A Better Way to Scrapbook

After Megan was born and we printed off the hundred or so pictures of her first few weeks of life, I decided I wanted to scrapbook all her pictures from her first year for a baby book for her. I bought some paper, embellishments, and an album at the Provo Craft Outlet just down the street from my house. Well, I was finding that I didn't have a lot of time to do this, being a new mom and everything that entails. I had even moved all my scrapbooking supplies from the basement to our built in desk area in our kitchen to make it easier. It still took too long to get everything out and figure out how I wanted the pages to look. By the time I got one or two pages finished, it was time to feed or change the baby and I was left with a HUGE mess on my kitchen table and no energy to put it all back. It wasn't too long before I remembered the photo-book I made for my sister last Christmas with pictures of our trip to Disneyland. I checked the website again and sure enough they had added a baby book option. I decided right then that I would never scrapbook again.

I have spent the better part of this last week finishing up two photo-books, one for my dad's wedding since he didn't hire a photographer and Megan's baby book, since she's a year old now. The website I use is www.mypublisher.com. These were my fourth and fifth books that I have completed now and I really love the program. You download it for free and they frequently send out emails with 20-40% off discounts. It's really easy to use and if I can figure it out, you can too. They have about 7 or 8 different styles of books and lots of different page layouts depending on how many pictures you want per page. You can add text too as well as minor editing like cropping, changing the photo to black and white, and red-eye. They also email when they've upgraded the program and added more options. It's all stored on your computer until you are ready to purchase and then you need the internet to send it the company for printing and binding. It only takes about a week to get it back too. I made a book for our trip to Europe in 2005 and one for all of last year. They look so beautiful and professional. The price varies depending on the size of book and how many pages you want and if you want leather or canvas cover. I really think it's similar, if not cheaper than a whole scrapbook when you consider the price to print the pictures, buy paper and an album and all the embellishments. I love that it's a bound book as well, something that will last and you don't have to worry about pictures falling off and getting lost. It also gets my pictures off my computer and into a book where we can enjoy looking at them. So, if you're sick of scrapbooking, or never really liked scrapbooking to begin with, check out mypublisher.com. It's not as creative of a process as scrapbooking is and doesn't have TONS of options for layouts, but that's why I love it. I don't have to think too much about it and my pictures look beautiful when the book comes. Also, you can get a lot finished in a short amount of time and there's no getting out a bunch of supplies and then having to clean up. Here's a link to Megan's baby book on-line so you can check one out. Just to warn you, it is 100 pages, so kind of long, but take a look at a few pages if you're interested. There are sample ones on the website, but I'm sure they are professional photographer's pictures and they look gorgeous. My pictures are taken by me, so I think it gives a better example of how they turn out. And of course, they look better in person than on a computer. Enjoy!!!

http://www.mypublisher.com/bookshelf/bookviewer.py?d=tq%3Ey-cppl%60je%3E3279%3A11

Easter Fun

This was Megan's second Easter, but since she was only about 4 weeks old last Easter, we didn't really do anything. This year was a lot more festive and exciting. We did Easter baskets and an egg "hunt" with Megan's cousin, Ava, who is just a few weeks younger than her. I use the word "hunt" loosely as we just threw some eggs on the lawn in plain view and helped the girls pick them up. Ava was good at getting an egg, giving it to her mom and getting another one. Megan was good at opening the egg and then trying to eat the candy as fast as she could. It was fun to see the different personalities of the girls and have them play together. I'm sad to say that Megan is a bit of a toy hog though. Hopefully we can work on that. Here a few pic's of our fun day!

Megan with her mouth full of jelly beans and post-nap hair

She figured out early how to get the eggs open

Megan and Ava

This was the best family shot we got. Megan was more into the candy than the camera.

