On Making Memories Last...

I have a problem. Like a REAL problem. I have a horrible memory. I have a few standout memories from my childhood, I remember big events, but that's about it. The only things that usually jog my memory are videos, pictures, and journal entries. Heck, some of those don't even help. Anyways, when I found out I was pregnant with Princess, I knew I was going to need to document everything I wanted to remember. I needed a way to remember her childhood, a way to help her remember her childhood. So I made a goal. My goal was to take pictures whenever I could and write down all the fun little "Princessisms" that put a smile on my face every day. Here are a few of the things I've done to turn the fun memories we have together into lasting memories...

1) Both Princess and Studley have baby books. For each of their first 12 months of life, I compiled pictures and memories into these books. I updated them every month, and after their first birthday had them printed. For Princess's book, I just used Shutterfly.com to compile it. For Studley, I used Mixbook.com. I highly preferred Mixbook, but both books turned out really cute. And now I have a place to turn to if when I don't remember which month they started crawling, teething or talking. Its really helped.

2) Another fun thing I do each year is birthday letters. Each year on my children's birthdays, I write them a letter about the year since their last birthday. Throughout the year, I'll write in a word doc little notes about fun things they got to do, and then make it a personalized letter on their birthday. I keep the letters in a cute photo box I found at Ross for $5. The idea is to give them all their letters either when they have children of their own or move out of the house. It has been really fun to remember the year through these letters.

3) We also be sure to get at least one family picture a year, and we ALWAYS send out Christmas cards with a family update letter. I think this is just as much for me as it is for the people we send the cards to. I keep one of each year in a folder, and each year we look at all the previous Christmas cards. It sure is fun to see how everyone changes!

(I was going to use this picture for our Christmas cards, but the photographer, Misty, just took some fall pictures of us... I'll put them up soon! If you want her info, comment or e-mail me... she. is. AMAZING!)


What about you? What do you do to remember fun things your kids do?