Making a Blog Book

Only because you asked. I've tried before using other sites, but it seems that it just took your blog and slapped it in book form with little creative control. So, here's what I am going to do to make this blog into a keepsake book for Oliver. I "borrowed" most of these instructions from other bloggers who have forged before me into this realm.

I am going to make this blog into a 8x10 full color, hardbound book. Once I get it all done I will post photos of the final result.
Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to http://www.blurb.com/. Prices vary depending on the size of your book and the number of pages.

2. Create a free membership with a username and password then download Blurb's "booksmart" software. It's in the orange rectangle on their site. This is the software you'll use to make the book.

3. Open the Booksmart program, and click Create a new book. It'll ask you to choose the size you want. You'll then choose a background theme.
4. It will ask what layout you want and you'll choose "Blog to Book." It asks for your blog username and password. It will list all your blog posts, and you check all the ones you want included. I am going to put Oliver's blog all in one book, but when I get ready, I will divide our Family United blog into years.
It uses a default layout with a text box and a spot for 6 pictures. You can choose a custom layout if you have more pictures

Oliver Without His Hands in His Mouth

...and it wasn't easy to take photos without them in his mouth. My mother commented that Oliver has his fingers in his mouth on most of his photos so I decided to take some photos of Oliver sans fingers.

Oh, and that's applesauce and oatmeal on his face.

On a side note...since our journey to Oliver has come to an end and our journey as a family of 4 is beginning, I will be sending this blog to the publisher to be printed in book form and blogging only at A Family United. This change should take place within the next month.

This Boy Likes to Eat!

Church

We attended church today--all 4 of us. We were surprised to find out that our church was honoring the adoption of Oliver. They placed a special rose on the center altar and made a special announcement at the church service. Oliver got a round of applause.  Everyone was so nice and they also made a big deal out of Chloe becoming a big sister. It was great.

We've been asked to give a testimony on our adoptions at church service. I am not sure if we will, we will have to see.

Picture Day

Since my sister is still here to help me out, I decided to take both Chloe and Oliver to have their pictures taken today. Here's what we got for Oliver...

At Home Update

First, Oliver did great on the flights home. He slept most of the time and we landed at JFK around 8 a.m. We stayed up and tried to keep Oliver as awake as possible to get him adjusted to his new time zone. He improves each night but is sleeping from 7 p.m. until around 3 a.m. when he wakes for a feeding. He then goes back to sleep until about 7:30 a.m.

He is a happy and easy-going baby and we are so happy. Chloe is very interested in him and wants to bring him to school for show and tell! We have had a few meltdowns but we try to remind Chloe each day that she is doing a great job sharing mommy & daddy with her brother.

Oliver loves to eat and is currently taking an 8 oz. bottle every two hours! Yikes! It's constant feeding around here.

I mentioned the pollution in Addis Ababa and how it played havoc on mine and Matt's sinuses. Monday I got a full-blown sinus infection and went in to see the doctor yesterday. I am on an antibiotic and it seems the sinus infection moved into my eye (or I picked something up on the airplane) and has caused me to get conjunctivitus (a.k.a. pink eye) . There's lots of sanitizing and hand-washing going on around here.

My sister is still here helping us. She's suffering from a sore throat and ear ache too but has been a big help to me. Matt is back at work and I love my husband so much for being my "rock". He's been getting up very early to get home early and has supported me during some meltdowns from exhaustion and sickness.

Oliver goes to the pediatrician later this week and we are hoping for a clean bill of health.

I am going to share some videos we took while in Ethiopia. First is a short video of the first time we met Oliver. (Sorry for the wobbly video)



The next two videos are of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church Christmas service we went to on Wednesday night in Ethiopia. The couple coming down the aisle in the one video is getting married.



This video is of the priests chanting and dancing.


This video is of Matt dancing (and doing a great job) at Yod Absynnia with one of the professional dancers. For those of you who haven't traveled to Ethiopia to pick up your children---start practicing!

Last Day in Ethiopia

Today is our last day in Ethiopia. We fly out this afternoon. We stop in Dubai for a short layover and then fly on to JFK, arriving home early Saturday morning.

We went to Toukoul after we stopped at a grocery store to buy the children some chocolate. Matt was Father Christmas, handing out sweets to the children. Even the nannies and the cook came out for a treat. Wendy went into the office for us and told them that Oliver had what appeared to be an asthma attack in the night and that we wanted some medicine to take with us. They wrote us a prescription for Ventolin.

We signed the paperwork officially releasing Oliver from Toukoul's care and received a cute yellow backpack and a traditional Ethiopian outfit for Oliver. We also got a chest x-ray and some more detailed medical records on him.

We walked around the orphanage and then were taken to see Oliver's room. There were about 20 babies in the room and 3 nannies. We were told there are 8 other baby rooms just like the room Oliver was in.

The families at the gates of Toukoul.

Oliver's crib at Toukoul.

After the final visit to the orphanage we went back to the hotel, packed and had lunch and then set out to see the Mercato and the Entoto Mountains.

The Mercato was stall after stall of everything imaginable. We saw spices being sold, berbere, old light fixtures, shoes, clothing and wiring.

The Entoto Mountains were lovely. Since Christmas was the day before, very few cars were on the road and the pollution was not as bad. We could see Addis Ababa from the top of the mountain. We also saw the women carrying eucalyptus down the mountain for 15 birr a day.

After our tour, we returned to the hotel and grabbed our suitcases. We said goodbye to Jennifer and Brian, who would be staying on for one more night, and then Wendy drove us to the airport.

Saying goodbye to Addis---at the airport.