Collaborative post
There are 4,372 photos of my baby on my phone. I know this because I checked them one evening while scrolling through what felt like an endless stream of nearly identical porridge faces, trying to find a single picture to send to my mum. Sound familiar? Most of us spend the first year taking hundreds of photos a week and doing absolutely nothing with them. They sit on our phones, slowly buried under screenshots and shopping lists, and we tell ourselves we’ll sort them out eventually.
This year, with Mother’s Day coming up, I decided to stop saying “one day” and actually do it. I used MYPICTURE to create a photo book of my baby’s entire first year, and it turned out to be one of the most meaningful things I’ve made as a mum.
Why This Beats Flowers and Chocolates
I love a bunch of tulips as much as anyone, but they’re in the bin by Thursday. If you’re looking for personalised gifts for mum this Mothering Sunday, whether that’s for yourself, your partner, or your own mum, a photo book is something that stays. It sits on the shelf. You pick it up on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and suddenly you’re back in those bleary, beautiful early days.
It works as a gift in every direction, too. My husband could have made one for me, a whole year of “look what you did, you brilliant woman.” Or I could make one for my mum, full of the grandchild moments she wasn’t there for: the first giggles on FaceTime, the messy faces after baby-led weaning experiments, the nap cuddles she’d have given anything to be part of. A thoughtful gift like that says more than any card ever could.
How I Actually Made It (And How You Can Too)
Here’s what I learned from turning a chaotic camera roll into something I’m genuinely proud of.
Organise by milestone, not by date. Chronological order sounds logical, but it’s actually a bit dull when most of January looks the same. Instead, I grouped photos by moments that mattered: first smile, first foods, first steps, first Christmas, first trip to the beach. If you’ve been doing baby-led weaning, those early food adventures deserve their own pages; there’s something wonderful about seeing the progression from grabbing a carrot baton to confidently demolishing a bowl of pasta.
Be brutal with your selection. This was the hardest part. I started with hundreds of photos and forced myself down to about fifty. Every picture had to earn its place. If I had three almost-identical shots of the same spaghetti-covered grin, I picked the best one and let the others go. The book is so much better for it; every page feels intentional.
Add captions you’ll thank yourself for later. MYPICTURE lets you add text to every page, and this is the bit I’m most glad I did. Nothing long, just the date, how old he was, and a one-line memory. Things like “the day you tried avocado and looked personally offended” or “first time in the garden, you ate the grass.” In five years, I won’t remember these tiny details. Now I don’t have to.
The Moment That Made It Worth It
When you hold the book of memories you created yourself, there’s a flood of feelings. I’d chosen all the photos myself, and I knew exactly what was inside. But sitting on the sofa and turning those pages was completely different from scrolling a screen. There was a weight to it. I could see tiny details I’d forgotten, the little crease in his wrist, the bib we’d lost months ago, the kitchen wallpaper from our old flat in the background. A whole year, held in my hands.
If you’ve been meaning to do something with those thousands of photos on your phone, let this be your nudge. You don’t need to be a designer. You need your camera roll and an evening on the sofa. MYPICTURE delivers across the UK, so there’s still time to create something she’ll treasure this Mother’s Day. Sometimes the most special moments just need somewhere real to live.