A few months ago, I got the urge to start creating a baby book for Four. This is something I’ve been wanting to do since he was born, but life got in the way and I never got around to it. I printed out a ton of photos to use for Four’s first birthday and it inspired me to organize them and actually work on putting together a baby book for him.

Honestly, I regret not starting sooner because there’s a lot I’ve already forgotten (cue alllll the tears), but all I can do is start now. Hey, at least I’ll be way ahead of the game for baby girl!

I’ve had the Sugar Paper baby book since before Four was born, but I never got around to filling it out. When I sat down to start working on it, I realized I don’t love it. It asks for a lot of stuff I didn’t do like getting his footprint as a newborn… and there’s really no way for me to go back now and get that stuff. If you’re a procrastinator like me, this book is not for you. Also, a huge turn-off for me was the fact that you can barely turn the pages. Like I worried I’d tear the pages when I was trying to turn it, and I just knew that was going to drive me crazy.

So I ordered the Artifact Uprising baby book because I’d heard so many good things about it. I also started working on a book through The Short Years app just so I could try both and see which one I could keep up with more easily. After posting about this on Instagram, I got a ton of questions, so I figured it might be helpful to write my thoughts down for those of you who are searching for a baby book of your own. I hope this helps you narrow it down!

The Short Years

I was introduced to this option right before I had Four and loved the idea of being able to complete a baby book from my phone. I was pretty good with it until the second month or so when I fell off track. Just recently, I decided to go ahead and commit to completing it before baby No. 2 comes along. And surprisingly, it really hasn’t been hard to do, which I really appreciate. They have an app you use to upload images and type responses to the prompts. Since I was doing it after the fact, I made a folder on my phone for each month of Four’s life so far and then chose my favorite photos from that timeframe. Doing this made it really easy to select the correlating photos for that month when filling it out.

PROS:

1. Easy to keep up with and fill out since you can use an app on your phone
2. No hassle of printing and taping down photos, the pages come with photos and responses to prompts printed out
3. Easy to do even if you procrastinate
4. Binder book format, so you could add pages, letters, etc. if you wanted
5. Lots of photo space. I like that you can include multiple photos for each month, whereas some other books only allow for 2-3.

CONS:

1. Photos are printed instead of glossy
2. Printed text versus handwriting
3. Design isn’t my favorite. I’d clean it up and choose a different font, but the ease really does trump everything for me

Artifact Uprising

I ordered this one for baby No. 2 after hearing multiple people rave about it. The design and aesthetic of the book are so beautiful and clean. I haven’t started it yet, but it does seem like it will be easy to put together. The only downside to this book versus The Short Years baby book is the extra step of getting the photos printed and then taping them in. However, they have an app that makes this process super simple! My main drawback with the book is that there is A LOT of writing involved — like multiple pages of just writing instead of images. I’d much prefer more space for images! Each month only has 2 spots for photos I think? They have add-on pages you can purchase, but they’re $19 and the pack also includes MORE writing pages (I just want the photo pages! lol).

PROS:

1. Beautiful, simple, and timeless design
2. I also think this would be easy to do in retrospect as long as you organized your photos first (which you’d have to do with any other book).
3. The A|U app makes it really easy to upload and print photos. You can order 10+ at a time and they have the exact size you need as an easy option. I’d recommend just making an album on the phone of your favorites (or utilizing the favorites feature on your iPhone) as your baby grows and then going back to batch upload/print.

CONS

1. Do you have good handwriting? This part kind of stresses me out because it’s all handwritten and my handwriting can kind of be all over the place and not always consistent. I just want it to look nice for them when they go back and read it!
2. Also, there is A LOT of writing involved. I’ll probably take some of those pages out because I don’t plan on writing novels here — just little memories and details from each month.
3. The add-on page pack is $19 and comes with more writing pages (in addition to photo pages). I might try to make my own pages with just simple, cardstock paper.