The Twins' Baby Scrapbooks (yes, you read that right!)

Scrapbooking and papercrafting have long been something I love. I love working with my hands and creating something beautiful to look at, but most of all I love preserving memories and telling stories. I used to scrapbook every photo I took . . . I did this for about a decade. Then, as life began changing for me and my time was needed in other places, I had to reevaluate the best way for me to tell my story and preserve those memories. 

That's about the time I began blogging. 

Blogging is a much faster way for me to marry stories with photos, and capture those memories for myself and future generations. And, while blogging does satisfy my desire to tell my story, it does not give me the satisfaction of creating something with my hands the way papercrafting does. After Brianna was born, I gave up scrapbooking every day moments and every photo I took for creating books for specific reasons or special occasions. I made Brianna several little books when she was a baby, but my favorite one was her monthly photo book (you can see it here). Now that she's a "big" kid, she loves it, too!

I've made several books similar to Brianna's for special friends or family members when they've had babies. I remember being kind of hard on myself for not having Brianna's finished before she was born. Then, when Bren came along, it took me over six months to finish his book (you can see it here). I only thought my productivity was slow back then!!!

After the twins were born, I had great intentions to finish their books in a timely manner. I was also trying to complete a book for our friend, Sadie, who was born about a year and a half before the twins. However, between having two babies, a toddler, and a preschooler, losing grandparents, having a house built, moving, having two miscarriages, losing more grandparents, and just LIFE, things did not work out according to my best laid plans.

I did finally finish Sadie's little book around the time she was three years old. After that, I decided to create a book for Brooke, Brecklyn, and Sadie's little sister, Caroline, all at the same time. I thought doing three books together would help speed things up a bit. 

While I was right that doing three books together was faster than making three individually, life continued to happen and things continued to get in the way of me completing the books. Now that I have a few hours of kid free time in the mornings, I was determined to GET. THEM. DONE. 

AND I DID!!! HOORAY!!!

I used the same color-scheme and papers for all three books. Brooke and Brecklyn's books are very similar, while Caroline's is a bit different. I wrote all of the poems myself, and my girls love for me to read them their poem. I took these photos before I put the photos in my girls' books, but that is also done now! I'm only posting photos of Brooke and Brecklyn's books ;-). 

Brooke's book:

Brooke's poem reads:

So many nights we spent, asking God to send us you.

A baby to love and cherish, so perfect, pink, and new.

We waited as we prayed, and dreamed of you our child.

We imagined your kind heart, your spirit, and your smile.

And then God sent us you, given in a perfect pair.

A double blessing to behold, a lifetime to love and share.

Our prayer for you, our child, is that you’ll always seek the Lord.

Letting your light shine for Him, bound by love’s strong cord.

May you always thrive and sparkle, knowing joy amidst the sorrows.

Rising in faith in the Lord, for He holds your tomorrows.

You, precious  love, are our dream-come-true.

Welcome to the world, it’s been waiting for you!

Brecklyn's book:

Brecklyn's poem reads:

Long before you were in our arms, you were in our dreams.

We prayed and pleaded with God for you, for so very long it seems.

We yearned for your sweet smile, your giggle, and your charms.

Nothing finer could we imagine, than to hold you in our arms.

And then God sent us you, given in a perfect pair.

A double blessing to behold, a lifetime to love and share.

Our prayer for you, sweet baby, is that you will know God’s love.

And place your hope in Him, setting your mind on things above.

May your little light shine brightly, as you sparkle and you grow.

May you love and thrive and prosper, and Jesus always show.

You, our cherished child, are our dream-come-true.

Welcome to the world, it’s been waiting for you!

I'm so glad these books are finally finished, and the girls have already enjoyed them so much. I wouldn't have imagined it would take me until they are 4 1/2 years old to get them done, but the important thing is that I finished them. That's what I'm going to keep telling myself anyway, haha!