Photobooks

I’m creating a digital scrapbook for Jameson for his first year which I don’t plan on publishing until after his birthday in December. So I’m a little ahead of the game when I started researching where I would publish his photobook. But because I had some specific requirements (square format, lay-flat binding), I wanted to make sure ahead of time that I could create exactly what I wanted.

I have ended up selecting a site called My Photo Creations, in connection with Digilabs who print for real photographers (So I have to think their quality is good). I had to limit my size though to 10×10 instead of 12×12 like I originally planned.

Anyway, this hunt started me on the search for photobook deals. I spent some time on the (confusing) site of Photobookgirl to help me determine where to begin my search for a square, lay-flat binding book and read some of her reviews. My top picks were:

  • Adorama – Best quality! But expensive. Has real photo books.
  • My Photo Creations – which again, seems to be the best compromise for what I want to do, but max size is 10×10
  • Picaboo – Best pricing with groupon that runs pretty regularly, but cheap quality according to reviews.

Anyway, during this hunt I also uncovered a $20 free gift card promotion with My Publisher (Note: you cannot combine special offers). They have these new mini books that they were also running free shipping on — so I received 8 mini books for the cost of tax (no guarantees for how long this promotion will be running). However, I wasn’t impressed with their photo book software which I had some difficulties with before successfully placing my order (pages being duplicated, unclear direction, etc.)

A couple days ago, Brian uncovered another photo creation site from slickdeals.net which I hadn’t heard of called Paper Coterie who are relatively new to the scene. They are running a $40 free promotion until May 8th (just extended). I purchased two spiral bound photo books for the price of shipping and a little extra, since my books were $22 each.

I like this new site because it doesn’t require you to download any software, and they layouts seem pretty flexible. And it was really easy to do a two page spread. I am excited to receive my order, since their facebook page has all kinds of customers raving about their customer service and the quality of the products.

In addition to photo books, they have some really nice looking unique calendars and other products. I’ll post a picture of my book when it arrives!

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What I’m…

Today, I asked Brian to answer some questions to make a post that includes a little about him. Thanks Brian for being a trooper and responding today while you were at work. You win some hubby points.

What I’m…. Reading
Brian: The World is Flat and Designing Great Beers

Hilary: I don’t read much of anything anymore, there isn’t time! In my queue are the newest books by Jacqueline Carey, Kim Harrison, Juliet Marillier (some of my favorite fantasy authors). If I’m reading anything right now, it’s magazines like Better Homes and Gardens or Readers Digest.

Watching
Brian: No Reservations, Dexter, Archer.

Hilary: In Plain Sight, 16 & Pregnant and The Sanctuary all just started back up. I am also watching Extreme Couponing and Pregnant in Heels, all of which I watch without Brian haha. I also have a Netflix DVD that’s been sitting waiting for me to watch for a month, oops.

Both: We like to watch Desperate Housewives, 30 Rock, Outsourced, The Office together, Family Guy, and Archer. That’s a lot of TV. We’ll be watching less when some of these shows end their season and it starts to get warm and sunny. Maybe.

Listening to
Hilary: Baby Lullabyes and whatever is on the radio to and from work. I haven’t discovered any new music in a long time. It would be great to start listening to something new again.

Brian: This changes frequently but the latest is: Wizard Smoke, Dax Riggs, Crowbar, Pink Floyd, Slim Cessna’s Auto Club.

Surfing
Brian: Beer Forums, Lifehacker, Gizmodo.

Hilary: I follow all kinds of mom-blogs now including Babble, Early Mama, and Design Mom. Also, Young House Love is a favorite. When I’m not reading those blogs, I’m getting inspired on Pinterest, shopping on Amazon, getting updates on facebook, or researching some new baby or crafty thing (most recently, I spent a lot of time researching photo book sites).

Doing in my spare time
Hilary: Usually, I’m sleeping, or taking and editing photos. I spend a lot of time discovering new methods of processing in Lightroom and playing with photos.

Brian: Being a Dad, Brewing beer, Yard work.

Planning
Brian: To ride more this summer and build a shed ramp.

Hilary: I’m planning a digital scrapbook for Jameson first year (have a lot of the “elements”, just have to start putting it together so I’m not doing it all at once in December!); also, I’m planning a picture frame wall in the entryway or up the stairs and have been collecting frames for that purpose; and I am going to make an Easter basket for Jameson for next year. Oh, and I’m also thinking about doing some sewing too like a table runner or pants for Jameson.

Dreaming
Hilary: I am dreaming of what our basement will look like all finished and what our yard will look like a few years down the road with some new perennial flowers. But that’s all dreams, I haven’t done any real planning yet for those.

