Published

I've finally finished something I've been meaning to do for over two years now.

The Elser 411 is in print.

Well, 2 years of it anyway.

You see, despite being uber-organized (or so I thought), my priorities have changed a bit since entering motherhood.  My hours at home with my family are precious and few.  Projects that, once upon a time, I would have devoured now take a back seat to more important matters - like building towers, baking cookies, coloring pictures and going to the park.  Oh yeah, and keeping my family fed and clothed and my house clean presentable.  Well, it's time for me to come clean.

Jack doesn't have a baby book.

Actually, he has one.  It's a really nice one.  That I love.  But it's blank.  (*Gasp!*)

Instead, I have this blog.  Every milestone, trial and tribulation of my pregnancy and Jack's life are documented here on The Elser 411.  Safely recorded for future reference or trips down memory lane.  Unless blogger.com goes defunct or ends up compromised by some crazy hacker at which time all of my precious memories are lost forever in cyberspace.  Yep.  These types of thoughts actually keep me awake at night.

Enter Blurb.

I first learned about Blurb from my BFF, Cortney.  Much like Snapfish, Shutterfly, SmileBooks and many other companies like them, Blurb is an online application for making photo books.  What makes Blurb special is that in addition to photos, it can transfer your entire blog to a printable book.  A beautiful, shiny, bound book to display on your coffee table or tuck away on a bookshelf safe from the perils of cyberspace.  Literally, with the click of a button.

For The Elser 411, I decided to make one book for each year.  Seemed like a logical break and with Jackson's December birthday it comes really close to mirroring his years of life.  I spent about 4 hours on each book customizing layouts and editing pictures, so it can definitely be on the time consuming side.  The final result; however, is so worth it.

I adore them.  And while I already have some different layout ideas in mind for the 2010 installment, I couldn't be happier with the final product.  Not to mention a bit relieved that Jackson's first bath, tooth, goose egg, and haircut are safely documented somewhere other than the inter webs.

So, while not for sale, The Elser 411 is officially published.  And I can rest a bit easier. 

Now maybe one of these days I'll get around to filling in Jack's baby book.

Disclaimer:  This is not an advertisement for blurb.com.  The folks at blurb have no idea who I am.  I just think it's a really cool product and wanted to share it with you.