Would you be surprised if I told you that since giving birth to baby number four the number of scrapbook pages I’ve created is TWO.
In fact, the number of pages I’ve made since having Addie I can probably count on two hands. And that has nothing to do with not wanting to scrapbook and everything to do with not being able to find the time.
If I were to describe life at this moment in our little family I’d probably choose words like: chaotic, exhausting, busy and the like. I know a few of you have been asking how life as a mother of four is going and you’ll get nothing but complete honesty here folks. It’s pretty crazy, but we’re slowly beginning to find our new normal and figuring out how this four kids thing works. There’s nothing so WONDERFUL as having a new baby in your home but nothing quite so exhausting either. 🙂
Each time we’ve added a new child to our family (especially with #3 and #4) I’ve had to rethink my scrapbooking process and find a new way to make it work for me and here’s a little peek at what’s working for me right now.
Before Alivia was born I purchased four black leather journals, one for each of the kids. I’d started journals for the older ones already but hadn’t kept up with them very regularly so I decided to start fresh with all new matching ones. (I bought them at walmart, they were under $5.00 each)
I drilled two holes in the front of each one, placed a bookplate with each child’s name on the cover and they were ready to go. Within each journal things are beginning to look a little bit like this:
I try to find the time during the week to jot down a story or two in the kids journals but Sunday’s usually end up being the day that I play catch up. I include things in their journals like:
-newspaper clippings
-I like to scan and miniaturize artwork or papers from school like tests or special notes from their teachers
-memorabilia from various events
-I will sometimes include a small photo leftover from a scrapbook project or one that was taken of a particular event I have journaled about
Whatever will fit really. I used to be a gluestick girl but now I’m hooked on American Crafts newest line of adhesives . Everything stays in place and my journal pages aren’t crunchy.
Is it a journal or a scrapbook? I don’t know…a little of both I guess and I just love how quick and easy they are to update when I have five minutes here or five minutes there. They completely satisfy my need to be recording all the memories we’re creating at this time but in a much more condensed and doable way.
I haven’t completely given up on scrapbooking the way I used to…I’m just trying to have patience and make things work with the time I have during this busy season of my life. I realize that there will be more time again someday and when that someday comes I want to be ready so another thing I’ve been doing is this:
I jot down various important dates/milestones/cute things the kids say or do before I go to bed on this little calender that I keep beside my bed. Memories recorded in point form on a calender are better than nothing recorded at all I say. Once I can find time to sit down and create a scrapbook page this little calender will be right with me giving me all the journaling I’ll need to fill in the blanks.
How have you managed to squeeze scrapbooking in these days? Let’s here those ideas!
Rebecca Cooper is a 42-year-old wife and mother of four from Alberta, Canada. As a photographer, crafter, author, and blogger, she finds joy and fulfillment in celebrating everyday moments. She loves to read and eat chocolate, and is a firm believer in afternoon naps. Rebecca shares her family’s adventures, photo tips, simple craft projects + more right here at Simple as That.
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I think that’s TOTALLY scrapbooking 🙂 And it’s awesome that you are finding a way to make it work in your life. I can’t image the crazy of 4! But I do remember the crazy of 3!
It was great to see you last Friday!
Thanks for the great tips. I have five kids and have found that with each addition, my time to scrapbook has fallen off during the baby and toddler years and then as they age I have more time and they are less curious trying to get their hands on my supplies 🙂
I try to just enjoy each stage guilt free and know that soon I’ll have more “my time” when they are older.
I think you totally hit the nail on the head Janet…it’s all about adapting to each new stage and just enjoy it….guilt free. I sometimes catch myself feeling behind and getting frustrated with my lack of time to scrapbook and I just have to learn to be patient. I’ll find time again and its ok to just let it go for a season.
The life journals (as I think they are) are genius. I have been trying to keep the cute things and memorable moments of our family in a little book I keep in our living room. But, I think that a book for each member of the family is priceless. Scrapbook pages are treasures, but to have little stories about the everyday moments of our lives once we get older is beyond compare. This is on my list of TO DO things that I want to accomplish. And soon. Thanks for sharing that your life is hectic, too. It makes us feel good for not always being productive in all areas of our lives.