Brian: Don’t remember.

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Brian is Mowing the Grass Today

So that saying, April showers bring May flowers… I think it goes something like this for north east Ohio:

April is cold and has some snow, while May is wet and slightly less cold.

Yep, no rhyming there. Cassie, I know you read this, come up with something clever woudja?

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New Videos

Have you visited and subscribed to our video channel on YouTube?

I finally stole Brian’s thunder uploaded some videos from our camcorder. I have a lot more to add, so look for more in the next few days. But last night I was able to load 3, “Jameson’s Rolling Outtakes” (wherein Jameson does not rollover); also “Jameson Rolls Over” (finally); and “Jameson Eats Cereal” (from a spooooon, and Brian and I harass each other).

Visit! And watch adorableness.

Jameson Rolls Over:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnzwZuMN8h0]

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Switching Gears

Today I’ve spent a little time changing the look of this blog, in an effort to revitalize myself and it. From pretty much day 1 of blogging, it’s been all about me. I’d like to switch gears a little bit and do some more topical focuses (though, yes, really this blog is still about me… unless Brian ever decides to pick up the pen)

My desire to change the focus of this blog has a lot to do with the fact that when I re-read my posts, I’m kind of bored. Are you bored too? It’s great to keep up with what has happened during the week, and I intend to keep doing that because I do believe a record of life is great for posterity (there’s my genealogy nerd coming out). Hence the re-naming of this blog: Real Life Isn’t Always Clever. Sometimes life isn’t perfect. Or exciting to read about.

But I also want to expand and talk about some of the other thoughts that roll around in my head some days. Here’s a snippet of some of the things I’d like to talk about:

Baby Sign Language – yep, I’m doing it.
Pumping at Work
Garden
Basement Re-model
Making baby food
Digital scrapbooking

I have been blogging since 2002. I have all of those posts transferred here (and privat-ized because this blog is intended to be about Brian and I and our family, not about me and before I met him). But I thought it might be fun to re-post part of my first journal entry to the Internet. I am only doing part, because it’s full of such incredible nerdiness.

First Entry…

Well then… here’s my first entry… it’s a bit strange posting on the internet for a journal and all. But anyway. Tonight I have fencing lessons at the local recreation center. I’m the only left-handed person in the class so I get to do everything opposite, but we have a lot of fun. I don’t really want to go tonight though, lots of homework *yummy*

Not much else I suppose… I created this so I could join the LiveJournal rpg, The Sanctuary, a Harry Potter based rp. Hmmm… here’s my character:

I had to remove this long part, for your sake, dear reader.

I also rp on Silklantern, and used to on the Santharian Dream… more later…

And that is the end. And no, I do not rp (or role play) anymore.

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Spoon = Fun (+ Mess)

On Wednesday, Jameson had his 4 month (2 weeks late) appointment. He is in perfect health, still a little peanut in the 10th percentile for weight. He weighed 13.4 pounds and is 24-1/2 inches long. He even showed off for us, rolling over! I finally got to see him do it, but alas he is still camera shy so I don’t have video of him rolling to share just yet.

Doc said he is gummy, so no teeth yet! And I could’ve sworn he really was actively teething… guess he was just being cranky. My baby is still toothless for sure.

The doctor gave us the go ahead to start feeding him cereal. We asked about what kinds of foods to give him since he has this odd habit of “holding it in” for days. Not regular at all. So she recommended some oatmeal or multi-grain with more fiber in it.

Though, really, we probably could’ve started sooner… but I kind of like my little sweet baby. I have mixed feelings across the board when it comes to Mr. Jameson getting bigger. I love seeing him do new things and become more active, but sometimes I miss him when he was wee little, sleepy all the time (particularly on mom) and I was home just drinking him in.

Anyway, he has been sticking his tongue out at us for about a week now and knowing he has more control over it, it seemed appropriate to start teaching him the spoon on Friday.

He liked it the oatmeal plus milk… up until the point where he decided that the spoon wasn’t fast enough dangit! But on Sunday for his second try, he got really good at it and ate more. He also tried to chomp and grab at the spoon himself, so I suppose it might become his new favorite toy.

Saturday, Brian and I celebrated my 26th birthday. I am on the later half of the twenties now, which I suppose makes me old awesome. Brian will always be older though, so I don’t mind. Jameson got me Pinocchio which we are going to watch together, and a digital picture frame. Funny that we had gotten one for every other member of the family but never had one ourselves! I already put some photos in it.

