Announcement:  If you live in Louisville, you won't want to miss the last bullet of today's post.

Here we are... Day three of our baby shower.  A couple of fun points before we get down to the business of today.  Yesterday was a "snow" day in Dallas.  Not only was there no snow, there was no ice either.  Just a cold and miserable day stuck in the house with three boys - all of whom suffered a terrible case of cabin fever.

At 2:00 p.m. I finally decided I had to get out of the house - for the sake of all of us!  I went to the post office to mail your Chinese New Year winnings.  The post office worker asked me if I wanted heart stamps for my envelopes.  The envelopes were red (China).  The stamps were red (hearts), so it seemed like a match made in heaven.  On our way out of the post office we began talking about how nice it would be to use the heart stamps to mail our valentines this year.  So how about it?  How about valentines made out of thumb prints?  I'm thinking my boys and I will make love bugs, using each of their thumb prints.  What are some other Valentine related shapes we could make?

One more nice point from yesterday.  I mentioned Kristen won the biggest jackpot yesterday by choosing the Chinese envelope named "Alexis."  She promptly sent me an email asking that I not send her the $20.00 and instead that I use it for the baby shower.  The generosity of readers like Kristen is just one of the things that makes this community so remarkable.  I will use Kristen's money as requested and when I do I will let you know.  

Now today.

"Remember three months from this date!  Your lucky star is shining."  That was Matthew's fortune from the cookie he ate on Monday night in celebration of the Chinese New Year.  Keep it or throw it away?  That is the question.  Keep it and your house is overrun with scraps of paper.  Toss it it and miss the chance to capture, albeit, a small moment of time in his life.  

Scrap booking, journaling, archiving....  Whatever you want to call it, that is the source of today's post.  Lots to cover and only a limited amount of your attention.  Let's get going.

Moments in Time:  When Kristen and I spoke on the phone in preparation of this week's baby shower, she told me of a baby book she received as a gift.  It required her to capture lots of fun information soon after Jennifer was born.  Here are some examples.  Document the prices of a: gallon of gas, house in your neighborhood, car, computer, movie tickets, package of diapers, postage stamp, and babysitting rates.  I love the idea of this and though our kids will always be able to find it on the internet, it's so much more fun to see it in your handwriting.  So come up with your own list of notable things and then set out to start documenting them.

Extra! Extra!:  Make your phone calls now and put your friends, family and relatives on notice.  Ask them save the front page from their city's newspaper on the day your child is born.  It will be fun for your kids to look through them and to use them for class projects when they get older.  Line your people up now, because it won't be the first thing on your mind when you're in labor and delivery.  

Time Capsule:  Saving newspapers is one thing - kind of one dimensional, but a time capsule...?  A time capsule is 3-D.  How about gathering items such as advertisements from local papers, CDs with popular music, photographs of your house, car, pets, or anything else you might want your kids to see first hand when they get older.  You could either bury your capsule somewhere in your yard or simply tuck it away in the attic until his/her... 21st birthday?!?!?!   

Snap Shot in Time:  Mind you, I've never done this. I've just heard about other disciplined people doing it and I think it is a great idea.  During your baby's first year, each month on the same date, take a picture of your baby sitting in the same place and possibly holding the same stuffed animal.  By reusing the seat and the stuffed animal, your baby's growth will become even more apparent.  Heather told me she recently saw a Baby's First Birthday invitation bordered with a series of photographs similar to those described above.  Another example of a great idea, but one you have to be ready for from the get-go.  By the time most of us come out of our post pregnancy fog, months have passed and it's too late.  

Scrap Journaling:  On Highlowaha.com we try never to repeat the same idea twice.  If ever I was tempted, it would be today.  Months ago I shared my "strategy" for keeping and organizing my children's keepsakes.  Many of my friends and some of our readers have begun using the system.  I am not at all into scrap booking (too costly and time consuming), but I love the idea of documenting the lives of my children.  I want them to look back and be able to find out things such as: funny phrases they used, favorite foods, least favorite foods, their favorite toys, who their teachers were, what car we were driving, what weather was like on Inauguration Day, who won the Super Bowl, and a million other mundane facts.  I do all of this (and more) in a system I refer to as Scrap Journaling.  Following are links to days dedicated to this topic.  If you are interested, check them out (to really understand, you must check out each day).  http://www.highlowaha.com/2008/07/kiss-keep-it-simple-system.html.  http://www.highlowaha.com/2008/07/kiss-step-three-of-four.html.  http://www.highlowaha.com/2008/07/kiss-step-four-of-four.html.

If you live in Louisville, you're going to LOVE this:  What better way to document the lives of your children than PHOTOGRAPHS!  Today we present Louisvillians with the chance to win a free one-hour photo shoot, along with a CD of photos.  The photo shoot is with Laura Kline, a local woman who is actively building her clientele.  You can see Laura's work by visiting her flickr site at http://www.flickr.com/photos/laurakline/ or visiting her blog at www.lkkphotos.blogspot.com.   Let's get on with it.  The winner's name will be selected from a drawing.  How do you assure a spot in the drawing? Easy.  Get a pregnant woman to join our party by making a post in today's comment section.  Your name will be entered one time for each pregnant woman you get to make a post. 

Don't win?  Don't worry.  Laura is focused on building her portfolio, so her rates by industry standards, are reasonable.  If you live in Louisville, I am sure she would welcome the chance to photograph your family... and you'd be supporting another Highlowaha reader. 

Have an idea related to something we've already covered today?  Share it with the rest of us. 

As for me...signing off until tomorrow.