Archive - November 2015

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids – Part 1

November 16, 2015

Over the last few months, I have had several different people ask me if I’m a photographer, as in a “professional photographer,” since I’m always taking pictures.

That’s rather flattering because, no, I’m not. I’m a mom with a nice camera who loves to take pictures of her children, and while I have been really trying to learn how to get better photos, I am not a pro…so far from it. To have someone think that the picture of my child at the playground was the work of a professional – WIN! That makes my day!!!

Because I’ve been working on improving my photography, I’ve also had other moms ask me about my pictures, trying to figure out what I was doing differently than they are to capture the photos that I do.

I know why they’re asking. It’s why I’ve been learning and practicing: Pictures are important to us, especially as moms.

We love the professional pictures for babies, weddings, and seasonal family photos. But professional photographers aren’t there at every milestone, birthday, or beautiful moment. They aren’t there for the everyday – that rare moment when your children are being sweet and reading together, that time when your toddler upends the spaghetti plate on his head, or when your little girl loses her first tooth.

For me, the “everyday” is what life is made of. Those are the moments that I want to remember the most.

So, unless you can hire a full-time photographer for your household (Wow! Can you imagine?), the only way to capture your everyday life is to do it yourself.

And you want to do the best that you can, right?

With this in mind – and looking ahead to the holidays, which present so many wonderful photo opportunities – I’ve decided that over the next four posts, I’m going to be sharing what I think are the most important tips and advice I’ve found for taking great pictures of your family. These come from what I’ve learned through scouring online photography blogs and tutorials, talking with and watching my friends who are actual, real professional photographers, and what I’ve discovered through trial and error. Plus, most of these tips will help you no matter what kind of camera you are using, even if you’re just using your phone! I’m sure there are many others that could be included, but these are the ones that have helped me the most.

Ready?

To start with: Natural is ALWAYS better.

Believe it or not, my top suggestions have nothing to do with lighting, the technical aspects of using a fancy DSLR, or framing your shot (those tips come later). These are all about being natural and real and having that mindset before you even pick up your camera.

And rather than make you wait to the end of the post for a big finale, I’m starting you off with my most favorite tip out of all that I’ve gathered and the one that’s done the most for my pictures:

#1. DON’T ASK YOUR CHILD TO SMILE!

Seriously. Stop saying, “Smile” or “Cheese!” – at least for most of your pictures. Saying their name or “look” has gotten me so many more beautiful shots with natural expressions, smiling or serious, than that forced “I am smiling” grimace you get, especially from younger children who have “learned” to smile.

You may also run into the “Diva cheesy smile and crazy pose combo” with your slightly older kids. (I was that little girl, too, so I’m not saying you don’t want a few of those, but trust me, you don’t want all of her 8-year-old pictures to have that look!) You want your child to be able to look natural sometimes. (And don’t get me started on “duck faces.”)

If you really want a natural smile, try being silly or telling a joke. As a parent you have a distinct advantage over a pro in this area anyway, since you KNOW what makes your child laugh or grin.

When we were getting Elijah’s 1-year-old professional pictures taken, we got the best smiles out of him when I said, “Ow!” and pretended to be hurt. (Gee, thanks, son.)

If they just aren’t in the mood to smile, or overall not in the mood for getting their pictures taken, trying to force them to smile is only going make things worse, which leads me to my next tip.

: This look! All I said was, “Josiah,” to get his attention.

: Pretty sure I just asked Elijah how he liked the merry-go-round. That smile is authentic.

: I love these expressions. I just had them look at me, and Josiah didn’t even do that.

#2. LET THEM BE THEMSELVES

Just like not forcing them to smile constantly will help, letting them do their own thing sometimes is huge.

My nephew is notorious for avoiding you if he knows you’re trying to get a picture of him. He will look everywhere but toward the camera, and he’s definitely not smiling. However, one day we discovered that the trick to getting a great picture of him was to let him do something that he thought was “silly” for the picture. As soon as he was doing something “silly,” he was asking me to take his picture. So, I used that. He crossed his feet in a “silly” way, and I got my most favorite picture of him to date.

I took this picture in a way that cropped out his “silly” crossed feet. Sneaky Aunt Kishona!

