When you’ve got a grandmother about to celebrate her 90th birthday, and you try to think of an appropriate gift for someone who has received 89 years of birthday presents, you might be a bit stumped as to what to get her. A serendipitous email from Blurb solved my problem – a photo book! Of memories! Of photos we’ll take on her birthday! How perfect.

It really has turned out perfectly. It was easy to make, the whole order was simple, and I can’t wait until she gets it in a couple of weeks. Read on further for the opportunity to win a $45 credit to Blurb.  But first, about the company and their products…

Blurb is a publishing and marketing platform that makes it easy to design, publish, market and ultimately sell professional-quality books. It’s also an amazing tool for creative types who are storytellers by nature; it enables you to customize every last square inch of your book. From the photography to the fonts, the design is entirely yours to dream up.

There are three ways to approach your work:

1.       PDF to Book gives professional users full creative reign over the bookmaking process, offering blank Adobe® InDesign® templates

2.       Booksmart makes it very easy and lays out a template for you

3.       Bookify lets you unleash your creativity from cover to cover

I used Booksmart to make my grandmother’s present. I decided to just make a photo album, but I could have entered a lot more text with the photos, and made a much more complicated project.  Take a peek, if you’d like.

Would you like to make your own Blurb book? Follow the instructions in order to have a chance to win a C$45 credit to Blurb.

1. Leave a comment on this post telling me what you think you’d like to make your book about, or who you’d make it for.
2. Leave the comment before 9pm EST on Friday October 7th.
3. Be Canadian.
4. Include a way to contact you in your comment.
5. One comment per person, please.

Soon after contest close, I’ll pick a winner and provide you with the code for the $45 credit.  Good luck!

Disclosure: I was provided with a credit to make a photo book on Blurb. I have not been compensated in any other way. My opinions are my own.

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Updated:

Random.org has selected…

Comment #7, which is Amy, as the winner. I’ll be in touch to send along the promo code. Thanks for playing, everyone.

Part of my immersion back into thinking about babies and babyhood and what babies need (gulp) has been facilitated by a new Facebook page helpfully constructed by Loblaw Inc., called Baby and You. Want to discuss pain relief during labour, organic baby food or pregnancy cravings? This is a good place to hang out (it’s sucked me in a couple of times now).

Not only does their page have discussion regarding baby and parenting topics, they also feature the latest promotional offers from the Loblaws group of stores, on the ‘Weekly Flyer’ tab.  They sometimes feature discounts on the ‘Exclusive Offers’ tab, and there’s currently a contest (on the Contest tab, of course) to win Joe Fresh gift cards. I just entered. Who doesn’t love Joe Fresh clothes, especially for the kids??

The page is also featuring two Canadian mom bloggers writing on their Mom Talk (blogger Mommy Moment) and Baby Talk (Lisa from Growing Your Baby) tabs.

Canadian parents will find this page useful in their list of ‘likes’ on Facebook. I certainly have already.

Disclosure – I am participating in the Baby and You program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Loblaw Companies. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Is third trimester ADHD a thing? Because I have it. I have no attention span. I am distracted by shiny objects, random paperwork, and most of all, the red blinking light on my Blackberry. Oooh another email. Hang on…OK. Am back. I can’t focus on anything. I can’t multi-task like I used to, so if I read tweets while watching the TV, I’ve completely lost the plot – of the show, and in my head. I’m wholly unproductive at work except for random short bursts of contribution. I shouldn’t really admit that, but heck, they are already phasing me out in anticipation of me being off for the next year anyway.

Thirty-five weeks. Well, it won’t go on much longer. And then I can blame my craptastic brain on sleep deprivation.

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We finally started talking about baby names today. Yes, just today. Good friends of ours in England produced little Archibald this morning. Which might sound funny, but hey, Archie is pretty cute. Scratch Archie off of our list. I sent Mark a short list by email his afternoon and he rejected every single potential choice (I do also recall this happening 4 years ago). So, wanna help name our kid (boy number three, brother to Oliver and Callum)? I’ll take your suggestions. Except, not Squirrel. Or Mark Jr. We generally go for more British hipster/yupster choices. Despite not really being hipsters or yuppies. Mostly. (caveat: I might not listen to any of you, and Mother, if you are reading this, I’ll let you know what we decide when he is born!)

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Mark will be in New Orleans for a week when I’ve reached 37 weeks. I’m sure that’s going to go well.

I’m not going on mat leave until I get to 38 weeks. I’m sure I’ll be feeling great then. It’ll be fine.

We haven’t unpacked a single box that was moved into the house that has the word ‘baby’ on it. I’m sure that’ll be fine too. Who needs stuff?? Plus, I did buy new diapers (both disposable and cloth). So whatever.

Oooh, that red light is flashing again. Will stay in denial and check my email instead. Squirrel!

We’ve recently made some lifestyle changes that I hope are reducing our footprint on the environment. Some of them are pretty big – like moving into the heart of the city and suddenly finding myself only driving my car once a week as opposed to every day.  Other things are smaller, like paying attention to time-of-use electricity charges that we didn’t have in our old house.

