I really enjoy making photobooks. So much in fact that I've practically given up scrapbooking. Although I can't give it up completely, because scrapbooks allow you to preserve real items (like the hospital band around a baby's foot, or a ticket stub from a child's first movie) instead of just images of those items.

So far I have only utilized two book printing services because I am a cheapskate. (And I have to be because my husband is a student.) The services I have used are artscow and PhotoWorks.

Let's talk about artscow.com. They are hands down the cheapest book printing place you will ever find, even including their exorbitant shipping rates (they're based in Hong Kong). I have always just waited for a coupon code with free shipping to get around those. I've printed two different books through them and never paid more than $12.99, including shipping. My books were 8x8 inches, hardcover with image wrap, and between 20 and 39 pages each. Like you could expect with a product this cheaply priced, quality isn't great. The print quality is a bit splotchy, and the page margins aren't always exactly equal. The pre-made templates are kind of lame and look like they are from 1995, but I always create my layouts in photoshop anyway and then just upload each page and ignore the pre-made stuff. So if you are wanting to create a lifelong, quality keepsake, you are going to have to pay more and use a different printing service. But, if you are making a photobook for a child to use and abuse, artscow is the way to go. You won't feel that bad if she gets a little peanut butter on it, because hey, it was only $13.

Now on to PhotoWorks. I have only done a softcover 5x7 book through them, so I don't know how their hardcovers hold up. The softcovers are very flimsy, and you can't customize the softcover at all. So that's annoying. The print quality seemed ok--maybe a little better than artscow, but not much. The pricing is pretty good--with a coupon. (You just have to wait for the coupons.) Still not as cheap as artscow though. I think I paid $8.99 + $2.99 shipping for a 20 page softcover book.

Here's where I need your help. I don't trust either artscow or PhotoWorks to make a nice, quality book. I have been reading lots of reviews on other photobook printing services, but I would appreciate input from people I know. It's because I trust you :).

I'm looking at these websites:
picaboo
shutterfly
snapfish
winkflash
blurb

Have any of you used any of these? (I don't really care about ease of use, or the cuteness of the ready-made templates and backgrounds. I almost always make my own.) How have you liked the quality? Or if you have another site you've tried and really liked, feel free to add to my list. I know the cost is going to be more than what I've paid in the past, but hopefully I can get past that eventually.

Oh, and if you're completely clueless, you can go here for one guy's reviews of 12 different services. Unfortunately winkflash is not on there. I've read his reviews, but like I said before, I like to get the opinions of people I know. (Just fyi, he rates blurb the highest of the ones I have. And I'm not going to go with his top choices because I refuse to pay $70 bucks for a photobook. Outrageous.)

So, what do you think?

Luke is a barfer. I am covered in spit-up as I write this. You could probably smell me from ten feet away. My whole body is just one big giant burp cloth.

This morning was one of his worst mornings of his entire short life for spitting up. He even gave me one right in the face. Yay! It ran into my hair and down my neck--front and back.

Even on normal, average days, he's quite the barfer. Our sheets are always particularly fragrant, which makes sleeping face down a bit challenging. Every time he barfs, Violet yells "SPIT UP!" like she is a town crier or something.

I feel like he spews up almost everything he drinks. Sometimes it is right after he eats, so it is still in milk form. Other times it is much later, so it is beautifully thick and nicely curdled. This is the yogurt variety. If he weren't pooping so much I'd be worried he wasn't getting enough to eat.

He usually gives me a silly grin after he throws up all over me. Almost like he's embarrassed.

I try to keep bibs on him constantly so he doesn't go through all his clothes in one day.

I wait as long as possible to shower and dress in the hopes that my clothes will last the rest of the day. 

I'm always wondering to myself, Was it the broccoli I ate? or the chocolate? or the milk? Is there anything I can do to fix this? Is he eating too much at once? Is he drinking too fast?

According to the Mayo Clinic website, spitting up "tends to peak at age 4 months." Since he is 3 months and 3 weeks old, I really hope they are right.

I still consider myself lucky to get such an easy baby. He is still a great sleeper. And I would much rather be stinky than tired. Wouldn't you?

Living away from major "mormon zones" is always both interesting and rewarding. The wards and branches are very different from the Utah wards Dan and I are familiar with. We've experienced this both in Chicago and here in New York.

In Chicago, Dan serves with the young men in the ward. Many of the youth come from homes without a father, homes where each sibling has a different father, and are often the only ones who come to church in their families. Sometimes when Dan drops them off after Tuesday night activities, they have to wait in the car until neighboring boys outside leave so they don't get beaten up. Dan helped one youth's family find places to stay after they were evicted from their apartment.