Of course, getting a great picture of your child doesn’t require them looking at you at all. When I first really started learning to use my camera, I spent a lot of time just taking pictures of my boys playing. They knew I was there, but I didn’t say anything. I just let them do whatever they were doing when I grabbed my camera. I don’t wipe off faces, change them into matching outfits or “dressier” duds (I make sure they are dressed, though!), or brush their hair. I let them be my boys.

: When I snapped this picture, he didn’t even know I was taking pictures.

: Playing in the rain is always a great photo op.

There is also something to be said for letting your child make suggestions of what he or she might want to do in a picture. Let them pose, or do their favorite new trick, or show off a toy. Why not? As long as they aren’t doing things that are dangerous or inappropriate, let them have fun. It makes the pictures that they might not want to do worth it if they know they can do ones that they want to, also.

Elijah wanted a picture with his Baby Bear.

As I mentioned last week, whenever we do family pictures with all of my siblings and our children together, it’s become a tradition to do a silly picture at the end. The kids (and adults) love it. It’s a simple thing, but they’ve always turned out so wonderfully. They are usually my favorite pictures of the day.

**#3. BE YOU. SHOOT YOUR WAY**

Technology has made picture-taking something that everyone does, and something that everyone shares. It can seem overwhelming when you see beautifully composed and filtered Instagram shots, Pinterest-worthy photo set-ups at a 2-year-old’s birthday party, or Facebook vacation albums for everyone from your favorite celebrity to your kids’ babysitter.

While you can definitely learn by studying other people’s work or techniques, don’t pressure yourself to make your pictures look exactly like someone else’s. Use your own creativity. Find your own style.

For example, my father-in-law used to do work as a professional photographer, and his children all learned from him. His oldest daughter has taken over the family legacy as Picture Bliss Photography and does beautiful work with weddings, babies, family sessions, and seniors. Oftentimes, her younger sister is her assistant.

Funny enough, though, the three of them don’t shoot exactly alike. They all have their own “eye,” style, and creativity.

So do you.

My hubby took the first picture below, and you can see that my hubby likes to look for the quirky angles and attempts unique shots, mostly just to be silly. However, sometimes they turn out pretty cool, like this one. The second picture is one I took during the same match, and you can tell that my style is totally different from his.

: Brad took this during a croquet match at my parents’ house.

: Josiah “playing” croquet.

So, we’re good with letting your kids be themselves and allowing you to be yourself. Tomorrow – it’s time to get into tips for setting up a shot.

Top feature picture courtesy of Picture Bliss Photography.

Continue to Part 2 here.

TELL ME: What do you do that makes your child smile?

4 Reasons Why Bedtime Is Our Best Family Time

November 12, 2015

2 Comments

Life in Lape Haven: 4 Reasons Why Bedtime is Our Best Family Time

(This post may contain affiliate links, which means, at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you use the link. Thank you for supporting our site.)

A day in the life of a mom (or dad) can be hectic, unpredictable, and distracted.

From the time you are getting everyone up, ready for the day, and out the door for whatever you need to be doing until you’re back at home, tidying up, doing homework, eating dinner, and getting ready for bed, there can be days where your quality time with your family doesn’t really get to happen until bedtime.

At least that’s how it works for us, but that’s okay because it is usually our very best family time.

Why?

#1 – Bedtime is the one time when all four of us are present without distractions

My hubby works four 10-hour shifts a week, with a 9 a.m. start time. This means that he doesn’t generally get home until nearly 8 p.m. (or later) most nights. With Elijah in school and having a stricter bedtime now, time with Daddy during those days is limited.

However, by bedtime, we are all there. We’ve turned off the television, we put down our phones, and we focus on sharing time together.

(And I will be honest, sometimes I’m a late-comer to the party. There are days when I can’t work on writing or editing pictures until Brad is home, so when it’s time for getting the boys ready for bed, he’ll take the lead and let me work until they are ready for me to come join them. I try not to miss it, though, because it is such valuable family time.)

The boys take turns getting to pick the bedtime story each night, which means we can pretty much guarantee an argument every few days about whose turn it actually is to pick the book. J

We all snuggle up on Elijah’s bed to read our story. If we’re in a time crunch because they took longer brushing their teeth or dawdled while getting into their pajamas, I’ll read. I’m a much faster reader than Brad, and I’m quite good at summarizing as I go along, just in case Elijah has picked a particularly lengthy book. (Now that he’s learning to read, however, I have a feeling I may get called out on this little trick sooner or later.)

