He had "wrapped" it in an old baby gift bag from the basement, and I pulled out this huge book that said "So Big! A year in the life of Annie" and you could have blown me over with a feather, I was so shocked! Ben took my weekly posts and monthly letters to Annie, including all photos in each of the posts and turned it into a book using blurb. I had considered making a book, and talked to Ben about it, but he said that was just too much - now I get why :) I definitely started crying when he gave this to me!
This was a TOTAL surprise to me - Ben had been working on this since SEPTEMBER! The book is really awesome - all of the posts I wrote, all of the pictures - everything! So it's pretty massive - it's a 11x13 book and it's..... uh, 295 pages long :) ha! I love it! Ben said the upfront work at first was a lot because he was so behind, but once he caught up it wasn't so bad because he just made the pages for the week right after I posted it. I'm so glad he did it because I know if I did it, I would have just gotten so overwhelmed and just probably given up. The only people that knew about it were Nate and Molly, because Ben needed Nate's help with a few things. I'm so excited to have this - I had been feeling paranoid about somehow losing my blog, so now it's all there in print forever, and it's something Annie can read herself someday. Definitely the best gift I've ever received. Way to go, Ben :)
Here are some photos of the book!
I guess the cover photo was difficult to find - it had to be one of just Annie, with nothing important along a 1 inch border, and have space for the title - good thing there were a lot of options :)
Quite the epic tome.
Ben wrote an introduction for the book, to Annie. Tears were shed again when I read it. For those who want to read it, you can click here for a larger version of the photo.
And finally, since Ben didn't want to end with the 12 month crying photo... ha!
The back cover - awww
17 comments:
If this is something you'll share with others, I look forward to seeing it the next time I'm at your house. Looks awesome. So impressed with Ben!
Hey, it's nothing more than what I've already shared here, so of course you can see it! :)
That is amazing. What a great gift to have!
love it! is seriously need to get on to making my blurb book. oy.
he is the best!
That is awesome! What a sweet gift from Ben. So thoughtful. And he did a great job putting it together - the layout is great!
Beautiful! What a nice keepsake for you and then for Annie when she's our age! :)
And, the Husband of the Year Award goes to Mr. Ben Reichelt!
You are such wonderful, thoughtful, and loving parents. Annie is so lucky to have you both.
That's so beautiful! I love that!!! Well done!
This is the sweetest thing ever!! I love Blurb---it's the company I always use for my books, and I have a feeling Truman's first year book will be just as big. I'm glad it's not as thick as a dictionary....I was getting worried about that.
What a keeper you have!
Umm, Ben wins most awesome award for sure. This is so great!
This is seriously amazing. What a thoughtful husband you have. Such a great gift and one you can pass down to Annie!
Wow, Ben isn't lame afterall. WTG Ben!
Beautiful book :)
Wow! That's awesome!!! I really wish I would have done more documenting of my baby's first year. :(
Also--I was curious about your Mexico trip. Did you mention where you stayed? It looked almost like a house or small condo? We're trying to plan a trip this fall/early winter with our son. I'm inspired that you traveled with another couple and with kids :) That post made me start thinking about who we might be able to get to go with us!
Maria - I will be sharing LOTS more about our Mexico trip, including where we stayed, as soon as I get through all my pics. I'm hoping to get started with posting by this weekend. If you email me, I can send you info in the meantime - erinkkr at gmail dot com.
That is so cool. I hope that I'll be able to document the same way that you have. You are such a good memory keeper.
OK--cool! I'll wait for your post :)
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