Here in Queens, Dan and I teach the Youth Sunday School class. The regular members of our class are Brazilian (2), Peruvian (1), and Caucasian (1). We often have more visitors than regulars. Yesterday we had two class members who couldn't really speak English. We also had a brand new young investigator. It definitely adds a new twist to the lesson when someone asks, "Who is Thomas Monson?"

We love living in places where being a Mormon is totally weird and abnormal. Having wards made up largely of converts not only shakes up the traditional Mormon culture, it helps us see just how much the gospel can change lives.

I really like having a big, open kitchen sink. Before this apartment I've always had the kind with the divider in the middle. A big, single sink is great for those big pots and pans.


This is so much easier than bending over the tub! Hopefully you don't think the kitchen sink is a gross place for a bath. I scrub it out every time with SoftScrub. Promise.

(Ok, she's now 2 years and 9 months, but she'll tell you "Two-and-a-half!")

If she asks for a treat of some sort and the answer is no, she'll say, "No, please? Just a little piece. Just a little, tiny, little PIECE!"

Every time we pass an ATM, "Mom! Let's get some MONEY!" (She has recently been quite interested in money. It all stemmed from when she couldn't understand why Daddy had to go to work! I told her that he goes to work to earn money. I told her that food costs money, our apartment costs money, clothes cost money, etc. And apparently ATMs are magic money-making machines...if only, right?) Then last night when she saw a dollar on the couch, she picked it up and said, "Hooray! Some money!"

"I'm a good girl! But, I'm a little bit naughty."

And yesterday, "Oh, Mommy, you got a little owie on your head?" (and she pointed to a zit on my forehead. Nice, Vi. Way to bring it up.)

Every night when we tell her it's time to go to bed, "Just two more minutes!"

And a recent development: this week she learned how to spell her name in sign language! It's pretty cute to watch her do it.

Turns out that someone else was thinking about Motherhood recently! Elder Holland says it much better than I ever could.



Motherhood: An Eternal Partnership with God

Some things I love about New York City:

• The Street Fairs! Pretty  much every Saturday in the summer you can find one. And there's always cheap jewelry, yummy food, and 1000 thread-count sheet sets for $10.
• No sales tax on clothing! An unexpected (and recent--2007) change, but definitely awesome.
• Also, there's no sales tax on grocery items. I'm still trying to figure out what "grocery" means in this context...I'm thinking it is anything not packaged, but I'm not sure. I just know they charged me $0.02 tax the other day. I think it was the salad dressing that did it.
• The Dollar Stores. On nearly every block there is a "99 cent" store of some kind. It's often hard to figure out the actual name of the store, but they are all covered with signs that say "99 CENTS, 79 CENTS, 59 CENTS!!! (and up)" or, "EVERYTHING $.99!!! (and up)" or, "99 CENT TREAT!!!" We go to one of these at least once a week to buy a dollar toy for Violet when she's been especially nice to Luke (or in other words, hasn't woken him up, sat on him, or otherwise distressed the poor baby). These dollar stores are always run by nice Asian women who are in love with Luke's hair.
• The fireflies. Violet loves to go out with Dan at dusk and watch the fireflies in the grass. There aren't a ton, but Violet had never seen them before coming here, so they are magical to her. Okay, they're pretty magical to me too.
• The abundance of Chase Banks. There's one like on every block. Seriously. It makes for some darn convenient banking!
• While I don't love going to a laundromat to do my laundry, they've got some pretty great machines. Those triple-batch front loaders are amazing! They clean your clothes a lot better than top loaders. I am totally sold on them. And the dryers are super powered or something. They can dry a huge triple-batch in 35 minutes. Much better than those in my Chicago apartment building. And cheaper too.
• And you all already know how I love the restaurants. 

I could mention the negatives--like how I have to haul my double stroller up three flights of stairs with two kids and sometimes groceries (that about kills me every day), or walking 1.5 miles each way to church, or the mouse in my kitchen, or the smokers in the building--but I won't. Ok, I guess I just did. Oops! But they're a lot fewer than the positives.

And honestly, I can't think of a more fabulous way to spend a summer than living here in New York!

This past weekend we had a visit from one of Dan's high school friends and his cute little family--Dave, Meg, & McKelle.

We went gallivanting around town. Street fairs, Times Square, Toy Stores, Central Park, 5th Ave, etc. I stole these pictures from Meg's blog because I was too lazy to take my own :).

