Shutterfly Saves the Day!

We are so totally going with Shutterfly holiday cards this year, using the cute Christmas pj shots from our daycare provider. Professional 9 month photos are out, because Anna now has pink eye- and a much worse case than Sam. Poor girl- both her eyes got it at the same time, and so yesterday her eyes were so swollen, she couldn't see for a good chunk of the afternoon. Add in the fact that she has broken blood vessels all over the whites of her eyes (which the pediatrician said would take weeks to heal), and any holiday pictures we would take at this point will look a little more vampire-ish than cutesy-babies. I am so glad we got the pictures we did when we did (inbetween both rounds of pink eye), and I am so glad that Shutterfly has an awesome freebie deal for bloggers right now.

Bloggers who use Shutterfly and write a quick post about their experiences with the photo site get 50 free holiday cards! That's fantastic! The offer closes today, so hurry if you still want to get in on this! I know that tons of blogs I read took advantage of this super offer.

I am having a really hard time deciding which card to use because they have a TON to choose from...check them out for yourself. I'm a very indecisive person, and gosh- there are SO many cute designs. Do I use all of our photo options? Do I stick to 2-3 pictures? Or just 1? But how on earth do I choose just one photo?

Ever since Sam and Anna were born, I've uploaded all of our pictures to Shutterfly - they make it really easy to share photos, which my mother in law loves. I'm a little behind in ordering prints, but once winter break arrives, I know what will be near the top of my to-do list.

I wasn't aware of all the photo gifts that Shutterfly has until I poked around their website. I will definitely keep them in mind for next Christmas- I'm sure any photo gift would be a big hit with the grandmas!

I love making photo books on Shutterfly as well. While on maternity leave, I created one for my mom with pictures of all her grandchildren. She keeps it in her purse to share with anyone that will look at it. When we had to put down our dog Benelli in September, I decided to start a tradition of creating a photo book in memory of each dog we will have. It was a great way to help me process my grief, and I will cherish Benelli's photo book for many years to come. I also created a photo book for my husband for an anniversary gift one year filled with photos of us over the 10+ years that we've known each other- it turned out great!

When Sam and Anna turn one, I fully intend to do a one year photo book that highlights my favorite pictures from the year (The undecided question is: One photo book for each child? Or a combined photo book for both babies?)

So there you go- Shutterfly (and our daycare provider) saved the day for us! Now I just have to hope the cards arrive in time for me to find time to address them!

Starting to Panic

I procrastinated on taking a picture for our holiday cards. Here was my rationalization: We were getting a nice camera for our Christmas present to ourselves with a super Black Friday deal (Our tradition is that our holiday gift to each other is the one time a year we buy something big- one year it was our bedroom furniture set, one year a tv, another year it was our laptop, last year it was our Honda Pilot) and wouldn't our new Nikon take a much nicer picture that my good ol' point and shoot? Plus, I just couldn't decide on outfits. Sam and Anna are having their professional 9 month pictures later this month, and I didn't want to pay for expensive cards from there, when Shutterfly has an awesome freebie deal for bloggers. (My Shutterfly post is coming soon.)

Then Sam got pink eye and our pictures got pushed back even farther.

So now I'm panicking. I need to take the picture on the weekend so there is enough good light. I still don't know what to have them wear and I can't decide how to pose them or what props I should use. (Ideas welcome!) I've waited so long, anything I think is a viable option for clothing has been out of their sizes in stores.

I won't even mention that I haven't even figured out how to use our nice new camera to take the pictures....

Eeek! I'll tell you this though - I am going to feel pretty darn proud of myself if I pull it together and get cards done and out in time!