DIY Baby Book and Bella Band

(I started typing this yesterday, on Wednesday, and then my hubby got off work early, a very rare occasion, so I paused and am finishing this now on this lovely Thursday, sorry for the delay! Hope you enjoy!)

In this reflection for this "We-flecting Wednesday" I thought I would share a little of baby and pregnancy fun. I am recently discovering more and more of my friends are pregnant so I thought I would share this for them and anyone else that would like to read about some of this fun goodness.

For this post I am going to share the baby book I made for my little girl. I started this when I was pregnant because I wanted it to include my thoughts and feelings even from the very beginning of this little girl's life as a microscope little thing. I designed it in a way that I can continue sharing my thoughts and feelings about her clear up till she is 18 years old and I will give it to her as a birthday present for her 18th.

I looked at different styles of baby books, but none of them really stuck out to me as something that I really wanted, so I decided to make one and I love it. It is really simple, but it is and will be very personable for my little girl. So first off I will share you what I got together for her so far, and then I will share the basic format of what I used so that if you want to steal what I got going for your little one coming (or even want to make one for a friend), by all means steal away (and if you want to share on how yours turns out, that would be fun too!).

 Here is the front cover. The entire book is one of those composition books you can get at like walmart or any sort of  office supply store. I could have covered the black and white, but I liked the look it gave, and just covered up the "composition" title with the pictures.

 The first inside page I covered the writing they have in there with a family tree drawing I put together for a 4 generation. I wrote her name ( and will put in other children's names on it too) on one of the branches with a permanent marker. Oh and covered the outside and inside part with contact paper to give a little extra durable touch.

 Then the first two pages were sections "All about Daddy" and "All about Mommy", so that she could have a little fun looking back to where she came from

 (sadly this is the youngest baby picture I could find at the time, since my house fire back in grade school I am very limited on my little self pictures :(

 Then I had a section down to the very beginning of the pregnancy, the pictures on the bottom aren't very good, but I even share pictures of the pregnancy tests I took :-)

 Then I had pages about the 1st Trimester.. . .

 About the 2nd Trimester. . . .

 And the 3rd Trimester, this section I also including things from my baby shower. . . .

 I also included lots of belly shot pictures

 Then had a bunch of sections about her birth

 More and more about her birth (it was a very special day!)

 Details about her from the very beginning

 Included hospital stuff and hand and foot shapes (I was going to ink her hand and foot, but it was really tricky, so I just tried tracing her instead)

 Then I had a section where I tried to get family to write a little message just for her

 Things that happened on the day she was born

 Our trip home

 All her "firsts"

 And of course had to make lots of room for "her firsts"

 Then the final sections of the book is still yet to be filled. I have designed it so that about 4-6 pages or so I will write thoughts and feelings I have about her as she grows each year. The First "Growing Years" section is from birth to age 1, then goes from 1 to 2 and so on till she is 18 years old. . . .

 As you can kind of see here

 Then the very last two pages I have designated to be Final Notes from her Momma and Daddy, I know this wont be final, FINAL things she will hear from her lovely parents, but it will be kind of a fun note on how she's grown and how much we've absolutely grown to love and adore her and are so proud of her, you know, all that fun mushy parent stuff. . . . .

 Then the last last page that is cardboard sort of page we tapped the envelopes for her two ultrasound Cd's they gave us, so she will always have those and can look at them if she wants

 Then the back has some ultra sound pictures.

I don't know if we will do the exact design for all of our children, but I still like the idea of the writing inside. It has been a great fun time filler in putting this together and was a great pregnancy boredom project.

OK, now as promised, this is the basic format I did.

