crafting, gifts & giving, happiness

On Gifts and Giving: Baby Books

My best friend from college is one of my favorite people in the world. She’s fun, she’s hilarious, and she loves people wholly and fiercely.

I share my favorite college memories with her, many which include her complete and total lack of artistic skill! She was a kinesiology major, so you’d think this wouldn’t come up very often, but you know how those sorority projects can be. Painted party cups for every event, scrapbooks for your lil sis, handmade costumes for fraternity Halloween parties . . . the list goes on (and if you weren’t in a sorority and you feel like you just fell down a rabbit hole of what–is–she–talking–about?, I promise this story is going somewhere).

She is someone who is good at many, many things—especially sports and story–telling—but an artist she is not. And she knows this. And she has a great attitude about it. AND she used to crack me up with her attempts at hand–lettering or scrapbook–making…

“Why does this look like a four–year–old’s preschool project? WHY?!?”

“Maybe I’m left–handed and I just never realized it.”

“This actually looks kind of goo—wait. Never mind. Misspelled my own name.”

And then I would quietly take over whatever project she was working on and pacify her with Diet Coke, reminding her that I owed her for all the times she tutored me in Biology for Non–Science Majors.

All this changed when she got married and grew close to her husband’s grandmother, a feisty lady with a great sense of humor who also happens to knit.

They were a match made in heaven.

My friend wanted to spend more time with this woman—who wouldn’t?—so she asked her to teach her how to knit. And guess what? She finally found her craft! My friend is now an expert knitter. She loves having a creative outlet, and I’m so happy that she found something that she enjoys and that doesn’t frustrate her.

For the last few years, she’s knitted beautiful baby blankets for family members and friends who were expecting. What a wonderful, thoughtful, handmade gift, right? When I think of how many hours she spends creating each blanket and how heart–warming it must be to receive one from her, I get all sorts of fuzzy inside and it reminds me what a loving friend she is.

Now this favorite person of mine is expecting her own little one, and I think it’s time someone returned the favor, don’t you? I can’t knit very well, but I can scrapbook, and I know it’s hard to get a baby book done when you have, well, a baby.

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As much as people might enjoy having a beautiful baby book for their little ones, it’s not always practical, and if you’ve read this blog for five minutes, you know I’m all about being practical and happy and grateful and letting go of guilt and ending comparison and all of those you–do–you kinds of things.

So with having the summer off and working part–time now, I decided to channel my efforts into a ready–made, you–fill–in–the–blanks baby book for my dear friend.

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I included lots of space for pictures, of course.

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And a few spots for journaling.

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I put the pages in chronological order, leading up to the first birthday party and including holidays.

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I also included pages for milestones like crawling and first time eating baby food, but I designed them so they’re easy to move around to the month when that happens.

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And the best part? All my friend has to do is print the pictures she wants and fill in bits of journaling here and there. She can even type and print if she prefers.

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Isn’t it amazing how much babies are loved by so many people before they even get here? They’ve got the Man upstairs knitting them in their mothers’ wombs and counting the hairs on their heads, and they’ve got us dreaming of them and creating ways to record their special moments before they’re even born. I’m so happy for my friend, her husband, and their sweet soon–to–be family of three.

4 thoughts on “On Gifts and Giving: Baby Books

    1. You’re too sweet. It was so much fun to make! And my friend teared up a bit when she opened it. Her happiness made my whole weekend. : )

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