this is much later than i planned. so much has happened. so little has actually been accomplished. other than this book. and a whole lot of baby cuddling. we'll save that for another time, though. for now, the book.
it arrived in time for christmas. it is imperfect, but perfect at the same time. a missing page in one of the copies and the tips of some of the letters are white {my fault}. blurb sent a new one to replace the one with the missing page. it arrived by fedex two days later. so impressed with their customer service. and i have figured out what i did wrong with the weird font issue.
finally. a few moments to photograph it. and taking photos of a book? much harder than i thought. these don't really do it justice.
ella and daddy. the week sam was born. ella becoming a big sister. but still being so little.
some of my favourite photos of ella's first year. because i haven't printed any of them. and i can't wait for the perfect moment any longer. let go of wanting everything to be chronological and just put them in. that's what i told myself. and it totally worked.
my father-in-law holding sam for the first time. on the day he was born.
k is for kisses. that was the idea behind this page. my favourite kissing photos. daddy and ella. daddy and one-week old sam. the text reflects just how these photos make me feel ::
these moments are what it's all about / the love between parent and child / whether the child has been in your life for just a week or almost three years / it is there, instantly and unconditionally / a beautiful thing indeed
some of my favourite photos of ella and i in scotland. i remember it like it was yesterday. our hair in the blustery wind. the sunshine on our faces. the waves crashing on the shore. the chill in the air. the pink bunny rabbit hat. the cuddles. the feeling that i was finally settling into my role as a mama. most importantly, the love.
naptime. sam asleep at 6 weeks. ella, the week before she stopped napping altogether. i was six months pregnant. that was our last nap together. i wish i would have known at the time. i would have cuddled her a little closer. and breathed her in a little more.
and sam. my sensitive, cuddly wee man. also nick-named mc-drooly pants.
celebrating my birthday. here. it was perfect.
birthday snowball fight at lake louise. so. much. fun. and this girl? she throws a mean snowball. just like her daddy.
the inner sleeve. the two photos that looked the most like ella and sam when i finished the book. the two photos that i really want to have printed and framed. because they so completely reflect who these two are.
the back cover. a mosaic of photos of our past year. using this template. scaled down in photoshop. and our message to our families who received the book for christmas.
i used these templates for two or three of the pages. and a few of these ones. and a couple of others, too.
this font for the titles. and this font for the text.
if you'd like to see more of the book, please leave a comment or send an email and i will send you a link to the blurb preview. i know the preview can be embedded within a blog post. but...i'm nervous about putting this out there. it was such a personal project for me. and after getting some very strange comments while i was expecting sam, i'm a little wary about putting all 180 pages on the internet for all to see. so, i hope this is okay. i'd still love to share it with you. just not quite so out in the open.