Of course, if Elijah hands me our copy of Fox in Socks by Dr. Seuss, there isn’t much even I can do. We’re going to be tongue-twisting our way slowly through that one. (But we still love it!)

A 3D bedtime story.

Sometimes it’s hard to get through a book quickly, though, because…

#2 – Bedtime is when the boys are the most talkative

My boys are always pretty talkative. (I think they get it from their mother.) However, at night time, they are even more so. Maybe it’s partly a technique to stall the inevitable “going to bed” part of the bedtime routine, maybe it’s because they know they have our full attention, or maybe it’s because they have started processing their day by then. I’m not sure. I just know that when we’re trying to get them to settle down, they are trying to start all kinds of conversations.

We try to allow time for this in our routine because we want them to know that what they have to share is important to us, no matter what they want to talk about. We chat while they’re getting faces washed and teeth brushed. We chat while they are changing into jammies and picking out tomorrow’s ensemble. And we chat before, during, and after their story, their Bible reading, and their prayers.

Which brings me to our third reason…

#3 – Bedtime is when we spend time in God’s Word and in prayer as a family

While we pray with our boys throughout the day, bedtime is when we really get to, again, do so without distractions and all together.

We read a story or passage from one of their children’s Bibles or use our Kids’ Bible App to study the Word together, and then we each take a turn praying.

From the time our boys could talk, we started leading them in simple prayers, just saying, “Thank You,” to God for family and praying for safety and good sleep. With just a little guidance, before long they start to pray on their own very easily, and now, sometimes they surprise us with their words (in a good way).

We end our bedtime routine with a song, usually “Jesus Loves Me,” although they can request whatever song they’d like.

Then it’s time for kisses and cuddles, which is our last reason.

#4 – Bedtime is when my boys are the cuddliest

From snuggling on our laps during a story to laying down on Mommy during prayers to giving tons of good night kisses and hugs, our boys are especially affectionate as they wind down from the day. Josiah will even flat-out lie and tell you that “I didn’t get a hug!” when you know you just hugged him after you tucked him in, right before you said, “Good night,” and turned to leave his room. Another stall tactic, maybe, but another hug, too.

Watching how quickly my boys are growing, I know that our bedtime routine will someday change. Soon they’ll be able to get ready completely on their own. They’ll be able to read to themselves and won’t always want us to read them a bedtime story. At some point, we definitely won’t be able to fit all of us comfortably on a twin-sized bed because they’ll no longer be snuggled in our laps.

However, I pray they never outgrow spending time with us before bed, even if it looks differently. I pray that they will value reading the Bible together and praying as a family. I want them to be able to talk to us and share about their day, their concerns, and their questions. I never want them to be too big to give me good night hugs and kisses, even if it’s done before they head off to tuck themselves in.

Mostly I pray that Brad and I are always redeeming the time now, while they are young, taking advantage of our best family time, realizing how important it is that we don’t miss the beautiful moments we have with them. These are the moments that will make spending time with us more important to them later.

When is your family’s best “Family Time”?

Tried It Tuesday: 11 Kitchen Gadgets, Appliances, & Accessories that I LOVE

November 10, 2015

6 Comments

Life in Lape Haven: Tried It Tuesday - 11 Kitchen Gadgets, Appliances, and Accessories that I Love.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means that, at no additional cost to you, I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase using the links.

Elijah was pretty excited when he realized today that Thanksgiving is not very far away. He’s looking forward to the “big feast,” he said.

For the last two years, Elijah has enjoyed contributing to the Thanksgiving “feasting” by making a dish to share with our families: fruit cocktail with marshmallows. However, in the last few months, he’s been asking to expand his culinary skills in the kitchen. Apparently he wants to be able to do more than empty a can of fruit into a bowl and stir in some marshmallows. So, we’ve been working on that.

I don’t blame him. The more recipes I’ve learned to make and the more techniques I’ve perfected, the more confident and excited I am to try something else in the kitchen.

As I’ve built my culinary repertoire over the years, I’ve also built my stash of kitchen gadgets and accessories. Some of them I never would have tried on my own; others I just had to have.