Energizer Canada, together with Evergreen,  are challenging Canadians to pledge your own small acts in their “Do Something Little, Help Something Big” initiative. Energizer will be contributing $100,000 to Evergreen to help make cities more livable, but with each additional pledge submitted by people like you, they’ll add another $1.

You may be familiar with Evergreen if you live in Toronto, as that word is often followed by the words ‘Brick Works’ (it’s a community environmental centre, and a pretty neat space). Evergreen is a national non-profit organization committed to making cities greater and more livable.

So I’m making a pledge with Energizer. Here are the five Kind Acts I’m committing to:

• Making sure lights and appliances are turned off when not in use.
• Sending more emails and notes just to check up on people (which I’m terrible at remembering to do, even if I am thinking about them).
• Only running major appliances during off-peak electricity hours even when I’m at home during my mat leave later this year, as much as possible.
• We’ll set our backyard up next summer to be able to hang our laundry outside. We didn’t quite get there this year as we moved halfway through the summer and the backyard needs some logistical work.
• After baby #3 comes along, we’ll be selling or donating all our baby clothes and baby items in order to simultaneously share the wealth, keep these items out of the landfill, and reduce the clutter in our house.

What about you? What can you pledge to do? Go visit the positivenergy website and pledge your kind acts, and let Energizer increase their donation to Evergreen. It’s positive all around.

Disclosure – I am participating in the Energizer Canada & Evergreen “Do Something Little, Help Something Big” program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Energizer Canada & Evergreen. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

I signed up to participate in the Mom Central Canada Seventh Generation Blogger Campaign because of my genuine interest in their products – I had tried their cleaning products before, but mostly I was really interested in their diapers and wipes, what with the arrival of baby 3 in under 7 weeks.

‘Green’ cleaning products were really important at our last house, as we had a septic and well system, but also because of the kids and the dog. We continue to use them today.

I’m planning on using some cloth diapers with baby 3, but I’ll also be using disposables (hey, I’m flexible) and I’m looking forward to trying out the Seventh Generation Free and Clear diapers and comparing them to the ones I used to purchase with the last baby in diapers – mostly Huggies or store brands.

If you’re interested in learning more about Seventh Generation products, or you’re like me and you love to save money, go check out the 7th Gen Nation.  As a Nation member, you’ll have access to coupons, special offers and great tips for green and healthy living.

Seventh Generation provided me with a box of goodies that you can win too. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win a 100% organic cotton Seventh Gen Eco lunch bag as well as coupons for a FREE package of Seventh Generation Free & Clear Diapers, Free & Clear Baby Wipes and dish washing products so you too can try them out.

Here’s how to enter:

1. Leave me a comment with a quick tip on how to be more environmentally conscious.
2. Giveaway open to Canadian residents only.
3. One entry per person, please.
4. Ensure your comment includes a way to contact you if you win.
5. Contest open until September 16 2011 at 10PM EST.
6. At that time or soon after, I’ll use random.org to select a winning comment.
7. Good luck!

Disclosure – I am participating in the Seventh Generation program by Mom Central Canada.  I received compensation as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own. 

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Updated Monday, September 19, for the second time:

Random.org had selected comment 3 as a winner, but that individual won the same prize on another blog. So random.org, second go-around, tells me it’s:

Comment 7 – thordora! Congrats. I’ll be in touch.

I wasn’t worried. This was his third first day of school. He already had a year of full day kindergarten under his belt. We were all slightly excited on Tuesday; he woke up early and wanted to get dressed right away, I had no trouble getting out of bed to make his lunch and start on breakfast. It was all going to be fine. We took photos on the porch.

And then we got to school and we all got overwhelmed. There were so many people and we didn’t know any of them. Everyone else seemed to know where to go and what to do. He was visibly concerned about what was going on and how none of us seemed to be able to figure it out.

Finally, I asked another parent who introduced us to the principal, who got us to check with the office. And then we knew where to go, but I still managed to get upset dropping him off for the day with complete strangers. With him not knowing a single other kid. I have never ever gotten upset dropping off my kids anywhere before – this is so not typical behaviour for me. Then, then I was worried. I was really worried all day.

He was fine. Of course he was. He had a great day. He said today was great, too. I had an email from his teacher on my way home this afternoon saying he was settling in well.

We survived the unknown and it was fine. It’s just going to get better and better. Probably.

I’m sorry, what? Hang on. I have to do this AGAIN on Friday? For Junior Kindergarten?  Where my little baby will cling to my leg and probably cry? Oh good grief.

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The unknown is my biggest stressor. What will the next few weeks bring? The known knowns: five more weeks of work, seven more weeks of pregnancy (give or take, early or late), eleven more weeks of childcare. A tightening budget. More unpacking and organizing. The unknowns, however, are many. Can I handle it all? Will everything be ok? I’m almost afraid to contemplate it all. Easier to stay in denial. And to keep the baby clothes packed in their boxes.

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I’m going to warn you now that I’ve got a lot of sponsored posts or reviews coming up in the next few weeks. I’ve been happy to accept the opportunities because they are relevant products to my existence (e.g. baby supplies) or fit with my values (e.g. environmentally friendly) and there will be a couple of decent giveaways.  There, I just gave you a known unknown. For fun.

I’m going to quit doing my Rumsfeld impersonation now. Before I contemplate any unknown unknowns and my head hurts even more.