Book of memories {giveaway}
Lots of fun little projects have been going on lately, including:
the Pinterest-inspired photo wall for upstairs
(collecting frames in various textures, all in the same color family and picking up photo orders from Walgreens)
and Liv’s baby book.
It took me a LONG time to order a baby book, because I couldn’t find the one I created in my mind (don’t you hate when that happens?). I didn’t want it to all be entirely digital, then clicking “publish/save” and having it sent to the house. I wanted it to be more personal, organized so I wouldn’t have to scrapbook the entire thing, enable me to write (in my own, messy chicken scratch) and attach photos.
This is exactly the baby book I had in mind:
I ordered the book from Ruby Love on Etsy (they also have a website) and was able to pick out the cover fabric, color scheme and what features I wanted the book to include.
It’s perfect.
All of the basic info is there, plus unique questions for the parents to fill out
the ability to attach photos (with 24 photo-mounting sheets included)
Lots of room to write
calendar pages with stickers for milestones
and an entire back section of blank scrapbook pages.
It’s perfect.
I add a little bit to it every day, and can’t wait to start filling up the blank pages in the back. A scrapbook project I can actually look forward to… before, the only scrapbook pages I’ve made have been for my husband and the single guys deploying.
I ordered and paid for the book, but after receiving it and discovering how truly amazing it is, I contacted the seller to see if she would be interested in offering a giveaway. I was so excited when she said yes- this would be perfect for an expecting mama or as a gift.
One lucky winner will receive a custom Ruby Love baby book of their choice. All you have to do is leave a heartfelt or funny memory from when you were a child. I can’t wait to read these 🙂
I’ll pick the winner Friday night (11:59pm EST) and announce it in Saturday’s family post.
xoxo
Gina
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It’s so hard to find a memory book that has everything you want. I’m due in August and this would be perfect!
I grew up in a military family so any drives to see family would be super long! One long drive home, me (4) and my sister (2) were very quiet in the back of the car. We stopped at a rest stop to get something to eat. My Mom straightened us up and put a comb through our hair before walking in. As she is combing my sister’s hair, her “beautiful blonde curls” (as my Mom put it!) started falling out. Apparently I took it upon myself to give her a quick haircut in the back seat with those kid’s safety scissors!
My favorite childhood memories are of all the Friday nights growing up, where our family gathered by the fire, we popped popcorn, and had “sleepovers” with our sleeping bags in the living room. At the time the “fire” and “camping out” seemed to be the draw of our Friday nights….but I am realizing now that it was the quality time that we had together as a family that is what meant so much. I hope to create memories like this for my family:)
When I was 5 years old, I loved tagging along with my older brother & his friend all around the neighborhood. We were allowed to go wherever in the neighborhood we wanted as long as we didn’t go into the nearby woods & as long as we came home when my mom rang the dinner bell. One day, my brother & his friend decided to go into the woods & lucky me got to come along. It was a lot of fun, but when we got home I went up to my mom & asked her to check my hair for ticks. It was a dead giveaway to where we had been so my brother got grounded for disobeying mom & bringing me along. As for my punishment, my brother stopped letting me go on any adventures. Not a super funny story, but I always chuckle when I remember it. My brother just got so mad & kept asking me “Why would you ask Mom to check for ticks!?”.
When my sister and I were pre-school aged, my mom would get big boxes from the dump (think refrigerator-sized) and cut them so that they lay flat, then let my sister and I paint giant murals on them and basically just go art-crazy. I have vivid memories of standing out in the sunshine with this giant canvas leaned up against the side of the house, painting our little hearts out. Love it!
That is truly a beautiful book. Great giveaway!
Love it! I think one of my fondest childhood memories is when I was with my grandpa for the day – just us. WE went and took flowers to my grandmas grave and then visited the pond with these big goldfish. Then he took me out for ice cream. I think that is one of the only times it was just us and not any of the other family members.
I love that baby book!! Such a fun idea. My favorite memory from childhood is making breakfast in bed for Mother’s day with my dad and sibs. My mom would pretend to be asleep and we would troop in bearing a tray with cereal, oj and flowers picked from the yard! I can’t wait for my own brood to do the same!!
My heartfelt memory when I was younger was waiting outside my parents door for my dad come out and let me sleep with them!
