50. That’s how many pages I am currently sending to print for Kate’s scrapbook. I didn’t quite get it done, there were supposed to be a few more pages… plus the pages for her 12th month and birthday obviously can’t be done yet. But I wanted to get as much done as possible for her birthday party and by damn I did it. I busted my ass these last two weeks, which is good and bad: good because I got shit done, deadlines are the only way I can coerce myself into finishing anything; bad because I’m not 100% happy with all the pages I did. I’m happy with more than I would have thought, though. Very pleased.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this, but I do digital scrapbooking. It seemed like a cheaper option, plus for me, being a prior web designer and all, I had the tools and knowledge. So I bring my laptop to crops with my friends – much lighter to carry, as everyone else brings huge bags of gear. But the whole “cheaper” thing? I only just now got around to looking up where to print things out and oh my god. Shutterfly wanted to charge $6 per page. Let’s see, $6 x 50 = Holy Fucking Shit. Thankfully I found Persnickity Prints, recommended by some girls online. I’ll let you know how I like the quality, but they look good, flat rate shipping, and only $2 per page. That’s still a chunk of change for this scrapbook, but not more than I would have spent on paper and supplies.

My stress level has been ratcheting up these last few days as I felt the deadline pressing in, knowing I had to send the pages to print several days before her birthday to allow for shipping time. Kate has been less than thrilled by my lack of attention, but she’s been pretty good about occupying herself. I promised her I’d make it up to her… not that she can understand me or anything. Den, too, has been getting irritated with my total inability to do or think of anything else, but he at least understands why.

Today I had to get the last page finished and then get them all uploaded, not a problem, I figured I’d do it while she took her nap. Except she utterly refused to nap. We have a party to go to this evening and then we’re going to pick my mom up from the airport, so today is not a day to screw around with naps to start with. And I needed that time!! I spent two damn hours in her room while she ran laps around her crib (I wish I was kidding – she was toddler-walk-running from one side of the crib to the other, laughing. When she got bored of that she started throwing her paci out of the crib, always good for a laugh… for 2 seconds until she freaks out because she doesn’t have a paci. Then she finally layed down and I thought she was going to sleep… I actually think I dozed off, myself. But surprize! she sits up and starts crying. Either teeth or congestion or just not wanting to nap, I don’t know. Anbesol, hugs and rocking… and she perks right up, starts babbling, and tries pushing away from me to run out the bedroom door. Yeah. Not happening. So yes, two hours of this. I finally got up and left. I was just so frustrated and frazzled and getting really irritated with her. I took a shower and then turned up the music while she cried. She finally must have realized she was in fact tired because she fell asleep and has been out for over an hour and a half.

But the scrapbook is now as done as it’s going to get for the moment and the pages are uploading as I type. Here’s some samples. Maybe I’ll upload all of them at some point.