BTW-As I try to compose this, my two youngest are in the room with me drawing, talking, wanting me to sharpen pencils…all with a little squabbling thrown in. Gotta love it.
So funny Monika!
Throughout the writing of this blog post I stopped to nurse the baby, put her to sleep, broke up a fight between carson and addie, changed addie’s poopy diaper, fixed the kids a quick snack, changed a load of laundry, got the baby up from her nap, held the baby while typing, found something for carson to do because he was bored, broke up another fight, took a phonecall from a friend…
well. no wonder it took me all morning.
😉
i keep a private family blog. it’s so easy to put all the best photos there and quickly type what’s going on. need to find a way to print it though. i back it up but i’d like to have a paper copy of it too. i also have a wee notepad beside my computer where i jot down cute sayings and short letters for our daughter.
that’s a really great idea! I have never really been “caught up” since having my oldest daughter and my youngest is lucky to have a few pages done. I love the idea of in between journaling. I have been trying to use a “project 365” approach to getting some stuff documented so that i can go back and work on individual pages later
I don’t get a lot of time either, so keep a little journal/notebook that I write in things that the kids have said or done – sometimes regulary updates, sometimes not! Like you I also keep notes on my calendar, so between the two it fills in gaps, and I reference both when doing “catch up” pages. And sometimes I just take whole blog entries and tweak them to suit – especially about family outings and the like.
I do the calendar thing too. You never have to worry about when such and such happened and you can record all the funny…cute…memorable moments. You can only do what you can do…and right now the most important thing is taking care of little kids. It’s your time and season (mine too, but I only have 2 kids and I find it pretty busy..hehe!) I have a journal like that from when I was little and it’s soooo much fun to read. My mom would write things exactly the way we said them so it’s really funny to see what I called things or things I said. Good luck and keep up the great work!
I only have one little girl, but I still haven’t scrapbooked as much as I used to! I’m a working mom, so I’ve found that two things are working for me right now, to ensure that those memories are not lost.
1. I blog – not always often, but I do it.
2. I have a calendar at work (Franklin-Covey Monarch) that has a calendar opening before each month. I jot down things about my daughter throughout the month on that calendar and in the notes section. Things like – first tooth, walking, dr appts, things she’s saying, fave toys, funny stories, etc. I started doing this as soon as I went back to work after having her, so I wouldn’t forget things as she got older.
Thanks for the great ideas. We just had our 4th child a couple weeks ago…and I barely kept great records to begin with! (This poor kid;). Love the calendar idea. So super easy!! And then one day, hopefully, I can go back and be creative with it.
I used a similar method when my babies were growing up (they are now grown and out of the house.) Now is when I have the time to traditional scrapbooking. I am moving the notes that I made when the kids were little to corresponding photos for each kid to each have an album. So much fun!
I love this idea and I’m totally copying you!!! Thanks for sharing Rebecca!
Of course being the “CASE” type of scrapbooker and a perfectionist to boot, I must know what size calendar you chose to use. If I bought the wrong size, that would be my excuse as to why I’m not organized or why it didn’t work for me.
And by the way, my children are 4 to 26!!! So, that would explain the 27 boxes of photos I have in my scrapbook room, and that’s not counting children #4 & #5 whose photos are ALL digital and still on the computer! In my own defense, I DO have a wonderful organizational system for them and every February I go back to the last year and burn the previous year’s photos onto CD’s. Twice, just in case 😉
Great idea! I love the journaling with added stuff in there and I really love the bookplate on the front of the journal. Did you use a drill a little smaller than the posts or how did you get them to stay in place? I love your blog, Rebecca. Thanks for the inspiration.
Beautiful! I would love to make these for my kids. Thanks for sharing. Your friend Just Rhonda gave me this link!
Great idea! I’ve struggled with the same thing with #3. I’m totally going to try this!