I would love to win this for my friend! After struggling to get pregnant for over 3 years, she and her husband finally found out a few weeks ago they are expecting! I am so incredibly excited for them, and I know she would love something like this 🙂
A funny memory I have from childhood is a conversation between my younger sister and my grandfather. She was acting goofy at the dinner table, and my grandfather said, “Amy, you are such a ham!” My sister gave him a quizzical look, and he tried to explain- with no success- what that saying meant. My sister just looked at him again and said, “Well, Pappap, you’re bologna!” Totally went over her head! My grandfather laughed so hard, he had tears streaming down his face!
By the way- LOVE that picture of Livi with Tom’s boots and flight suit 🙂 I am definitely getting a similar picture with my husband’s Army boots when we start having kids.
I was ten years old and my mom took me to a horse show and Dairy Queen, two of my favorite things ever. I will forever remember that as she died when I was eleven 🙁 I now have three daughters of my own and try to create awesome experiences for them, just like I had.
I wish my handwriting was as beautiful as yours is! Mine is barely legible.
LOVE your baby book!! It’s really worth it to keep one. I started jotting down one thing per day in our baby book and now that our daughter is 2, it’s so much fun to look back on it and marvel at all the milestones and day to day joys 🙂
This is such an amazing little memory book! and I LOVE the spots to write when you first felt Livi move and all that. So sweet. Those are some of the best memories from my pregnancy and I’d love to be able to record them before I forget! (I’m due June 14, but have been in ‘premature’ labor since May 1st, so our little boy could make his debut any day now!)
One of my favorite memories growing up is one that I hope my son will get to experience with one of his grandparents as I did with my grandfather. My maternal grandparents lived 3 hours away when I was growing up – close enough to see them regularly, but not so close that it wasn’t the most special thing ever when we went there or they came here. Every weekend we had with them, my grandfather and I would be the first up (early birds that we were) and out of the house. Usually we’d have a little cereal together and then trot off to a park. We had nicknames for all of our favorites, and he always let me choose which one we were going to. I still remember him asking “so, wigglewoggle, which park will it be today?” to which i’d reply “shoup!”, “merrymead!”, or “cheese!” and off we’d go. Once there, it was never just him watching me play, he would be involved and over the years, as my brother and our cousin joined us on these outings (only if they were up early enough!), we would develop our own versions of games like hide ‘n’ seek and grandpa would play along with us.
I was so blessed to have that wonderful man as my grandfather and to have those memories of my time spent with him. I know he’ll be with our little boy in spirit his whole life. He would have loved to know he was going to be a great-grandfather!
crap. now i’m crying. too much for the hormonal pregnant woman!
LOVE reading your blog. its part of my morning routine to check in, and I love the no-nonsense diet and exercise advice! Have you started bodyrocking again? tried the ZWOWs? all those changes happened after I got pregnant, so I haven’t gotten a chance to try any of the new workouts with the new crew.
One of my favorite memories are the roadtrips me and my family took to Utah every year to visit my grandparents. I live in southern california and since, at the time, my parents had 3 little ones they anticipated a very “interesting” 8 hour drive. So, my dad would go to the store and stock up the cooler with Mountain Dew (before Red Bull and Rockstar this was his caffeine of choice LOL) and snacks for all of us the night before. My dad would go to sleep very early and wake up anywhere between midnight and about 3am to wake us up and load every one in the car. It was nice because by the time we woke up we were almost there. We would do the same thing when we were getting ready to come back home.
I am 30 weeks pregnant and this would be perfect for our little guy! I’ve had a hard time finding a book I like.
My memory would be sitting on my grandfather’s lap while he let me sip some of the foam off his beer. I know how crazy that sounds, but I only remember him letting me have a little “sip” then that was it. Bonding this way has probably fueled my love for craft beer. Every time I see a freshly poured brew, I can’t help but think about what a wonderful man he was!
One of my first memories was when I cut myself playing outside on a piece of glass. My mom had me sitting on the counter, with my hand wrapped in a towel. I ended up having to go get stitches. It was a scary experience for me but also a heartfelt one because I knew how worried my mom was and how much she loved me taking care of me.
