Baby Book

I remember these baby books from my childhood that were really pastel and tacky?  My mom had one for each of her four children.  I think that was the thing to do in the 80s, record milestones in a really pastel, really expensive book that no one would ever look at, ever.  Then, in the 90s, moms got into scrap books.  Oh, Lordy.  I got into scrapbooking.  I have a high school scrap book filled with  stickers and die cuts.  Scrapbooking parties?  Are those still happening?  I have the most two-thousand-and-three of wedding scrapbooks and I DO love it but, I am so over scrapbooking.  Who has the space in their homes and the funds to buy all that junk?  (Besides my mom and mother-in-law who both have scrapbooking shrines rooms... love you guys!)

Maybe moms still use baby books and scrapbooks.  Or, maybe moms just have blogs and Facebook to record their kiddo's milestones and memories.  Obviously I blog about some of these things but that doesn't feel like enough.  I want to have something tangible, something we can cuddle up with on the couch as I flip through the pages with the boy once he can understand what he's looking at.  I want hand written notes from the day I went to get him, the first time he rolled over, his first time eating solid food, the first time he slept through the night, when grandparents came to visit.  I've been journaling since 2007 about the process to start a family and you know that I take a million photos.    (We have 1,500 photos of BB on our computer and a few hundred on our cell phones).  Our walls are filled with artwork so I cant frame every photo I print but I wanted a reason to print my photos in the first place.  That's why I was thrilled when I finally got a Smash Book!  From the website: These aren't just your ordinary journal pages, they're covered with images, designs and captions to make design a snap. Includes 40 pages and a SMASH pen and glue stick. Book size is 7.75" wide x 10.25" high.

My Smash Book has photos, messages from me and Dan, memories, ideas and love notes. It usually sits on the kitchen counter and I can grab it and write something down anytime I feel.  There's no timeline and the pages are inspiring and fun.  I'll never regret taking too many photos or journalling too much, but I will regret the opposite.  Therefore, the Smash Book is really easy way for me to record sweet little memries that I want to hang on too and, as I mentioned before, gives me a reason to print some of our millions of photos.

I don't know why, but I've always loved photos.  I love to record things everything.  I've always been a journaler, a keeper of photos and artifacts.  Now that I have this precious child, I am doing everything I can to record everything.  The other day, Dan said to me, "You know what's funny?  I feel like we don't have enough pictures of him."  We both laughed at how ridiculous that was.  And then I added, "Me neither."

Signed,
A Photo-Hoarder and Journaler

Excerpts from our Smash Book: