When I was a little girl, I used to love looking through my Raggedy Ann baby book. My mom had recorded every last detail of my infancy and early childhood in its pages. My favorite thing about the book was a small pouch inside where she had tucked away little keepsakes like our hospital bracelets.
Both of my kids have keepsake boxes where I’ve stored all kinds of little things. By the time Annabeth was 6 weeks old, hers was already almost full!
There are a few things that won’t fit in the boxes that I’m safeguarding for them. For instance, here’s a letter from President George W. Bush that welcomed Jackson to the world shortly after his birth.
(That’s no longer our address.)
And Annabeth just received this autographed book by former First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna.
I have a close friend who worked for President Bush during his administration, which is how both of these gifts came about. (I think these are really special keepsakes that my children will one day enjoy having, but I need to emphasize that I’m not trying to make a political statement by sharing these pictures.)
A couple of Christmases ago, Mom gave me a big box of my baby clothes that she had saved for me. I’ve had so much fun going through them!
I love this itty bitty t-shirt.
Annabeth wasn’t even a twinkle in our eyes when Mom gave me all these clothes. It never occurred to me that I would play dress up with my own daughter in these clothes one day. Mark it down – April 16, 2009 was the day!
Here’s my sweetie in a tiny pink dress that my grandmother bought me almost – gulp – 30 years ago. Isn’t she sweet?
What keepsakes are you saving for your children or future children? Or what keepsakes were saved for you?
*Bethie asked me to add a quick prayer request to my post. Tomorrow morning she is heading Portland, Oregon, for this weekend’s Living Proof Live event. Houston is supposed to have thunderstorms tomorrow, so will you please pray that her flight will be on time? Thanks, Siestas!
My Grandmother read to me constantly. So I have all those Little Golden Books that I will keep to read to my babies one day. You know “Pokey the Puppy” “The Little Enging that Could” all those fun little books.
Annabeth is so cute!! I will be praying for a safe trip for your mom and for the women in Portland. Have a great weekend.
Carrie
I love the idea of Annabeth in your dresses. My mom saved a bunch of my old clothes and as my sweet girl was born the day before my birthday, sizes AND seasons have so far been correct! In fact, we had a Sunday School Easter egg hunt this year and my little Emma wore a smocked pink dress…that I had worn on Palm Sunday 32 years ago. It’s so cool to compare pictures of the two of us wearing the same clothes!
My grandma recently gave me a few outfits that were my grandfather’s when he was a small boy. I’m pregnant with my second, so if this one is a boy, what fun we’ll have dressing him up in clothes from the 1920s!
My daughter is expecting her first so I just went through all our “stuff” I have special clothes, books, school projects and stuffed animals. My son ( sorry to broadcast this Hunter ) still has his Pooh bear on his bed even though he is no longer living at home…much.:) I found the diaper bag I had used for all 3 kids and sent it to my daughter. Inside it I found pieces of her old blankey she must have stuffed in there at some point many many years ago while playing dolls and dress up. I of course sent her that too.
My Mom didn’t save much and as my girls grow I keep thinking “oh I wish I had saved…..” So as you can imagine, I have 2 Rubbermaid totes in the attic already (my girls are 8 and 9)! I have saved some of my favorites outfits, cute things I had on the wall and some stuffed animals that are “too babyish” for them now, I framed their baby announcements in white frames with pink mats, and their baby scrap books are filled – hospital bracelets, front page of newspaper, etc. SO FUN! Enjoy each day and feel blessed, even on the really hard days!
I had a box of my own baby clothes that my daughter got to wear (8 years ago!). She wore my little black patent mary jane shoes. My son (now 5) didn’t get to wear anything. But, I also made a box for them of special outfits they had like the outfit they wore home from the hospital, ones from grandma, etc. I also have a “tooth” box for each of them I found at Hallmark where I keep their lost teeth. We put a note to the tooth fairy to leave their teeth for their mom. So, under their pillow, they find the money from the tooth fairy and under mom’s pillow is their lost tooth.
Both my boys (age 5 and 2) have a baby book that records information about our family trees, my pregnancies, their births and thier first 3 years. I think a very special thing in those books are two pockets, one for a letter from me and one for a letter from my husband. I hope they will treasure those letters, written from the hand of young parents who love their boys! Also, I’ve kept the outfits they came home from the hospital in and their first really sweet dress-up outfits (one was a Christmas outfit and one an Easter outfit). Man, those days fly by and before you know it you’re carting kids to tee-ball and giving away the high chair. I know before I turn around I’ll have teenagers!
