My oldest daughter turned 10 last week and honestly, it hit me like a truck, much harder for me than turning 40 last year did. How could my little chubby baby be 10 yrs old? How could I have a kid who's been around for a decade? How could I be that old? My little baby is gone and is replaced by a very tall, curious, amazing kid.
In celebration of her birthday, I made her favorite red velvet pancakes in the shape of the number 10 (our family tradition) and handmade 55 chocolate covered strawberries for her birthday celebration at school. I had planned a fabulous party for her and her friends at our local roller rink that weekend. But somehow all this fanfare still did not seem enough to celebrate this milestone in my little girl's life. I still needed her to know how much she means to me, show her how proud I am of her in a way that no card could convey.
Then it hit me. I'd make her a scrapbook. So that afternoon before she came home from school on her birthday, I made her an album which highlighted pictures of she and I from her birth until now. Pictures of us on vacation, playing together, everyday sort of pictures. It literally took me less than an hour to put together thanks to Stacy Julian and Becky Higgins. Seriously, less than an hour. Thanks to my category drawers (Stacy's Library of Memories) I was able to pull together pictures of us from the last 10 years. And thanks to Becky Higgins' Project Life mini albums and kits I had on hand, I created this beautiful album for her. Simple, clean design. Just slipped the cards and photos in.
On the first few pages, I wrote her a letter about how I felt when she came into our lives, how's she's changed me, how much she's grown, and how special she is. Since this was so intensely personal, I replaced those cards with blank ones for these photos. Just wanted you to get the idea of what it looks like from these pictures.
The other 'journaling' part of the album included "Things I Want You To Know" which is a collection of quotes and advice I want to share with her. The kind of stuff I want her to know about life and people as she gets older but hard to talk about in just everyday conversation.
And the best part of this album is that it still has plenty of room for additional journaling and photos that I will add each year on her birthday.
I loved how it turned out!
So I gave it to her that afternoon before her sisters got home from school. I wasn't sure what she'd think of it. I asked her to open it up in her room. She was up there for such a long time, I thought she got involved with something else. But when she came down she had tears in her eyes and she just hugged me and said it was the best present she's ever gotten. I did it. I let her know what I was feeling and thinking in my own special way.
So THANKS Stacy for giving me the tools so many years ago that enabled me to get my hands on exactly what I wanted when I needed it once my inspiration hit. THANKS to Becky for your fabulous kits and albums that made my idea look so fabulous.
I hadn't scrapbooked in months and I think this is just the jump start I needed to get going again.
Thanks for sharing my excitement with me!