Emma’s Baby Book

This morning I was walking around Greenlake with a friend and we were discussing baby books. And lo and behold, look what was waiting on the doorstep when we arrived home: The Book of Emma 

Just like Ben’s Book, we ordered it through MyPublisher and went for the gigantic 11"x15” size.

There are a few changes since we ordered Ben’s three years ago, the first one being that the covers are thicker and have a bit of gloss.

You should know that I blurred some portions of the text, just to provide our wee gal with some birth info privacy. 

Like Ben’s book, this album is divided into several chapters.

Ready?

Here we go:



Chapter 1: Formal Monthly and Weekly Photographs

All those weekly picture sessions finally paid off! Never again will I be doing that project. :)

I know some people consider it a waste to only put one picture on a page, but the big photos are some of my favorites. Especially this one.

Chapter 2: The Baby Journal

The journal includes stats, birth details, notes, and milestones. There is also a section for future 'accomplishments' and height/weight entries. 

There is also: “The Price Of: ...a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, the cost of your first house, etc”. Another fun section: What Famous Events Happened On Your Birthday, Which Famous People Share Your Birthday, etc.

Many of the questions we used in the baby journal can be found in this link. 

Here is a new page: photos of Chris and I as babies. I think Emma is a dead ringer for Baby Christopher, bottom right. Especially the hair! I wonder when Emma’s hair will go dark. 

The one of me with my mama (bottom middle) is a favorite of mine. 

Chapter 3: Informal photos

These are arranged chronologically and begin with her birth (very early January) and end with Christmas (December). Basically a “Year in Review” section.

Here is a prime example: The summer trip to Alaska

In addition to the bigger album format, I also sprung for lay-flat pages. Fancy, fancy. 

I love picking out pictures for album. Hopefully she’ll see the humor in these...

This one is mostly of Ben but I crack up every time. Because clearly this is the photo one should make when forced to do posed pictures with family members.

 If our little girl ever gets too big for her britches then I can always whip out the baby book to show her what the first year was really like:

Oh Ben, you’re so sweet. And I am such a horrible mother for choosing to photograph this rather than saving the poor wee babe from nasal tickling.

Chapter 4: Keepsakes

This section has been revamped. Ben’s book is a bit unwieldy because I pasted in all the cards and hospital keepsakes right into the album. With Emma’s version I decided to scan everything as photo files and incorporate them directly into the book. Much better.

Remember we did the Wishes For Emma project at her party? Here is how it turned out. I also scanned these, rather than pasting in the card stock.

Chapter 5: Birthday Book (Ages 1-18)

I went ahead and filled in her one year birthday party page but all the subsequent pages are blank.

Here is a good example. On the left, we have space for descriptions and photos of Emma’s 4th birthday (and year) and on the right is the annual questionnaire (What is your favorite animal, what do you want to be when you grow up, tell us a funny joke, etc). Some of the questions I used for Ben’s interview can be found here. I tweaked them a bit for Emma’s version.

There is also space to post pictures and announcements in the Time Capsule section.

Another new feature: a customizable back cover. Whoohoo.

Darling, 
You are loved, Emma. Fiercely, unconditionally, and without reserve. We are, and always will be, grateful to have you in our lives.
Love, Mama and Daddy

(I know, 'Mama and Daddy' sounds slightly off. But I don’t love ‘Mommy’ and Chris doesn’t adore ‘Papa’ so this is the compromise)

So, the nitty gritty:

Book: MyPublisher

Size: 11”x15"

Extras: lay flat pages, linen book cover, 100 pages

Cost: $236 face value. (I know, crazy expensive. But I used a coupon so the total cost after rebate was $104. Still not cheap, but hopefully she’ll keep this around for many, many years to come)

MyPublisher requires that you download the program from their website and it’s available for either Mac or PC. We used the Mac version and it was fairly decent. There were a few things in the program that I found somewhat limiting (background colors, resizing photos, spacing/aligning photos, moving pages around) but overall it was fine. Once you’re finished, you upload the entire thing to the website and fork over your $$. The ordering process was easy. 

xo, 

Sonja

DIY: New Lightbox [with wooden frame]

I spent an hour last week constructing this light-box. Basically, it’s a lot like this one except a little bit sturdier as it has a wooden bottom and support structure. 

I used 2x2s for the frame and 1/2 plywood for the bottom. Twelve screws later, and viola! A lightbox. 

Tissue paper is on the sides and top, while a large sheet of butcher paper makes up the backdrop. At some point I’ll probably change out the butcher paper for something with a little more visual interest. 

It’s not perfect, but it’s a start. Clearly I need to monkey around with the lighting a bit more.

You might remember that I had one of these back when the chickens were wee little chicks but it bit the dust - the birds kept pooping on the butcher paper and well, that doesn’t make the for prettiest of backdrops. Wax duck candles are much tidier. 

Professional Photos, Round II

Here are a few more pictures from Lindsay Ramirez. 

Peeps, you know how much I love black and white photos. 

This is Ben’s favorite game, hands down. The kid loooves being swung upside-down. Do it again, do it again!

Getting ready. You’re making me wear a shirt with a collar? And a sweater? And shoes?! This stinks. 

 I almost wanted to use this one for our holiday card! It’s one of my favorites.

Oh my, I adore this child. 

Our sweet little grubber. 

Baby Blues

Peeps -


We just got our professional photos from Lindsay Ramirez Photography.

More to come later but here is a quick sneak peek:

The Bare Essentials

I'm not sure how this subject came up [perhaps we were discussing the Solstice Parade and the tradition for many cyclists to discard their fancy bicycle clothing in favor of painted attire] but my dad mentioned that a New Zealand airline, frustrated that their passengers weren't paying attention to the safety video, came up with a..um, well.. a rather novel approach to grabbing the attention of their riders. Paint! As clothing! [sounds chilly, doesn't it?] Naturally, I had to look it up for myself. What would we do without YouTube? It's not racy [G-rated]; in fact, it's difficult to tell that the participants are wearing only paint. It's hilarious; check it out!

Picture This...

I'm at one end of the pond, throwing fish food in to the koi. Bailey comes over to sniff the fish-flavored pellets. The next time I look up, he has sauntered to the other end of the pond and has started to delicately pick floating fish pellets out of the water. The fish (and the girl) were not amused.