Speaking of picture frames, I have a small pile now of black frames which I want to put up in the entry way or stairway, I can’t decide, in a method similar to this:


Or these others.

On Friday, work had a huge sample sale, and I accumulated some more picture frames for this purpose, as well as some other giftable items and craft supplies. One of these days, I’ll get around to crafting again. Just have to find that time. My next project will be a table runner and/or placemats. And maybe some new pillow covers? And some pants for Jameson. I have lots of sewing books, and somewhere I have that DVD which will show me for the 20th time how to thread my sewing machine…

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Family Fun & Happy Easter

I have pictures in my queue for editing! We had a great weekend, visiting lots of extended family and enjoying Easter dinner. Friday night we visited my aunt and uncle, cousin Carrie and Brian and their daughters. So I was curious as to what exactly Jameson is in relation to their daughters, and my guess was second cousins once removed. Was I right?

According to Cousin Calculator, Jameson and my cousin’s daughters are actually only second cousins. Removed references a generation difference:

“When the word “removed” is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that the two people are from different generations.

The words “once removed” mean that there is a difference of one generation. For example, your father’s first cousin is your first cousin, once removed. This is because your father’s first cousin is one generation younger than your grandparents and you are two generations younger than your grandparents. This one-generation difference equals “once removed.”  The one-generation difference has nothing to do with age, but rather with descendance from the same person.

Twice removed means that there is a two-generation difference. You are two generations younger than a first cousin of your grandmother, so you and your grandmother’s first cousin are first cousins, twice removed.”

Therefore, my relationship to my cousin’s daughters is that we are first cousins, once removed.

Jameson sat in a borrowed high chair for the first time; not to eat, but just to sit with us as we ate salmon marinated in a honey and balsamic vinegar (plus a few other ingredients but we didn’t see the recipe). The fish was baked and was a little sweet. Very good. I forgot my camera though! I was very disappointed. They took a few photos though, I will have to see if I can get a hold of them.

On Saturday, we drove about 2 hrs and 45 min, Jameson’s longest car ride. He slept the entire time! We were so excited to see Brian’s grandmother in good spirits, talking and reaching out to hold Jameson. It is the best we have seen her in several years. We have some wonderful photos of Jameson and his great grandmother. I couldn’t help but be a bit of paparazzi, simply thinking that if my grandmother were still around, I would want a thousand photos of him and her together. We never know how much time we’ll have.

Sunday, I dressed Jameson in his Easter finest, and Brian was super pumped dressed to match him. We took some family photos, of which I only have one right now, but I have some great outtakes which I’ll be posting to flickr soon. We managed to get Sasha in the photo nicely, I think the only photo we have of all of us together, in focus (since she likes to move so much, of course!).

I don’t know if I have mentioned, but poor Sasha has been to the vet a lot recently! After the infection in her leg, she then got a hematoma on her ear, which I think is fairly common for dogs (could have been caused by her scratching her ear). We have opted not to do surgery on it though because of her older age and because antibiotics would be harmful to her already compromised liver. So it’s a big pocket of blood on her ear, but apparently smaller as far as hematomas go, and we’re just waiting for it to heal on its on. On top of that, she started limping again on Sunday so we have confined her again to the first floor. Brian had to sleep downstairs that first night but she’ll learn quickly again. We’re waiting a few days before going to the vet again; thus far, the limp doesn’t seem to be getting worse and actually seemed slightly better, we shall see.

Of course, the biggest, best news I have saved for last! On Sunday, Jameson rolled over, belly to back! I have yet to see it, and we don’t have it on video yet, but when we do I will be posting it (we have probably 20 minutes now from various 5 minute attempts of tummy time to get this rolling over on video, haha). His first roll was on Sunday morning while I slept in: Brian turned around while Jameson was on his belly and when he turned back, Jameson was happily on his back. He did it again later while Brian’s parents and sister were over for Easter dinner. None of us but Brian saw it though. For second I thought he’d do it once more after we put him back on his belly because he tipped himself but then he stopped.

Speaking of video, we have a lot of video captured on our video camera (as opposed to my camera phone which I used in his early days). However, we haven’t edited any of it. Brian’s been talking about exploring iMovie on our first ever Mac computer, but hasn’t had a chance yet. It won’t be long before I steal his thunder though and do it myself, haha.

This weekend is my birthday (and I will finally be on the later half of my 20’s), and Brian and I are having Brian’s sister Melissa babysit for us while we go out to dinner at a fondue place. I love going there because it’s always what I like to call a “slow” meal. Since Brian and I are very quick eaters, its always nice to go somewhere that forces us to slow down and chat a little. Melissa is excited because since Brian’s parents are out of town there’s no “competition” for Jameson’s attention. And a great time will be had by all!