I would love to win one of these baby books – I’m expecting my second son in August and unfortunately didn’t get a chance to do much scrapbooking / journaling with my first son. I think this would be such a fun thing to do! 🙂
OMG your baby book brought tears to my eyes….it is so beautiful and being 36 weeks pregnant (with out first), I am not only a hormonal mess but have crazy emotions and can’t stop thinking about starting my own baby book someday VERY VERY soon! 🙂
Other than the labor, breast feeding and overall parenting fears (to name a few), one of my anxieties as of late is taking the baby home from the hospital….I think about it non-stop and have been drilling my husband on routes home from hospital that are the safest, location of me in the car, as well as if we will have the AC on or off (which do babies like?!)…lol my mind is racing as you can see. I am curious if our baby will like his or her new room and house and how he or she will adjust….trying to make everything perfect for the big arrival! Talking about these things brings me back to the day my parents brought my beautiful baby brother home from the hospital. Being the middle child and only girl (age 4), I was soooo ecstatic to have a baby brother of my own…someone who would now look up to ME! Anyway my mom tells me the day they did bring him home, I sat and stared at him in awe for hours……wondering what he was going to do? I quickly realized that the answer was “not much!” Even without much activity from him, my love for him grew and grew and I remember how I used to just like watching to see what he was going to do. My obsession with him grew from that first day home from the hospital and my mom says that several times throughout his first months of life, she would catch me laying on top of him while he was in his bouncer chair, just starting at his face. (Which I am sure he appreciated!) This memory is one I will never forget and it helps me relax all my anxieties and I keep telling myself that no matter when he or she arrives, or what is done or not done yet, the only thing that matters is the love that we have and will give to him/her….I am now counting down the days until I can stare at my own babies face and watch what he or she will do next!
I remember sitting at a restaurant with my parents when I was 4 or 5. When the waitress lit the candle in the center of our table I started singing “Happy Birthday to you”. 🙂 This book would be perfect for a friend of mine who is due in October!
My favorite Childhood memory was when my parents put us in the car one night after dinner and didn’t tell us where we were going , I was about 7 and I just remember asking my dad to give us a clue! We ended up going to the circus! To this day I remember this mystery trip and plan on taking my own kids on them when they are older 🙂
What a great book! And I love the pic of the boots and jumpsuit… I mean flightsuit lol. 🙂 I was just curious what type of scapebook did you make for the single guys? I usually just say “be sure to share the junk I sent.” but don’t know what else to send them. Thx!
Favorite childhood memory… Waking up in the middle of the night, my dad would be in the living room, Insomnia, and him making us pb and js with milk. Food always tasted better when dad made it, no matter what it was.
Looks adorable! I remember the day my younger sister was born. Even though I was 4-years-old at the time, i didn’t “get” the whole pregnancy thing. All I knew is that one day I woke up to a stranger sleeping on our couch (turns out my Mom had gone into labor in the middle of the night, so the neighbor came over to babysit me while Mom & Dad went to the hospital). I was so scared of the stranger in the living room and of where my parents were that I hid in my bedroom for HOURS pretending to still be sleeping, just so I wouldn’t have to face reality. When my Dad came home later to take me up to the hospital, I was none-to-happy about my new baby sister. I asked who her Mommy was and when my own mother replied “Me!”, I was definitely NOT happy to have to share! : )
When my brother & I were little, we spent every Fri. night w/ Grandma & Grandpa on the farm (the parents had it made!). One weekend we were playing in the field while grandpa was mowing on the tractor. Yellow jackets build their nests in the ground. My brother fell on one & before we knew it, we were being swarmed! We got my grandpa’s attention, & he jumped down off that tractor & grabbed my brother in one hand & me in the other, & we were off & running for the house! My brother kept screaming to stop. When we finally did, he pointed at the front of his pants & said, “It hurts! It hurts!” My grandpa whipped down his pants & a dead bee fell out. I don’t know why, but it was just hilarious! 🙂
Aww so cute!! One memory of my childhood is from when I was 2. (Actually, it’s a story my parents tell me over and over because I don’t think I actually remember what happened to me when I was 2!) Anyways, we were about to leave for Scotland to see my dad’s family, and my mum and I were at Costco getting a few things before the trip. (I’m not sure what we needed to bring with us to Scotland that was Costco-sized, but that’s not the point). I was standing in the front of the shopping cart and I guess I must have leaned a bit too far forward to reach for something because i fell out and on to the concrete floor. I didn’t make a peep and my mum was terrified. Eventually we left the store, she had me in the car in the back seat, and I still hadn’t cried yet. They got me to the hospital and under a bazillion lights super fast (probably because the doctors thought my mum said I fell out of the CAR, not the CART) and within seconds I let out an enormous wail that made my mum cry because she was so happy I was alive! The next day, on the flight to Scotland, I had 2 black eyes. My mum tells me that I got everything I asked for on that trip because she didn’t want people thinking she was an abusive parent!
