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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Reading this reminds me of looking through my own baby book with my mom when I was younger. I remember seeing a small lock of my hair and being so confused as to how she got it in a book.
I look forward to doing the same with my baby now that we are expecting!
One of my favorite childhood memories was making a happy face pin with my Grandma. She was very talented and made me a fantastic blinged out happy face with a bell for a nose and a pair of her old fashioned costume jewelry earrings for eyes! I miss her so much.
That is a beautiful baby book! My favorite memory is singing to broadway songs with my mom in the car! 🙂
My mother is a single mom w/ 5 kids so once a year we’d have our own day where we would get to skip a day of school and hang out w mom. We’d have a special lunch and do whatever I wanted without my brothers and sisters.
My favorite childhood memory is flying to visit my maternal grandparents every summer. I’d learn to bake cookies and use the dehydrator for fruit and veggie chips from my grandmother and my grandfather would take me to the pool everyday after he finished work. He taught me how to swim and eventually would time me as I swam laps in the pool
I love these books! One of my favorite memories was when my older sister and I would dress up my little brother in our leotards and tutus. He didn’t mind back then and the pictures are priceless!
seriously? I’m not kidding – over breakfast this morning I was just telling Patrick how I wanted to do a photo gallery upstairs of all different picture frames (old, distressed looking ones that I gather from yard sales, antique shops, etc and none of them really match but they all look good together). something I also saw on pinterest. scary haha.
One of my favorite memories from childhood is my Mom going on the Scrambler with me & my younger sister at the fair. She’s TERRIFIED of rides like that – will laugh in your face if you ask her to go near a roller coaster – but would do absolutely *anything* for her children. She was a single mom for most of my childhood, always working 2 or 3 jobs and somehow managed to never miss the chance to be at a choir concert, school play or take us to the park. She’s the most amazing woman and I hope I can be half the mom that she is.
One funny memory is dressing my uncle up and clipping bows into his hair and mustache!
My favorite memory is finding a pair of glasses from the 50’s at a thrift store and my entire family having a photo shoot wearing them. Totally out of character for both of my parents, but it was great to all just be silly together. Now that both of them have passed away, those are definitely some of my favorite pictures to look at.
this is great! every Christmas Eve when I was growing up, we would go to mass as a family, go out for dinner, and drive around and look at Christmas lights (a tradition my father had with his family growing up). It was really neat because, as a military brat, we moved around every few years, so it was a fun way to check out new places, and I loved the time with my family. Now that I have a daughter – her name is Olivia too! she was born a few days after yours on Jan 11 🙂 – I want to pass on that tradition
One of my favorite childhood memories was going to the ‘Big McDonalds’ (it was big, because it was THREE stories: bottom floor playground, middle floor to order food and top floor tables to eat) with my grandpa. We would sit on the bottom level on the chairs made out of Ronald McDonald characters (remember the Hambuglar?!?) and I would eat my chicken McNuggets with sweet and sour sauce (or glue as my grandpa called it) and we’d chat, laugh and play for hours 🙂
Favorite childhood memory.. Big Italian family gatherings with all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma and step grandma from Italy! Something I hope to re-create with our (hopeful) child.
Thanks! She’s sooo adorable <3
I would love this book for my pregnant sister! My favorite childhood memory is probably all of our family vacations to the Wisconsin Dells… we went every year. I still love the Dells 🙂
What a great baby book!
My heartfelt memory is when my parents were supposed to be away on a “romantic vacation,” but they missed us so much that, a day into it, they came back, surprised us, and picked us up to take us with them 🙂
One of my favorite memories is my father rocking me to sleep as a toddler. He passed away a few years ago, so I really treasure all of the memories.
When I was around age 4, back when my Dad was a limber man, he used to offer ‘horsey’ rides around the living room. He would get down on all fours and I would sit up on his back and hold on to his neck. He would crawl really fast around the room (at least fast to a 4 yr old) and sometimes pretend to buck me off while I hold on for dear life. I loved it, it got to be so fun that one of my little girlfriends wanted to join in the fun and we both got on his back and rode around. It must have been hilarious for my Mom to watch, as we shreaked and laughed.
As I sit here, 9 weeks pregnant with our first baby, I can’t help but think of all the embarrassing, awkward moments that I put my parents through! One memory that keeps popping into my head was when I was in second grade, I woke up one morning on the wrong side of the bed. Super crabby for no reason. I remember I REFUSED to eat my Captain Crunch Berry cereal in the morning and cried over nothing on the way to school. When my mom dropped me off at school, my teacher asked if I had been crying. I burst into tears and said that my mom would NOT let me eat breakfast and that I was starving. (the horror!) The lunch lady and my teacher sweetly sat me down and made me some pancakes (which I happily ate). Little did I know, they contacted my mom to see why she would refuse to feed her daughter breakfast. My mom explained the story. I’ll never forget the look on my mom’s face when I got home from school that day! She had to have been SO embarrassed! So yeah, now that I’m expecting…those are the stories I think about. Am I ready for this?? 🙂
One of my most vivid memories is being four years old and walking around the neighborhood we lived in with my older cousin. We found these little blue rocks and thought they were the most amazing thing ever, turns out they were the discarded rocks from an old fish tank.
