[i] LoveLife

INSPIRATION - hello baby book

HELLO BABY BOOK. Ok. This isn't NEW... but it's GOODNESS. And with the GOODNESS - I am going to include some KINDNESS...

This is my HELLO BABY book. It's a non-traditional and really good-looking "baby book" kind of idea that I designed when my first daughter was born. (Pilot, the kid on the left.) I'm THE WORST at keeping track of the month-by-month stuff, but I wanted a good-looking place to keep track of the stuff MY HEART REMEMBERS. The good stuff. Not when they ate solid food. The stuff that makes them incredible. LIFE. In no particular order or structure.

I get a lot of email questions about this book. Especially lately. It's printed at BLURB. That saves me from having to print a million and sell 3 lonely copies and store 9.99 million in an expensive storage facility (because that kind of thing happens). It also saves me from having to charge BIG shipping rates because I live close to the North Pole. It's not what I would do in a perfect world BUT it's the BEST solution. Believe me - I wish it was less costly because I would give them to everyone I know. I made it available publicly BECAUSE I THINK IT'S A GREAT BOOK. Not because I'm looking to make money. Every time a book is sold - I make just enough to buy a peppermint latte and know that somewhere there's a small person being celebrated and remembered in a way that will make that small person grow into a BIG PERSON THAT FEELS LOVED AND APPRECIATED.

And guess what! It was featured on Ohdeehoh yesterday! (Super cool.)

Thanks so much Ohdeedoh!

Basically, this is a baby book that you can start at any age. It's a coffee table book. It's a big, glorious hardcover. There are no age specific slots to fill in or cliches to gawk at. No baby rattles junking up the aesthetic. It's simple. There are a bunch of pages at the front to give a background and intro of your small person and then the rest of the book is big, bold, black + white spreads left open for you to document, journal, scrapbook, record, remember, eternalize WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT - the good and messy stuff that makes growing up so amazing.

Hello babies....

I am pleasantly pleased when I pull out the books from time-to-time to see that ALL THE THINGS I WANTED the book to be good for - IT IS. It's working for me. I let the girls colour in them. I tape things into them. I staple. I pour my heart out...

...because when they are old enough to understand - I desperately want these two small people (plus the one on the way) to know that THEY ARE LOVED. That they have ALWAYS BEEN LOVED. That THEY BROKE ME and BUILT ME and MADE ME and CHANGE ME and FILLED ME in ways that I will never be able to express twenty years from now... except by documenting the little steps + stumbes along the way. Each bit of my heart at a time.

This is the kind of book that lasts from babyhood to adulthood. Sigh...

 
You can learn more about HELLO BABY books here. The original HELLO BABY BOOK is a large hardcover version. 13 x 11 inches. HELLO BABY SIZE SMALL is a small (7x7 inch) soft cover version.

You can BUY HELLO BABY here.

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I included this in the INSPIRATION week because I love the three little reasons I was INSPIRED to make it. I also love that the Universe spent a lot of energy trying to direct my attention to HELLO BABY this week. Way cool. Thanks Ohdeedoh, too. In the spirit of GOODNESS - leave me a comment about something these books INSPIRES IN YOU. I have two HELLO BABY SIZE SMALL books to give away and a couple of other things for some randomly chosen winners that I will choose at noon Friday November 19 CST.

GOODNESS is here right now.

Today: We are off to make memories and they will include small sized hot chocolates with whip cream. And glitter. And quality time not worrying about emails or clocks or all of that other jazz.

GO!

Studio 54 + baby books.

My girl tribe and I regularly pretend that house90 is a studio54. Who doesn't appreciate a colourful wig and some dance music? (Well, DAN. That's who.) Penn + Pilot love the idea of dressing up - no matter what the theme or occasion. These photos are our disco fairies. We also have techno bears. And mega nerds. And tribal ballerinas. The DIFFERENCE between the girls is that Pilot goes incognito for 2 seconds and then immediately starts shouting IT'S PILOT - LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME IN MY ORANGE WIG!! I'M PILOT!!!! But Penn works it like a comedic pro - ALWAYS sporting this completely innocent, slightly baffled look that seems to say, "what, do I have something in my teeth?".

I am quite proud of myself lately as I have been diligently filling the girls HELLO BABY books with the gushy life stuff that helps me to document how awesome they are and how they have changed our lives. The HELLO BABY books are perfect for someone like me who is not all crazy about the details, but has lots of overflowing memories to remember about the radical life-changing stuff. I can pick up the books and write when I please - with the prompts and spaces leaving each entry to colour itself in a new way. I. LOVE. THESE. BOOKS. SO. MUCH. Going through Pilot + Penn's made me laugh and cry and remember all the little things that ATE SOLID FOOD AT 4 MONTHS just doesn't cover. I need to order a HELLO BABY book for Baby3 so that I can get started. I already have so much to tell her. I can't wait to give them to the grown up versions of our kids... I wish my mom had one of these books for me.