I am praying and oh my…I LOVE the Manda shirt! 🙂
I know my mom has tons and tons of our keepsakes, but the one I hold dear is a letter she wrote me when I was six months old, while her mother was in the hospital with a brain tumor. I don’t remember my Granny, but this letter always reminds me of how special she was to MY mom, and how such a sweet little baby (me!) could brighten my Granny’s day…
The most wonderful keepsake I could ever imagine!
Anna (Beth) Williams
Houston, TX
That Annabeth is so cute in her ‘vintage’ dress.
One of the keepsakes that my mom made me is a shadow box filled with a dress that I wore when I was a baby, as well as the hospital bracelet and some socks. I also have a shadowbox of some of my toys, like my Baby Beans, a book and a “Delta Dawn” record.
She also saved all of my baby teeth. Thank you, Jesus, that I never got those framed!!
Leah
Your two are beautiful little ones and I LOVES seeing that little dress on Annabeth. She is precious! I live in BOY world in my home (two boys, ages 10 and 4), so dresses are nonexistent here! My mom saved many things for us over the years, but one of the things I love the most are receipts. That might sound strange, but after having my own children it fascinates me to see the receipts from the hospital of when I was born, and when I had heart surgery at 6 months old. Those were huge events for my parents. Having a brand new infant and being told immediately that I would need surgery in the near future was life-changing for them. Not only is it AMAZING to see how much less expensive it was to be in the hospital years ago, those receipts serve as a reminder to me of God’s protection over my life from the very beginning. I save receipts of major events for my children too, and I also have a journal book for each one of my boys, documenting seasons in their lives. I’m hoping they will one day treasure those books. If not, I’m sure a wife will someday, to get the scoop on what their husband was like as a child!
I love this! I have 3 boys, and haven’t saved much to be honest, but one thing I’m really passionate about doing for them is writing in a journal to them at least once a year – telling them what they were like at that age, and sharing the gospel with them in different ways. Challenging them to be men after God’s own heart, to love Jesus, and to give glory to the Lord with everything they do in this life. I think they will treasure those words some day – hopefully – since boys probably don’t care just a whole lot what they wore when they were little guys! ha!
Oh yea – i DID save their coming home outfits, special blanket friends, and the usual preschool type stuff. Sweet memories . . still makin’ em daily!
Annabeth looks precious in your Feltman Brothers dress. I have the same dress that my mother bought for my first daughter. It was also worn by her two sisters, two cousins and now her daughter and her niece! My mom never threw anything away, so I am blessed to have many things from my childhood that my girls used and now my grandchildren use. One of them is a beautiful little wooden rocking chair. It is now over 50 years old and my 19 month old granddaughter was just rocking away the other day! Sad thing is my 81 year old mom has alzeheimers and hasn’t know any of us for about 7 years…so she did not get to enjoy seeing her great grandkids enjoying the chair and so many other things she saved.
Love Miss Annabeth’s smile–and that dress is something! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
I don’t have children, but my Mom saved my favorite teddy bear, my first dress I wore, and a lock of my hair, plus my baby book. All things like that are very precious as I get (ahem) older! 🙂
I have one niece who is 1 and I am currently writing her a journal to give her in about 13 years when she can appreciate it. I hope it will be a special keepsake for her. I write her about different things–told the story of the day she was born, of the day her parents were married, of the first time I saw a picture of her, held her, etc. It helps me not miss her as much (she’s in another state about 1000 miles way) 🙁
Keepsakes are great!!!! :0) (My fave is my grandmother’s wedding rings…her finger was the same exact size as mine!!!)
Thanks for listening.
I have baby books and photo albums for each of my three sons, some clothes, their baby teeth and locks of hair from their first haircuts, baby blankets. And each has a trunk of school mementos such as grade cards, macaroni necklaces and clay things they made that they fired in a kiln at school. But the thing that makes me laugh (and makes them want to kill me) is something I found at a dance store that was going out of business… it is a tiny little leopard print “speedo” type swimming suit… in size EIGHTEEN MONTHS!!! 🙂 it was adorable. Says me.
My mom was made all of my clothes until I was a teenager, and she saved nearly all of them. When our daughter was born, Mom presented me with a box of my baby clothes. When Krista was a toddler, my mom gave us more of my outfits. Krista thought it was fun to wear “Mommy’s clothes.”
My mom loved to sew, and there are lots of pictures of my sister and me in our many (matching) outfits over the years.
How neat that your mom saved those things for you. It looks adorable on Annabeth. She sure looks like her mommy!