The past few days, weeks, months, years--ok, ever since I became a mother--I've had motherhood on my mind. No really, lately I've been thinking about it constantly.

Whenever we moms get together we talk about our kids. And that is normal. But sometimes we get into the habit of just complaining about our kids. How kids are such a burden. How kids create so much laundry. How they make our houses (or little tiny apartments) a disaster. How they wake us up all night long. How they invade our bodies when we're pregnant! How they pee on the floor, or wet their beds, or stain their clothes in irreversible ways. How they break our dishes. How they draw all over the walls. How we never get any ME time. Or dates with the husband. And how kids are just so darn difficult!

And it is all true. They do all those things. And more.

But why do we always focus on the negative? Sure, we don't have to pretend like everything is peachy all the time. But being a mother is AMAZING. Having children is INCREDIBLE!

Once I was complaining about the difficulties of pregnancy to my good friend Traci. The nausea, the barfing, the losing weight, the gaining weight, the leg cramps, the stretch marks, the back aches, the head aches, (pretty much every body part aches!), etc. Nine LONG months. And my friend Traci said to me, "But it is pretty amazing what you get out of it. You put in nine months, and you get a CHILD out of it! A whole new person! What a bargain!" (It was something like that, right Trace?) I think of what she said probably every week. Creating a person? Incredible. Being a mom? Amazing.

And in all honesty, I have never felt more joy/love/gratitude in any other role. I believe absolutely that children bring the greatest joys we will ever experience on this earth. This happens to be one of my favorite quotes:

“Of all the joys of life, none other equals that of happy parenthood. Of all the responsibilities with which we struggle, none other is so serious. To rear children in an atmosphere of love, security, and faith is the most rewarding of all challenges. The good result from such efforts becomes life’s most satisfying compensation” (G. Hinckley).

I recently met a couple who adopted a little girl several years ago. Two years later, the birth mother called her up. "I'm pregnant again. Would you please take this one too so she can be with her sister?" The couple agreed. So now they have two adorable little girls. Then last night several of us moms were all together, and what were we doing? Complaining about how hard kids are. And this woman said, "If the birth mother calls me up again with another child, I'd have to say, 'FIND SOMEONE ELSE!'"

Now, adoption is definitely SUPER hard. My amazing adopted sister could tell you that! And I know that this woman is a great mother. And I'm not saying she is a bad person for not wanting another child. Of course not. But for some reason her comment made me almost cry.

Why do we seem to only view children as a burden? Even as LDS women--women who know that families are ordained of God--we seem to view it more as a duty than as a source of happiness.

Are we forgetting where children are from? Are we forgetting that they are precious spirits sent directly from our Father in Heaven? Are we forgetting that they have been waiting patiently for a family to come down to, and that they were specifically sent to ours?

Are we forgetting that being a parent on earth is an "apprenticeship to godhood" ("Father, Consider Your Ways")" Are we forgetting that each little child is a "god in embryo" (Kimball)?

Are we looking past the little moments of joy we get every single day with our kids?

Am I thinking about the crayon all over the walls instead of the sweet hug I get every morning and night from my two-year-old? And when she gives me a wet, sticky, Popsicle kiss--am I grimacing about the stickiness I'll have to wash off, or am I smiling at the kiss and hugging and kissing her in return? Do I listen to her sweet little voice singing "I Love to See the Temple," or do I tune it out and get back to whatever lame thing I am doing?

And when my 3-month-old baby boy wakes up at night to nurse, how often do I look down at his sweet little face and see him smiling up at me? Do I enjoy those late night snuggles with a baby who just exudes love, or am I too busy blaming him for my weariness?

How often do I choose to read a magazine by myself instead of playing play dough or dress-up with my daughter? And then I blame her when I can't watch my favorite show?! 

M. Russel Ballard shares this quote by Anna Quindlen:

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. … I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.”

So I guess I'm just trying to say, "Being a mom is AWESOME!"

I need to remind myself of that every day. I need to stop being envious of the women I know who have cool jobs downtown and realize that my job is honestly the coolest job ever. I need to stop being embarrassed when people ask "What do you do?" and I sheepishly say, "I stay at home with the kids." Come on, self! How about, "I GET TO STAY AT HOME WITH THE KIDS!!! WOOT WOOT!"

So, moms, go give those kids a hug and a kiss! Have a tickle-fest, read them a book, and marvel at their amazing innocence and vibrant spirits and the hilarious things they say. We should be so, so happy that they are a part of our family. And we should be ecstatic at the possibility of another one!

And now, I must get back to mothering. Violet wants me to play "Super-Violet!!!" with her :).