Saturday, May 2, 2009

But Mel... what about your old blogs?!

Hey.  WHAT IS THAT?!  What are those cute books on Melanie's bookshelves?!  
Ohhhhh, let's look a little closer.  C-U-T-E!  

Why they even have "Volume1, volume 2", and so forth on the bind!  

And this is one of the covers!  So cuteiful.  
When I was so sad that I would have to delete my blog, I wasnt' able to think straight about what my options were.  Jessi just sprang into action!  

She found a service called blurb and had my entire blog copied and published into these big books!  That way, I could have these memories forever and ever without those who were scrutinizing and picking apart my past blog posts (out of context, I might add) would no longer have the subject matter.  I know, I know, I never really went into all the what's and why's and won't now either!  Just know that I HAD to delete the blog before it became a big ol' mess.  

Now Jessi is CLEAR that I am a control freak... when it comes to my artsy stuff!  I would consider this kinda artsy!  But she also knew that I was pretty blue during that time!  I really like blogging and not doing so made me sad.  Even worse was that I was facing the possibility of losing ALL of my hard work over the past year and half or so.  SO, Jessi made the wise decision to just go ahead and pick out the pictures she thought best summed up the details of each book.  

I loved her choices.  See?  Here they are as a group. 
I arranged these all over my kitchen counter for your viewing enjoyment.  
By having these, I don't have to totally lose all the pictures, and better yet, all the little stories that went with the pictures.  
They are actually much bigger than they appear here.  


But by having them, I still have a record of all of these important moments/ events.  

Like... the day Gabbi Girl was born!  
And that it was 10:11 , a little "you are welcome" from Jake.  
Or the time we took Ellie on a 17 hour road trip to Wisconsin, and took her to see her great grands in the land of corn! 
or the onesies that Miss Jean insists on putting on Gabbi twice a week! 
ANd now I can remember the sweet photos I took when Gabbi was celebrating her 4 month old happy day! 
Oh no... then there was this... New Years' Eve and our first set of stitches. 

But at least the night STARTED out fun! 
These books help me remember the day Ellie was dedicated to the church....
and her first trip to the pumpkin patch.
and how much fun my family seems to have on a countertop!
This is the day we officially took Ellie home.  Gaggi was only a couple of weeks old!  Remember Ellie tried to sign her own declaration!?
And we were one proud little family!
I like the books, because they serve as cool little scrapbooks with all the text to describe what was going on at the time.  Even if all that crap hadn't happened with my blog, I am glad I found out about blurb, because now I have an ACTUAL thing to pass onto my girls.  Who gets what?!  They'll have to duke it out!
Oh, and remember my needle felting phase?!  
And the first time DeeDee adn Granddad got to see Gaggi Gull.  (but pretty much stayed under attack by Ellie!)
And... WHO could forget the fingernail polish episode and TOdd's MASTERY of the carpet stain?! 
These are just priceless!  Gabbi and Ellie's first days together!
Yep.  In a way, I am glad it all happened.  It forced me to find out about these...
And thanks, Jessi, for making the perfect covers for all the books. 
Oh, Hello there, Masson.  She is modeling the books for you so you could realize how BIG they are!  Seriously, think extra wide encyclopedias!
Awww... remember Breckenridge?  and Gabbi as a little indian... at only 2 months old?!  and priss pot in her boots and tutu?! 
Ahhhhh, sweet memories! 
Melanie

22 comments:

Lisa said...

Thank you for sharing! I love the computer but to me, nothing beats a "book" - what a great way to have all those memories right at your fingertips!

Michele said...

How cool is that??? Jessi is so awesome! Is that why she has fallen off the blog-wagon? I just thought she may have gone to the same beach Stacy went to last year.

Anonymous said...

What a GREAT idea, WTG Jessi! I was wondering about your old blog and if you just deleted it, etc because it had soooo many important events of those sweet girls, milestones, etc...Thanks for sharing your life with us Mel, you rock!LOVE the books

Martha from NC said...

