Birthday Club

To all New Mom’s (and those more experienced):

As a new mom, everyone told me “enjoy motherhood, it goes by so fast”. However, as a sleep-deprived new mom I couldn’t see past the mound of dirty diapers, spit up cloths, crumbs all around the high chair and dinner burning on the stove, again.

There were ‘special outfits’ I would dress my oldest in and take a hundred photos of her with my cell phone, to hope for at least one that would make it to her baby book. But that was where my photos sat, on my phone. I had really great intentions of writing in her baby book, and I did really great for the first 9 months. After that, I was not so consistent. When my oldest turned two, I was 7 months pregnant with my second.

Again, with the best intentions I purchased a baby book (when he was 2 months old) and, at first, I was diligent about writing in it. When he turned one… the days were so busy.

The photos in their ‘special outfits’ on my phone were never perfect of them together, or even when I did one at a time. There was not enough time to take a hundred pictures to get the perfect one, so I would keep the best (but it wasn’t great).

I realize now that the days go slow and the years go fast. That is what I wish someone had said to me. I was so ‘needed’, I couldn’t see past my daily or even hourly tasks. Then just like that, a whole year had gone by. Twice as fast, year 2 and 3 were over and preschool was in full swing. Later, kindergarten and after school activities added to the neglect of having those heirloom photos taken of the kids. I did not realize as a mom, the busier the kids got, the busier I got!

Today my children are 9 and almost 7. I have a few minutes each week for ‘me time’. I pulled out the baby books (while cleaning) and noticed all the blank pages in both books, (my second child had SO MANY more blanks). It made my heart a little sad.

This pathetic story just highlights how important the Baby Plan & Birthday Club are. Think back for a moment, did you ever miss an appointment with your baby? I sure didn’t! Not a doctor or dentist appointment, not a lunch or school meeting, not a single portrait session appointment missed. I think it is because they were set with purpose.

When my best friend had her first child, I explained that I wished I had taken my kids to a professional photographer in the beginning. Here in Colorado Springs, I recommend calling Chris at Waldrons Family Studio 719-593-7721. Chris even offers maternity portraits to start the “whole story”. Your baby is photographed frequently that first year, starting when the baby is a newborn which begins “The Birthday Club” program. Throughout this program, he offers albums and a variety of framed collages to display on your wall.

If you are not in Colorado, do a little internet search and see who comes up as a Professional Photographer. Make sure they keep backups of your sessions with them and that they can make quality printed photographs (professionals will), so you can just hang them on your wall and enjoy them immediately when you get home. Don’t think you will get the photos printed and framed yourself, because let’s face it, if you did not have the photography appointments scheduled regularly you would still be home with a mound of laundry, a pile of diapers that needs to go out, and dinner burning on the stove.

In this digital age, with so much technology, it is easy to believe we have all we need on our phone or computer until changes in technology make them obsolete (for instance, does anyone still play their music on an 8-track tape player or look back at data stored on a floppy disk?)

Thinking I was being smart, about, I backed up all my cell phone pictures to my computer, and then lost both hard drives in the same month. Now, those photos are GONE! The only photos I have left of that sweet time in my children’s lives, are those I let someone else take. If you haven’t started letting someone else document the life of your child, you should start today.

The one format that doesn’t change over time is paper prints. You can choose to frame them on your wall, for instance , or put them in an album. How fun is it to look at those old pictures from the 1800s? Who knew great/great grandad was such a spiffy dresser in his day.

Now, you can make the right choice (I wish I had). Hire a great photographer to have those heirloom portraits taken by someone you can trust to get it right. With regular photography appointments for your children, even the second child can now have that photograph of his handsome self in whatever crazy outfit you thought was perfect for him.

You can have photographs of each child dancing and laughing; and these memories will hang on you walls where you see them every day. Even on those days you are pulled so many ways, they make you smile and remember.