I wrote in the following on the pages and then filled them as they happened, and will continue to fill them in as they happen, so starting from the beginning (and even though I have a short line after each item, in the actual book I left lots of room and made lots of lines to fill in the blanks, especially for the more lengthy sort of things, I also made lots of room for pictures):
Page 1: Family Tree
Page 2: About Daddy (include square for baby photo)
Daddy's full name:___________________
He was born on: _____________________
He was born in: ______________________
Places he lived:______________________
His brothers and sisters:_____________________
Schools he attended:__________________
After school he:__________________________
His current job is:________________________
His special talents and interests are:___________________
A Description of him:___________________________
Page 3: About Mommy (same as the Daddy section, except change the "he" to "she or her")
Page 4-5: Pregnancy: The Beginning:
When and where we were when we found out we were having you:
Mommy's view______________ . . . . .
Daddy's view________________ . . . . . . .
Daddy and mommy celebrated by: ___________________________
Expected due date:___________________________
(Then I left room to put pictures of the pregnancy test or any other pictures)
How we felt it was time:___________________________ (we made lots of room for this response)
Page 6-7: The 1st Trimester:
Our reaction to the first ultra sound:
Mommy's view: ___________________________
Daddy's view: ___________________________
How Mommy felt this trimester: ___________________________
Foods and smells mommy hated: ___________________________
Foods and smells mommy loved:
(again, save room for pictures)
Any other thoughts/feelings/comments:___________________________
Page 8-10: The 2nd Trimester:
When we heard your heart beat:___________________________
Our reaction to hearing your heart beat for the first time: ___________________________
 Mommy's reaction:___________________________
 Daddy's reaction: ___________________________
When mommy began to change (as in size):___________________________
When we found out your gender:___________________________
 Mommy's reaction___________________________
 Daddy's reaction:___________________________
(again, more picture room)
Foods mommy craved:___________________________
Foods mommy avoided:___________________________
When mommy first felt you move inside her tummy: ___________________________
 Mommy's reaction:___________________________
When daddy first felt you move:___________________________
 Daddy's reaction: ___________________________
Gifts and presents and preparations we got for you: ___________________________
Books we read/are reading to get ready for you:___________________________
Things going on in our lives during this trimester: ___________________________
Any other thoughts/feelings/comments for this trimester: ___________________________
(again room for pictures)
Page 11-16: The 3rd Trimester:
When I had a Baby Shower:___________________________
Where I had it: ___________________________
Who hosted it: ___________________________
Who came to it: ___________________________
Things I got: ___________________________
Games we played: ___________________________
Advice I got: ___________________________
Names:___________________________ (we left several rows for this section, and put a "Why we liked them" next to each name)
Mommy's changes in sleeping patterns:___________________________
Funny and Memorable pregnancy stories:
Mommy's view:___________________________
Daddy's view:___________________________
Mommy gained a total of _______lbs
Feelings mommy has about you being born:___________________________
Feelings daddy has about you being born:___________________________
Things we did during this 3rd trimester:
Any other thoughts/comments/feelings:___________________________
(I had lots of pictures in this section, mostly because I FINALLY started looking pregnant :-)
Page 17-23 : Welcome to the World!
Day you were born:___________________________
Time you were born: ___________________________
Place you were born:___________________________
Town you were born:___________________________
Mommy's view of labor and delivery:___________________________
Daddy's view of labor and delivery:___________________________
Doctor's/Midwife's name:___________________________
Memories of our first moments together:___________________________
Mommy's memories:___________________________
Daddy's memories:___________________________
Memories of our first night together: ___________________________
Any other thoughts/comments/feelings:___________________________
Page 24-29: All About You!
Your full name: ___________________________
Birth weight: ___________________________
Birth height:___________________________
Hair color:___________________________
Eye color:___________________________
Skin color:___________________________
Who you most looked like when you were born:___________________________
Attributes:
You hair is like:___________________________
Your skin is like:___________________________
Your nose is like:___________________________
Your eyes are like:___________________________
Your mouth is like:___________________________
Your chin is like:___________________________
Your checks are like:___________________________
Other attributes:___________________________
Your Name:
Why your name was chosen:___________________________
Your name means:___________________________
Your Ancestor(s) we name you after:___________________________
Things we know about your ancestor:___________________________
Hospital stories:
Cards and gifts from: ___________________________
Visitors that visited you:___________________________
People who sent us flowers:___________________________
(I made room to put a hand and foot print or tracing, and I also taped our hospital arm bands in here)
Messages For You!:
We have asked different people to write a message for YOU! Here are some thoughts they have about you, how you look, hopes and dreams they have for you and anything else they wanted you to know:
From Mommy:___________________________
From Daddy:___________________________
From. . . . .___________________________
From. . . . .___________________________ etc. . . (whoever wanted to write a note here could)
On the Day of your Birth!
News Headlines/News clippings:___________________________
Weather report and temperature:___________________________
Famous people born this day:___________________________
World leaders at this time:___________________________
Fashion trends at this time:___________________________
Famous events in history which happened this day:___________________________
The Price of a :
   Gallon of milk:___________________________
   Loaf of bread:___________________________
   Gallon of gas:___________________________
   Candy bar:___________________________
   Carton of Ice cream:___________________________
   Movie ticket:___________________________
   Postage stamp:___________________________
   Car:___________________________
   House:___________________________
   Heating bill:___________________________
   Electric bill:___________________________
   Rent for our apartment/monthly mortgage payment:___________________________
Page 30: Welcome Home!
You came home on :___________________________
The weather was like:___________________________
Your new address is:___________________________
Who welcomed us home:___________________________
What you were wearing:___________________________
How we got home:___________________________
How you reacted to your trip:___________________________
On the first night home you fell asleep at:___________________________
You woke up the next day at:___________________________
Any other thoughts/comments:___________________________
Page 31-32: Your Blessing Day!
When you were blessed:___________________________
Where you were blessed:___________________________
Who blessed you:___________________________
What you wore for your blessing:___________________________
Who came for your blessing:___________________________
Things you were blessed with:___________________________
(and of course still room for lots of pictures!)
Page 33-41:Your Firsts!
First smile:___________________________
First laugh:___________________________
First rolled over:___________________________
First sat up by yourself:___________________________
First crawled:___________________________
First stood by yourself:___________________________
First took steps:___________________________
First danced:___________________________
First slept through the night:___________________________
Nap times:___________________________
Bed time stories/songs:___________________________
First bath:___________________________
First ate solids:___________________________
First favorite foods:___________________________
First tooth:___________________________
First waved "Bye-bye":___________________________
First said a recognizable word:___________________________
The word was:___________________________
First vacation:___________________________
Age and date:___________________________
Where we went:___________________________
How long was the traveling:___________________________
How long we stayed there:___________________________
How you reacted to it:___________________________
Favorite activity on our trip___________________________
Favorite outings:___________________________
First Christmas:___________________________
Age:___________________________
A description of Christmas day:___________________________
Where we spent it:___________________________
Who was there:___________________________
Presents you got:___________________________
Your reactions were:___________________________
First Independence day:___________________________
First Halloween:___________________________
First Thanksgiving:___________________________
First Easter:___________________________
First Mother's day (for mommy):___________________________
First Father's day (for daddy):___________________________
First Valentines day:___________________________
First hair cut:___________________________
Who cut it:___________________________
Your reaction:___________________________
(leave room for some hair clippings)
Your first birthday!
How we celebrated:___________________________
Where we spent your birthday:___________________________
Who was there:___________________________
What you wore:___________________________
Gifts you got:___________________________
What you enjoyed the most:___________________________
Page 42- End of the Book: Growing Years!
The remainder of the book is left for thoughts on the growing years from birth to age 18. I broke each year down so every few pages will be a year of her life all the way to 18.
End of the Book: Final Note from Mommy/ Final Note from Daddy!