The Party

Megan's birthday party was on Saturday and it was a success. Megan was feeling better a few days before the party so we didn't have to cancel. Yay! And she held up pretty well with all the chaos and people. She has lots of cousins who like to follow her around and make sure she's ok now that she's walking. She was quite the little princess walking around in her tutu. It was "tutu" cute! We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers in the snow and had lots of cake and ice cream. So much cake and ice cream that I still have a fridge and freezer full. Megan didn't dig into the cake as much as I thought she would. I think it's because she kept picking off the flowers that were made of fondant and they didn't taste very good. She was really good at picking off and eating all the dots made of chocolate frosting though. A girl after my own heart! Both sets of grandparents were able to make it and we now have more toys than we know what to do with. Megan's favorite is by far the pink dog my aunt sent her. She LOVES dogs. Thanks to all who came and made our party so much fun!

1 year old already!

Happy Birthday to my Megan!

I can't believe that my baby girl is 1 today. This has been the fastest year of my life. It feels like just yesterday I was in the hospital with my new baby girl. It's been an exciting year and we have loved very minute of it. Megan has been sick on and off since Sunday and threw up three times last night. Not a great way to start off your first birthday, but she's doing a lot better today and is even eating! We're having a party on Saturday that I was afraid we might have to cancel, but the doctor said it should be fine to have it as long as she doesn't get sick again. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all be ok since we already have 28 hamburger patties thawing in our fridge. All in all this year has been better than I'd ever imagined it could be. Children bring such joy into life, and I'm grateful everyday for my sweet baby girl and the love she brings to our home.

Tiny, squishy, 1 day old Megan

First smiles

Big blue eyes

Scrunchie nose Megan

Multi-Tasking

So, I'm a big fan of multi-tasking and do it quite often. For example: cleaning while the laundry is going, feeding the baby while making dinner, and so on. However, I haven't quite mastered the art of multi-tasking yet. A lot of the time, I forget that the laundry is in the dryer needing to be folded and put away and stays there for a few days, or dinner gets burned while I'm feeding Megan. Today was a perfect example: I was heating up some oil to make popcorn (somehow I didn't have any of the microwave kind) and I forgot about it while I was folding laundry. I started to smell something funny and looked over to see flames coming from the stove. Yeah - oil catches on fire if heated to a high enough temperature. I immediately ran over (kicking my ankle on the coffee table mid-air) and pulled the pot off the heat and stood there for a good 30 seconds not knowing what to do. Finally, I remembered that baking soda puts out oil fires - 7th grade Home Ec. finally paying off. The smoke alarm didn't go off, which was good and bad. Good that it didn't wake Megan up from her nap, especially since she's been sick (throwing up on me during Sacrament meeting yesterday) and bad because the flames were pretty high and it's quite smokey in the house, making me wonder how big of a fire do I have to have before it does off?! I guess this is a good reminder for me to check the batteries in the smoke alarms more frequently than I have been, which is actually never. So, I encourage all of you to check the batteries today in your smoke alarms and not to multi-task while heating oil.

Mani-Pedi Anyone?

My sister showed me this when she was here. Anyone who has ever gotten a manicure or pedicure will apreciate it!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SsWrY77o77o

The Wedding

My dad was remarried on Saturday. It was a long day, especially for Megan, but fun. It was great to see family and friends that I haven't for a while. Bonus - my sister stayed a few extra days so we could spend some time together. They were married at Alecia's chapel and then a luncheon afterward. Eric, Megan, and I sat with my mom's brothers who flew in from Hawaii and California. It was great to visit with them since we don't see them very often at all. I'm still trying to get my Uncle Steve (the one who lives in Hawaii) and his wife Jenny to come out to Utah to ski. It's a tough sell to leave the warm for the cold, but I think they might come next Winter. My brother left Saturday, so I only had 2 days with him, but some time is better than none. My dad requested no wedding gifts, but since he didn't have a photographer for "The Big Day", I took it upon myself to be the paparazzi and take over 200 pictures to put together a photobook for them. I've started to retouch some of the pictures and it's rather addictive. I think it's going to take me longer than I thought, especially since the foyer of the church doesn't really lend well to good lighting, or good photos in general. That's my project for the next week or so. Oh yeah, and getting ready for Megan's birthday party next Saturday. Since we've invited Eric's family and some close friends, it's over 40 people, but it should be a good time!