Ask:
I know people who have written journals to their unborn baby or made a pregnancy scrapbook, with ultrasound pictures and baby shower invites. Did you do anything special (besides taking care of yourself, of course!) for your baby during your pregnancy?
Answer:
I bought a Christmas ornament for him (his birthday is in December) but the one I remember most is just buying him his first book. It wasn't a book I would start reading to him right away, but at around 5 which is how old he is now. Truth to tell, it was so darn cute with little mice in their little homes...I just fell in love with it. I'm really a sap that way. When I read it to him now I don't really talk 'baby talk' at certain spots but more just enunciate the words differently, ie. one part of the book is about the mother mouse making their child lunch and what she put in the picnic basket. I'll say, "and a jug of blackberry juice and caraway biscuits" in this kind of singsong voice and ds just eats it up. He asks me to say it over and over. I'll always remember it was the first book I bought him before he was ever in this world.
Answer:
I wrote each of them a letter shortly after they were born telling them how I was feeling, how much I loved them, etc.
I also do that every birthday. I put them in the safety deposit box at the bank and nobody (not even dh) knows they are in there so if something were to happen to me, it would be a present to my kids.
I should do one for my husband each year on our anniversary, now that I think about it.
Answer:
My friend did something that I thought was really neat for her baby. She had one of her very talented art friends paint on her stomach different designs and took pictures. Since she was born in February, they did differnet valentine's day designs, such as hearts, love letters, her name, etc. She also bought some different heart balloon and other valentine inspired items and laid them around her. My favorive one is where her stomach is painted pink with her daughter's name written across it and around her is a bunch of mylar balloons. It really blends in. I want to do that so badly!!
Then I've seen where they make a plaster cast of the tummy. That would be some neat 3-D art sculpture.
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I found a great book called "Letters for Tomorrow - A Journal for Expectant Moms and Dads". It had all kinds of ready-made topics broken down by trimester. It also had free-form pages too. I'm SOOOO glad that I did it since my memory is now shot - haha!
Answer:
Originally Posted by Claire
I wrote each of them a letter shortly after they were born telling them how I was feeling, how much I loved them, etc.
I also do that every birthday. I put them in the safety deposit box at the bank and nobody (not even dh) knows they are in there so if something were to happen to me, it would be a present to my kids.
I should do one for my husband each year on our anniversary, now that I think about it.
I absolutely LOVE this idea!!! I'm just sorry I didn't think about it earlier! I've kept all of mine and DH's love letters and cards over the years and I will definitely have to add this. I guess each year in our anniversary card we have letters to each other so starting this for DS would be just wonderful for him!! Thanks so much for sharing since DS's b-day is only a couple months away!
Answer:
This is actually something we plan to do for Samantha's birth. My daughter, Shelby, who is 3-1/2, is a Dora the Explorer enthusiast. When Dora's twin siblings were born, the family handed around capias (what we would call corsages, boutonierres -- sp?) for all the family to wear in honor of the babies' birth.
Shelby and I have looked at pictures of capia designs online and have chosen her favorites to model ours after. She'll help me pick the supplies, and I will make them for all of us to don when Samantha is born. I think it's so neat that Shelby, at 3-1/2, sees the birth of her sister as something important, something to celebrate and memorialize with the capias for everyone to wear!
Answer:
Originally Posted by Claire
I wrote each of them a letter shortly after they were born telling them how I was feeling, how much I loved them, etc.
I also do that every birthday. I put them in the safety deposit box at the bank and nobody (not even dh) knows they are in there so if something were to happen to me, it would be a present to my kids.
I should do one for my husband each year on our anniversary, now that I think about it.
I think this is a great idea! BTW I do this for my Dh.
Answer:
My husband decided to collect ALL off the Star Wars Galactic Heros for our unborn child. This was of course after we found out it was a boy!! Only one more year before he is even old enough to play with them! LOL
Answer:
I started a journal when we began ttc - I wasn't very diligent tho unti I got pg. I slowed down again after the baby arrived (11 weeks early). When I got pg w/#2 I started keeping another journal. After the baby was born it turned into more of a journal for both of them. I have 2 boys - they may never care to read it - but I write about day to day stuff (not every day - I try to write at least 2x/week), stories about things they've done - esp. the cute/funny stuff, and developmental things. I'm horrible at keeping a baby book - so I guess this is my alternative.