So there you have it! I know it is alot, but I never really got something like this and I would have loved something like this about my childhood (I think my mom might have made something like this, but with our house fire I think she gave up on trying to keep it up). So I put alot of this together so my little girl, and also other children down the road will have something special from their childhood. And again you are welcome to use any or all or none of the ideas if you want! What sort of baby book(s) do you have for your kids?


To end this little pregnancy sort of post I wanted to also share a little goodness that saved me tons of money and was just great all around!

Here is a Bella band, I got this thing for about $20 at a local maternity store, but I am sure you could get one online or something. The idea of it is to let you still wear your normal clothes without having to buy extra maternity clothes. Because of this beauty, I only bought 1 maternity shirt, and only 1 maternity pants. When your pants are getting to tight to button, you simply leave it unbuttoned and us the band to cover it, and then for shirts that seem to be getting shorter, it serves as a undershirt sort of thing. This was probably one of the best pregnancy support $20 I spent, plus it is still in good condition that I can use it for other children. (but as a small disclaimer, I know this doesn't always work for everyone based on how your body grows as you get bigger, for some reason my hips didn't get wider at all, so I still fit all my clothes this way, so just take into consideration that everyone carries their babies differently)

This is also great to wear after the baby if you struggle to get back into your regular clothes and want to hide some of that baby fat too!

To give you a better look at how it works, here is me wearing it toward the beginnings of my pregnancy (almost a year ago), my pants are unbuttoned, but you can't really tell, and it just looks like an undershirt!

Here is me towards the end of my pregnancy (sorry I wearing black and it blends, it makes it a little tricky to see), but I am wearing one of my regular shirts and one of my regular pants still thanks to the band!

Here is a little more close up shot, can you see the band at the bottom of my shirt? Overall, this thing helped me tons!!!

OK, long story short, here is a little pregnancy help and fun for you all you expectant mommas out there, or you just think it would be fun to read! I hope you have a great rest of the day, and good luck with the little ones growing in the oven :-)

Until next time! . . . .