Terra Traditions creates some gorgeous, artisan-style, eco-friendly baby books. Their Baby’s Journey style is my favorite. Winner of the iParenting Media Award, this beautiful 11″ x 11″ linen book has room for 200 4″x6″ photos. There is a place to preserve every memory: the baby shower, the birth record, the family tree, and baby’s favorite toys, animals, and songs. A beautiful Angel Baby adorned with real Swarovski crystals graces the cover. The perfect record book for baby’s first three years, this makes a wonderful, thoughtful gift for a new mom. It sells for $79.95 and can be found in stores in California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Texas. To find a store near you, visit TerraTraditions.com.

I think this would be a perfect baby shower gift because of its pure soft look. Take along a Polaroid Instant Camera (they’re still around) and add photos from the baby shower to include in this Nature’s Purest Hug Me My First Book. Another idea would be to include a gift certificate for developing digital photos at the Mother-to-be’s local photo store or for ordering online. With its soft, natural cotton cover, this photo book holds twenty-four 4″ x 6″ photos on 12 PVC-free pages.

You can view this product at ToysRUs.com where it has a listed price of $19.99.

Little Experience offers this Baby’s First Canvas Set to help you capture lasting memories of your new baby.  Whether you capture handprints or footprints, you will be creating a great keepsake that you will treasure forever.  The set includes 2 brushes, 2 canvases, a flat paint palette, blue and pink organic paint tablets, and a plastic sheet.  These canvases make great grandparent gifts, too, so you may want to order an extra set.  The set would also make a great shower gift for expectant parents.

You can purchase the set for $39 at The Land of Nod.  While you could possibly save money by buying these pieces yourself, what I love about this kit is that everything is in one place, so you will actually follow through.  As much as I love the idea, I know myself well enough to know that I will not be running to the art supply store to pick up paints and canvases with a newborn in tow.

I think my kids were 5, 6, and 8 years old when I finally decided to make a photo album for each of them. I had collected tons of pictures over the years including family times at home, outings, vacations, holidays, pre-school, kindergarten, you name it, I had a picture of it. What I didn’t have was any kind of organization and I ended up spending a whole summer sorting and choosing and laying photos in each child’s album.

Baby’s First Year Photo Album Storage Box has a very simple method of organization - you just have to keep up. Don’t be tempted to let the photos sit in the desk drawer or shoe box year after year. Just slip the photos into the appropriate album as soon as you’re done oohing and ahhing over them or making copies for family and friends. You could make a label for each album with the dates already listed as a helpful reminder of when to start and end each album. Mark your calendar as another helpful reminder. It will take a little extra effort but when it comes time to go through your baby’s photos you’ll really be glad that you took the time.

This set of 4 Photo Albums in an adorable storage box comes from Two’s Company. It includes: 0-3 Months, 3-6 Months, 6-9 Months, 9-12 Months. Each Book Holds 48 4″ x 6″Photos, on  Acid Free Paper. The storage box measures approx. 5″ x 6 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ and can be purchased for $38.99 at CecisTreasures.com

I wish I could say that I have meticulously documented all of the big moments in my children’s lives.  Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.  I always have the best intentions, but it is just so hard to find the time to write about your kids when you are so wrapped up in caring for them.

Clearly, the people at Tiny Tales know this feeling.  They have put together sets that any busy mom can appreciate.  This great Infant Memory Kit includes two 4×6 notepads that help you quickly document all the important firsts in your baby’s life, a cute little storage box, and four themed dividers to keep it all organized.

The set retails for $30, and you can purchase extra cards at any time.  This is something that even I could keep up with, and it looks a lot better than my usual chicken scratch on the calendar method.  You can pick one up at TinyTales.com.  Sets for toddlers and expectant moms are also available.

Although I’m not too excited that my baby will be born in the year of the rat, I am pretty excited about these great little keepsakes boxes based on the Chinese zodiac.  The Birth Year Box by Tree by Kerri Lee certainly beats the Kiehl’s box in which I’ve been storing all of my two year old’s baby mementos.

The lid of the box features a colorful illustration, along with the year, the words “Year of the Rat (or Rabbit, etc),” and the words “Welcome Baby.”  Each side of the lid is imprinted with the personality traits associated with the animal.

These fun little boxes are available in pink, turquoise, or mint and for the years 2004-2008.  You can purchase one for $38 at Tree By Kerri Lee.  This would also make a unique baby shower gift.

Here is a great photo album to capture and preserve all the memories of your new baby.  The album is hand-crafted to be extra special.  It has a linen-colored cover and a gold tassle that ties around the book’s binding.  I like the stork illustration on the front of the book, which has an antique look about it.  The album measures 9″ x 9″ and can hold up to 200 4″ x 6″ photos.  The pages are made from archival quality paper that is guaranteed to be acid-free.  There is space next to each photo for you to record additional notes and/or memories.

This would make a great gift for new parents, or a treasured heirloom for your own home.  You can purchase one for $39.95 from BlueberryForest.com.

By K & Co., the Sweet Pea Baby Boy Scrapbook comes ready to go. If you love the look of scrapbooks but just don’t have the time or patience to create one, just add your pictures to this color coordinated kit and your memories will be preserved in a lovely book.

Easier than spending your time searching through scrapbook stores, aisle after aisle, for the perfect coordinating pages and embellishments, this kit comes with 10 patterned papers and three packs of matching stickers (including words and icons.)

I like the soft blues and greens, very attractive to the eye, and the stitching around the outer cover. Its “sister” album is equally cute and perfect for your baby girl. The Sweet Pea Baby Boy Scrapbook would make a wonderful gift for that mama-to-be who aspires to be a scrapbooker but hasn’t found the tools to begin yet.

I spotted it at overstock.com for $36.99.

I haven’t been particularly pleased with either of the baby books that I have for my girls. I’m not in love with the way they look, or the way they are organized. Maybe that is why I just keep jotting things down on the calendar and telling myself I will get my notes transferred to the baby books one of these days! This has made me curious about what alternatives there are to these very traditional books. A little research reveals that one of the hottest baby books out there at the moment is this book made by Baby Feats. What makes this book unique is that it is made with a Baltic birch cover, which is available in pink, blue, yellow, or natural wood versions. It was featured on the CBS Early Show and is popular with celebrity parents, including Julia Roberts. While the outside of the book is innovative, the inside is fairly traditional, including pages for a family tree, and important firsts such as first bath, first picture, etc. Overall, this is a very sweet baby book, but it doesn’t wow me. You can buy one of these books for $60 at babybox.com.