DIY Children's Memory Book with Snuggle

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ShareABear #CollectiveBias

When I was pregnant, there were a few gifts I just couldn't get enough of. One obviously being the cutest tiniest clothes, another being the sweet little girl bows, but the snuggly stuffed animals just melted my heart! I could just picture her snuggling all the little teddy bears and loved adding more and more of those sweet and soft animals to her crib. I distinctly remember in the hospital hearing the nurses tell me not to put anything in her crib while she was sleeping such as blankets or stuffed animals. I was so sad because I was so excited for her to play with them right from the start! However, I waited and waited until it was safe for her to sleep with them. 

I remember giving her a blankie to sleep with around 12 months as somewhat of a test run. She didn't really know what to do with it at first, but it didn't take long for her to absolutely love it. We went through about three different blankies until she found her favorite, and now that one never leaves her side when she's asleep. Seeing that adding the blanket went so well, I decided to try out a teddy bear. One morning after a long night of being uncomfortable and not sleeping while pregnant, I was lazily laying in bed. I heard the doorbell ring and grabbed my robe to go answer the door. Either I took too long to get my pregnant self out of bed, or it was meant to be a surprise, but I opened the door to a present! When I opened the box I found an adorable teddy bear for my little Oaks. It quickly became my favorite of her stuffed animals so it got its own spot on the rocking chair. I gave that bear to Oaklyn first in hopes that she would love it just like I did, and boy did she ever! He didn't have a name at first, but he now goes by the name of Gida. I know... of all the names she chose that one. You're probably wondering where she even got such a weird name, so here's a little background. Oaklyn is obsessed with animals of all sorts, but she first showed interest in dogs. She first learned how to say puppy, and then doggy. Suddenly every animal became a doggy. One day I noticed she decided to shorten it to just "Gee." Then one morning when I picked her up form her crib she was pointing to her teddy bear saying "Gida! Gida! Gida!" It took me a little while to figure it out, but she decided to make up her own name for animals... Gida! It has been so fun to watch her teddy bear become her best friend. She actually looks forward to going to bed now because she knows she can snuggle him! I love feeling comforted that if she wakes up in the middle of the night scared or uncomfortable, she can reach for Gida to calm her down. It truly is so sweet to see how much a little kid can love a stuffed animal. It melts my heart to see her love Gida so much. 

Oaklyn would take Gida absolutely everywhere if I let her. More often than not, I find her sitting by her crib talking to him. It is so cute that she loves him and wants to be with him so much, but she drags him around and gets him SO dirty! Between the food that she tries to feed him, to the drool from her sleep, Gida can get pretty gross and his fur can get pretty rough. I love adding an extra little touch to my laundry with Snuggle®. It helps get Gida back to his snuggly self after a long hard week of being mangled by a little toddler ;) Snuggle® is a brand of premium-quality fabric conditioner that enables Moms (and Dads) to create even more snuggle-up moments. I quickly noticed that Snuggle® delivers Snuggly Softness™ and inviting, long-lasting fresh scents at a noticeable value in comparison to leading brands. We love using Snuggle® in our family laundry for Gida, and all of our clothes, blankets, and linens. I easily found all my favorite Snuggle® products at my local Target. 

Friday September 9th was National Teddy Bear Day! This is a very special month for Snuggle® given that their mascot is a very snuggly and adorable bear! This is the second year that Snuggle® is launching a special #ShareABear campaign to help make the world a softer place, one teddy bear at a time. Just as I mentioned above when I found Gida on my doorstep while pregnant, something as small as a teddy bear can brighten someone’s day! Because of that, Snuggle® is donating 5,000 bears to children in need! How adorable is that? If a teddy bear can create that much happiness in my little girls life, just imagine how happy it will make a child in need! I'd love to see you contribute to the #ShareABear campaign all September long by sharing stories, memories, and pictures of your loved ones with a teddy bear on Social Media channels! Join the fun on Snuggle®’s Facebook page and in the Snuggle® Bear Den where you will find all the best offers, prizes, and content for #ShareABear. 

Stories like Gida coming about need to be remembered. I'm sure I'm going to forget several moments throughout Oaklyn's life by the time she gets older. While I understand that I won't be able to remember everything, I can try to remember most things! In an effort to remember all I can about my sweet little girl, I decided to make an affordable DIY children's memory book! This was so easy to do and will be so fun to look back on over the years! I want Oaklyn to be able to see what she was like as a baby and to be able to read about all the fun experiences we went through together. 

Making this book was super simple and fun!

1. Click here to download the boy cover page and click here to download the girl cover page. After downloading, print it out and write in your child's name and birth date.
2. Insert the cover page into a binder cover
3. Download this page to place all of your children's fun pictures in and download this page to be able to write about experiences you had with them.
4. Insert those pages into page protectors and stick them into the binder
5. Have fun adding photos and writing about all the memories with your child!

I'm so excited to keep this fun memory book forever. I also hardly had to spend anything on it! It's a win for everyone! Make sure to participate in the #ShareABear campaign and freshen up your kids stuffed animals with Snuggle® products!

All my love,

Aleigh Joy

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Pumpkin Patchin'

As I mentioned before, we finally went to a pumpkin patch on the day of Halloween!

This was actually our second attempt...

 We have the pass of all passes (if you're in Utah, you need this) so I thought I read in an email that we got into a certain patch for free with other free activities included.

We planned out a day that we had nothing going on and I was excited all week!

Well it just so happened to be realllyy rainy and cold that day.

Of course.

Hunter knew how badly I wanted to go see he stopped his homework and we all got in the car.

It was raining but more of a light drizzle at this point...

Hunter, being the sweet husband he is, kept trying to reassure me that it could be completely different weather at the patch and mountain weather changes withing a few minutes!

So we get there, and it's not raining! But, it's totally freezing.

Poor Oaklyn's nose immediately turned red and she didn't know what to do with herself in the cold wind.

We walked up and showed our passes and the lady says "That'll be $10" I looked at Hunter "I could've sworn we got in for free"

We stepped aside and even though $10 is not a lot of money it just didn't seem worth it because it was so cold outside and Oaklyn couldn't even do half the activities.

So, we left..

We stopped at the grocery store and got ourselves a pumpkin and called it good.

Not really the evening I had in mind, but oh well.

 Then Halloween day comes around and it was a beautiful day!

So, I forced everyone to spend the time before trunk or treating at the patch and we had so much fun!

I fully understand that Oaklyn won't remember this time and she can't do a whole lot at things like this just yet, but I'm so glad we have these pictures to remember her first year.

She wanted to eat and suck on all the pumpkins, and loved walking through the hay maze with daddy.

They are seriously one in the same.

Their mannerisms, their mouths, and the way they get shy around people they don't know.

It's no wonder she said dada first (not bitter at all, I only gave her life).

We didn't buy any more pumpkins because we hadn't even carved the one we got from the grocery store yet... but we really enjoyed the time we spent as a family.

...and then Oaklyn was like "guys I'm so over this, is it nap time yet?"
So, we left with loads of pictures and memories.

All my love,
Aleigh Joy

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