Long before Pinterest and those cute little signs that tell you how many months old your child is, I read about a cute idea where you take a picture of your child every year on their birthday in the same piece of their parents' clothing so you can "watch them grow into an adult."

As time passes, every year we are shocked at how much our babies have grown. We see them every single day, obviously, but it is always fun to go back and see where the changes were. Sometimes it was a lot of legs and arms, losing their baby fat or just changing hairstyles. I can now clearly identify the year my son's baseball team all went with mohawks!

With my daughter, I didn't want to use my jeans because...well, let's face it, women don't wear the same size their entire lives. I thought since we were watching our son grow up into a man, why not watch our little girl grow up into a lady?

I chose my wedding dress for a lot reasons. One, because I want to get more than one day's use out of it! Two, I really think she's going to want her own dress when she gets married, so what a wonderful way to celebrate my own marriage than to pass a tradition down to my only daughter. Three, I think it will be a great memento to show at her wedding someday.

At first, it was a fun way to watch the kids grow up (not to mention, watching the deterioration of our couch), but now that they are teens and tweens, every year is becoming more heartbreaking. Dad's pants almost fit, and the shoulder straps don't fall off my princess anymore. It makes each birthday that much more valuable.