Great Offer for Bloggers from Shutterfly!

I heard about this promotion from a few of the other blogs I read, and I'm happy to pass it along because it is a product I love! Shutterfly is offering 50 free Holiday photo cards to bloggers: sign up here.

If you have never designed a photo greeting card before, you are in for a treat! There are over 800 different designs to choose from, and browsing through the options is almost as fun as receiving your cards in the mail and getting to see them in print for the first time. I love being able to use more than one photo from the past year, like this style, and also that there are beautiful religious-themed option like this one with its subtle Christian imagery. Last year, we chose a card that featured the word "Joy" like this one, because it perfectly fits the experience of sharing Christmas with a toddler!

The variety on Shutterfly's site extends beyond the colors, layout and wording. You can also choose from different sizes and types of paper. There are 4x8 designs so that you can easily slip your family Christmas letter inside the envelope, flat stationary cards so that you can have a photo on one side and write a personal message on the back, or 5x7 folding cards that look like traditional Christmas cards and will stand up on Grandma's mantel.

I've also spent some time recently designing calendars to give as Christmas gifts. We create one version with just pictures of Evie to give J's side of the family and I collaborate with my sister-in-law each year to create a calendar with pictures of Evie and my nephew(s). Recently my grandmother said to my mom "it's sad to get to the end of my calendar; I love seeing my great-grandkids each month" and my mom had to chuckle "ummm...you know you'll get a new one at Christmas, right?" I love that we can include custom dates like birthdays and anniversaries, so that nobody's special day is accidentally forgotten.

Thank you to Shutterfly for such a generous gift to bloggers!

Happy Thanksgiving

Evie update at 26 months

The Good:

*spontaneous "I lub you"

*singing the call-outs to "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" with me

*choosing a tutu and cowboy boots for our morning at Bible study

*waking up in a good mood in the morning

*less separation anxiety when I drop her off at the church nursery and PDO (parent's day out)

*easily distracted from meltdowns

*loves to learn new things

*happiness is as simple as going outside and wearing sunglasses

The Bad:

*post-Halloween fixation on the glories of CANDY

*will only eat healthy foods now if she's promised CANDY afterward (sigh, I brought this on myself)

*has started hitting us, herself and objects when she's frustrated or angry (we're working on labeling her emotion for her and talking about alternate ways to vent)

*resists sleep by singing to herself (this would be fine in theory except that singing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "The Wheels on the Bus" etc. for over an hour cuts into her total sleep time and leaves her chronically tired.)

*Is in the testing limits phase, which is normal, healthy, expected, and exhausting

The Quotes:

"I'm a baby." No, Evie, you're not a baby. Do you know what you are? "I'm a toddle. I'm a women."

"I have a idea! I wanna ride a elephant."

"Mommy, Daddy, Evie. We a family."

What would you like for breakfast this morning? "How 'bout candy?"

"I only have one shoe! That's silly."

"Mommy, you wanna come in the other room an play with me?"

How can I choose dishes over that?!