Every year I make a family yearbook. I know, I’m one of THOSE people. Both of my boys have large coffee table baby books. See? I’m one of THOSE people. I like being one of THOSE people! Photography IS my passion. I should probably print all of the images I shoot.
It all started with a coupon:
It all started when I went on my first kid-free vacation after Liam was born. My husband had to go to Hawaii for work and got permission to take me. It turned out that work was crazy and he was gone from sun up to sun down most days. He didn’t have much of a vacation, but I did! I got up every morning, ate breakfast, strolled the beach and the grounds, took photos, and explored. They also had free DVD rentals, so I got to relax and watch a couple of movies here and there when I was feeling over heated.
Somehow I happened to have a Shutterfly coupon for a free photo book. Why not?! I hopped on their site and started designing a travel book. I put in all the photos from my day. Then I started taking more photos of my surroundings and outings, with more purpose. I even made more of an effort to be IN the photos. At lunch I would go to my room to cool down, eat, and update the album. Eventually I had a fun little book documenting my trip. (Don’t worry, Joey was able to have a LITTLE bit of fun. We even went to a waterfall.)
So many new possibilities:
This experience obviously made me start thinking about a baby book, so I started researching. I wasn’t really a huge fan of Shutterfly. I mean it worked in a pinch…and only paying shipping helped…but I didn’t think I could stick to it for a whole year’s worth of information. Eventually I stumbled upon Mixbook, and I fell in love. I started Liam’s baby book and I loved the chance to be creative in my down time. I even dragged, dropped, and designed with one hand while Liam napped in the other. It was “me time” even with a baby in my arms.
Eventually I caught up to the current happenings in baby Liam’s life. I was documenting in a monthly format for milestone purposes. Once caught up, I would just add photos as I did themed shoots, (holidays, monthly photos), and a “stats” page when he turned another month older. It was pretty easy to keep up with, and brought me a lot of joy.
I have done a year 1 and a year 2 for each of the boys. Everyone teased me that I would have to do another one if I had another kid…but Wyatt’s book was WAY bigger than Liam’s book! I mean now I had photos of Wyatt…and photos of Wyatt with his brother! So many adorable photos! How does a mom choose! I’ve had to get more selective about what images I keep, and what images I add to the yearbooks. Year two photo books were much smaller for both. I limited myself to only 2-3 spreads per month.
And the family yearbook was born:
Just before Wyatt was born, I realized that I needed to start making a family yearbook. We ALL needed to be in these books. A way to look at our images and laugh and reminisce together through the years to come. I mean baby books end, but our adventures and “milestones” wouldn’t. So I started on my first family yearbook just after Wyatt was born and Liam turned two.
I have now finished two family yearbooks and have started on my third. My husband laughs at me about them, but just like my silly styled photos of the boys, I think he secretly loves them. I, however, openly fawn over them.
And that is how our tradition of family yearbooks was born.
How do you tell your family story?
A Little Note:
I was not paid in any way for recommending Mixbook. I will say that I have a referral code for $20 off, but honestly, I create my projects with them and wait until a 50% coupon or deal comes along and then buy them.
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