I have so many cherished childhood memories, it’s hard to pick just one! There is one that my mom and I laugh about to this day: When I was three years old my mom became pregnant with my brother- and according to her I repeatedly informed her that I REALLY wanted a baby sister. If it was going to be a baby brother I had already made distinct plans of throwing him into the trash-can. Well it turned out to be a brother and he did not end up in the trash-can 😉 He did however end up in my doll stroller many times and I am sure he’d burn all the pictures of it if he could…
My husband and I found out we are expecting (so excited!) a few weeks ago and I would love to have a baby book for all those wonderful memories. My husband is in the Army- I love the pic of Olivia next to the Pilot’s boots:)
I love the scrapbook! My mother made us “life scrapbooks” that started when we (me and my brothers) were born and went til when we were in college. They’re the best! She made a special one for the time my brother was in Iraq and Kuwait (in the army) as well…
Can’t wait to continue the tradition and make one for my baby (due on Monday)!
Adorable! My fondest memories were always the summers spent at the ranch or the weekends at the cabin. From the time I was 2 I started spending time with at my grandparents ranch and learned to ride horses and help milk the cows. We never went on long vacations when I was small, but going to the cabin each weekend was the best vacation to ask for!
o my… there are so many memories from my childhood! what a good idea!!
hmm, maybe one of my favorites would be when my grandma and grandpa would take my cousin and me (there were only 2 girl grandchildren) to the black hills every summer. We would stop along the way (5 hour drive) to have lunch. my grandma packed sandwiches every time. 🙂 we would go to their cabin and she would teach us how to sew and cook. we would also ride bikes and explore through the woods… so much fun!!
Our son was born 5 days ago and I would love this book! Favorite childhood memory…rainy days at home with my mom when I was little, popping popcorn and watching movies!
i can’t believe i’m admitting this story and i will die of embarassment if anyone reads this and knows me. oh gosh. This is a story that my parents laugh about from time to time (it happened when I was too young to remember, but I do know I was old enough to talk). Apparently, they were having some trouble potty-training me– I wasn’t a fan of doing the #2 in the toilet. I guess they got desparate, so they started making a game out if it and consequently teaching me about size and shape, etc (you probably see where this is going). If i actually DID go on the toilet, they’d praise me and point out whether it was “big” or “small”, etc. Anyway, they brought me out to a company dinner and my dad excused himself to use the restroom. When he returned to the table, i yelled out “daaaaddeeee, diiiiiid yoooooooou poop-eeeeeeeee?……was it a biiigggg onnnneeeee?”. My parents were mortified, but luckily that wore off and they were able to laugh about it eventually (although i’m not sure how my dad managed being in the office that next work day). i feel like i’m reliving their embarassment by typing this – but it really is funny, and my gosh kids have no filter! ha!
What a beautiful book!!!
One of my favorite memories from my childhood is helping my dad “fix things”. I was so into helping him around the house that he bought me a cheap tool kit and had my mom spray paint the metal tools in bright colors for me. There are pictures of me as a toddler banging a bright pink wrench at our dishwasher. 🙂
Oh I love this! It has been really hard to find a nice baby book!
Most of my earliest childhood memories involve my little brother. The funniest one that I can think of is when he and I were playing in the backyard and my mom and I watched him pick up a plump green caterpillar. We told him how the caterpillar was just like Katy (we loved the movie, Katy the Caterpillar) and upon hearing that, he squished it in his hand and then stuck his hand in his mouth. Such a boy!
Aw I LOVE their books!! My favorite memory from childhood was making up dances and performing them for my family, whether they wanted to see it or not! My older sister and I would take huge pride in this, and would stop a party right in the middle to do a Sound of Music song and dance. Haha!
This would be perfect to give my SIL…she is having her 1st baby (my niece!) in September.
So many memories! We used to go to Disney every year when I was a kid b/c we had relatives in FL and it was a good way to get everyone together I guess? Anyway, when I was 3 my mom had all my hair cut off into a “pixie” style right before the trip (she was trying to get it to grow in thick…and 30 years later, has it ever!!). I HATED it! I’m sure I was super bratty about it, b/c I remember crying and being really mad that I “look like a boy” and wouldn’t even look in the mirror at home or in our hotel! Eventually my great-aunt Nicki bought me some cherry chapstick (“lipstick”) that I carried around and applied the whole trip so that “people will know I’m a girl” HAHA! (There are multiple pics of me with that chapstick in my hand, so I must have been serious about it!)
That picture of of Livi next to the military boots just about sent this momma to be over the edge and into a puddle 🙂 What a great picture!!!!! You have my wheels turning now to come up with a similar idea that can work for us. I LOVE the idea of a photo wall. I’ve always wanted to do one and I can’t wait to see how yours turns out.
So childhood memory….so this memory isn’t really a memory of mine because I was so young but I’ve heard it enough that it has become my memory. My sister and I are 17 months apart and shortly after she was born my mom needed to go take care of something with my sister so she said “Hold on Laura”. I was standing next to a bookshelf, grabbed a hold of it and said “I AM holding on mommy! I’m holding on!” Ha!
as a little girl, I LOVED staying the night at my nana and papa’s house. They lived about 5 miles off of a main road, out in the country. there were lots of farms and houses along the road, but Papa always needed my help to find their house. Well, Papa scolded me for running out into a parking lot one evening- I was mad and refused to help him find the house on the way home. I’ve lost my papa now, but that is nana’s favorite story to tell anyone who will listen.
One of my all time favorite memories as a little girl is wearing those full body pajamas (with the plastic bottoms on feet that zip up front) and racing/sliding down the hallways with my brother. We were so entertained by this! I can’t wait for my little boy to enjoy little things like this.
I’m due in 4 weeks and love, love the idea of keeping a memory book (love the b/w chevron print design she has — I might be obsessed with chevron!).
M siblings and I are huge fans of Bill Waterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” comics. One year we decided to create out own Snowman House of Horror. We built all kinds of grotesque, macabre snowmen and snow monsters, complete with ample amounts of red food coloring we stole from the pantry (the snow alien had green coloring, though. Obviously.) for the blood spewing from the lobbed-off snow limbs and snow wounds. Traffic on out street certainly slowed down. We even used the camcorder to record a tour of our creation, peppered with typical kids-producing-a-movie elements like off-camera cueing (“You’re not doing it right!” “Over here! Look at my snow goblin!”) and at one point the cameraman fell over. The video usually makes an appearance at family gatherings.
I came from a strange family.
AHHHHH, i LOVE this baby book already, it looks just PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!
My best memory is making chocolate chip cookies with my Mom. Til this day, every time i make them, i think of her:)
WOW, my goodness are her products wonderful!! Thank you for this…both of my best friends are pregnant right now and I know they both would love their own book as a shower gift!
My favorite “funny” childhood memory was when I was learning how to write my own name. We were at my aunts house and I was outside with my cousin who is just 2 months younger than me. I wanted to show him how well I could write my name, so I picked up a rock and carved a barely legible, poster sized “sarah” in the side of my parents brand new van. I impressed my cousin and we ran inside to get our parents and show them. I will never forget the moment that followed…me, beaming full of pride, and both of my parents faces frozen in horror. Haha! Took them awhile to admit it, but they found the humor in it eventually 🙂
I had my little one on Mar 27th, so this would be awesome as I still haven’t gotten my shizz together to get one yet!
One of my favourite memories is spending the day painting with my older sister. My sister was very territorial about her stuff, but one day she said I could paint with her. The only catch was that I wasn’t actually allowed to touch her stuff. So the picture my parents captured of this wondrous event shows me standing on a chair as far from the painting table as I can safely be, with only the tip of my brush touching the paper! My sister, on the other hand, is practically lying across the table and looks super relaxed and comfortable!
My co-worker just had a baby. They tried for 7 years to have a baby and luckily they finally hit the jackpot. This would be a wonderful gift for her and her baby.