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Everybody’s Working for the Weekend

TGIF!

This week went by fairly quickly though actually. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to share some fun news, I am crossing my fingers and toes.

Last Saturday, Jameson visited with his friend Jonathan again. Jonathan is getting so big; he’s also a very hungry little boy! He had 8 oz of formula/milk just while we visited that evening! Meanwhile, Jameson’s pretty casual about his eating (until he gets really hungry like at night). Oh, you would like to feed me now?  Okay, I’m game.

Lisa has to go back to work soon, and I know that’s rough, so we definitely wanted to have a fun night with them before their routine changes again. I think sometimes that’s the hardest part. Not really leaving them (because sometimes it’s nice to leave them, really), but it’s just changing up the routine.

And on Monday we finally got to visit with Carrie and Matt and Jameson’s new friend, Nicholas. Nicholas is 2 months old but very alert. Him and Jameson had a little staring contest, it was funny to see them so aware of each other.

This week was also exciting for Jameson; he got to go in the exersaucer at daycare! The exersaucer is the round toy-filled fun standing seat. It helps them practice putting weight on their legs while being surrounded by super fun toys. So Brian put together our exersaucer at home and put a blanket underneath because even at the lowest setting he wasn’t quite touching the ground. Jameson immediately started reaching for the toys. I have a couple photos to post soon.

I also want to share my new favorite site, Pinterest.com. It’s like a bookmark in that you save sites you visit, but it’s all about the images. So I have some new inspiration boards, particularly for our basement which will eventually finish off, and also for Jameson’s first birthday party (it’s never too soon!)

Tonight we’re seeing Jameson’s great Aunt Carol and cousins. It will be a fun visit! And tomorrow we’ll be doing our longest drive with him yet, to visit his great grandma and more aunts and cousins! It will be a fun filled Easter weekend for him, full of family and up to 6 month clothing (since I finally washed it all haha). And maybe he’ll sleep through the night again? He did last night! but not earlier this week, so maybe it’s wishful thinking.

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A 4 Month Recap

This past week, I realized that I haven’t taken as many photos of Jameson this month as in previous months. It must be because of going back to work, but it made me a little sad because Jameson is so much more active and aware now. I weighed him and he is about 12-1/2 pounds right now. One of the biggest changes this month since he started daycare is his “tummy time”. He will now stay on his tummy for minutes at a time, and his head is way up, about 90 degrees (though not consistently the entire time he’s on his belly). Some of his recent photos demonstrate this, but I love this one from his 4 month photo shoot this weekend.


The second biggest change this past month is the development of his napping schedule. I think I’ve talked about this a couple times already, but okay, it’s still not really a schedule, but at daycare he will sleep 2-3 hours at a time, and at home on the weekends he’ll nap for 30-45 minutes at a time. That may not seem like a big change at home, but he is napping in his crib!

Jameson’s bedtime is also gradually getting earlier. We’re working our way to an 8 o’clock bedtime. A couple weeks before starting back to work, we started him at a real bedtime and routine at 10. Since then we dropped to 9 after daylight savings, and now on most nights it’s 8:30. I’ve been avoiding an earlier bedtime, fearing that he’ll wake up twice at night, but the past two nights he has slept through the entire night (not just the 5-6 hours that doctors consider “through the night”, but a full 8-9 hours) Hopefully the trend continues and it wasn’t just because it was the weekend and he didn’t have as many naps during the day!

His photos on Saturday made him look so big! I put him in shoes, and a white button up onesie which my mom ironed for me last weekend when they were here. It was his “alternative” baptism outfit. He sat there with his little knee upright without my posing. And what a smile, right at me and the camera! He was sitting still enough there’s no blurriness.

Compared with his previous month photos below. I think I’ll have to do a little collage at the end for his 1st birthday party or something.


Can I just point out too, how my photo taking and editing is getting so much better? Look at how yellow the earlier photos are. I’m going to have to go back and re-edit some of those good ones!

In other news, Brian and I left his with Brian’s mom last Monday night while we went to the PACE Awards! Brian’s company didn’t win a trophy, but they did get a plaque, which is wonderful considering they go through thousands of applicants. There were a lot of engineers there, and we saw some great new innovations coming to the auto industry! A couple of my favorites (ie., I could understand what the innovation actually was) were the inflatable seat belt, which is effectively an airbag for the rear seat passenger, coming out on a Ford model. And also the high beam headlights which you don’t need to turn off because they automatically adjust the angles to avoid direct lighting in oncoming traffic, coming in a Mercedes model.

It was fun to get dressed up, and we met with Brian’s client and his wife, some other co-workers who I have met before, and his CEO and his wife. It was wonderful to be able to talk about Jameson (actually having something to talk about).


Jameson did great, and Becky successfully put him to bed without us for the first time. When we left he was giving his grandma all kinds of giggles so I knew he would be fine. He woke up when we got home for a feeding, and slept the rest of the night. The latter half of last week was a little rough on me though for lack of sleep since we got home so late. It was nice to sleep in on Saturday while Brian took Jameson, and I let Brian sleep in on Sunday. This is usually how our weekends go these days, taking turns.

This weekend, Brian has off on Good Friday and will be brewing beer (he says this batch will be a citrus-y IPA); on Saturday we are hopefully going to visit Jameson’s great grandma and more extended family who he hasn’t met yet; and Sunday will be a relaxing day after church for Easter. I am getting two pansy baskets in memory of Brian’s grandpa and my grandma. If it’s nice, I have been thinking about planting lettuce in either a basket over the railing of the porch or in a pot if their roots need more space. I got the idea from a recent Better Homes & Gardens issue. (like this but a little different).

Also, hopefully this week we will finally get to meet little Nicholas; our friends had their baby over a month ago now and due to a series of unfortunate illnesses (us and then them!) we haven’t been able to get together. Hopefully tonight will be the night!

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Jameson’s Baptism Weekend

Jameson had a great weekend (and we did as well!). On Saturday, we visited my grandma’s house which we are still cleaning out as its for sale, and Jameson got to meet his great-great aunt Dee (my grandma’s sister). It was really nice to see her, though it is still unfortunate that he never got to meet his great grandmother and being in her house made it a little sad.


He was in a great mood this weekend, even though he didn’t nap very well at all on Sunday! On Saturday, he mostly slept in the carseat because we were on the move so much, first during shopping on Saturday morning and then to grandma’s and back. Sunday he only slept for five 30 minute naps! Usually at daycare he sleeps in a 2 or 3 hour chunk, twice a day.

I think Jameson loved seeing all those people smiling at him on Sunday! He saw both his grandmas and grandpas and his aunts, and his great aunt and uncle! It was disappointing that my brother couldn’t make the trip, since he missed a lovely family photo with Jameson and his family. My dad hadn’t seen Jameson since he was born so it was great he got to see him.

He didn’t fuss much at all, and he slept right through the baptism, waking up at the end of the service. What a little angel! He wore his little bonnet, which was almost too small for him, so it was great that he was able to wear it. Pastor Mike made it fun like usual, and invited the congregation’s children up in aisles so they could see. Pastor Mike even integrated Jameson’s baptism into the sermon, which was really good this week. I was proud to have family with us and see what a great friendly church we attend! Jameson got a certificate, and a keepsake candle and medallion.

I have a better photo of his hat close up, but I didn’t post it to flickr, so here’s one farther away with Pastor Mike. This is the hat that mom made out of my baptismal handkerchief, and gave it to me for his baby shower.

I am so happy to have a nice family photo of just us too; every photo of the 3 of us has been with him sleeping. He was actually alert in this photo, looking around. These photos in the church were hard to edit; the lighting was so weird! I finally got some natural looking skin tones though.


Earlier that weekend, there was some drama on my part trying to decide what he should wear! I had a sweater outfit for him but of course, the weather didn’t cooperate and it was going to be 80 that day! So he wore it that morning but we changed him when we got home. He had little red cheeks most of the day, he certainly wasn’t used to that kind of heat. But I don’t really know why I was so concerned about what he was going to wear, things worked out just fine. Seems like I am often concerned about things that end up fine, particularly where Jameson is concerned. I did buy him a spare outfit which I had mom iron (yes, a baby shirt was ironed). He’ll wear that for his four month photos on Saturday. I can’t believe he’s almost 4 months!

It was so nice though that it was warm. We had the windows open and had a family lunch with spiral ham, pasta salad, baked beans and appetizers, with cheesecake for dessert. Later, we went on a walk while Brian fixed brakes on his car. A great end to a great day!

Tonight, Brian and I are driving 3 hours away for an awards dinner/ceremony for his work! They have been nominated for an award. It is a black tie event, so I am really excited to get dressed up. Jameson will be staying home with Brian’s mom and she is super excited to babysit. It’s the farthest we’ve ever been from him, and the longest we’ve both been away at one time, so I’m sure I will be nervous but it will be good to be away for a little while. Can’t wait!

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