Oh my goodness - the books are absolutely priceless!! That Jessi is one smart cookie! I would never get anything done because I'd be looking through those awesome books all the time. Your family is beautiful and you have so much fun.
Have a great weekend dudes!!

stephleighjenkins said...

That is so cool! I love that you have those printed now. Great idea Jessi! She gets props for that!

Kat said...

What a treasure for the girls to have!! And what a gift Jessi is for you! The books are absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for sharing them!

Mendy said...

Very cool!! BTW first time commenting...
Mendy

tricia said...

What a wonderful idea! Thanks for sharing. Jessi is awesome

snekcip said...

Awesome!! I found out about BLURB via another blog and had some pictures downloaded as a gift for my daughter's FIRST Mother's Day this year! *YEAH I KNOW, I'M STILL PUTTING A SCRAPBOOK TOGETHER FOR HER AS WELL* (there's a bird)HA! ANYWHO I really loved the book I put together for her! I'm definitely a fan of BLURB now!! Thanks for sharing, Jessi, is a WONDERFUL SISTER!

Unknown said...

That is awesome! I am not a blogger but my sister is. I am definitely going to turn her on to this little tidbit! Glad you didn't lose your blog! Incidentally, I believe I read every word of every one of your blogs, looked at every picture and watched every video you ever posted. I loved every minute of it and was not offended or taken aback by one single thing. It's hard for me to imagine anyone scrutinizing and criticizing anything anyone posts on their blog...unless of course the offended party is being forced at gunpoint to read it. In other words, if you don't like it, don't read it...DUH!! Sounds to me like there are folks out there that need to GET A LIFE instead of picking apart someone else's. Enuff said!

Melissa said...

I am so glad you posted this!
I was wondering how well blurb did blog books!

The girls are just precious!

MLP said...

You always come through when I make a request!!! I guess I wasn't the only one requesting this I bet!!!

LOVE love LOVE your books!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my Goodness. Priceless!!! I need books like that ~and~ I need Jessi!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You guys ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tisha said...

How cool is that!!! Jessi is an awesome friend to have. You are truly blessed.

Beth E. said...

I never knew something like this existed! Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

That Jessi totally ROCKS...you ARE giving her a RAISE for this, aren't you? ;o)

melinda marie said...

I agree ~ if Jessi hasn't been given a raise she deserves one! :o) i LOVE the way that they turned out.... so did Jessi manually do each layout AND NOT include every picture?

Thanks!
Melinda

Q's NEWS said...

Wow - what an awesome thing for Jessi to do! She is definitely a keeper! And now you've shared it with all of us so we can have them done, too! Thanks so much!

Happy Weekend!
Susan

Emily said...

I absolutely LOVE these books-AWESOME IDEA and I love it that something GREAT came out of the whole nonsense. Shelbi loved that the girls came out to see her play ball today. Ellie climbed right up on the bleacher with me and rested that little braceleted hand on my knee just like she hung out with me all the time-made my day!!! Of course I had to laugh out loud when I looked down and she had laid her blow pop on my shorts as if they were a countertop or something-perfectly Ellie Sue!!!!

Bobbi said...

I am not a blogger, but I read your blog every week. Mel, I find you delightful and your family is beautiful. I love the way you enjoy the girls, it is just the way a mom is suppose to love.

Nana's Joy said...

I love your books.What a great keepsake.
We're giving my Mom a 80th birthday party next month and had checked into having the pictures from the weekend made into a book. I hadn't thought about having a blog printed. Good idea.
Your girls are so cute and growing so fast. I always enjoy their stories.
Thanks for sharing.
Judy

Avery's Mommy said...

oh i am dying to do this to my blog! how much does jessi charge???

Tammy said...

What a beautiful keepsake, I love them, and all the covers are wonderful!! I bet I've read every post and seen every picture also, and I enjoyed every one! Everything happens for a reason right? I know you keep those under lock and key. Hugs from Fort Worth!

Kendall Family said...

L-O-V-E the books - what a great idea - they are treasures.