So for today’s Tried It Tuesday, here are 11 of my favorite gadgets and accessories that I have tried out in my kitchen:

1. The One Second Slicer – This one was a Mother’s Day present that Elijah picked out. He’s kind of a sucker for the “As Seen On TV” items, thanks to infomercials, so I was a little doubtful of how well or how often I would use this. However, it has been a pleasant surprise. It’s a much less-messy way to dice tomatoes, for one. Plus my boys love to watch when I use it, so it keeps them entertained…until they start fighting over who gets to help me close the lid down. The fact that I can use the base as storage is nice, and it cleans up rather easily. Good job, Elijah!

2. The Ove’ Glove – I received this amazing little oven mitt a few years ago at Christmas. My mother-in-law liked the one that she had, so she got one for all the girls. This glove is made to withstand heat up to 540 degrees and has silicone strips on the outside for a good grip. I use this thing pretty much every day and would like to get another (hint, hint, Hubby). The only caution is not to get it wet or steamed up. Water conducts the heat then right into the glove.

3. Stick Blender – My stick blender (also called an immersion blender) was one of those items I had been watching for after seeing the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond, use one when she made her fabulous broccoli cheese soup. I wanted to make the soup, and I really wanted a stick blender. When I found one that came with a food processor attachment, too, I grabbed it, since I didn’t have a food processor either. Haha. That broccoli cheese soup has since become a staple of our fall and winter menu, and I have found many other uses for the blender, including pureeing up fresh pumpkin for donuts, ice cream, cookies, and of course, pumpkin pie. The food processor has also seen its share of action, so it was a worthy purchase all the way around.

4. Silicone Baking Mat – When I make a wish list for Christmas, I generally have a few kitchen items on the list. My baking mat was one of them. The state of my non-stick baking sheets was not pretty, and since I already used parchment paper often, I knew that I would use a mat just as frequently. I was right. Cleaning them has always been easy, too.

5. Ice Cream Maker – My first ice cream maker was a cheap one that I found on clearance at Walmart. It was the older style that requires ice and rock salt and makes a ton of noise. However, once my husband had tasted real, homemade ice cream, he was hooked. When he found a deal on a refurbished Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for $30, he bought it to surprise me. The freezable bowl replaces the ice and rock salt, and while it’s still not quiet, it’s nowhere near as noisy as my older one. And the ice creams we have enjoyed! I actually think my hubby might love this appliance more than I do.

6. Flirty Apron – Every cook needs a good apron, sure, but we girls like a pretty one while we’re at it, too. I saw these adorable aprons on Facebook one day from FlirtyAprons.com and showed Brad the ones I liked. Lo and behold, Valentine’s Day, my sweetheart gifted me with one, along with some awesome chocolate ice cream, proving that he really did know how to make his girl happy. My apron has even doubled as part of a costume or two for our boys’ birthday parties.

7. Pizza Stone – This is another of my Christmas wish list items and another item that I think my family is very glad that we have. Homemade pizza is so much easier now that I don’t have to cook it on those not-so-great non-stick baking sheets that you can’t cut on. The crust is awesome, we can serve the pizza directly off the stone, and the stone cleans up easily.

8. Ice Cream Scooper – I bought this not for our ice cream habit, but actually to help with scooping out cookie dough and filling cupcake pans. I especially like using it for cookies because it goes so much quicker!

9. Ice Cream Spade – Another present from my in-laws, this is THE ice cream server in our house. The shape looks weird, and you won’t end up with a cutesy little scoop, but it cuts through frozen-solid ice cream better than anything else. If you can’t tell, we like our ice cream around Lape Haven, so this item is a MUST.

10. Rice Cooker – I don’t know that I ever would have bought us a rice cooker, honestly. I don’t have tons of storage in my kitchen or pantry, so I like to have items that multi-task. However, when the lid to my small cooking pan got bent (thank you, little boys who like to play in my pans), making rice became a struggle because the lid didn’t fit tightly. When I mentioned perhaps buying a rice cooker, my parents gave me one that had belonged to my grandma. I had to Google the manual to figure out how to use it, but once I had the basics (it really is EASY), I have been turning out some pretty tasty rice.

