Sweet Things

I have several sweet keepsakes from when each of my children was born. My favorites are the handmade items such as blankets and quilts. The beautiful blankets we received make me wish I could knit, crochet, or sew. Maybe that will be in my future... When Julia was born, our life group from our church in Maryland got together and made a beautiful little quilt for her. It was super soft and embroidered with her name. Our friends made it the night she was born. They said it was kind of like an old-fashioned quilting bee. It was delivered the day we brought Julia home in a sweet basket. Also included were several extra quilting squares on which our friends wrote out prayers, scriptures, and letters for Julia. It was all so beautiful -- just thinking about it and the love that went into it brings me to tears. I have included some photos of the quilt and of newborn Julia in the quilt. We received a beautiful crocheted blanket for Julia from Marc's nurse and coworker. She worked on it for weeks before Julia's birth and then put in extra time when Julia was born to get it to us quickly. (Julia was born nearly 3 weeks ahead of her due date.) We were so surprised and overwhelmed at the gesture. We will treasure it always.

Julia and her blanket made by CRCC friends

Julia and her blanket made by Doreen

I also have baby name jewelry that I love. I started with a bracelet with Sydney's name on it and added Isaac's once he was born. I have a ring engraved with Julia's name. My latest is a necklace engraved with all three kids names plus my and Marc's initials. Can you tell I like jewelry?

Baby name jewelry

My other favorite keepsakes for all three kids are handprint and footprint art. There is a company called "Piggies and Paws" that specializes in this. I already had a few prints of Sydney and Isaac that are adorable -- race cars, dinosaurs, mermaids, and princesses. When Julia was born and we brought her home not knowing how much time we would have, I knew I wanted creative prints of her hands and feet done, too. I contacted my local Piggies and Paws representative/artist who I had met several times before. A mutual friend had already told her about Julia, and she came over as soon as she could to take Julia's hand and footprints. I just love these.

Julia's footprint as the baby, my handprint as the tree.

Julia's handprint as a garden

Photos will be our most treasured keepsakes of all of our children. Our next door neighbor is a photographer, and he came over the day after we brought Julia home to photograph her. Some photos from that day appear in the slideshow at the top of the blog. Julia is definitely a well-photographed baby! And it does not just end with taking photos. I used to scrapbook the old-fashioned way, but now I make digital scrapbooks each year for the kids. It is so much easier! Sydney and Isaac really enjoy looking at their books. I hope the books will be a treasure for them as much as me someday.
I am always looking for suggestions for favorite keepsakes -- especially if it is something I can do myself!