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Traditional Baby Books are Overrated

jennifer · November 20, 2011 · 3 Comments

baby book
This is Biz's baby book. Note that the foot prints page, added by the delivery nurse, is not even dated.

My youngest son, Biz, is turning 3 in 8 days, and I have yet to put together his baby book.
That’s right. I haven’t filled out his baby book. I confess.
It’s not that I don’t have one. I have a nice traditional baby book that I got before Biz was born. It’s the same one my mom bought me for my older son, G.
G’s baby book isn’t fully put together either. Of course, his is mostly filled out. I think. It’s been a while since I’ve opened it. Biz’s baby book. It will probably crack if you opened it right now. It’s just empty.
The truth is that I’m not a big fan of traditional baby books. They’re just so, well, babyish. I hate the look of those cutesy books with childish fonts and pastel colors. I just have never found one that really suits my fancy I guess.
The other problem is that I don’t like to manually write everything into these books, printing out photos and gluing them to the cutesy pages. It’s like scrapbooking, which is way too crafty for me. (I consider myself artsy, not craftsy.)
I’m just more of a digital gal. And like many moms out there, I only have so much time to sit down and hand write entries about the first trip Biz went on or who was at his 2nd birthday party.
Don’t get me wrong, I have kept track of all the milestones via my electronic calendar and have taken thousands of pictures of my kids over the past 6+ years. I have pictures archived on gold discs and stored in a safe. I’ve made websites and blogs around my kids.
What I’m realizing is that I really should have printed a book out by now. I have all the pieces. The problem is time and finding the right tool to design the book. I’m picky about design.
So, I guess I’m feeling a bit guilty. But, I’m thinking I can’t be alone in this dilemma. Right? Have you made a baby book – I mean actually completed one – for you child? Take the poll below so we can see where we all stand.
And if you have some suggestions for tools to use to make my baby books, please share in the comments.

[polldaddy poll=5687202]

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Related

Art Projects + Ideas, Parenting Biz, G, NaBloPoMo, traditional baby books

Comments

  1. Krista says

    November 21, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    I actually filled out a baby calendar. I got the idea from a friend who also didn’t feel she had the time, so she would fill things in on a day planner for her son that were memorable. Someone got me a Baby’s First Year calendar, and I used that. I would write things on the days like special trips or events, funny things my son did that day, when he hit milestones…and it seemed less pressuring than an actual baby book. Plus, it could hang right on the wall so it would be in sight for me to remember to jot stuff down. If I have another child, I think I will do this again.

    Reply
    • anotherjennifer says

      November 21, 2011 at 1:14 pm

      I almost forgot about the baby calendar! I used one for my first son. It worked well, but I didn’t like the cutesy look to that either. (I’m just too picky.) I had one for my 2nd, but I never used it. I stuck to recording milestones in iCal. It was very handy though. Much easier than the traditional baby book.
      Thanks for reading!

      Reply
  2. Griffin Roberts says

    November 24, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    Good story, buddy

    Reply

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