11. Kitchen Aid Mixer – I love my mixer. It is probably my very favorite appliance in the kitchen. Of course, it is also the most expensive appliance in the kitchen. However, my very first Kitchen Aid stand mixer was one that Brad found on Craigslist for only $30. Yes, $30. It worked just fine, but the “OFF” switch didn’t work. That meant that I had to plug it in to start it and pull the plug to stop it. But it was still a game-changer! I was suddenly able to make homemade bread easily, and if I was mixing up something, I could step away for a second if I needed to, and it would be doing the work for me. Of course, I use it for cookies, cakes, and icing, but I also use it for making whipped cream, shredding chicken, and I’ve even made butter in it. So much fun! Last year, there was a great deal on Black Friday, so I got an upgrade to a new Kitchen Aid in time for lots of Christmas baking.

TELL ME: What are some of your favorite kitchen tools?

How We Capture a Great Family Picture – Every Time

November 9, 2015

9 Comments

Life in Lape Haven: How We Capture a Great Family Picture Every Time - Our One Trick for Always Getting a Great Shot of Our Family

In case you don’t know, I love taking pictures, and my favorite subject is my family. While I am always taking pictures of my boys, I generally have my camera with me at all of our family gatherings, too.

A few years ago, my side of the family began making an effort to take group pictures whenever we were all (or mostly all) present.

If all of my family were together today, we’d have my parents, my 3 siblings and me and our spouses, plus 8 grandsons, 1 granddaughter (married to my oldest nephew), and a great-granddaughter. I don’t know of any additions on the way at the moment, even with Elijah still praying for another sibling, but I’m sure our numbers will continue to grow, and with all of our families growing both in age and number, we want to document our time together as often as we can.

Having a professional photographer take our picture would be ideal, but since we don’t usually have a professional photographer at our family gatherings, we are still determined to get whatever pictures we can using my rather decent Canon with the timer and set up on a tripod.

However, getting several little boys (and big boys – thanks to my brothers who don’t relish getting pictures) to sit still and cooperate for photos can be difficult.

We have a few tricks that we try, but one of our solutions to keeping their attention has resulted in some of our favorite family pictures.

What is it?

THE SILLY PICTURE.

In my family, having fun is nothing new. We’ve never been a very serious group, and we love to laugh and joke around.

So when we were on vacation with my family when Elijah was only 3 months old, we were out on the beach, trying to get a nice group picture, and someone suggested, “Let’s do a silly picture next! Everyone do something silly or goofy.”

With everyone in agreement, I pressed down the shutter button and ran back to my spot in the group, trying to find my silly pose before the timer went off.

It was a fun way to capture each individual personality of our fun-loving family in a wonderful way that could never be achieved with a seriously posed picture with everyone’s forced, plastic smiles.

Even my non-picture loving brothers showed their styles, with one completely turning his back on the shot.

That picture was an instant classic.

: The “nice” posed picture

: The “silly” picture

With the success of that picture, we started a tradition. So now every time we do a family picture, everyone knows to expect a “silly” picture (or a few) at the end. All the little guys grab on to that, sticking out their tongues or making funny faces at the camera, free to move a bit instead of sitting perfectly still and having to behave.

And without fail, those silly, goofy, free-to-be-them pictures are always our favorites of the shoot, the ones we can’t wait to see. Sure, we always take a few “good” pictures, too, and it’s nice to have those. We make a good-looking crew. But the silly pictures are the ones that capture my real family.

Whenever I look at them, I can’t help but smile, as the memories of giggles, tickles, and different funny faces we tried out play through my mind.

Those are the moments with my family that I want to keep forever.

Those are the ones that make the great family pictures.

: Silly at a birthday party

: Silly on Thanksgiving

: The “nice” picture for my parents’ anniversary

: The “silly” picture

Here’s one more, from my parents’ 40th anniversary this year. It was a little departure from our usual silly picture, but I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a really great picture nonetheless. 🙂

TELL ME: Do you have any fun tricks or traditions for your family photos?

Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn

November 5, 2015

Add comment

Life in Lape Haven: Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn recipe. A quick, tasty, and fairly healthy stovetop popcorn recipe using coconut oil.

For some reason autumn always makes me want popcorn.

