Journaling Prompts

I have been blurring out my journaling prompts on the pictures on Facebook because I didn't want anyone to steal them.  It dawned on me though that how will anyone know if they like what I have chosen to have prompts for if they can't read them?!  I found it easiest to sum up what each page said instead of typing it all out like I had originally planned to do.  It's a pretty specific sum-uppings, so you will still know exactly what you have on each page.  Please don't steal these!

My Arrival Page:

• Full name
• Birthday
• Birth details such as place, time, weight, height, doctor, hair and eye color
• First visitors
• Traits

My Mommy and Daddy Pages (a separate page for each parent):

• Full name and nicknames
• Born in and grew up in
• Schools attended
• Talents and interests
• Friends

Before I Arrived Page:

• When Mommy found out she was pregnant
• Original due date
• How the news was shared
• Dates for heartbeat, movement, and baby getting really active
• Pregnancy cravings and weight gain (for Mommy and Daddy)

Baby Shower Page:

• Who gave the shower, when, and where
• List for guests and gifts

Coming Home Page:

• Details on coming home like age in days, outfit worn, address, weather, and who was there
• How the first days home were spent
• Nursery details

Food Page:

• First solid foods
• Favorite foods
• Least favorite foods
• Firsts of feeding self, using utensils, and using a cup
• Funny stories concerning food
• This is not included, but one expectant mother has asked me to add "First meal cooked" onto this page for her book.  I am thinking about adding it as a permanent prompt. 

Sleep Page:

• Sleeping patterns at different months
• Favorite position, snuggly, and lullaby
• How baby falls asleep

Teeth Page:

• First tooth
• How many teeth by first birthday
• Date of when baby first brushed his/her own teeth
• Funny stories about their teeth
• Tooth diagram with dates of when each tooth showed up

Growth Chart Page:

• Date, age, weight, height, and percentile for baby's first year of life

Firsts Page:

• Firsts of sleeping through the night, smile, laugh, roll over, sit supported, words, started crawling, clapping hands, walking, dancing, and how to sing
• First favorite song and toy

Favorites Page:

• Favorite things to play with, games, things to wear, book, colors, snacks, thing to sleep with, songs to sing, babysitters, TV shows, and toys
• Best friends

First Holiday Pages:

• I have pages for first holiday, first Christmas, and first birthday
• Each page has space for wear it was spent, who spent it with baby, what baby was wearing, gifts received, and family traditions
• I also have a blessing day page that is optional with the same prompts.  Other holidays can be added or substituted for the holiday pages already included.

Title Pages.  These are pages that gave either just a title or a title and a 4.5"x6.5" mat for a picture.  Some correspond with the journaling prompts on the opposite page.  (The exact titles are not shown, just the general idea):

• Ultrasound
• Baby shower invite
• At the hospital
• Hospital bracelets
• First family picture
• Baby with Mommy
• Baby with Daddy
• Handprints
• Footprints
• Coming home
• First home
• Birth announcement
• Toothy grin
• Favorite things
• Messy baby
• Sleepy baby
• Holiday picture pages
• Final picture page

Depending on how many pages there are, there may or may not be room for a couple blank picture pages.

So this is what you can expect in one of my baby books.  I try to be as flexible as possible to cater to the desires of the mothers and fathers, so if there is something that you would really like to have added or subtracted from your baby book, please let me know and I will do everything I can to accommodate your desires.  This is YOUR book from YOUR child and I want to this book to become a cherished family heirloom for generations to come so they can see and appreciate the first year of your new child's life.

The next post I will do when I can is options of designs and style.  I am not sure when this will happen as I am in the hospital trying to keep my baby in the oven for as long as possible and there are days where I feel up to doing things and then there are days that I am so emotionally and physically exhausted that I can't do much.  I have so many ideas and suggestions for the style and design for baby books that you can get exactly what it is that you want for your precious newborn.