Walking for My Buddy

On October 7, 2012 my family and friends will join members and families of the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta to gather at Centennial Olympic Park for the 15th annual Buddy Walk® Atlanta. This year promises to be better than ever. We are happy to be returning to downtown Atlanta because our kids and my team so enjoyed the festival-like atmosphere put on by the DSAA at Centennial Park last year. The Buddy Walk is a day of celebration that includes a half mile walk around the park, live music on the lawn, a raffle, characters, bounce houses, lunch from Sonny's Barbeque and many other family oriented activities.

The Buddy Walk® was established in 1995 by the National Down Syndrome Society to celebrate Down Syndrome Awareness Month in October and to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. It is a time when I feel privileged to be part of this special community. A community I might not have chosen to be part of on my own, but God gave to me knowing ultimately what a blessing it would be on our lives. The blessing came in the form of an adorable baby boy, now toddler, who fills us all with joy when he laughs, smiles and screams in delight over life itself. A blessing that has come in many new friends who have been a tremendous support and in an organization like the DSAA who helps us navigate the path of special needs.

So we hope you will support Team Sheran Stars as we walk to support The DownSyndrome Association of Atlanta and raise awareness about Down syndrome and acceptance for the amazing individuals who have designer genes! To learn more about our journey please read this post.

My No Mudroom Solution

 We moved into our home last year and one thing I really miss from our old place is a mudroom. When you have three kids coming and going, it is nice to have a place for everything to land that is not the kitchen table. In our new home, the kitchen door (which is our primary entry) opens directly onto the kitchen eating area. There is a long blank wall that leads from the door to the laundry room that I could use but it has to be narrow to not get in the way of traffic flow so I can not do any built ins or furniture. As we approached the new school year, I turned to Pinterest for some organization ideas.

 Inspired by this....

I made this for $65.

I found the mail sorter boxes in a catalog. They are not extremely sturdy, but they will do and I love the chalkboard note area. There is a slot for each child, my husband and me, as well as for mail. I got the letter hooks for $1 a piece at Michaels. Since my husband and I both have a first initial that is the same as one of our kids, we got M and D for mom and dad. I am just missing the narrow bench and baskets you can see in the inspiration picture. I will keep my out at the Goodwill and antique shops for the perfect bench. Overall, I am happy with the knock off.

Remembering That First Year

As I mentioned last week, I was so excited to learn about Becky Higgins' new Project Life Baby Core Kits. I have been doing the Project Life scrapbooking system for two years now. I love traditional scrapbooking but had evolved to creating 2-3 albums each year for our family albums because I had so many stories to tell!

Now, with three kids, I had to come up with an easier system to produce our family album, as well as pages for each child's album. I knew would not have time to do everything traditionally. So, I now have a hybrid system. I complete a digital family yearbook as an overview of the year, a Project Life style album to capture the daily life of our family throughout the year and traditional albums for my children. In my Project Life album, I insert traditional 12x12 pages as desired to capture more of an event or story and in my children's traditional albums, I use Project Life and other collage-style page protectors to load in more photos without doing a lot of extra 12x12 spreads. it works, for now.

So, I was conflicted on just how to do my son, and final child's, baby album. Do I do it completely traditional? Do I use one theme throughout or just go as I was inspired? So many choices! But then I heard about the upcoming arrival of the Project Life Baby Edition and a vision for this album finally began forming.

Last weekend, I carefully re-watched Becky's introduction to the baby edition video noting the types of pages she created with the new products. I figured that since I had all the pictures and memorabilia laid out, I could begin prepping for the album while I am awaiting the arrival of the baby edition. Hopefully, with a little planning ahead, when the products finally arrive on my doorstep it will only take me a few hours to pull everything together.

Below is my process and plan. Hopefully, it will help you prepare for that baby album on your list.