My first memory ever is going to visit my mom in the hopsital when she had my sister. I can still see her walking toward me in the lobby, since we couldn’t go up and see my sister for some reason. I was 3 1/2. I love that my first memory is of my sister!
One of my fondest memories as a child is my dad and my “cloudy Saturday” activities. We would spend the morning at the local university’s natural history museum, then go home and watch old “Universal” monster movies with root beer floats … something I’m looking forward to doing one day with my little guy (due in 3 weeks!!)
(I know you didn’t ask, but one of my parents’ favorite memories of me also involves movies, but not in the way you’d think … the first time my parents went out for a date after I was born, they went to see “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.” Apparently, during the middle of one of the big action sequences, the movie theater muted the sound and flashed “X and Y, please call home immediately” up on the screen, and the whole theater groaned. My parents slunk out, and the babysitter was on the phone in tears, saying that I hadn’t stopped crying and screaming for hours. They drove home in a panic, and apparently the moment they walked in my room, I stopped crying and beamed at them … sorry mom and dad!!!!)
My sister and i use to go through our ‘school days’ book that my mom used for us through our school age years! We loved adding to it and seeing all the pics from the year b4! I still have it to this day!
I am terrible with remember things from my childhood — it really stinks! People talk about all these wonderful memories…and i remember having a good childhood with loving parents but nothing sticks out! Since being pregnant (6 months) I have never felt such an amazing bond with someone I have never met — I cannot wait to meet her in person!
My dad used to cut my hair when I was little, and around six years old I really started disliking his style of cut – he would just blunt cut my bangs so short! I was a little fashion diva back then 🙂 Anyway, I knew he loved cutting my hair so much that I would never tell him I didn’t like it. He had even gotten me a special smock to wear for our hair cutting sessions! So one day when I was eight, I overheard my dad asking my mom if she thought I’d want to go to the salon with her for my haircut… And to my horror, my mother said, “OH no, she LOVES when you cut her hair it’s her favorite thing!” I still tear up a little when I think of how sad I was. But I never told my dad! I had blunt cut bangs till I was twelve 🙂
I can’t choose just one favorite memory, so I will have to say my favorite memories are of the family driving cross country (from WI to MA) in the mini van for our yearly summer vacation to my grandparents house. I will forever cherish that time spent with my family.
I have one of those for my Little Man and I love it! P.S. How can I follow you on Pinterest?
First, I just stumbled onto your blog a few days ago as my husband and I are TTC – reading your journey has been so wonderful and I’m so happy for you and your lil girl.
Even though we were barely a year apart, my brother had a huge influence in my life an in raising me. He was the one that decided it was time to take off my training wheels on my bike, and he ran with me up and down the sidewalk, giving me extra pushes and cheering me on until I was able to ride a bike on my own. Can you just imagine what our neighbors thought watching a 5 and 6 year old doing that? It makes me smile every time I think of it!
My baskin robbins ice cream cakes my mom bought each year for my birthday 🙂
awww what a great giveaway! my favorite memory is saturday morning breakfast cooked by my dad that always included “cinny toast” (white bread broiled with butter, cinnamon + sugar.) amazing!
My sisters and I are best friends….I am the youngest and always wanted to be just like them!
I love watching old home movies of the fam. My favorite memories are really just all us kids playing in the living room, goofing around with one another on the floor, wrestling, etc. Couldn’t ask for better siblings.
i was using the potty and my dad said “ok katie now it is time to wipe yourself” and i said “but daddy my butt’s in the back!”
i think i was 2 or 3, my parents tell everyone to this day 🙂
One of my favorite memories from childhood is finding and collecting rocks with my dad, and then using a rock tumbler to polish them up and I would proudly display them in my room. This is where my current rock obsession comes from 15 years later =) Sometimes if he finds a cool rock at his house, he will save it for me and give it to me next time he sees me.
I remember when I was 5 I had hair down to the middle of my back. My mom had one of those curling irons that looks like a round brush. I thought it would be fun to curl my hair with it and got it stuck. When I couldn’t get it out, I didn’t want to get in trouble do I cut it out! My mom was so mad and then I had to get my hair cut into what I like to call the “boy cut”. I still will not touch a curling iron like that to this day.
we lived out in the country, so we played in our huge backyard for hours and hours at a time. we had a tire swing and a big vegetable garden and swingset. No videogames for us!