It might be all the fall festivals with the warm scents of kettle corn wafting through the air. It might be that we’re more likely to be cuddling up on the couch for a movie now instead of playing outside as long as we can. It might be the simplicity of the treat.

It might just be that I really like popcorn.

According to family lore, my first steps were taken to get to popcorn, and I was busted as a little one eating strung popcorn off the Christmas tree (there’s even photographic evidence).

So popcorn and I go back a few years…or more.

(This post contains affiliate links, which means, at no extra cost to you, I will get a small percentage if you make a purchase through the link.)

Then several years ago I was helping at a youth gathering at a fellow youth leader’s home. We often had youth group at their home because they had a large house and loved hosting people. The leader’s wife always had something special for us – fancy teas and hot chocolate, homemade waffles after a sleepover, and stovetop kettle corn at this particular meeting.

She had a funny pan with a crank that amused us all, but it produced the tastiest popcorn ever! Plus she had all kinds of variations she could make, and they were all good.

I immediately wanted a Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper for myself, so I could have yummy, crunch, sweet, and salty kettle corn and not have to share it with a dozen hungry teenagers.

It would be a few years later before I got my wish when I found a barely-used Whirley-Pop at the thrift store.

After that, I went on a hunt for recipes, finding all kinds of ideas online. I made plain salted popcorn, sweet kettle corn, caramel corn, and recently, pumpkin spice kettle corn. However, my very favorite (and my boys’ favorite, too) is Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn.

It’s super easy to make, and even easier to enjoy. It’s so good that I have to stop myself from eating the entire bowl…pretty much every time I make it.

: Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn in a Whirley-Pop: Coconut Oil, Popcorn, Cinnamon, Sugar, Salt

: Cinnamon-sugar mix and popcorn kernels measured out

: Coconut oil and kernels heating in the Whirley-Pop.

: Fresh Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn

I make popcorn often, especially in the fall and winter. It’s a fairly healthy, cheap, and really quick snack to make. In not much longer than it takes you to microwave a bag of popcorn, you could stovetop-pop a huge bowl of way healthier, tastier popcorn.

My recipe for Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn has come from some trial and error and tweaking of other recipes I have found. As always with my recipes, feel free to get creative and make it your own. If it comes out better than mine, please let me know!

Also, I imagine you can make this the old-school way with just a regular pan on the stove. I never have, but it should work just fine. Or you can scour your local second-hand stores in hopes of finding one, although I haven’t seen another one since the day I got mine.

Amazon carries the Whirley-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper, though, so you could get it brand-new or add it to your Christmas wish list.

However you can make it, I know you’ll enjoy it. Whether or not you share it or eat the whole bowl yourself is up to you.

By the way, I shared my Pumpkin Spice Kettle Corn recipe a couple of weeks ago in my “Family Room” email newsletter. Make sure you sign up to get other exclusive content and ideas. You can sign up by clicking HERE.

A quick, easy, fairly healthy, and super delicious Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn recipe using a stovetop popper and coconut oil.

My Best Christmas Gift Idea Ever…so far

November 3, 2015

3 Comments

Life in Lape Haven: Tried It Tuesday - My Best Christmas Gift Idea Ever...so far. Creating an original personalized storybook photo book for my son.

Sometimes the best Christmas gift require a little advanced planning. My “best Christmas gift” idea was one of those, but it was completely worth it. It’s an original Tried It Tuesday idea born out of need. Here’s why.

Any parent of two or more children can tell you that making the jump from being a one-child family to a multiple-children family is daunting. The adjustment from one to two (or more, if you get blessed with multiples) is a big one.

However, the adjustment for an only child to go from “it’s just me” to “it’s my little brother/sister and me” is just as big and can be harder for little ones to navigate.

When Elijah learned that he was going to be a big brother, he was just over two years old, and he was ecstatic. He liked babies, so for him, it was going to be tons of fun to have one to play with.

Brad and I did our best to prepare him for the changes and talked to him about how his little brother was going to need Mommy and Daddy and Elijah, too, to do things for him for a while because, as a baby, his little brother wouldn’t be able to do them on his own yet. I made sure that Elijah knew that if he ever felt lonely for Mommy or Daddy, all he had to do was ask us for a hug or come sit with us.

