A recap of our Fourth of July is coming….it’s for the grandparents and posterity sake. Ya know….because one day I won’t remember 2015…it’ll be cataloged in my head as ‘the decade I didn’t sleep’. Other sleepless moms won’t remember this year either. It basically didn’t exist….ya know except for birthing babies.
So yesterday I spent about three hours trying to figure out which announcement I would order for Max and I thought it would be fun to share that today. Also…I can’t just share a quarter of my boys birth announcements….so in true over-sharing fashion, here are all four boy’s birth announcements in chronological order.
Also…my boys are pretty much the most adorable kids I have ever seen. That could be the hormones of a proud mama talking but I don’t think so 🙂
Will’s announcement was a postcard that I printed with VistaPrint. I made it myself and just printed off 100 of them because the price was so stinking cheap. I had to buy my own envelopes but in the end, the cost for that many was well worth it. I sent them to every single person I knew. I picked the picture because it was so cute of him and I really liked the open eye photos…..but it doesn’t look like Will to me now though….no freckles 🙁
Weston’s announcement was done by Tiny Prints and I loved the simplicity of it. The price wasn’t as good as printing out a low-quality postcard but it did have envelopes and I only had to order 30 or so because I realized that most people aren’t as excited about my baby as me 🙂 Also…I went with this photo of Weston because he really was such a sweet sleepy infant….even if he didn’t look like an infant (SERIOUSLY WHY DO I KEEP POPPING OUT TODDLERS?!). Again…doesn’t really look like my Weston now but I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles.
LJ had a completely different look to his announcement. I wanted something more fun and artistic and reflected the style of ‘the times’…..watercolor and painterly style items were pretty hot in 2014 so this card spoke to me. I ordered only twenty copies of his announcement (ten were free from a discount code) and I got it through Shutterfly. It also came with envelopes and I think I just hand delivered the ones that I had for specific recipients. I chose a black and white photo this time because the blanket he was on was brown and hunter green and it looked weird with the announcement colors. I did like the photo but I wish this time I had picked something with his eyes open because his eyes really do define so much of his facial character. Oh well.
Okay! On to the main event!
My main man Max has a very fun announcement complete with polka dots and splashed with green! I did the same thing with Shutterfly (order twenty copies, ten free with a discount code) and plan on mailing out the ones for far away family and hand deliver the others. The only thing I did differently this time was put a Bible verse on the back. I used Colossians 3:12-14. It’s something I will probably need to remind the boys when they get bigger 🙂
The only bummer about his announcement is that I couldn’t fit the boy’s names on the part where it said “love,….” I guess our family has too many kids now.
Also…you can see I picked an ‘awake’ photo that I took out in the woods….I guess time will only tell if I picked one that looks like the future Max.
So how do you order your announcements? Do you use a specific site or etsy seller or make your own? Do you mail or hand deliver? I found out our magic number is right at 20 (that covers family and a few friends, one for Dr. Tate, one for me and one for the baby book)….how many do you order? Do you just order ones you like style wise or try to use a specific picture or what? This might be the most important discussion of my day….spare me no details 🙂
Baby #1 – mailed 25+ announcements
Baby #2 – mailed about 10
Baby #3 – only ordered the 1 I needed for the baby book! Hahaha
Always used Shutterfly!
With our two sons I’ve printed magnets from Mpix.com. It’s a fun little announcement and one that family members can keep on the fridge!
Well, since you asked…
For my first, I took the picture I liked & added text to it using some sort of online photo editing app (can’t remember the name, although I know it was awesome & it’s no longer around lol). I then printed 50ish copies of it at Wal-Mart on regular photo paper. They turned out ok, but since my sizing was slightly off, the words on the right hand side were cut off. Which wasn’t a huge deal but it bothered me haha
For my second, I used Shutterfly & chose a design that had multiple pictures on it. I always send my two besties at least three different versions of my announcements/cards (Christmas, birth, etc) and usually go with the one we all agree on. The card we chose was a chalkboard-y style with orangey/yellowy lettering. I really loved this announcement and have no regrets about it. I think I ordered 30 cards, and I know I got some sort of discount.. whether it was free cards or 40% off or something, I know I got a deal 😉
I’m currently pregnant with baby #3 and I’m thinking I’ll go the Shutterfly route again. I find they have the best designs and for the best price. Tiny Prints cards are absolutely darling, but I find them just a teensy bit too pricey.
Anywho, that is my two cents regarding birth announcements 🙂
With my first, I made my own birth announcements, but now I’ve been designing on Etsy and for Minted, and I LOVE all the amazing options on Minted, so I think I’ll be going through them for our baby girl due in September! I also plan on ordering fewer this time around 🙂 Love seeing all of yours!
I don’t have children so I can’t answer your questions, however, I just wanted to say you have beautiful boys. Thanx for sharing!
You have such cute boys! We ordered a lot… 75-100 I’d say. But it was our first, so we think everyone cares ;). My husband comes from a large extended family and I have lots of family who live far away and would not even meet our son til he was older. Chances are we will do the same if we have another just because I love birthday announcements and paper cards :).