My son has some little cowboy boots that were mine, a little wooden rocking chair that was given to me by my grandparents, and a few favorite toys.
My eldest daughter is adopted from China. The weekend we decided on her name “Robin” we went to the mountains for an adoption seminar. After the seminar we decided to go hiking. (We had NEVER gone hiking before – or since – not super outdoorsy.) But we hiked along a mountain trail, in the rain and we could hear a waterfall. We walked to the waterfall and at the foot of it on one rock was chiseled one word: Robin.
We took pictures of that rock and we have the dress she wore on the day she became our daughter and a bunch of keepsakes from China.
My first born daughter is now 31 and I have saved a box filled with her wild ear rings she wore as a teenager. She crocheted a cool ear ring hanger and hung it on her wall for easy access; quite organized actually. I plan to present them to her for rip roaring laugh.
And oh yes, I’ve dressed my granddaughter in my daughter’s little dresses I made for her. Oh, the joys of little girls.
This is the fun part of being a woman.
Thanks Amanda for reminding me of my treasure on hold.
I enjoy scrapbooking. I have two daughters. I do two scrapbooks. I make two copies of each photo taken, that way each daughter will have her own scrapbook. I scrapbook each year of their lives. They enjoy looking at them…I also write them letters in their scrapbooks..and I share God’s word in the books also..
Another thing that I have done is make a cookbook for each of them…I not only include recipes but pictures of them making the cookies/cakes…I think that in time those will be special memories for them…
She is so darling! I love that your mom saved all those clothes for you.
I have saved baby blankets and the outfits they came home in as well as those cute knit hats they wear. I have saved their hair from their first haircuts as well as memorabilia from school plays, and various other sporting events and the like.
My children are all grown and although I was not very successful in keeping up their baby books I did create for each of my children a scrapbook from their day of birth to the day each graduated High School.
We have spent many wonderful hours pouring over their pictures and remembering good times looking at the scrapbooks.
What a blessing to have precious pictures to look back on. Don’t wish these days away, they are little only once!
Aren’t such keepsakes so precious, especially to us girls? Annabeth looks darling in your dress. I have a portrait of myself and my baby daughter (now 15) in the same dress, one my mother saved for me. I sewed and smocked most of my daughters dresses and I have saved all of those for her little girl one day, Lord willing she has one. There must be about 25 of them ranging from 2Ts to big girl dresses. I can’t wait to see them on another little girl, but I’m willing to wait until the proper time. As I said, my daughter is just 15! Thanks for sharing some of your keepsakes with us.
Kay
Your Annabeth is so precious, so smiley! Thank you for sharing.
My children are adopted from Korea, so they both have treasure boxes with all the adoption forms and photos from their referrals and foster moms. BTW, foster moms in Korea are wonderful and love the babies like their own. My daughter’s foster mom even sent a hanbok, a traditional ceremonial dress. We have their Korean passports and papers, etc. We save all the usual things, too — Special artwork, school projects.
We’ve had the pleasure of meeting my son’s foster mom and my daughter’s social worker from Korea.
Mary Ann
Woodbury, MN
Annabeth is such a sweetie. I’m so glad you have a little girl now to doll up. How neat that your mom saved so many of your clothes and kept so many keepsakes.
The autographed gifts from the Bush family are so special. That’s so neat!
My kids’ baby books won’t even shut because they’re so full…. I kept every card we received, our hospital bracelets, and I have their favorite story books in there. Of course there are pictures.
I am blessed with a son and a daughter too and am so thankful to have one of each.
Amanda
How cool, it is so fitting of your mom to have treasures of her precious children.
As a mom of 6, it was difficult to save it all, but I have a hope chest in which I store all 6 of my children’s precious cargo. I have baby blankets and quilts my grandmother and my sister made. In wonderful conditon. Their outfit they wore home from the hospital. All 6 baby books my sister put together for me (she has the most perfect handwriting). My sister and brother are the readers in the family and each of my children have a tub of children’s books from age 0-10 given to them each year for their birthdays and Christmas. All report cards, yearbooks, sport awards, pictures etc. Some of the most precious things are their artist talents from childhood and up. Most of my children excel in the fine arts (2 of which are presently attending the Art Institute in IN). Poster/art contests awards from elementary on up, mother’s day cards, Christmas items made at school. It is all tucked away neatly. When I need a good fix I take things out and weep tears of joy from the passing of years. Recently for myself as a cancer survivor of 12 years, I went through hundreds of cards which my children sent me and church friends and community friends and the words of encouragement brought mammoth tears, it was so neat to see the Hand of God at Work in every step and treatment.
I have also been thinking about getting items together which I have saved for my 27 year old who is expecting her first in August. This gives me the incentive to push to that goal quicker.
I feel so blessed to be a part of the sharing you so freely give of your life. You are so sweet.
I should get the picture that I have that was taken of you and me in San Antonio so when I meet up again with you in Houston just maybe you will know who I am.
Alexia
P.S. I am praying for your mom.
Amanda, those are the neatest keepsakes! I love that “Manda” shirt and oh my, that dress! Precious. My mom just kept a lot of her old barbies and dolls and when she had me, passed them to me! I also got some of her dollhouse stuff, which my Grandpa and Grandma eventually gave to me after they made me my own dollhouse. Which is exactly what I plan on keeping for my little girl, if I should ever have one!
Both of my boys wore home a teeny A&M toboggan from the hospital. My 2nd son was born with Downs Syndrome and during the very emotional time after his birth, I either misplaced or threw it away or something.
Once I realized what had happened, I bought another one, just so I could have one similar. Well, I just found out this week that we're going to be able to put that new hat to use!! I'm pregnant!
Can I turn this into a prayer request? When we started thinking about another baby, I struggled with God saying, "I want another baby as long as the child does not have special needs." Finally, I got to the point of saying, "Your will be done."
My prayer request is that we continue to say, "Your will be done" and not make demands on the One who never makes mistakes.
Amanda,
I haven’t read all the comments yet, but as I’m reading, I’m thinking that this post could be totally overwhelming if you let it! You just might want to save everything!! Personally I have a box of special things for each of our children, a few special toys and many books, and then a whole lot of scrapbooks! One thing I do is include in their scrapbooks only the really special papers from each of their school years, and if they have a big art project that is just too cute to throw away, I’ll take a picture of the child with the artwork instead, and then we happily throw it away once it’s been on display long enough to suit them!
Are you a scrapbooker?!?
Susanne highlighted her dad’s bible….we found my great grandmother’s bible and of course the recipes of great grandmothers, grandmothers, great aunts, aunts and mom. OH and pictures…..we found lots of pictures…..learned where I got the love of photography from!!
Your children are as cute as they can be….and at least the pictures show two VERY behaved kids. Keep up the good work, Amanda!
Oh, how precious!
In terms of keepsakes for my baby boys, I’ve saved their hospital bracelets, going-home outfits, and footprint cards. (I need to alter one baby’s footprint card, though, because I decided I don’t want to tell them till they’re 18 who was born first, and an overzealous nurse put the time of birth as well as the date on one baby’s footprint card!) I also saved their umbilical cord stumps but I will probably end up throwing those away! I’ll be keeping some more things like the Bibles they’ll get at their infant dedication, their first pieces of artwork, etc. Fun question! 🙂 And I found these really neat twins baby books called “Twice Upon a Time” that I am filling out for them as we go along (when I remember!).
I kept a plethora of children’s books and now I have a Nana’s Book Nook library for my grandkids (4 so far the oldest almost 7)! 🙂
I kept the quilts my grandmother made for each of my kids – the great-great-grandmother of my grandkids.
The most precious thing from my daughter is a little pair of red leather mary janes.
My twin boys had soft, stuffed bears (a panda, and a polar bear) that they used as pillows every night for a few years. They are flat as pancakes, but are still adorable and so precious! I have save them for their children.
My big thing is Pictures!!! Cherish the memomries! Pass on the legacy; I haven’t heard Beth speak on heritage, but True That!
My husband had the privilege of serving the Bush family during their term and we have the welcome letters from GW. Sadly our 3rd baby who was just born won’t have that 🙁
And of course their coming home outfits.
Your mama showed us all the first picture of Annabeth last night in Portland. What a precious little angel!
That precious smile….Amanda, I know you having the time of your life, BUT I bet Bibby is having the time of her life also. Who can resist the innocence of this sweet little smile!! 😉
That’s really cool that you are saving keepsakes for your children, and Annabeth looked soo cute in your dress that you wore-fun stuff! My momma saved clothes for all of us girls(all 5 of us!). I also have an two old crochet blankets that my grandmother made for us girls. Also, I have a tiny pink bear sitting on my dresser that I used to call “Itty Bitty Bear” There’s this story that my momma likes to tell about it-I kinda embarrassed to tell!:)
katiegfromtennessee
I want to keep that little Annabeth as my keepsake.
