Create an customizable book in real time with this easy-to-use app.
When Levon was born, I designed and printed his baby book and first year photo album through Mpix. They were absolutely beautiful, and I printed copies for all of his grandparents as holiday gifts, but to be honest, the design process was overwhelming. I had over 10K photos on my phone. You can imagine how long it took me to sort, upload and create a professional-looking layout.
I recently discovered Baby Notebook app, which helps parents build baby books in real time. Founded by sisters Suzanne Hansson and Davia Broberg, the app sends weekly reminders to your phone to upload photos and record your child’s milestones before you forget them. The layout is modern, minimal and fully-customizable, making it perfect for non-traditional families. Adoptive parents can customize the family page to include birth family photos and even hide entire sections that don’t apply. I would never want my son to open his baby book and feel like his story is incomplete because I was unable to fill out the pregnancy and birth story sections. With Baby Notebook app, you can customize each section to create a book that honors and reflects your child’s family structure.
It’s my passion for inclusion that keeps me excited and motivated to get our book in the hands of families. I take pride in knowing that our book is inclusive of special needs, adoptions, and parents who are in the LGBTQ community.” – Co-Founder Suzanne Hansson.
And the app offers more than just baby books. The Toddler Book, designed for one-year-olds, captures your child as they grow and makes building a book seem more like writing an Instagram post – something we all have time to do. It’s the perfect follow up to the Baby Book and a wonderful option for adoptive and foster parents with children who joined their families during their first year.
To learn more about the app and pricing, visit babynotebookapp.com.
Jessica Butler is the co-founder of Raise, stepmother of two, and adoptive mother of one. Prior to Raise, she was a writer on USA’s "In Plain Sight" and TNT’s "The Last Ship." She and her husband, writer/producer Warren Bell, co-created the Nick at Nite series "Instant Mom," based on her life as a stepmother. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and six-year-old son, Levon.