: Photo courtesy of Picture Bliss Photography

Even with all the preparation, we still had some rough days, and there was a point, after the initial “I’m a big brother now” stage, where it seemed that Elijah was constantly getting in trouble, especially for being defiant. I’m sure part of it was just the natural phase of becoming more independent (he was 3), but the timing didn’t help.

It was heartbreaking because not only did I feel guilty for having to spend so much of my attention and time on Josiah when I knew Elijah could still use some Mommy time, but my sweet, joyful Elijah was becoming moody and difficult. I remember telling Brad that I missed “our Elijah.”

It was a situation that we prayed about constantly and one for which I was always on the lookout for a solution.

Then one night while I was up nursing Josiah, God gave me an answer, or at least part of it. He gave me the seed of an idea that took root so quickly that I couldn’t go back to sleep until I’d written it down, even though it was four in the morning.

I was going to write a book for Elijah, one all about him and the many reasons I loved him. Since it was later in November, I think, or maybe even already December, I wanted it to be one of his Christmas gifts.

In my mind, I could see a book with illustrations and knew exactly how the wording would be laid out and what the font would look like. However, with a limited budget and timeline, I decided to do the next best thing – use pictures that I already had and match them to my story.

(By the way, this post contains affiliate links, which means I get a small percentage if you make a purchase through the link, at no extra cost to you.)

Having used Shutterfly for a few photo album-style photo books in the past, I decided to see what photo book themes they had that might work for Elijah’s book. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find one that worked really well, and I began laying out the story.

The story was really simple. I was recounting our day with Elijah at bedtime and using the events of the day to illustrate all the things that I love about him, such as his creativity, his kindness, and his courage. The final pages also reassured him that even when he wasn’t kind or brave or obedient, we still loved him very much because God has given him to us. I titled it, “Why I Love You.”

On Christmas morning, it was the gift I was most looking forward to him opening, and I was praying that it ministered to his unsettled little heart.

From the moment he saw it, he loved it. A book all about him, written by his mommy, was a big deal. The words were exactly what he needed to hear.

That book instantly became his favorite. For weeks we were reading “Why I Love You” every night and sometimes during the day.

And my sweet Elijah slowly reemerged, calmer, more secure, and more willing to listen and help. (He was still stubborn and independent – that’s just him, but it was more manageable.)

I am confident that God gave me the idea and the story because He knew what Elijah needed from us and how he would best receive it.

The book became the best Christmas present that year for all of us.

Since my first personalized book was such as hit, the next year I created two more books: one for Elijah and his cousin Christian that was all about their friendship and an ABC book for my little Josiah that featured words relating to him and our family. Each book contained pictures that I had taken throughout the year, so it served not only as a fun storybook about them, but also as a way to share our memories.

In addition, Shutterfly often features great coupons for everything photo-related, including prints, calendars, and the photo books. By planning ahead and having my stories ready for when they had special offers, that year I ordered three books and only paid full price for one of them (and I don’t think I had to pay shipping on that one)!

And again, those books became instant family classics.

Feel free to borrow this idea. I’m sure it’s not unique to me, but the cool thing is, when you write your own stories, your book will be completely original and special for whomever you write it!

(If I see any new Shutterfly coupons coming up, I’ll be sure to share them on my Facebook or in my emails. Follow me or sign up so you don’t miss out.)

What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever given someone?

Get more ideas & encouragement from this real-life mom as I experience God’s faithfulness through the joy and chaos of motherhood.

Join my email list!
First Name

Email address:

Archive - November 2015

How to Take Better Pictures of Your Kids – Part 1

To start with: Natural is ALWAYS better.

#1. DON’T ASK YOUR CHILD TO SMILE!

#2. LET THEM BE THEMSELVES

**#3. BE YOU. SHOOT YOUR WAY**

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

4 Reasons Why Bedtime Is Our Best Family Time

#1 – Bedtime is the one time when all four of us are present without distractions

#2 – Bedtime is when the boys are the most talkative

#3 – Bedtime is when we spend time in God’s Word and in prayer as a family

#4 – Bedtime is when my boys are the cuddliest

Tried It Tuesday: 11 Kitchen Gadgets, Appliances, & Accessories that I LOVE

How We Capture a Great Family Picture – Every Time

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE:

My Best Christmas Gift Idea Ever…so far

What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever given someone?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: