Want to see what a year of hard work looks like..?
I FINALLY finished my sons’ baby book and I couldn’t wait to share it with you! (My affiliate links are in this post.)
First of all, don’t let this photo fool you – this book is a BEAST! It’s 12″ x 12″ and weighs over three pounds.
I used Mixbook to print this monster and am thrilled with the finished product! I chose a hard cover photo book with matching dust jacket (we have a lot of messes around here, better safe than sorry!).
I often get asked what’s inside, so here’s a quick rundown:
Calendars and Monthly Letters
I made a calendar page for each month to document our family schedule. I wrote down holidays, doctor’s appointments, celebrations and milestones (first tooth, smile, laugh and so on).
I also wrote my son a letter each month. I wrote about his personality, my thoughts on parenting, and included funny stories. (I love going back and reading these!)
Want to add a calendar to your scrapbook? You can find my templates here: Calendar Templates. And my tutorials here: How to Add Calendars to your Digital Photo Albums.
Stat Sheet and Journal Entries
I also created a monthly stat sheet to document his height, weight, milestones and favorite things (toys, books, songs, games). My husband also wrote a note to our son each month, so I included those on this page as well.
Cards and Letters
I’m not one to keep all of the cards we receive. Don’t think I’m a bad person – I just don’t like clutter. However, I do scan our cards and letters, and I made sure to include them in our baby book!
I made special pages to display all of the cards we received from the time I found out I was pregnant to the day my son turned one! I love the way these pages turned out! (And it’s wonderful to see our family and friends’ handwriting throughout his baby book!)
Holiday Photos
I did mini photo shoots with my son for each holiday. I included all of those photos, along with photos of our family celebrating.
I also included a short note on how we celebrated and who we celebrated with.
Seasonal Photos
I also included a page for each season. I took seasonal photos in front of our house – my goal was to document how the weather changed and how our son reacted!
Special Occasions
I tried to include photos and scraps from all his special occasions, including baptism, first foods, birthday, and vacations.
For some of the more meaningful events, my husband and I wrote notes to our son – I included those as well.
Extras!
There were a lot of “extras” I included. I put a family tree in the beginning, professional photos, letters from his family throughout the year, and a birthday countdown.
And that’s the book!
If you’d like to flip through page-by-page, you can do so here: Casey’s Baby Book.
Did I mention I finished his second baby book (ages 1 to 2)? Find out more: Life After the Baby Book.