After you’ve gone through the birthing process, it’s time to capture all those amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, memories! But it can be hard to figure out how to do that all in one place. If you’ve read about my DIY Beautiful Baby Book that I made for my daughter, then you know I am all about making a baby book yourself. However, in terms of keeping all the photos of your baby from the first year, my recommendation is to Make Your Own Baby Book Online – and here’s how to make it awesome.
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First, I think you need a few different types of baby books. One is for you to write in as your baby gets older. You track milestone, add pages from the hospital, preschool, and baby groups. That one is a little more flexible and would be well suited in a binder or a place where you can add or remove pages.
The next is a baby book that only includes photos and some text. That’s where this Online Baby Book comes in. This allows you to have a pretty, professional book that you can show family and friends for years to come.
Make Your Own Baby Book Online with Shutterfuly
The perfect place to make a baby book online with all your photos from the first year of live is through Shutterfly. I have used Shutterfly for a lot of different projects, and I am continually impressed by the outcome each time.
What I love about it is that you can make it exactly to your taste. You can design everything from the front cover, to the text, to the general colors and fonts. It also allows you many different options for size options. For my online baby book, I picked a 12 x 12.
Baby Book Cover Page
The cover page should of course include all your baby’s stats. When was their date of birth? How much did they weight? What time did they arrive? Make sure to include the doctor who delivered the baby as well as the hospital (if applicable).
Baby Book Pages: Baby’s Arrival
The next page in your 1st year photobook has to be all about baby’s arrival day! I got some amazing pictures of when my daughter was first born! The one where they haven’t even cut the ambilocal chord yet is my favorite and pretty amazing. (And yes, very bloody LOL.) I love having all those photos in one place from all my visitors who got to meet the baby.
Baby’s First Photoshoot
Did you do a newborn photoshoot? So, I may have skipped the pregnancy photoshoot this time around (What can I say, I felt fat! lol). However, I 100% knew that wanted a newborn photoshoot! Yes, with all the expenses of having a new baby, a newborn photoshoot is a lot. However, I am SO glad we did it. I love how we captured all those adorable and wonderful details of my baby girl’s hands, feet and lips.
My photographer also took some great photos of the nursery – a moment in time that will never be the same. I love that I have one page dedicated to this photoshoot in the 1st year photobook. I also noted that it was on day 7 of her life.
Baby Book Monthly Updates
You know how everyone is taking those photos of their baby each and every month of the first year? Well, where exactly do you put all those? Well, if you follow me for party decorations, then you might know that you absolutely need to make a 1st year photo banner for your baby’s first birthday! (You can also learn how to make one with your Cricut here.)
But, aside from that, a photobook is the perfect place to have your monthly photos! (Now that I think about it, I wish I had one dedicated page with just those photos so you could see the progression on one page.)
The best part about the monthly photo’s is that you can put all the outtakes together as well…
Baby Book Pages: Baby’s First Christmas
Don’t forget to add a page about baby’s first Christmas into your online baby book! Wherever this falls in your baby’s first year, it is such a fun thing to capture for years t come. We haven’t taken a picture with Santa since, but as long as I got the first one, I feel like that’s all that matters!
Baby Book Pages: First Birthday
This might be the most important page of all, coming from a party decorations designer, that is! You must must must document your baby’s first birthday party in your first year photobook! You might have already read about the Donuts and Pajamas party that we threw for my daughter’s first birthday. It was so much fun to plan and had oodles and oodles of amazing decorations that I had a blast making!
I love that I have all the pictures in her baby book to remember every single detail – including those adorable donut pants, and all my friends who came with their babies!
Include Your Baby’s First Birthday Photoshoot in Your First Year Photobook
Wow, the first year goes by so fast doesn’t it? Okay, ya, when I look back, it went fast. However, when you’re actually in it, it feels like forever, especially if you’re having a tough time. If you’ve read about my journey with postpartum depression, then you know for me it was a rough time. I wish someone would have been able to tell me how much better it actually could be. So, if that’s you, let me be the light at the end of the tunnel for you. You can do this mama!
All that said, another added expense to top of that first year is a first birthday photoshoot! We did our first year photoshoot with one of our favorite family photographers, and loved how they all turned out! It’s the perfect addition to the last pages of our first year photobook baby book!
I hope this gives you a fun and creative way of capturing all your photos from your baby’s first year! Make sure to check out my other posts below for the other types of baby books we used for those first few months, and beyond the first year!
Related Articles
You might also be interested in the following articles:
The Best Gift for Your Mom: A Shared Mother/Daughter Journal
Ideas for Making Your Own Baby Book
Lastly, thank you so much for taking the time to read about how to Make Your Own Baby Book Online. I hope this gives you some ideas about creating a first year photobook for your baby! I love to help you celebrate life through party decorations and personal development! But above all, Iโd love to connect with you. Reach out to me on Instagram and letโs chat. You can also get started on celebrating your life with your FREE gratitude journal printable or by subscribing to my podcast, The Celebration Effect Podcast! I can’t wait to connect with you more.
xox
Lindsay
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