My husband and I have trouble doing anything serious so when we saw this shot of our daughter looking like a coy centerfold model from her newborn photos we knew we had to use it. Plus her name is just to similar to the magazine Marie Claire!
https://goo.gl/photos/WNVepyZYMvp9HduM6
I LOVE the announcements! I only have one kiddo (she just turned 1) and I did just like your first. I did them myself and then ordered 100 from VistaPrint. Looking back, I didn’t need anywhere near that many and got tired of writing addresses around #30. I still have about 25 if you want me to send you one! 😉
By the way, I think Max and Will look so much alike in these pictures! Maybe it is that they are both awake pictures, but the eyes, nose and lips all look so similar. Such precious boys no matter who they end up looking like!
I ordered 30, and that seemed to be plenty. I took my favorite photo and picked a TinyPrints design that matched it well and had fonts I liked. We spent so much time choosing a name and it fits our daughter so well, so I made sure to pick a design that had her name large and easy to read. I live close to much of my family, and hand delivered some, but mailed others simply because I wasn’t going to be seeing certain people for a few weeks.
Hi Kate,
First of all you make pretty babies! I only have 1 boy but if I decide to have more I would love to have ONLY boys.. they are the best!
I have a quick question about your patio.. Are you going to share the plans for your side table and also the moss monogram art you created? Cant wait to see them!
thank you!
Adorable pics! Love the difference in trends.
For our oldest, we went with a collage of our own amateur photos on the standard 4×8 from Shutterfly – I think that I had a code for 25 free then another code that I used to get 25 more. We’ve discovered that 50 is our perfect order number for Christmas cards and announcements (same list of people), but we have a pretty large family to send to.
For our youngest (now one), we went more “all out” since she’s our last. We had newborn pics taken and my cousin does beautiful hand lettering so she designed our announcement (full color, front and back) and we ordered those on matte cardstock from mpix.com. With coupon codes, it really wasn’t that expensive and for the last kiddo, it was worth it. We ordered 50 again and had about 5 left.
I love this. No kids yet but I love getting great ideas except I have a feeling I will be so overwhelmed that I’ll keep it simple.
Your boys are all so adorable and I love all the announcements. I don’t have any children yet but I will probably go with Shutterfly or Minted or who knows I may be able to design my pwn by then.
hahah! this is fantastic!
Sad to say but I can’t remember how we announced the birth of our oldest (he’s 21) but I do remember making his brothers announcement. We took a picture and Costco did the rest. I we may have ordered 25 but only sent our a few.
Such precious boys you have and they all weighed a nice healthy weight. My guys weighed 7 and 8lbs and I thought that was big. I can’t imagine giving birth to four little ones weighing over 8lbs.
I think we ordered 25 for our son. We don’t have a lot of family and I only sent announcements to our friends who already had kids. I used Shutterfly and ended up only paying S&H through a combination of promos and discounts. I feel like for the next, we will only print one for the baby book. Social media kind of does the announcing for free these days.
I love all your announcements!
Oh, and we printed about 50 because we sent them off along with our Christmas cards. We have a professional photo printer so we printed them at home- its how we do all of our cards.
Katie! Congratulations on Max. He is so beautiful! It’s been fun following along with his birth since I just had my own little guy a week before you. We just ordered 50 of the announcements that I made on pic monkey. I ordered them with envelopes to be printed at Meijer. I had one all ready to go through tiny prints but couldn’t bring myself to spend almost $100 on them!
Such handsome boys. Love the pic with Max, very sweet. Mom brain is real which is why I can’t tell you how many announcements I had. With my first I was an editor at a magazine during night shift and I may or may not have used company time, resources and a graphic artist to edit and design and print out a gazillion announcements on heavyweight paper while holding up production 🙂
Fast forward 12 years to 2nd baby and I did the free shutterfly thing…well I was going to but after designing it I may or may not have captured a screenshot and printed off a few through CVS for pennies. Actually I couldn’t decide between 2 designs so I printed both. Yay for cheap!
I ordered a bazillion (well, it seemed like it) for our son, Luke, who is now 2 years and 2 months old! Trying to conceive number two (not going so well this time around, but fingers’ crossed). I don’t think I would order as many next time around…and I certainly hope my hormones would be in better check and I won’t be as tempted to buy the entire CD of pics they take in the hospital. They were perfect to me then, now, I look at them and think “why didn’t I just buy a few of the best ones?” Crazy new mom hormones. Beautiful, beautiful. Love all your announcements!
We used Sam’s club for our’s. I also used them for birthday invitations and they turned out decent.
With my first, I with both kids, I ordered them from Wal-Mart and used pics from our newborn photographer. The first had one all devoted to him. The second was part birth announcement part Christmas card since she was born in November. Poor second born has to share everything! 🙂
Love all the sweet birth announcements! Since you asked about mine. I have two boys. Boy #1 I ordered 50 announcements from Shutterfly. For boys #2 I ordered 20 announcements from Persnickety Prints. IF (and that’s a big if) I have another baby, I would probably go with Persnickety Prints again or order from Minted.
These are adorable! I love VistaPrint as well, but I also discovered GotPrint.net….you CAN’T beat their prices:) Although you do have to order 100 or more but for $25, their quality and turnaround is amazing! I design all my things with my Etsy shop (chelscreationsdesign.etsy.com) and print through them or CostcoPhotoCenter.com….same kind of amazing quality but you can order 25 front and back cards with envelopes for $17.25!!! 🙂
I think it’s funny you say they don’t look like that anymore, isn’t the point to remember how they looked as newborns?
Also mommy brain, I don’t remember how many announcements we printed
I used Costco and plan on doing so with Christmas cards this year. Really high quality paper, cute design (double sided even) and a great price!
My sister is professional photographer so she did the designs for all my announcements. The first two I printed as photos myself so they were super cheap. My third was spoiled, he had professionally designed and printed cards. For all three of our kids I sent out 75 – 100 birth cards, a birth card for everyone who gifted us after the birth. We have extremely generous family and friends!! Your announcements are all beautiful. I like LJ’s the best, the colours anf fonts used are gorgeous.
you do have beautiful boys!! I have 3 girls and wouldn’t know what to do with a boy……you and Jer are doing an amazing job and all the best for the future with So. Many. Boys
I love all of yours! And you’re so on the ball getting these out already! I’m so impressed.
Oh my goodness! Meghan, that’s hilarious!! Always love a good sense of humor and that one will get laughs for years!!
I guess that is the point but it’s just funny to me that I am zero for three so far 🙂
xo – kb
Yes! On the docket!
xo – kb
Shameless self promotion here, but I made these beautiful birth infographics for both my girls. They’re in their rooms printed on wood blocks & they absolutely love them. I love the inclusion of the little “On this day” details and think they’ll be something they’ll always treasure.
http://www.etsy.com/au/listing/238259800/personalised-custom-birth-notice
My daughter was born early December so i designed, printed and cut out announcements that doubled as Christmas ornaments! I even put a ribbon on them. They were circular and two sided. Eventually I had a real ornament made from it in porcelain so that we have a permanent one for our tree 🙂 This time around baby boy is due before Halloween-so i’m sure a costume will be involved!
They’re all gorgeous, the boys and the cards. My favorite is Weston’s then Max’s.
I am a terrible mom… I don’t even remember! I know I made announcements for my 3rd but for the life of me I can’t remember with my other two! Granted they are 9 and 7, so it’s been a while….
But how can I not remember?!
Meghan, that is awesome and really creative!!!
Love the variety in announcements and props to you for getting it done already!
For my now 3yo boy we used a photo a pro photog friend took, ordered from tiny prints and sent them out to every family and friend I could think of before my maternity leave was up. Had boy #2 just about 5 months ago and took my own photos this time and once again ordered enough announcements to send to people far and wide. But, gah! I haven’t gotten around to actually addressing them yet and I fear its almost getting too late to send a birth announcement?
1. Way to make another beautiful babe!!
2. Charlie – 100 announcements from vista print – still have around 40!
Quinn – custom trifold announcement – we were insane and couldn’t choose 1 pic….I think we fit 5 on there!!!
All 4 of the birth announcements look great! And I must say, you guys are fantastic baby namers! Classy, not too trendy but not too obscure. I admire all your boy’s names a lot.
Anyway, for our daughter’s birth announcement we just used Target’s online photo service, super simple and affordable. They definitely weren’t anything too fancy, but they worked. We also had the announcements serve double duty and used them as baby shower thank you cards. (I did not feel like addressing any more envelopes than I absolutely had to.) We did do a newborn photo session with her so we used one of our favorites from that.
I think we used Shutterfly for my daughters birth announcements because we wound up with a billion coupon codes, but normally we order printed stuff through an online print shop called Cat Print. Awesome company – reliable and good prices. We’re very nice when I was ordering wedding invitations and called to ask questions like, “Now the cream, how creamy is it?” Called my husband once before processing our order because hey noticed he’d uploaded a low res photo, and still got it done on time.
Can you believe I didn’t order or make any birth announcements?! I’ve got 2 little ones and it just didn’t happen. I had good intentions both times but those first few weeks are such a blur I never managed it and decided I didn’t care enough later to ever go back and make any. Oh well. I love receiving them from others but I don’t mind that I didn’t make any. Weird?
My children are grown and have gorgeous children of their own now. I just had to add here that you have adorable littles. Each one so cute and individual…and I love the thought of saying “okay Bower boys get in the car”….or whatever. KWIM? Bower Boys…cute way to call at once. Silly me.
I love these! It is so fun to see them and compare to what your boys look like now. I made our own announcement an printed them as a photo from Walgreens. I have a large family so I had to keep costs down. I have the picture hanging in our daughter’s room along with a picture of our dog using the same bedding 🙂