"...I daydream after breakfast
While the spirit of eggs and toast
Knits together a length of bone
As fine as a wheatstalk.
Later, as I postpone weeding the garden
I will make two hands
That may tend a hundred gardens..."
Excerpt from "Ordinary Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver.
Thanks, Laura, for sharing your ordinary miracle with me this spring! He is the sweetest. xo.
This question still gets me. Sometimes I'm convinced that I've utterly failed because I haven't even purchased a baby book for either kid - and the oldest is over three years old.
And sometimes I just think it's our generation. Everyone is looking for a "different" option; we record memories via iphone camera rolls or instagram and haven't purchased those old classic baby books.
What do you do? My sister created a photo book and wrote in captions, memories, and quotes from her daughter written so you read it like she would have said it as a lispy two year old. Adorable and genius. My sister-in-law just started using chat books, and something about a book showing up seems kind of amazing. A friend (and JHP mama!) likes Emily Ley's baby book.
If you're looking around, here are some I've found:
Paper Source Pleased to Meet You Baby Journal. $14. Had me tearing up with a little line stuck in there saying, "That was the best thing that ever happened to me". So true, Paper Source.
Anthropologie My First Year: A Baby Journal. $29. Pretty, but you knew that. Easy on the eyes in how it captures information, such as a clever diagram of teeth to date teething.
Mushy Books Dreamcatcher. $79. This is my baby book dream. It's exactly what it says: a modern baby book. Comprehensive and beautiful. And not cheap. (Hello, shower gift!)
Rag and Bone Bindery Baby's First Book. $65. Tons of cover options here and you can order different family / parent configurations. I like that there were a few pages on family history - always a cool thing to document.
One last option: Artifact Uprising's Story of You. $120. What I love is that there are places to put real photos! And the book itself is a beautiful and quality album.
Update: It looks like Emily Ley's lineup now also includes books for foster parents, infertility journeys, babies in heaven, adoption, etc - !
So, what will you do? Regardless, I am so glad that there are more and more companies offering photo printing services since it encourages getting photos off of devices and into your world for enjoyment. xo.
Need a few updated photos for those baby books? Hop on over and send me a message to chat about scheduling a session!
For the past few (five?) years my family heads to the Jersey Shore along with cousins, aunts, uncles, sisters, grandparents, etc to do all things beach. I love the built-in calendar days to see far away family and all of the catching up over jumping waves, cold drinks, rocking babies, wiping sandy hands for more cheddar bunnies...and the sound of the ocean as our soundtrack, of course.
But what Pete and I have found about traveling is that it's the being away part that is perhaps the best thing. Breakfast hour stretches from 6am-10am. Second cups of coffee, chatting during naps, lingering everywhere. The cares of home are worlds away.
These simple scenes are always what I end up capturing and what I love about being away with family.
Long live vacation! Happy Summer, folks. xo.
Meet baby Logan. Can you believe that face? Yes, he was a newborn and less than two weeks old here and yes, he seemed to skip the wrinkly old man phase. I credit his good genes?
I've loved getting to work with families that, prior to a newborn session, I knew of but didn't know. I walk into their house in these dreamy first days when everyone is on cloud nine and living in a blur at the same time. You tell me birth stories and let me keep clicking through nursing sessions (thank you, by the way; it's for you and not the blog and the results are almost always among my favorites).
These two were no different. They greeted me with grace and calmness, as though they weren't awake more than asleep the night before or sped through a major life change a few days prior.
Thanks for having me, B+K! I loved meeting your babe and getting to know you. From what I see, it's all sweetness inside your walls. :)
Congratulations, Katie and Ben, on having the most adorable little boy in Drexel Hill. ;) xo.
