Birth Announcements

Now that the birth announcements have been delivered I am happy to share them with the blogosphere! 

But first let me take you through the process of capturing this adorable picture! It was not easy.

I visited Pinterest and various blogs for advice and inspiration on this photo shoot. Newborn babies are so squirmy, after my first attempt in Dallas I realized this would be a big overtaking. 

The biggies mentioned on every website were:

• Keep the room warm
• Use natural light
• Be sure the baby is in a deep sleep

The first two were a Catch22 for me. It was mid March and cold outside, so if I set up near a window for natural light, it would be cold. I brought in a space heater, but it didn't warm the room well. 

And yes, newborns sleep, but not as much as they eat! MJ was up every hour so by the time I fed him, burped and rocked him to sleep, I had SECONDS before he would wake up for his next feeding. This is why he's awake in our photoshoot.

I was telling people I took over 700 picture of MJ during this photoshoot but it turns out I took less than 100! I was so exhausted afterwards I guess I over exaggerated! 

Now to the pictures....

Outtakes..

Did you see it?

Did you see the ONE perfect little smile? 

It was in 'Take 4'.

This was MJ's 2nd week on this earth so he wasn't at a developmental stage for smiling on demand or smiling in general. One smile in almost 100 photos. That one shot was a gem!!!

The other contenders were....

and

but this

is perfection.

You may remember my post about our Christmas cards and how I should have used Minted.com. Well I remembered my own advice and went to Minted.com for the birth announcements. They have a HUGE selection for baby announcements. It was very difficult to make a decision. 

I was torn between the following:

I really loved the B&W one, but I also really liked the picture being in color. 

I decided on this:

 and we couldn't be happier!

Our Christmas Card

Merry Christmas!

I wanted to stay a head of Christmas this year. I didn't want to get stuck in the last minute rush of everything. So I intended on buying my Christmas cards early. Following our wedding this year in February, I wanted to do a wedding themed card, think: Married and Bright

from Minted.com
"May your days be Married and bright"

From Zazzle.com 

From Minted.com 
"There'll be much mistletoeing and hearts will be glowing"

I think Minted.com has such amazing designs but it seemed overpriced to me at the time. Looking at the prices now I realize I paid more with my Zazzle purchase and received less cards! Next time I'll go with Minted.

We went with a pregnancy announcement/Christmas card. It was nice to kill two birds with one stone. (or is is it six french hens and one pear tree?) 

I couldn't be happier and we received great compliments on the card!

I was very satisfied with the quality and print of the card. The only unfortunate mishap was the shipping. But that's another story!

High heels!