Some of my favorite memories as a child were when my family would visit my (maternal) grandparents. My grandparents were so loving and wanted to do everything with us. We’d pick pecans from their backyard (they had pecan trees) and they’d play Monopoly Junior with us. My granny always greeted us with a hug and a kitchen full of baked goods.
Baby books are amazing, my sister would just jot down everything on post-its and then transfer to the baby book when she was in the mood for nice writing 🙂
I always crack up when I think of baby books because when I was applying for my permit as a kid, my mom broght in my WHOLE BABY BOOK to the DMV to get out my birth certificate. Hahaha. Then when I got married and changed my name, she just gave me the whole thing. You can tell the age I became more of a handful, because that’s when the one-word answers popped up and then turned into nothing. Haha.
My sister is three years younger than I am, and she used to sneak into my room every night and play with my dollhouse. She’d inevitably wake me up around 2 a.m. and I’d get so annoyed! Now, her daughter’s three, and my mom is giving me that same dollhouse to keep at my house when my niece comes to visit her Aunt Jen. (Note: it will NOT be kept in my bedroom now!)
Omg. I forgot to leave a memory from my childhood–for as long as a could remember my dad’s hand were always rough and chapped. I didn’t know that he was a pediatrician and I could never understand why his hands were like that until I was older.
That baby book is so great! I just found out my best friend is pregnant with her second baby and I think that’s what I might get her this time around.
My favorite childhood memory growing up is going to visit my Grandparents. I am the only grand-daughter and so every time they would get myself and my cousins something mine would be extra special because I was the only girl. It’s still the same to this day and I love it! I love calling them up and when they ask who is calling (jokingly) I say, your only grand-daughter of course! 🙂
I remember my dad making grilled cheese and alphabet tomato soup–every day–for us for lunch when we were really little and he stayed home with us. 🙂
I have lots of great childhood memories, but some of the fondest are of my Grandma. We would sing songs in Polish (her native language), she taught me how to make pierogies and whenever she baked pies I would get my own dough to roll out to make a kid sized pie. She also kept a box of Fruity Pebbles for when I would visit, which didn’t make my mom too happy. But that’s what grandmas are for 🙂 I miss her!
I would love to win this. I am planning on making a “First Year” book for my sons’ first birthday in two months.
I have been looking for the exact kind of baby book for our little Addison!!
One of my favorite/funny childhood memories is this: My family and I were playing Marco Polo in our swimming pool… I was probably in 3rd grade and was the most innocent, never-get-in-trouble kind of kid. My dad was “it” and was swimming around shouting “Marco” while my brother, mom, and I splashed around trying not to get caught while shouting back, “Polo!” Well, my dad came super close to tagging me when I exclaimed, “Haha… sucker!!!” Well he thought I said something a little different.. it starts with an F and rhymes with pucker. My dad was instantly upset and told me to get out of the pool.. this is the first time I remember “getting in trouble” and I was devastated, until he realized what I had really said. We still laugh about it to this day!
These look like so much fun! One of my favorite memories as a kid is the folder full of stickers my mom had for us. She would collect from the most random places (including the obligatory Mr. Yuck stickers) and it was our go-to entertainment for everything – that and the HUGE roll of paper that was always at the bottom of the coat closet for coloring fun!
What a great photo book! I, too, have a hard time finishing scrapbooks when all I have are blank pages, stickers, and photos. 🙂 When I was about 3 years old, my family was out to eat at a locally owned pizza place. We were ordering pizza by the slice and when the server asked me what kind of pizza I would like (meaning cheese, pepperoni, or sausage). My response was: “I’ll have Domino’s, please.” Oops!!
What a fantastic giveaway! As soon as I saw the first photo of your book, I went to her etsy shop and bookmarked it! My hubby and I are currently trying for baby #1 and I’d love something like this.
One of my favourite childhood memories involve GI Joes and Barbies. I am the youngest of 3, and the only girl. I looked up to my brothers so much when I was little and always wanted to be with them and play with them. It wasn’t ‘cool’ for them to have their little sister playing with them and the neighbourhood boys and I remember going home crying to my parents no more than one occasion because they wouldn’t let me play. You see, our neighbour essentialy had a GI Joe world in his back yard. I mean, he had anything and everything GI Joe out there. I don’t remember how it happened, but I do remember that one day, the boys finally let me come play.. with my Barbies in tow. I will never forget that day.