Today: I'm tired of fighting with yesterday's painting so I am going to run errands and be productive in other ways LIKE FINDING A DOG SITTER for our two mutts (any takers?). We are going to try another attempt to make it to Florida this Saturday. My passport should be ready tomorrow and I've decided to screw the idea of being perfectly organized and give this a whirl as my regular seat-of-my-pants self. Screw the small stuff. More coffee.

GO!

Hello again. Monday edition.

HELLO AGAIN! In the past, I have gone head-to-head with an unruly clump of irises in our front yard. Every year I assault them to make room for other more beautiful things and EVERY SINGLE YEAR I lose the botanical death match. FINE. I am embracing surrender. This weekend I let out a little YEEHAW of joy at the site of these little teeny sprouts peaking through the doom + gloom that means winter is over. As much as I love winter - there is a small part of me that also loves flips flops. I'm not so hot on short-shorts, but that's simply out of kindness for other. ;)

HELLO BABY! Took me long enough, but I did it. A little while back I designed a book to keep track of each member of my girl tribe's growth and experiences. Some people would call it a BABY BOOK. This weekend I finally got the time to put together a generic version that is available for purchase on the Blurb website. I got a lot of requests for this book. The public version is a 160 page, 13 x 11 inch coffee table book meant to be a place to record stories, notes and accomplishments for a long, long time. A LIFE TIME. There are some standard information spots and some fun fill-in-the-blanks and then a whole bunch of opportunities for all kinds of people to write notes to AND ABOUT the person. And room to sketch. And stick photos. From the dedication...

" I am not a fan of traditional baby books. I find them incredibly short-sighted... as if to say the newness and greatness of a person comes to an end when they are no longer swaddled in pastel kittens and pups. Our lives never stop growing and learning. Our adventures and accomplishments get wider and fuller with each day's experience. I whole-heartedly believe we are never too young OR TOO OLD to be reminded of just how awesome we are or how much we're loved.

This 'designerly' book is meant to be proudly displayed and written in often. By many different people. At many different points in the life it is following. From baby to old person. There are no rules. Just plenty of fill-in-the-blanks to help document pure awesomeness in the making.

This book is not about the 'baby' but about welcoming, celebrating and savouring the PERSON whose life has just begun..."

And that is that. Take it or drop it like it's hot. It's expensive. I know. I've heard that mentioned a few times and as much as I feel like I should defend the price - it is what it is and I can't do much about it. It's also really beautiful. I've decided to print it at Blurb because they do a great job. It's a big, heavy, well-made piece of personal history. It's got a luxurious matte cover and it's just plain cool. If I do say so myself. What a great gift for someone and what a designer keepsake. I can tell you that if I had gotten this as a gift - IT WOULD BE MY FAVOURITE ALL-TIME PRESENT. In fact, I might just have another baby so I can get another book. {By printing with Blurb - I don't have to order 5000 copies and rent a storage facility for 5 years while I sit around hoping that they sell. Or charge an arm and a leg for shipping with Canada Post. Or cart a hundred pounds of books and two babies to the post office. Or send a bunch to Australia that take just over 14 weeks get there. (Thank you Blurb!)}
As much as it's great for babies - this book makes a great gift for adult children, too. Graduating children. People who are not even your children. New baby gifts. Baby Shower gifts. Anyone living a life and writing their story...

OK. YOU GET IT ALREADY. I got it. ORDER IT HERE.

This is the last week to order either a MOM TREE or an AWESOME MOM print if you want to receive it before Mother's Day. They are beautiful. You can order them here.

Today: CATCH UP. After a busy weekend Pilot, Penn and I are in need of some serious routine. Even Crash is tired (thanks Jamie!). We've got to wrangle some groceries and print-pick-ups, but mostly we just have our sights set on Friday because as of May 1st TAX SEASON IS OVER and we can have our Dan back. Instead of this corporate-reorganization GEEK. Ooops, I mean wizard. It's going to be like Christmas in May and we are SO ready.

Tomorrow: My Mother's Day wish list AND A GIVEAWAY.

Coffee up. GO!

Book it, baby.

