Any of you out there with more than one child know that what we’ve always heard is true – the amount of time we spend photographing and documenting our little ones and the subsequent pregnancies goes down exponentially with each baby. I’m currently pregnant with my fourth child and the one thing I can say I’ve been lucky with, is that all three of my previous babies looked exactly alike. They don’t know I took less pictures each time because they can’t tell who is who in the early shots, even I can barely tell which baby is which.

But now I find myself pregnant again and trying to get myself more organized in several areas, my photos being one of them. So, in an effort to help myself and anyone else struggling in the snapshot organization department, I’ve gathered some super cute ideas and resources for how to take and catalogue your personal milestones.

Your Pregnancy

Most of us do not consider pregnancy to be the pinnacle of our beauty, and that’s okay. I gain weight in places I didn’t even know you could gain  weight and I pretty much complain through the whole second half, but once it’s done I look back and realize what a special time it actually was. I grew a human. With my body. And you did too so celebrate it, or at very least document it so someday your kids can look back on that time with you. I have a few grainy photos of my hippie-looking mom with me in her belly, but this was pre-digital age so understandably, there aren’t a lot. Plus, I was the second child so there are even less to look at. But we’re so lucky to live and breed in the technology era, we can take pictures of virtually every moment, and we can do some really cool things with those pictures once we have them.

Check out this amazing video, which isn’t actually a video at all, but a series of photos taken on a camera’s burst mode, and lovingly assembled by this baby’s super sweet parents.

Try documenting your pregnancy with pictures of your belly next to the corresponding “fruit size”.

Do you have a chalkboard handy? Then you can snag this mom’s idea of making a little photo journal with all the pertinent info written behind her. Adorable!

Ready for another video that will blow you away? These insanely cool parents assembled photo outtakes which showed the mom’s weekly belly growth and turned them into a seriously stunning piece of art.

By the creator of the video above, here is a really great photo series which captures one mom and her growing belly at various times on her daily walk. Be sure to click on the link so you can scroll through all of the photos, they’re beyond amazing!

Your Baby’s First Year
I know I don’t need to remind you to start snapping the second your little one enters the world, but take it from me, it’s easy for all of these pictures to get kind of jumbled throughout the years and even more so with each subsequent child. Try using some of these fun ideas to document your baby’s growth each and every step of the way. You’ll love having them all organized and your kid’s will thank you for it some day!

Here’s one idea with a lot of great variations. Shoot a month by month photo with the baby posed in the same piece of furniture each time.

Favorite family pets work great in place of furniture too.

This mom poses her son in front of a giant “O” each month, the first letter of his first name.

Chalkboard + chair + a gorgeous set of twins = one seriously framable photo shoot that these kids will cherish one day.

This is probably the coolest use of a Stendig calendar I’ve ever seen. The oversized, graphic type is just perfect as a chronological backdrop for your photos.

Here’s another fun way to record your baby’s actual growth, and take pictures while doing so. Check out this cool Baby Growth Crib Bedding, it’s like a measuring stick for the bed!

Lots and lots of stores and Etsy shops sell versions of the monthly onesie stickies now, you can get the original style circles or even ties or fully printed shirts. Here’s one amazingly delicious little girl modeling her mom’s find from Etsy.

Set it to video! These savvy parents took their daily photos and set their baby’s first trip around the sun to music by the White Stripes. It really doesn’t get much cuter than this!