Alternative

As I'm sure I've mentioned a million times before, I don't do baby books. I don't have that kind of time, I personally believe the expectations of such are unrealistic and… I'm a middle child. I had no such book and look, I turned out just fine. I do, however, journal and have journaled for years and years. Therefore, as an alternative to the guilt-stricken, obsessive-inducing, time-suck that is a baby book, I've been using this marvelous creation:

One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book

Here's how it works:

Here's what it looks like:

Here's where you can get one:

I came upon this remarkable resource via the Woodruffs: friends, neighbors and my-kind-of parents. I was bitching whining one day about my failures as a mother (because I haven't been documenting the meager and milestone moments of Maci's life) and the very next day, Mike shows up at my door with this fascinating find. He prefaced it with the simplest of instructions: keep it by your bed. I have and I do and I write in it every single night before I go to sleep. It's life-changing. All I'm responsible for is one entry per day, six or seven micro lines of memories that I want etched in ink for all of eternity. How incredibly easy is that? Even the remnants of what's left of my brain can conquer that! Now Maci's life is documented daily in the thoughts and words of those that gave it to her. 

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Images 1 and 3 are from here. Image 2 is from here. The amazon.com image is from amazon.com, obviously.