Hi Monday! I can finally say that I have accomplished something!! While Dan was at work on Saturday (boooo!) and Pilot was upstairs clattering around in her room (grrrr!) - Penn slept peacefully in her bouncy chair keeping me company while I FINISHED A PROJECT. I've been thinking about this for a LONG TIME. For 15 months actually. I even started it a half dozen times without success. But, somewhere in the magic that was Friday and Saturday - I RE-started and FINISHED what I think is a very, very cool life project called HELLO BABY.
I have looked and looked for a baby book I loved - since Pilot was born. That was 2007. Everything was TOO FLUFFY or TOO SWEET or TOO PINK or TOO LAME or TOO JUST PLAIN UGLY. I'm also just NOT THAT INTO some of the details I found in traditional books. DO I REALLY NEED TO COLLECT BABY'S FIRST NAIL CLIPPINGS? Get serious. I don't care how much Pilot weighed when she was 2 months old. THAT, in fact, has very little to do with WHO she is and what kind of impact she has on us. Or what I want her to know about how she started out. I'm not the kind of person to keep meticulous records of 'firsts'... but I am the kind of person to put a lot of thought + heart into just the right words to describe the moments that strike and humble me. And I AM the kind of person who cares about how the details are displayed. I'm a visual snob. I admit that. I don't want treatment for it. I LIKE IT. And, once again, THIS is the kind of thing that I do. I'm a designer. It's how I can leave my mark for our beautiful girIs. I am also really PICKY about consistencies... I wanted both Pilot AND Penn to have the same kind of books. I wanted a place to doodle for them. To write to them. To let them know how fun they were and how - no matter what happens in life - THAT MY INTENTIONS are GOOD and my heart is full. That they are awesome. I wanted a book that would let our small people know that even though they started out as BABIES - they were big, beautiful, loved + adored PEOPLE to us from the very, very beginning.

I used a lot of '_______________'s where I will fill in the appropriate name with a black marker. I used check boxes and circle fills. I also used the collection of animals from the YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters because these animals are generic, but specific. I didn't use any colour - just black + white. I used humour where ever I could. I left room and space to grow. Because people grow....

[NOTE: Both of the above photos were taken when each girl was 8 weeks and 2 days old. Pilot on the left. Penn on the right. On my Mac camera. At noon. I get so many emails about how MUCH the girls look alike... but, I don't agree.]

In order to create two books (or more if we decide to have three sets of twins!) at the same time - I needed to keep them fairly generic - but, customizable. Logical - but, fun. Beautiful - but functional. Black + white - but ready for colourful details that are interesting to me (especially now with two totally different little personalities in our midst).

[Click to enlarge... this explanation is found in the book.]

The other thing that was important to me was that the book wasn't just ME filling it out and feeling like a sloppy-turd-failure when I forgot or missed stuff. AND I DO MISS STUFF. Both of my babies hospital bracelets are stuffed into our junk drawer SOMEWHERE. I wanted this to be a book that me or Dan or Uncle Kam could pick up and add a page to - or Aunty Ta Ta or BabaLuba - or Pilot or Penn themselves when the time was right. AND DAN ESPECIALLY. I wanted this to be a 'baby' book that was less about the baby and more about celebrating the PERSON who happened to start out as a baby in our arms.

There's a lot of fill-in-the-blank areas and blank spots perfect for photos or drawings or ticket stubs or stickers or whatever the heck else we collect over the years. There's also a series of repeated entry pages towards the back so that when I pick up the book it's easy to get started and get the memory completed without feeling overwhelmed or scripted. I love it. I was inspired by Keri Smith's Wreck This Journal and the Binth Baby Book and the YOU-ARE-AWESOME posters. All amazing works to spin from because I didn't feel like putting 3000 hours into finding and formatting photos or making a flawless creation. I wanted hand written thoughts and feelings. Drawings. I'm quick and spontaneous. But, I didn't feel like hand-binding or farting around with glue. OR EMBELLISHING. SO THEN I turned to BLURB which goes something like this: design a book, upload it - they print it, assemble it and send it back. I can order as many or as few as I please. PERFECT.

Here is a bit of a preview...

The finished size is 13 x 11 inches with a hard glossy cover. There are 192 pages filled up with neat things AND GREAT DESIGN. I'm excited. I ordered two books on Saturday afternoon and they should be here around the 20th which means I can finally get started (and proof them!). CHECK that off my list. After I make a few adjustments I will be able to print the book 100% completely generically so that ANYONE could use it (at this time I have a few pages with the KOSTENCHUK name and a dedication to Pilot + Penn at the front). I will probably make this available for sale BUT THE KICKER IS THAT IT IS NOT CHEAP. No ma'am. For me to print a book for myself cost about $140 US. Which is definitely more than I would pay for any of the other baby books I ever came across. But, I never came across one like this. So, to me - it's worth it. (It would make great gifts for those new mama's who have everything.)

Triple Arm Pump for getting big projects done. I'm proud of myself and I rewarded ME by eating LOTS of cheesecake (thanks Erin!). Busy weekend around here and that's alright because we're getting the hang of ripping around like weasels and ENJOYING IT.

Today: Me and my girl tribe have some running around to do - which is mostly just a little bit of visiting and tiring Pilot out so she naps on her regular schedule this afternoon. I'm bound and determined to get my exercise bike setup in the basement with the baby monitor so that I can exercise when the opportunity presents itself. I am still running outside (and have shaved over a minute and 40 seconds off my per mile time thank you very much WOOT WOOT!), but I can't very well run while Pilot + Penn are napping because Crash is a delinquent babysitter and there is a risk that I might make it to the highway and just HEAD WEST like an escaped pony. It's only a small risk, but I'd hate for that to happen now that we've made so much progress. ;)

Alright. I'm on it. GO!