Every year I buy a birthday card and write a letter to each of my children. I pray for them, talk about their interests, and how I feel about them. They are all sealed and in my dresser drawer. I haven’t decided when I will give them to them…13? 16? 18? I guess God will tell me when they need to hear it! I also have all the other goodies…clothes…several hospital bracelets for my son…he’s a boy, he goes to the hospital far more than my daughter.
I have a bag full of baby clothes that I saved from a house that we had moved from years before – they are a mix of my baby clothes and my siblings. I have a collection of black and white photos that were taken by my grandfather from about 1916 to the 1940s – these are priceless family pictures and negatives I look forward to sharing with my future children someday. But the most precious gift that I want to give my child is a name that has spiritual as well as family meaning. My chosen name for a daughter is Keziah. This is a name that is found in our family genealogy and it also it was the name of one of Job’s daughters – a name of healing and restoration. As a second name I like the name ‘Eden’ – in one of Beth’s Bible studies, she said that ‘Eden’ means sanctuary. That stuck in my mind and I love the name because of the meaning.
When my sweet Joseph (named after Jacob’s son in the bible) was born in 1993, I kept a handmade coat of many colors my friend made for him for his dedication.
This was the beginning of many dearly loved keepsakes, like the onsie my husband affectionately calls “dinosaurs on bikes” and the tiny kangaroo sweatshirt. He’s almost 16 now, and loved all the more…
Loriann
E. Greenbush, NY
Amanda,
Annabeth has the most precious smile…I am already in love with her!! How can your mom STAND IT???? (I can NOT WAIT to be a grandma!!)(with 5 kids, I better gets LOADS OF ‘EM!!)
I’m so happy for you…I have twin girls after having 3 wonderful boys, and have sooo many pictures…there’s never too many, esp. posing in those adorable outfits w/ that baby grin….ahhhhh…I love it!!! So glad you are enjoying it so!
Sharon
Katy, TX
So adorable!
Keepsakes… I have a shadowbox with the outfit that my daughter came home from the hospital in, a hospital picture, and a baby spoon that the hospital gave.
I used to scrapbook. I’m a photo-holic. But scrapbooking became way too much to keep up with, so now I use Shutterfly to make photo books.
I make a DVD each year of the random video snippets I have acquired.
I also have several milestone bibs (like babies first christmas and whatnot) along with a few of her first onesies, etc. that I plan on having someone make into a quilt someday.
I have saved some baby clothes as well. My husband wonders why – you just can’t part with some things! I also have a few baby toys. A few of my girls favorite rattles and teethers grace our Christmas tree every year along with our ornaments. I so enjoy seeing them.
Dear Amanda,
So sweet, I have a similar dress that I came home in from the hospital in. My sweet daughter Lily Kate wore it home from the hospital too. Tomorrow is her 4th birthday, time goes too fast. It seems like just yesterday we brought her home from the hospital. Hold your sweet Annabeth just a little bit longer tonight, in a blink, she will be running and skipping all over the house.
amy
My mama saved a few of my dresses they are now over 50 years old. We have yet to add another girl to our family but I still hold hope.
Your family is a blessing to so many. We just finished the Esther study at our church. It is always a blessing to learn along with Beth. God’s continued blessings to all. Lynn
Annabeth looks so sweet in that dress. I have a few dresses that were mine and I just love hearing their stories and seeing them on Caroline.
I already have several dresses that will be saved for Caroline’s daughters. She also has a memory box that is quite full!
I have a entire cedar chest full of my kids mementos as well as my daughter’s first halloween costume, The Little Mermaid. That was 1993 and Ariel was quite popular back then.
I’m honored to say that Jackson and I share a birthdate! Along with Michael Jordan I might add. But then since your mom has such close ties to the NBA, she probably already knew that! =0) Happy belated birthday Jackson! I won’t say how many years I have on you…..
My mom saved the beautiful outfit i wore the day I was dedicated. I had 4 boys and never thought i would be able to have any child of mine wear it. God is so good, He BLESSED us with our sweet Molly Grace and she wore it to her baby shower when she was 3 weeks old. I also have Christmas ornamnets from every year until I got married. NOW I have doen that for my children. Each of my 5 children will get a box of ornaments they have gotten every year to decorate there Christmas trees some day !!!!
My mom saved a sweater my sisters and I all wore home from the hospital. All my 5 children wore that same sweater home from the hospital. My 5th was born in Arizona but she HAD to wear it home. i just told my hubby to turn up and the AC in the car…she is WEARING that sweater !!!!