My baby book stash. The Belly Book was awesome while pregnant (because I wasn't distracted by a baby yet). The Birthday Book is also a good one because it literally needs to be touched once a year. But that last baby book? SO cute, and almost empty :(
When I was pregnant I found this awesome memory book to help me keep track of all the kicks, flips and fun of carrying a baby for nine months. Once my baby arrived I was totally convinced I would be right on top of filling out those probing questions like, "What is baby's favorite rattle?" or "What was the best advice you received about dealing with a newborn?" Until she turned one and I realized I'd written in said baby book exactly twice, and in the swirl of new motherhood had totally forgotten most of those precious answers. Gah!
About a year later I started using Qeepsake, a service that lets you capture all those precious memories via text and I signed up for the beta immediately based on a friend's recommendation. The service is a brilliant concept created by parents in the Boston-area: take advantage of texting to capture those precious memories, and turn them into a baby book later. SO SMART!
A snapshot of some of the questions that arrive via text/Facebook Messenger. I don't get to them all, but if I miss one I really want to answer later I can fill in my answer online. Love it!
In no time I was saving memories left and right. Without much effort I built up more than 100 entries based on the questions that pop up on my phone. Since most of us have our phones with us ALL THE TIME it feels to know I have an organized way to use it to capture memories in one place. No saving a picture in one place and an accompanying blurb about what was happening in another place. Before this I was always texting myself when Mia said or did something funny or memorable, and did exactly nothing with those messages. Now I send them directly to Qeepsake.
The service is beautiful in its simplicity: questions arrive via text (or now Facebook Messenger, my current preferred method), I reply, and it's automatically captured in Mia's online Qeepsake profile. Got more than one kid? You can create profiles for each one and answer questions individually. For a monthly fee you can get questions more often and add the option of including photos with your replies to really amp up the memory factor. If something happens between messages you want to save, just submit it unprompted by text or FB messenger, and it will appear in your memory book.
And when the time comes, getting those memories in book form is as easy as clicking on Qeepsake's website to select your favorite entries to include. On top of it all the book is expandable so as your kids grow, their Qeepsake memory book grows with them.
There aren't many products or services that I've used as consistently at this one, because it has grown along with my child and only gets easier to use. I also really love how flexible the plans are: they range from the free version that sends just a few questions a week, to the mac daddy premium plan for $7.99 a month that both parents can share to capture the goings on of one or more kids!
If you want to check it out (of course you should), start with the Qeepsake Lite plan for free and answer a few questions a week to give it a whirl. I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I do!