Making A Newborn Journal

Your newborn will bring your many special moments of joy even during those hectic first few days and weeks. Making a newborn journal can help you to capture those special moments so you can reflect upon them for years to come and even share them with your newborn when he is older.

Life is hectic with a newborn and those first few weeks seem to fly by. You may be tempted to put off starting your baby's journal. However it is so easy to forget even wonderful moments. Plus if you keep putting it off, you might never get around to starting this cherished keepsake.

All you really need to begin is a pen and some paper that you can use to record your thoughts. Of course, you will probably want to transfer everything into a notebook later so you can save the extra step if you purchase a journal and have it ready to go before your baby is born. However, don't put off journaling just because you don't have the perfect baby book. Go ahead and start right away with whatever you have available.

Make it a habit to write something everyday. It will soon become a habit and become easier and easier to keep up with. Soon you will look forward to your daily writings. You can just write a couple of sentences, or long reflective pieces as you are able each day. Once you start, you will find it easy to find things to write about because your baby grows and changes each day.

You can add pictures to your journal and other memorabilia in scrapbook fashion. You could even keep an electronic journal and at the end of your baby's first year have it printed and bound as a keepsake and family heirloom.

No matter how you go about it, you will be glad you took the effort to make a newborn journal. In the years to come it will bring you joy as you read back on that special time in your life. Journaling can also help you in the present as a form of stress relief and a way to organize your thoughts. You are not the only one who will benefit from keeping a newborn journal. It will also be very special to your newborn when he is older. He will get a glimpse into his life as it first began and it will help him feel closer to you. It will also give him a look back at the current events of the time. It is a gift he can pass on to his own children and so on. It will serve as a snapshot of his life and the world in general during that time in history.

07/18/08 Death Notices (Yakima Herald-Republic)

Randy L. Dykes, 55, of Yakima died July 11 in Seattle. Mr. Dykes was born in Omaha, Neb., and was a Vietnam War veteran. He moved to Yakima around the age of 13. He worked as a security guard and owned a mobile DJ business.

Obituaries July 16, 2008 (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

Correction: The obituary for Byron Lamar Benefield, which was published on Monday, contained an incomplete list of survivors. Survivors also include a brother, Lynn Benefield, and a sister, Helen Manning.

Obituaries July 14, 2008 (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal)

Willie Bernard Buford OXFORD - Willie Bernard "Willie Boy" Buford, 50, died Saturday, July 12, 2008, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi. Arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Hodges-Serenity Funeral Home of Oxford.

Health Calendar (The Beacon News)

Heartland Blood Center's "Be a Guitar Hero" Blood Drive Competition: From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday -- Donate blood, play Guitar Hero, rack up points and, if the points are high enough, win Guitar Hero IV for your system. Second prize, a $25 Best Buy card; third prize a Heartland Sweatshirt.

Self-help groups: July 15, 2008 (Naples Daily News)