Sometimes I wonder why new parents still bother sending out birth announcements. Between phone calls, texting, and social media, friends and family can be informed of a baby’s arrival before mom even leaves the delivery room.
But it’s tradition. Something for the scrapbook. And a way for our nearest and dearest (plus a random great aunt or two) to admire our sweet babies every time they open and close their their refrigerator doors.
Before Asa was even born, we knew we would send birth announcements via snail mail, and we knew we would order them from Minted. We even had a professional newborn photo shoot scheduled for the week after his birth.
It’s hard to admit this, but when I first saw the photos from Asa’s newborn session, I was disappointed. Not necessarily with the quality of the images, but with how I looked. And, unfortunately, with how Asa looked in many of the shots. Our photographer was able to do some additional retouching, but she couldn’t change the fact that Asa had been awake and cranky for nearly the entire shoot or that I had chosen outfits that didn’t flatter my still-mushy midsection.
Sigh. We’re our harshest critics, aren’t we?
It was only slightly easier to pick a birth announcement — but that’s because Minted offered too many beautiful options! I must have spent hours on reviewing all of our choices (so many open tabs in my browser!), using their Find it Fast™ feature try possible photos in many cards at once.
Some of our favorite birth announcements included this, this, and this, but we ultimately decided on this birth announcement because of the playful hand-drawn elements. And since I felt strongly that Levi should be included on the card somehow, we added a family photo on the back. (I’m not crazy about what my right hand is doing, but I absolutely love how Levi is inspecting his baby brother.)
As always, I had such a positive experience working with Minted and would recommend them to anybody in the market for birth announcements. That’s why I’m excited to be partnering with them for a fun giveaway: One lucky reader will win 75 Minted birth announcements!
No baby? No problem! The winner can put the monetary value of the prize towards anything on Minted’s website.
To enter, simply follow the Rafflecopter prompts in the box below. This giveaway will close on Thursday night, and the winner will be notified on Friday. Good luck!
PS - Levi’s newborn photos (unlike Asa, he slept nearly the entire time and gave us lots of gassy smiles!), and my top 10 newborn essentials.
Julia
Funny that you were insistent on putting Levi’s pic on Asa’s announcement. I was adamant that we NOT put Seth’s pic on Ari’s announcement (though we did include Seth’s name as the “proud big brother.”) As a second child myself, there are practically no pictures of me as a baby- just a few of my three year old sister with me in the background. Granted things were different in a time when you were limited to 24 or 36 pictures per roll of film, but I was very mindful that I want Ari to look back and have some things just for him. Everyone’s perspective is a little different, I guess.
Brie
I’m literally in the process of ordering my son’s birth announcement cards. Meaning, I can’t make up my mind on which one I want so I’m reading blogs in-between looking at my options. I was thinking the same thing – why do we even bother in this day and age, but I need thank-you cards for Sully’s baby shower so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and write thank you notes on the backs of the birth announcement cards.
And yes, we are our own harshest critics. 🙂 I need to work on that.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Such a precious birth announcement – great choice with the pictures and the card design. See you in a few days! 😉