Preserving Memories

Something I have never been good at is organization.  I am a self-proclaimed hoarder (I mean, not as bad as the people on TV but I HATE throwing things away) and have been known to have piles of "stuff" all over the house.  My OCD husband can't stand it and gets great joy out of throwing stuff out (asking first, of course).

I decided to upload all of our pictures to Shutterfly.  That way, I could order prints, create books, and have a place that would store all of my pictures.  (Wishing I would have done Flickr too because when Shutterfly doesn't exist anymore, a bunch of my pictures won't either.)

I have two 12 by 12 Shutterfly albums- one of my pregnancy photos and one for Ethan's first year.

When I was pregnant with Ethan, I was inspired with all of the pregnant mamas taking weekly pictures.  Although I never posted them, I wrote a few sentences and posed in the basement each week and described how I was feeling and what was new that week.  I had to turn into a complete nag to get my husband's help but I am so happy with how our little project turned out.  (MAN, I got big!!!)

 Once Ethan was born, I knew I would need a baby book.  I searched the shelves at Barnes&Noble and Borders, searched Etsy, and look up online-templates and nothing fit what I had in mind.  So instead, I created my own through Shutterfly and I ABSOLUTELY love it...all 111 pages of it.  I kept a Word document to record all of the monthly "happenings" and just cut/pasted it into my album where I needed.  Here are some of my favorite spreads:

I also create 8 X 8 books for each of our professional photos sessions.  I always try to keep an album created in my "cart" because Shutterfly often offers free 8 X 8 books.  For Ethan's Goodnight Moon photos, I added the words from the book to his pictures and he loves to hear the story and see picture of himself.  So cute!

I am definitely behind in our vacations photos.  I haven't made a book for Italy (yeah, 3 years ago) or Alaska but they are on the to-do list.

I also like to upload all of my cell-phone pictures to Shutterfly and drag them all into an 8 X 11 book.  I fit 6 pictures on a page but each year, my book gets longer and longer.  Waiting till a good coupon code comes through to order my 2012 book but it is finished and waiting in my cart.

 Back before Ethan when Mia was boss.

I posted about my memory keeper for Ethan from Paper Coterie for Ethan, but I recently purchased another one.  Because I didn't have a place for our wedding "stuff", I decided to get another memory keeper to hold our wedding invitation, program, shower invitations, and various wedding items.

 I had a coupon code (of course) so I ended up ordering a book to keep track of the hilarious things that Ethan says and does.  I ordered it when he first started talking about 9 months ago and I am so glad I did.  He is like his mommy and has A LOT to say.  He is also like his daddy so he is pretty darn funny.  It is so great to have a place to put it all. 

So, that is what I do to try to capture and preserve our family memories.  Although I was completely organized his first year, I can honestly say that more pictures are taken on my iPhone than real camera.  I haven't uploaded anything to Shutterfly (because there isn't anything to upload but cell pics...ugh).  Even though I'm married to a professional photographer, we don't take many pictures of our own family.  Always striving to improve in that area. 

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Memory Keeper

*Paper Coterie did not pay for me to write this review or provide me with any products.*

I've been needing something for Ethan's newborn "stuff". You know...his baby hat, footprints, hospital bands. A friend, Amy, posted a coupon on Facebook for 50% off a Memory Keeper and I was all over it. A Memory Keeper is a large box with an adorable cover that you can personalize with your own picture. Honestly, the box is a lot larger than I thought it would be! I love the colors and the design. It is exactly what I wanted and needed! There are tons of designs and these boxes could be used to organize and save anything.
 

 
If you "like" Paper Coterie on Facebook, you can see when they run their promotions.  I definitely plan on getting a Memory Keeper for each child down the road.

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You are my Wish Come True

I mentioned it on my blog when I was pregnant, but I didn't have an easy pregnancy. I prayed...a lot. I wished...a lot.

When I was about 7 months pregnant, the author, Marianne Richmond, visited the elementary school where I work. To say that I fell in love with her books is quite an understatement. I listened to her read her books to the students and I cried. I flipped through a few others and I cried. Yes, I was an emotional pregnant woman but her words just struck so true for me. I wanted to buy all of her books on the spot but finally settled on I Love You So and You are my Wish Come True.
"When I first wished my wish," said Mama to Barley, "I didn't know your name. Or if yo'd be a boy or girl. But that didn't stop my wishing. I asked God to think about my wish and to create the while who would be the perfect one for me."

"What did you do when you first held me?" asked Barley. "Oh Barley," said Mama. "I fell deeply in love with you. I looked into your sweet face, and right then, you became my wish come true."

I just love this book so much and can't wait to read it to Ethan when he is old enough to understand. He is my wish come true. When it came around time to creating our artwork for the nursery, I knew exactly what phrase I wanted in his nursery.

*Photo by Clary Pfeiffer

Marianne Richmond has other beautifully written books. "I Wished for You" is a story about adoption, as adopted children are wished for and prayed for, as well. "If I Could Keep You Little" makes me want to cry right now thinking about it. I just love her books. There are books for Mommy, Daddy, grandparents, siblings, and features people with different skin, eye, and hair colors. Her books are fabulous for shower gifts, graduation gifts, or just for yourself and your baby. Enjoy!

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