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Do you find yourself taking tons of photos on your phone, and then they just end up being saved on a computer or hard drive somewhere? Disorganized chaos, right? Even if you use one of those photo site services, they still just sit out there!
Thanks to Pinterest, I have come up with some neat ways to document milestones and time with photos. I have been extremely lucky to catch these ideas before the milestones begin. I think however, even if you don’t, why wait!
School Days
The first creative photos were with the first and last day of school for the PEGS. Lauren was first up with her first day of Pre-K! We made a sign, that was nearly bigger than her and she posed for her very first day. She was so tiny and so excited. We then took a picture of her on the last day with last day sign.
I make the signs with black poster board and metallic markers. I make sure to put the grade level as well as the date. It’s amazing to capture how the kids grow thoughout the school year. We got a few years of practice with Lauren before Ava started Pre-K, but then once she did, we did the same thing with her!
I have made a photo wall in our hall way with the first and last day pictures along with their school picture from that year! The girls really look forward to doing these pictures and seeing how they change! I have seen quite a few versions of these types of pictures, from signs, to chalkboards, to sidewalk chalk to extra large t-shirts with the child's graduation year on it. All such fun ideas and something the kids will some day cherish too!
Anniversary Pictures
The next one that again, I discovered on Pinterest, that I just love, is our year over year anniversary pictures. This is a way to capture each year of marriage, in one shot! We started on our first anniversary, by holding a picture from our wedding. On our second anniversary, we held the picture from year 1, etc etc. I can't wait to be married to Jeff so long that we can hardly see that very first wedding picture.
For this array, I have made a wall near our master bedroom! It’s always a crowd pleaser and conversation starter. Each year we do family pictures in the fall and we make sure to incorporate our anniversary picture too!
Baby Bump Milestones
When I *FINALLY* got pregnant (fertility story coming someday!), I knew that I wanted to document this growing bump somehow. Pinterest and other social media outlets have so many awesome ideas, the key is to figure out your idea before the start of the milestones. With the timing of the pregnancy along with fertility, we began our photos at the 7 week marker. I didn’t start sharing them on social media until 12 weeks for the obvious reasons. I give Jeff a ton of credit, because each week, not only did we have to move the couch and end table, and hang my chalkboard but we took about 20 shots until I was happy with at least one. I have a lot of mental hang ups with gaining weight, so I’ll be honest, pregnancy was hard for me in that way. I am so happy now that I have all of these pictures to document how Jackson grew in my belly. Once he arrived, we clearly understood why the bump was so big. For supplies for this project, I got a large chalkboard from Hobby Lobby (www.hobbylobby.com ) and then chalk markers in tons of colors from Amazon (www.amazon.com). I season the chalkboard with traditional chalk, then decided what I wanted to do as the banner. I decided that I would keep the banner at the top of the chalkboard each week, and just change the “number of weeks” each time. We did some fun shots after Jackson was born too, as well as when he turned one.
1st 12 Months and Holiday Pictures for Baby
By no means am I a professional photographer, nor even a good one, but I knew I HAD to capture how adorable Jackson is. Honestly, I wish a professional could just follow us around capturing our whole life, so I never forget a moment! Obviously, that’s not possible, so I had to get creative once again – thank you Pinterest! I did invest in professional newborn photos which turned out amazing. Heather Brown spent close to 5 hours with my 10 day old buddy and I, and snapped just phenomenal pictures. Her patience and care made both Jackson and I super comfortable. If anyone I know is near Katy, Texas, be sure to check her out! www.heatherbrownphoto.com.
When it comes to the monthly pictures for Jackson, I kept it somewhat simple. We had ordered him a super cute personalized chair from www.potterybarnkids.com, which matched his nursery. Then at my shower, I received the fun little monthly stickers, which we used each month for his shirt and on his chair. We stuck to a white onesie with the stickers, posing him right on his little chair. They turned out so cute, and really illustrated just how much he grew and changed each month. As Jackson grew more mobile, it got harder and harder to keep him still for pictures. Typically, it would be a whole family affair, all of us (pegs and dogs included) trying to get him to smile….and making sure he didn’t take a tumble off his chair! I would recommend finding a way to capture the first 12 months, it was so fun and I am so glad I have those memories documented. Oh and I used the pictures for a super cute banner at his birthday party!
The other milestones I tried to capture photographically were his first holidays. For these, we really got creative and he was such a champ with all of them. I think my favorite was Halloween – who knew a baby would be so happy to sit in a pumpkin!
It may seem like a lot of work and energy to capture and keep these types of milestones organized but honestly just stick with it and you will be so happy with the final product!!
Have FUN and get CREATIVE!