Milestones

How do you record your child's milestones?  What do you consider a major milestone worth recording?  I think most parents know what the big ones are... first step, first tooth, first bike, first date etc.....

But what about all the little things that aren't major milestones but they are things that you want to remember about your children in 5 years, 10 years, or even 40 years from now?  I am giving you a list of 5 different ways to document milestones for each of your children that you will have forever to love and look back on for years to come.

1.  Traditional baby book:  Most brand new parents get their first baby book at the baby shower from a loving friend or family member.  These are great ways to keep track of your baby through the first year.  They usually have pouches for little souvenirs, places for pictures and lots of space for writing about your little one.  The only thing I found annoying about these was the book is very specific in it's pages. So if you don't need a certain page for something then that page just stays blank.... forever...  But for a quick way to record milestones it is a good way to go.

2.  Photo Albums (with space to write by every picture):  I LOVE having pictures of all the milestones, so I use photo albums much more than I used KJ's baby book.  We didn't even buy a baby book for ET.  But the photo albums with a few lines of writing at the sides is a great way to see the milestone and also know the exact date, age, or other info you want to add with the photo.  These take a little more work but still pretty easy to put together for the busy mom.

3.  Scrapbooking:  With scrapbooking you have complete control over ALL aspects of how you record your child's milestones.  The only draw back to this is you have to be super creative on your pages and it usually takes a ton of time to do.  I have two scrapbooks for KJ but I only work on them once a year and I dedicate a full week of locking myself in with my craft supplies to get it done!  They are amazing to look back at when they are finished, but good luck getting them done.

4.  Movies!!!:  We take lots of videos in our family, KJ loves watching our  home movies from years ago.  They are a quick and easy way to get moments on our computer and easily burnt on a DVD.  I am a Mac girl, so I use iMovie and iDVD to make all of our home movies.  Another piece of advise is to use a simple point and shoot camera instead of an actual video camera.  The quality is about the same, and you are sure to have your little point and shoot with you about everywhere you go and therefore will take more videos than if you had to remember to get out the video camera.  It is also way easier to upload from a point and shoot than it is from a video camera that uses those little tapes.

5.  Journal:  This is an idea that most people don't think of for recording milestones, but I LOVE doing this.  I have a separate journal for each child.  I write in them on a weekly basis or more if more is going on with that child.  What is great about this is I have the freedom to write about everything that pertains to that child.  So I am not restricted to just the major milestones... but the everyday things that I find funny or amusing.  Quotes that KJ says, or songs that she likes to sing, and right now all of the 'first' stuff for ET.  Another thing I really love about Journaling is I'm writing my feelings down along with my child's journey.  So when they are old and they read these they know exactly how I felt about them at that time.  Also, I don't find it is very time consuming.  I look forward to journaling usually at night when the kids have gone to bed.  But if something awesome happens during the day I grab my journal and make a note of it too!!  This is by far my favorite way to document my kiddos.

I hope I was able to give you all some ideas of how to better document your kid's milestones!  If you have any other special ways that you have found or use please comment below and share with all of us!!!

KJ's 5th BDay getting her  first big girl bike!