Ya’ll I never win anything, so when I won a giveaway hosted by Polka Dot Print Shop on Instagram, I was so excited! I had actually just been talking to friend about baby books the night before and I’ve been starting to accumulate lots of little things for Harper as her arrival is getting closer and closer, so the timing couldn’t have been more perfect!

I got Landon’s baby book at Barnes and Noble and while it’s very nice and traditional and beautiful… it’s also humongous and has turned out to be very overwhelming for me. It’s strange, because I have always been an avid journaler and love scrapbooking, so you’d think filling in his baby book would be a piece of cake for me… but that has not been the case. It’s caused me so much anxiety, in fact, that I’ve avoided it and now I don’t even remember some of the things it asks (already! ugh!).

I guess baby books, like many other things, are just one of those things that you learn from the first time around. Because of my experience with Landon’s book, I knew when choosing Harper’s baby book, I wanted to find something much simpler, more compact, and one that had questions about things I really care about.

When I won this giveaway, I learned that Polka Dot Print Shop offers baby books, toddler books, adoption books, birthday books, and books to document your pregnancy (called “Bump Books“). On their website, you can see a sample of the pages and content of each book and choose from the wide variety of fun patterns and vibrant colors. If you’re like me and are interested in how this business got started, the “about” page on their website says,

“Polka Dot Print Shop was established during an afternoon nap in late 2011 when Leslie Berhanu opened up an Etsy shop on a whim. She decided to share the baby book that she created for her own child with other mamas looking for something modern and unique. The response was overwhelming and that drove Leslie to perfect the process of producing each book in a timely and professional manner, yet still allowing for customization and personalization.

As a mama to 4 kiddos (5 years and under!), Leslie knows that free time is hard to come by. Filling out a baby book tends to take a back seat to the daily tasks of parenting. Keeping that in mind, she designed a book that hits all of the important milestones, yet doesn’t require hours upon hours to fill out. Polka Dot Print Shop’s Baby Books reflect a simplistic and timeless design that appeals to modern moms and dads.

Today, Leslie manages Polka Dot Print Shop from her home office just outside of Houston, Texas. All books are printed in the USA and hand assembled during nap time and late into the evening hours. She takes pride in designing, assembling and packaging each and every order that comes across her desk.”

I love supporting small businesses, which is why I chose to write this blog post. It’s just too great not to share. I was totally and completely blown away by the quality of the book. The pages are really thick and the book is so well made and it gives you the perfect amount of space to write and for photos. The only thing I would change is I wish there was a way to order them with customized hard covers (I would love for the front of the book to say “Harper” or have her monogram instead of “BABY”) but that, along with many other FAQ’s you may have is answered here. If you have more than one baby, you can personalize them by ordering different colors and patterns, so the books are still unique and specialized for each child. I just can’t say enough good things about it!

Leslie was so sweet, a pleasure to work with, and she has been so generous to offer a coupon code for my readers! Use code “KATE” for 15% OFF (this code expires 2/19/18 so you have one week to take advantage)!

Side note(s): that ultrasound picture is from my last ultrasound at 18 weeks, so I can only imagine how much our little lady has grown in the last 10 weeks! She’s moving constantly these days and I can’t believe I’m almost to my third trimester!

Also, that cute wooden paci clip was only $1 from Wish. Have you ever ordered anything from there? I buy little things here and there and although shipping takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r, I’m usually pretty happy with the items and I’ve found that they have surprisingly great customer service and a fantastic refund policy.