Recording the moments

One of the many things I love about blogging is being able to use it to record all the little moments and the milestones as my girls grow up. As my blog is updated so frequently, it also provides a useful reference for looking back especially for those moments when I remember to update the ‘little red book’ for the girls. With Jessica, I was much better at recording the moments as they happened; with Sophie I tend to record them via my blog, or my phone and then remember to update the various books later. I use an app called ‘Tweekaboo’ which I can add photos, videos and notes to just to briefly record the moments as they happen so I can look back later.

Recording the moments - Little Hearts, Big Love

Other than my blog and my phone, these are some of the other ways I use to record the moments and store memories:

  • Baby record book – I think most mums probably have one of these (and I suspect a fair few of us have them only half-filled too!). Jessica’s is filled in fully with photos whereas Sophie’s has a lot of blank spaces which I intend to fill in at some stage (thank goodness for having those moments recorded elsewhere!)

Recording the moments - Little Hearts, Big Love

  • Photo albums – I love printing out photos and putting them in an album although these days I tend to find it easier and quicker to order photo books with the photos printed inside instead. I also use the self-adhesive photo albums as scrapbooks and use this to display new baby cards, christening cards, birthday cards or other mementoes.

Recording the moments - Little Hearts, Big Love

  • Memory boxes – Both the girls have quite full memory boxes, containing the cards that haven’t yet been scrapbooked, a lock of baby hair, a journal that I filled in during my pregnancies which each of them, their baptism certificates and various other items with memories attached.

Recording the moments - Little Hearts, Big Love

  • Birthday books – I came across the idea of birthday books earlier this year and loved the idea of using them to write the girls a letter each on their birthday. Although Jessica’s first handwritten letter is for her third birthday, I have posted the blog entry I wrote on her blog for her two previous birthdays so she will still have a birthday book which covers her first birthday onwards.

Recording the moments - Little Hearts, Big Love

  • Birthday videos – I love creating videos with slideshows of photos and various video clips from the past year for the girls’ birthdays and for hubby on his birthday or on Father’s Day. It’s a lovely way of being able to look back and see our family growing and our girls growing up.

Online, I love linking up with Lucy at Dear Beautiful for her monthly Siblings photo project and sharing a few photos of my girls together each month – it’s a lovely way of remembering to record those sibling moments and being able to look back at how much they change over time.

What ways do you have of recording your child’s milestones and special moments?

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26 thoughts on “Recording the moments

    1. Thank you and sorry for making you feel guilty – Sophie’s book is still at that stage although I am intending to fill more in still!

  1. I dont record anything other than on my blog-how terrible is that! Although my mum has a record for each of my two, so I don’t feel quite so bad. You have a lovely array of ways for recording those moments x

    1. I think the blog is a great way of recording the moments – especially when you blog regularly. If I hadn’t been blogging about Sophie’s milestones I would have had nothing to put in her baby book as I’ve not been so good at updating it second time around x

  2. Gorgeous! I have baby books for my two, they each have a memory box and I love doing their birthday books. We do have photo albums, but I’m terrible at updating them, as all photos are on the PC and I rarely get round to printing them off! Oh, and I do Siblings, too, which is just lovely 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing your record keeping moments with this month’s #PaperyPeep x

    1. Ah I’m the same with the photo albums now – they are mostly for the cards although I am intending to get some photo books printed – we’ve done them before as presents for grandparents and they always go down well. I think it might have been your birthday books from #31daysofpaper that possibly inspired me to do them for my girls. Lovely to link up with #PaperyPeep this month 🙂

  3. I feel guilty too! My eldest had a baby book which had a couple of pages filled in but my youngest didn’t even get that. I only started the blog a couple of years ago so sadly the only memories we have of our children’s early years are in our minds or on the memory card (not printed!).

    1. I think most people are the same – blogging is great for being able to record those moments – and you could always post a photo and blog about the memory behind it to capture those early years memories in a more lasting way. It is so much harder to remember to fill in baby books though second time around – without the blog, it would have been very difficult to fill in Sophie’s.

  4. We also have a memory box although it’s a tad full and probably needs sorting out. I love the video idea. I had a plan to do a video each year, but haven’t done one yet! Oops #sharewithme

    1. Our memory boxes get in danger of overflowing every so often – it’s usually what prompts me to start putting cards in albums! The videos definitely help with re-watching some of the little video clips we take during the year and using some of the photos 🙂

  5. This is all so sweet, Louise! I do all of those, apart from the video and birthday letters. The children’s memory boxes were so full I bought big plastic boxes in the summer so I could add all their school paperwork and books as well as their first shoes, first outfit etc. I love looking through all those precious keepsakes to treasure. x

    1. Thanks Mel – getting big plastic boxes to upgrade the memory boxes sounds like a great idea! x

  6. OMG you are so good! I started with so many notebooks trying to write about my son’s milestones (before we got internet) before but nothing flourish. I will check out tweekaboo. Congratulations on these! You are really amazing in recording memories =) #sharewithme

    1. Thank you – I do find the Tweekaboo app helps me remember to keep track of things 🙂

  7. I have all these ways of recording- although G’s is a little more complete than Baby L’s …
    I do ‘Project Life’ for our photo album- if you like all this sort of stuff you would love it! Look it up, once you start you are hooked!! x

    1. Project Life sounds great – have had a brief look and bookmarked it to look again later when I have a bit more time – thank you for letting me know about it! x

  8. Wow some cool ideas on there. I really like the self-adhesive book for cards and things to stick in, that is a great idea. Also the birthday book is a fab idea, will start that.

    I have done a lot of the same things you have, we have a memory box, a baby book, this blog but also I keep a diary. I have kept a diary since I was 11 and when he is old enough I will let him read them all.

    I found you through “the list linky”

    1. I keep a diary too but I’m not sure I would ever want my children to read it, lol! Thanks for your lovely comment 🙂

  9. I have to admit, my baby book is 3/4 full, I really need to get printing and posting more pictures. But his memory box has all the important stuff and I hand write him letters every couple of months 🙂 Beautiful video!! xx

    1. Thank you – I love the idea of writing letters every couple of months, what a lovely thing to do 🙂

  10. Ahhh what lovely ideas here. So cute too. It’s one of the reasons I made my blog to record all the milestones the family days out the memories not only for them to look back on but for me to share with my family back home. Being an expat it’s hard to be so far away but my blog has really made them all feel a part of our life here in the UK. Great post. Thanks for linking to Share With Me. I hope to see you again next week. #sharewithme

    1. Thanks Jenny – I love blogging as a great way of helping to record the milestones and I can see how it must really help to keep the family updated when you have family who live far away. We have a blog for Jessica which was great for keeping everyone updated on how she was getting on when she had her heart surgeries. Lovely to link up to Share with Me and thank yu for hosting x

  11. My blog is my baby book! But I also have keepsake boxes and we did her a birthday book for her first BD. She also has My Life Story, which I am filing in for her until she is old enough to take over. Your things look lovely. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x

    1. I think blogs make great baby books – they tend to be updated more frequently which helps! Lovely to link up to #thelist again – thank you for hosting x

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