Planning the album

Materials On Hand:

• Project Life Page Protectors (varies styles)
• Photos from son's first year
• Memorabilia from son's first year
• Planning pages
• Post it Notes
• Miscellaneous embellishments
• 12x12  pages already completed
• 12x12 page kits

Materials Needed:

• Project Life Baby Edition Boy
• Page protectors in new sizes: 8x10 v & h, 81/2x11 v & h, 5x7 v & h, Style G
• Album

Page Protectors

Page Topics: I laid out my album based on pages I had already completed or planned for, events in my life and the pages suggested on Becky's video as follows:

• Title Page
• 12x12 photo
• PL cover page
• Heritage - spread with a CM Family Tree insert
• The Story of Us - pictures of us as our relationship grew over years (need to find and print)
• Our Family - pictures of us, the girls, the dog and extended family
• Expecting You - prego picts, while we waited for you pics, sonogram pics
• Gifts/Nursery/Getting Ready - pictures of nursery, gifts received, items we purchased
• Day of Birth - hospital photos, me in labor, what I did while I was in labor, etc
• Your Arrival - being born and right after birth and of mom and dad holding for first time, include 8x10 insert of in isolette
• First impressions/First Visitors -
  
• First Days of Life - hospital stay, diagnosis, what is Down syndrome?
• Your Name - how we chose it, who you were named after, other people with your name
• Bringing You Home - Leaving the hospital (spread) and Arriving at home (2 spreads), include 8x10 insert collage
• Days at Home - (Several spreads including photos of our early routine, 12 x12 page about first trip to the pool
• Extra, Extra Read all About Me: Three personal stats and time capsul pages

• Each Month of First Year = include general spread plus pages on holidays or special occasions/activities

The star of the album!

1. Month 1 - general photos and visitors
2. Month 2 - (Several pages) Trip to Savannah, general photos and trip to NY, photos shoot
3. Month 3 - Going to work, general photos
4. Month 4 - General Oct. photos with 12x12 Halloween insert
5. Month 5 - Photo shoot with 5x7 and 8x10 inserts
6. Month 6 - (Several pages) General spread, Santa, Christmas and Cookie Bake, trip to Tampa
7. Month 7 - General spread
8. Month 8 - General spread
9. Month 9 -
10. Month 10 -
11. Month 11 -
12. Month 12 -

• Special Care - Helmet and therapy
• Baptism -
  
• Milestones -
  
• First Baseball Game  - 12 x 12 spread
• First Birthday -
• Wishes for You -
  
• Closing Page -

That is it so far. I am sure a page or two will be inspired as I delve into the creative process. I'd love to hear your thoughts? What am I forgetting?

Thank You Becky Higgins: Simplifying My Baby Album

So, my son--and last baby--turned two in July and I still have not completed his baby book. I started, mind you. I did a cute cover page inspired by Creating Keepsakes magazine and I did a spread from when he was 8 weeks old. I even created the page where I was going to put in all the details of his birth and the events of the world on the day he was born. However, I stalled because I had no cohesive theme for the album and I was uninspired. The pressure for this album to be "just right" was too much.

I wanted to capture all the milestones of that first year, the joy he brought to our family, and the surprise we had that he was born with Down syndrome. I wanted to do justice to the journey we embarked on in July 2010, a journey that is different, but even more special than we had anticipated.

I have several baby-themed products on hand. However, I could not decide if I wanted to stick with one color and paper theme throughout or just do each page as it inspired me. Finally, I laid every picture from that first year out in front of me determined to decided on a direction. I picked a color theme and decided I would include collage type page protectors, such as those in the Project Life system, along with traditional 12x12 pages and I would use other page kits as needed to tell the story. Next weekend, I decided, I would begin power sorting (planning pages and gathering supplies but not actually putting them together).

Then, I was given a gift. I read Becky Higgins blog and watched the video announcing her new baby line for Project Life! Eureka! Problem solved! This system is so cool and so simple, it is a must-have for anyone wanting to capture their baby's first year and a necessity for moms who have more than one child.

The only problem is now I have to wait until the product is available later this year, and be sure I have money in my spending account, so that I can order it as soon as it is posted on Amazon! Her kits have a history of selling out in minutes and I am sure these will be top sellers.