The Christmas Card

Having a baby brings a whole other element to sending out Christmas cards. In the past, we've just looked for humorous or cute cards. But now that we have a child.... he should be on the card, right??? And it should be easy. Just take a cute picture. Put it on the card. Kids always cooperate.............right???

Well we found out the hard way that it's not quite THAT easy, but Jack was a trooper for the most part. After three DAYS of pictures, we proudly present picture number 57 - FINALLY a keeper!!! :) I guess once we have more kids we can multiply that number by 2 or 3 or 4....???? :)
Scary!

Here are some of the pictures that didn't make the cut:


"What the Heck Are You Guys Doing?"

Amish Santa

Gandalf Santa (Lord of the Rings)

Neil Diamond Santa - (a.k.a. - Hairy Chest Santa - all I need is a gold chain)

Shaving Cream Santa

That's It! We're finished! It's Attack of the Crabby Santa!

So after a lot of effort we took finally got the "perfect" spontaneous, candid picture - this is the kind of stuff people only do with their 'first' kids, right? :)

Putting on Dada's Shoes

Sharing Toys

Someone Knows Who to go to for Food

Jack's Baptism

Jack's baptism was today. Just a few pictures from the day:

1. Jack, Mom, Dad, and Godparents Uncle Todd and Aunt Amy.
2. Out to eat with my grandmas
3. Being Silly with Cousin Michael
4. Getting Tired
5. What a Party!

Happy Halloween!

Look at all this candy! Yum!

Jack's New Friend Waiting For Crumbs

Did you know cats will eat string cheese and beg for bologna?

Jack's Lifebook

A lifebook is a book that celebrates the life of an adopted child before he joins his forever family.

Making Jack's was an interesting process....it made us think, REALLY THINK, about what we should or should NOT put in it. We found ourselves wondering - How do we explain his biological mother? What kind of pictures do we include of Russia? Do we put nice pictures of Russia (what if he wants to go back?) or do we include pictures that will make Jack want to stay here when he gets older? I know that sounds silly, but that was a consideration!

In the end, we decided to just put pictures that truly reflected our experience and text that we could expand upon later. We have more information about his family history, but that history would be hard for a young child to understand. Instead we elected keep the story simple and brief, leaving room for conversation as we go through it when Jack is older.

We ordered the books from Kodak and they turned out beautiful. They look like real picture books. These pictures do not do it justice. Some of you who are adopting emailed us asking about the lifebook and so we decided to post this here. It's just our version and remember, there is no right or wrong way to do it.

One last tip - we ordered TWO copies of the book. One that Jack can play with now. (The cover already has food smeared on it!) and one copy safely put away for later in his life.

Click here to view the book:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=9lpb16g7.4efgculj&x=0&y=-tpes3h