A Special Book for Lucy.....

The first of May, I introduced you to the newest member of our family.....her name is Lucy Violet!Lucy is our Great-granddaughter and she was born April 28.  She has a three year old sister, named Emma, and when Emma was born I wanted to make something special for her.

So, I made Emma my version of a baby book, which you can see HERE.  I wanted a book where you could save memories that related just to that particular child, something more personal than a mass produced "baby book". 

I am not a "scrapbooker", but I am certain that those of you who are, and who make such wonderful scrapbooks, would find this project a "piece of cake" and could create something stunning.

So, when Lucy was born her mom requested a book just for Lucy.  So, here is a peek at Lucy's Special Book.........

 

At an estate sale, I had purchase a Sun Bonnet Sue book that had been published in the 1920s.  Sadly, some child had taken color crayons to the book and colored on each page but the sweet cover was still O.K.  So, I removed the "guts" of the book and used the cover for the binding of Lucy's book.  I saved the cover art because I thought it was cute and it shows the books origins, I added the big yellow flower and an "L" for Lucy and covered, the not so attractive part, with scrapbook paper.  The whole book is bound together with the rings you can see on the left.

The inside cover and first page look like this.....

Space for the pertinent information, then pictures of baby and the family........ 

 

Then Lucy's story from the beginning, a place for Mom to make notes about such fun things as, who they told first that they were having another baby and how she told them...as it turns out it was on Facebook with a jar of Prego Spaghetti Sauce.....those are the fun memories Lucy needs to know. 

Then just basic things, like the name of the doctor and a place for the sonograms and any other memories of the pregnancy that we don't want to forget.

 

Pictures of Lucy's room and a place for swatches.

A letter from Mom and Dad to Lucy and congratulatory cards they received.

Lucy's Mom made diaper covers for her, a liner for the baby basket and several other things, so, here's a place for photos and notes.

Lucy was, actually,born a week past her due date, this is a picture of Mom on her due date, with a sealable envelope to write down how much weight Mom gained.

  Because they were having another girl and they had  so many clothes and baby supplies left from when Emma was a new born,  Mom and Dad requested no baby gifts....so their creative friends came up with the idea of a Casserole Shower.

Each guest brought a wonderful homemade or store bought casseroles for the freezer and, in some cases, gift cards for fun.  Such a great idea for the harried Mom and Dad during those first few week, not have to worry for about....."what to have for dinner".  Here's a place for the party photos and a list of the friends and casseroles.

Because, this is getting so long I will skip some of the pages but you get the idea!

I do want to include one more thing, just two weeks after Lucy was born, she had to spend four days in the hospital.  Every thing turned out fine, she developed an infection where the umbilical cord had been.  This is very rare, thus she was hospitalized and given antibiotics intravenously for several days.  Mom was with her the whole time and Dad part time, very stressful for the whole family. 

I felt that traumatic experience required something special, something soft, something comforting.......So, these pages are made of cloth with a little padding in between, all of the other pages were cut from heavy watercolor paper.  Mom can write the story of the experience on the card and place it, for safe keeping, in the velvet pocket.

On the other side, this pocket is for the paperwork and photos and here is a clip to hold everything in place........

That is what makes this book special, the ability to personalize it for the baby and family. You might want to make something similar.......for a unique gift.  The new parents are not likely to receive duplicates of this gift and they, and the child, will treasure it.

Join me at Tabletop Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life and Sue's Rednesday, you'll enjoy the many party participants! Also, Going to a new party at Making the World Cutter Monday.  Also, linking to Show & Tell Friday at Romantic Home, enjoy!