I decided that it's more important to me to catch up on my pregnancy journaling. I kept a journal through my pregnancy with Mia, it was a Word Document that I tried to add to at least once a week about how I was feeling, any new developments with the pregnancy and just whatever was on my mind.
For example one entry is just about a text I shared with my husband while I was grocery shopping:
Me: I really have to pee and baby keeps moving and making it worse.
My husband: Haha Baby's got a great sense of humor.
My thought after reading his response: How am I going to survive having my husband and Baby ganging up on me and picking on me all the time?
I knew I wanted to transcribe it into some kind of book complete with pictures to make it pleasant to look through, but I didn't know how I wanted to do that so I kept my eyes open and waited. About six months after I had Mia I came across SMASH books and decided they would be a perfect way to display those memories. Coincidentally I had just become pregnant for the second time- so I ordered two books and some of the SMASH book extras- little pockets with calendars in the front, their SMASH tabs, a library style stamp, and some extra pens and stickies from an online scrap booking store. I love how the SMASH pens have glue sticks on the other end.
The left is the original SMASH book- it's their baby book themed book. The right is the completed journal from my pregnancy with Mia.
The first step was taking apart the spiral binding so that I could rearrange the pages. Some pages were perfect for later in the book (like a list of 10 Little Things I Love About You; I felt that made more sense to have after she was born rather than in the middle of my pregnancy).
Next I looked over my journaling and notes and filled in my calendars. Then I worked month by month. At the start of each month I have another calendar pocket, then added my journaling for that month.
I didn't stress about layouts or having anything written perfectly- although I tried to keep everything legible. I figure I'll be the main person ever looking at these books- although maybe the girls will be interested in reading them once someday.
I put a tab to mark the start of my First, Second, and Third Trimester and one that marks the start of Mia's Birth Story.
Inside the pockets I tucked notes from the doctor, cards I received from family, and anything else I found worth saving haha!
I used mod podge to attach some fabric that I found at Hancock Fabrics to the cover and some ribbon to tie the book shut. Then I rethreaded the binding to put it all back together. Unfortunately as you flip through the book the pages in the front start sliding out. I need to find some other way to rebind these books but for now I'm content.
It took me a couple of months working an hour at a time to copy the 14 page long journal and fitting in the pictures. I had two pages leftover, I just left those pages out. I have to say I'm really happy with the end result.
So as of right now I'm working on copying my journal from this pregnancy into the other book. I'm halfway through November currently meaning that I have 2.5 months to finish and I'll be caught up. If I keep working at the rate I'm going (2 months per week which is about 3-4 hours worth of work per month of journaling) I'll be caught up by the end of next week, which is my goal. I've only 3 weeks till my due date and once Baby Sister is here I know I won't be crafting at all for a bit.
