A Few of My Favorite Things: Keepaboo.com

I have a confession to make. Neither of my children have a Baby Book. Yep, that's right, I'm about the world's worst 21st century mom. Seriously, in this age of computers and videos and digital cameras, is there really an excuse for me being such a slacker? How damaged are my kids going to be when they have their first children, but no baby books to ooh and ahh over, no month by month pictures to compare their new baby to, no funny stores to read? We have lots of photos of the big moments like the first food, first bubble bath, first steps, but no corresponding dates. What I'm most upset with myself about is that I didn't do a better job of recording all the funny stuff that Nadia's been saying for the past 1 1/2 years. We'll never forget the story about when she dropped the F-bomb in the car when she wasn't even two yet (yes, one of my all-time proudest parenting moments,) but it's all the day-to-day funny stories and phrases that I'm sad I can't remember. A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon this awesome new website: Keepaboo.com. This is exactly the site that I wish had been around when Nadia was born! We wouldn't have had to miss out on any of the cute sayings or first moments. Plus, I could easily have shared them with all of her grandparents without even having to make a phone call. This site is simply amazing!

Click on Read More to learn more about the FREE site, Keepaboo.com!

Keepaboo.com is truly a Baby Book for our generation. It's an online diary, growth chart, photo album and baby book, ALL IN ONE PLACE! That's right. Once you set up your free account, you have access to all of these things. You can write a little diary entry about the day, upload a cute picture, record a milestone or update a growth chart after a doctor's appointment. All of these pages go into a "LifeBook" for your child. There is an "Add a Quote" section which I've been using almost every day for the cute things that Nadia comes up with. The best quote this week is when she told me that when I have a baby in my tummy, I look like Daddy! Who wants to forget that?

Other great features of the site include the ability to make other custom online "books". You can create a book just for Grandma and Grandpa, chronicle your Disney vacation, scan and upload your tot's artwork for the school year, or create a book of quotes. Every time you create a page, or even view a page, there's a little button that allows you to add it to a custom book if you want. So simple, so painless. I mentioned that this site is virtually brand-new and right now, you can only share the books via email or Facebook, but eventually you will be able to have your books, including your tot's LifeBook, printed and bound into nice hardback volumes. The sharing is pretty painless, too. Simply click on the "Share on Facebook" icon to share a book or page with your Facebook pals, or click on the "Share" icon to send an email to Grandma or Grandpa. No matter how far away your friends and family are, they don't have to miss out!

Not only is Keepaboo comprehensive and easy to share, but I also love that I can manage both Nadia and Isaac's pages right from the same Home Page. I can update both kids for the day in just one easy to manage location. IF we ever decide to add to our brood, you can add a new kid, easy peasy. The site is very well-designed making it super easy to update. The navigation tabs are very clearly marked along the top of the screen. You can skip from the diary, to the quotes section, to the milestones section easily. Along the bottom, you'll find a timeline that updates every time you add a new page. I've found that photos take a little time to upload, but that's just a function of my computer and the huge photos that I try to use. I only have one "area for improvement" so far, and that's that when you enter weight and height data, you can only enter the weight in pounds or kilograms, not ounces. So, when at 6 months Isaac weighed 22 pounds 7 ounces, I can only enter the 22 lb. portion. Not a huge deal, but it takes a little away from the accuracy for someone as anal as myself. (OK. So, it's hard to be picky when there wouldn't be a record of this anywhere without Keepaboo, but I'm just saying...)

I've only been playing around with Keepaboo for about 2 weeks, but Isaac already has 11 pages in his LifeBook and a photo gallery in the works. Nadia has fewer pages, but I've been able to start keeping track of her quotes which is awesome. Plus, I don't even have to take a break from my computer. I can Facebook, email, blog a little and update both of my kids' Baby Books all in one afternoon. And, as silly as this sounds, Keepaboo keeps me logged on; so, I don't have to enter a password or anything. I type in Keepaboo.com and I'm at my Home Page! I can't wait for the print feature so that I can start binding these books for my kids. I'm way hooked on this site. Now my kids are going to have to find a different reason for how I failed them as a parent. It certainly won't be because I didn't chronicle their little lives sufficiently. Thank you Keepaboo!

(Since Isaac is still sleeping, I think I'll go update some pages now...)