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Scrapbooking for Twins, Triplets, or More
Have you noticed in catalogs and toys stores from years ago that twin baby dolls used to be the fun thing to buy for your little girl? What have you seen lately in the baby doll section? Not twin dolls but triplets! My husband and I laugh as we watch this trend change. A reason for the change in the toy industry is because multiples are much more common these days. Our local triplet group here in town has over 65 moms of triplets or more. Wow! It has been amazing to watch the boom in multiple births. And being a mom of identical triplet girls, I can tell you that multiple moms are just as excited about scrapbooking as moms of singletons. However, we do have some things that we must think about differently as we scrap. We also have different challenges when it comes to scrapping multiples. Let's look at a few things. Identifying Identicals in Pictures
If you have identical multiples, you know there are a few extra challenges as scrapbookers that you need to keep up with. First, how do you identify each child? Did each child have a special color? Do you always set them in the same order for formal pictures? What about those candid shots? How do you know which child is which? I could always tell my girls apart from about seven months on. So, I made the mistake of not labeling all of my pictures. Now several years later, I look back at those pictures and realize I am not sure which child is which in some pictures. I should have labeled them all from the beginning. Once those pictures sit for years and the voices and personalities do not shine through, you may forget which child is in the picture. So, label those pictures! We assigned our girls colors even before they left the neonatal unit to come home. We tied yarn around their wrists in their own color so we could identify our children. The yarn worked great because it could get wet, it was easily visible across the room, and we could tie on a new piece as they grew. We only did that for about seven months but it sure came in handy. So, for those baby pictures, I can look at the yarn on their wrists and know which baby is which. Later, they wore clothes in their color. That helped also. So pictures where they have their color on truly helps. Here is a layout I did about their "color coding." I also did a fun collage layout with many different facts about their birth and color coding: Identifying Fraternal Multiples in Pictures
If you have boy/girl twins, identifying the kids in pictures is not going to be as difficult. However, you certainly want to scrap their likenesses, their differences, and the bond that they share. I did this fun layout of my sister's fraternal twins: Identifying same-sex fraternal twins can have the same difficulties as identicals especially when they are babies. You will want to make sure you label those pictures too. Scrapbook Topics to Consider
Here are some scrapbook topics you may want to consider scrapping about your multiples: Expecting Multiples-When did you find out you were expecting more than one baby? Share the ultrasound picture. What was your reaction when you found out? Share the story. - Telling Family-How did you tell your family and friends that you were expecting more than one baby? What were their reactions? Scrap it. Your children will enjoy it!
- Baby Shower-Did you have one? Or were you on bedrest and didn't get the luxury? How was it different since you were expecting multiples?
- Deciding on Names-How did you decide on the names for your babies? How did you decide which baby got which name? We had to pick six names since we did not know if we were expecting three boys, three girls, or a mix. What a fun layout to do on that decision!
- Hospital Stays-Were you hospitalized during your pregnancy? Or were you home with special monitoring equipment? Scrap it all. Your children need to see how you took care of them even before they were born.
- Delivery Day-Even if you do not have pictures of your delivery, scrap the story. It will be a special story that generations to come will want to read.
- Equipment-What extra/special equipment did you have to buy for multiple babies? Special stroller? How many bouncy seats? How many swings? New car?
- Challenges-Scrap the challenges of feeding multiple babies, the extra diapers, the cost of formula, the challenges of breastfeeding, getting them to and from doctors' visits, etc. Scrap all of those special challenges that parents of multiples have.
- Sleeping and Crying-Did you get much sleep? How about the tag-team crying? How did you handle that? Get it on a layout.
- News Stories-Was your family part of a special news story because of your special delivery? My mother and her identical twin sister were born in 1944, and they were all over the news. My girls, born 50 years later, were not in the news at all. It's amazing to look at the changes over the years. So scrap those old and new news stories.
- Family and Friends-Did you have family or friends that helped once the babies came home? Do you have pictures to share? Scrap those special people.
- Color Coding-Were your babies "color-coded" in any way? Scrap that.
- NICU Stay-Were your babies in the NICU? Scrap those pictures. Scrap your feelings. Scrap any notes or journaling from that time.
- Multiple Support Group-Do you have a local multiple support group? Do you have monthly dinners or something fun you do to support each other? Scrap these things. They are important also.
I hope this gives you some ideas on how to scrap your special family. Be sure to search the gallery for twin layouts because there are many. You can get some wonderful ideas from those pages. Have fun, and enjoy scrapping those multiple moments.
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