When I was little I LOVED naps. ( I still do but what adult doesnt!) Once my mom left me with a new babysitter and when she came home I was screaming and in tears and the babysitter had no idea why. She was quite flustered and told me mom she had no idea what was wrong with me and that I just kept saying “piwwow”. My mom simply asked, well, did you give her a nap? Apparently I wanted my pillow and to take a nap!
my favorite memories are of time at the dinner table, goofing off. i remember how hilarious i thought my baby brother was falling asleep while eating spaghetti… long noodle hanging out of his mouth but the bottom lip kept moving as his head bobbed up and down 🙂
Such a perfect gift!
My fav childhood memory is sitting on my mom’s lap in the chair in the bedroom and telling her that I loved her “Mommy smell”
I am lucky enough to have the most amazing, loving, and supportive parents. They too made me a baby book. It’s amazing to look through and see all the funny things I did/said. My mom put so much into this book for me. One of the funniest things in there was when I first started talking and discovering what I was eating. I held up an ear of corn and asked what animal it came from, and that it was my favorite meat! I started my love of healthy eating early on. 😉
My brother is 5 years older than me and he was too cool to play with me. One day he let me play on his room and he accidentally slammed my finger in the drawer he felt so bad he gave me his paddington bear. I loved that bear!
I remember playing The Wizard of Oz in the backyard with my dad and my friends. We would run around and my father would chase us pretending to be one of the flying monkeys. I also remember playing “He-horse” with my dad. My sister and I wanted to play He-man but we needed a horse too, so He-horse was born! It is one of my favorite memories.
My husband and I just had our first baby, a little girl, on February 23rd and this would be so wonderful to help capture some of her firsts!
I would love to win this for my childhood friend who is expecting her first child- a baby boy- in July! My favorite childhood memory is of my big sis reading to me; we would play school, with her being the teacher; she read me bedtime stories; and was even the one who helped teach me to read 🙂
Oh man I’m due with my first in 2 weeks and this would be perfect!!
One of my favorite childhood memories is going over to my grandmother’s house for dinner every Sunday night with all of my cousins/aunts/uncles, etc. It was so nice to all get together every week and I never saw my grandmother happier than when all her family was gathered together. We still try to carry on the tradition to this day!
My cousin is due with her first child, and my first god-child this October. This would be a great gift!
Let’s see… I am one of five children, and the second oldest. My older brother and I were both born in the hospital, but my mom had all natural home births for my three younger brothers. I remember each and every delivery, and it is so funny how your reaction changes as you age! When I was four, I was in the living room watching Barney as my brother Sean was born…Totally oblivious! I was six when my brother Patrick was born…Our neighbor brought me and my brothers to the park and when we came home the baby had arrived..How cool! And I was ten when my brother Jack was born…This one really got to me I guess, because just knowing that my mom was giving birth in her bedroom made me puke! Haha, my dad made me go hang at the neighbors until the baby had arrived.
So fun looking back on it all!
Funny memory from my childhood: When I was little, my parents wanted to teach me the correct words for body parts, and explained that I had a vagina because I’m a girl and my brother had a penis because he was a boy. Well, I must not have soaked up the information correctly, because at my 3rd birthday, I sang (very loudly) “Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to my peeeeennissssss, Happy birthday to me!”….And the best part? It’s all on home video. It’s hilarious because the video camera starts visibly shaking (aka Dad laughing) and then cuts out right after the song. HAHAHA….I am turning 24 soon and this still makes me laugh so hard whenever I even think about…we talk about that video at every birthday.
One of my favorite memories was when my sister was born. She seemed so small and cute, and I knew, even at the age of 4, that I had a lot of responsibility as an older sister. Boy was I right!
My favorite childhood memory is going on bike rides with my parents to the local convenient store to get slurpees and bubble gum. We would ride through the neighborhood as a family (I was on the back of my dad’s bike at first) and when my brother was born he came along too.
Some of my favorite memories are of when my sisters and I would pretend we were riding horses and set up “jumps” made out of laundry baskets or whatever we could find around the house. It was a lot of fun until we would make them too high and hurt ourselves!
I’ll never forget the day my parents brought home my little sister from the hospital. I was 5 years old and I knew we’d be the best of friends. 25 years later, we still are. 🙂
I honestly can’t think of any one from when I was young, But I now a mother myself to the most wonderful 9yr old girl I know, have heartfelt memories every day. I look at her still and she makes me melt with her smile, and watching her sleep is just a precious as it was when she was a new born. This book would be a great gift to my sister who is now pregnant with there first chid and a baby shower is coming next month…
Thank you for the post.
i have kind of an awesome memory of taking my older brothers signed baseball (signed by mickey mantle..oops) bc my friend and i wanted to play catch. we ended up throwing it in the pool and the signature smeared so we tried to write over it…unfortunately we barely knew how to write at the time so it did not end well. haha my brothers still pissed about that