space for photos. So, most of my picture (yes, I actually used to PRINT photos), are just in a separate album. Which, I kind of don’t like.
With Finn, I purchased a very neat book that I LOVE because of the wooden cover, however, it still doesn’t really draw me in, and so I am forcing myself to fill it out. AND, there is no place for photos. My fault for buying online without seeing it in person first. Sigh.
I got to thinking about all of the other options that are available, and there are so many! From the albums and calendar that I’ve used before, to full out scrap-booking (wow and kudos to all of the momma’s who scrapbook – I don’t have the patience or the funds for that!), to online baby books and “tot-sites”, and creating online baby books that are then printed and bound..there are SO many possibilities!
I have heard great things about blurb.com, and shutterfly has some nice options – but I’m wondering if any of you have used any of these templates before? Ideally, I think I want something that has some pre-made templates with forms that prompt me to put in all of the important “firsts”, but I also would like some flexibility in the layout, because I have fairly specific taste.
No, I’m not difficult to please. Not at all. 😉
How do you capture and record memories and milestones in your kid’s lives? Do you work it old school and use a baby album or calendar? Are you a whiz a being crafty and creative and have a totally DIY scrapbook? Or, are you going the online/digital route? What are some of your favorite sites and options?