2016 ALBUM: OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, DECEMBER!

Can I just say I'm a little impressed with myself for completing my 2016 album a week into 2017? High five to me. This is a bit of a picture heavy post, but it also kinda has to be since it's covering three months and I didn't really want to break it up into more than one blog post. I also haven't done the journaling yet in these photos (I prefer adding that after sharing my album with everyone and their dog), so that's why you'll see a couple journaling cards thrown around that look a bit blank and unfinished. Oh, and if you'd like to see the whole album, you can do that here.

So! October was pretty outdoorsy, with walks in the woods, a hike to the Pulpit Rock and trips to the cabin. We also went to Berlin for Graeme's 30th, a surprise gift from me to him, and we celebrated Oscar's first halloween which included pumpkin carving and him dressed as an ewok.

November didn't have the greatest weather, so it was all about being cozy indoors. It included lots of knitting (I knitted my first ever sweater! Which I'm actually currently wearing as I type!), and in general just enjoying my maternity leave and hanging out with Oscar.

The past couple of years I've made whole albums just about December (you can see the first one here and the second one here), but since I was already making this album I felt it wasn't really necessary. We decorated our tree, made a gingerbread house village, and spend as much time as we possibly could just enjoying the holidays. For some reason though, I basically didn't take any photos during our actual Christmas celebration! D'oh!

I feel like I say this in every post, but this has been such a smooth project to finish. Since I was using instagram photos and a mini album with square pockets, all I really had to do was print out my photos and add whatever embellishments I wanted. But am I making a 2017 album like this one? Yes and no. I am making a 2017 album (I've already kinda started it!), but it will be a photo book rather than a scrap book. I do however have a ton of scrapbooking supplies right now, so no doubt I'll start another project soon!

I really want to focus on having more people in my album though, as this album basically just consists of me, Graeme and Oscar. I'm terrible at remembering to take photos when I'm hanging out with friends and family, so hoping to improve on that for 2017!

2016 ALBUM: AUGUST & SEPTEMBER

Making progress with my 2016 album! For those who are new, I've been making an album out of my instagram photos this year. Seeing as the photos more or less fit perfectly in a square mini album, it's probably one of the easiest photo album projects I've ever done. Here's a recap of my August and September chapters!

The main event in August was our trip to Athens. It was Oscar's first time on a plane, and our first holiday as a family of three. We weren't really sure what to expect, but we had a great time and were happy to learn that travelling with the little one really wasn't as challenging as you'd maybe think.

September eased us into Autumn, with cozy days spent at home and the changing leaves outside. It's not my favorite season by any means, but there's just something about it that makes me want to stay home and cook and bake and spend time in the kitchen. 

Also, can anyone explain to me how this year has flown by so quickly? We're almost in December and I can't understand how that's happened!

You can see the rest of my album by clicking on the "2016 album" label at the bottom of this post, and as always, you can follow me on instagram, my username is @hildeandhercamera.

2016 ALBUM: JUNE & JULY

You know, I was doing really well with keeping up with this project. Since I'm using photos from Instagram and printing everything at home, it's a pretty simple project. But then one day, when I was printing out some June photos of Oscar, I noticed my sweet, sweet boy was coming out blue! I had run out of ink! It took me a while before I managed to remember to get new ink cartages, and then I think it took me an even longer time before I managed to remember to install said ink cartages. In fact, it wasn't until I needed the printer to print out some boarding passes that I finally got around to it. But without any further ado, here's the chapters for June and July.

To no one's surprise, the June and July chapters of my 2016 album are full of photos of Oscar. I really want to fit the whole year in one mini album, so I'm actively trying to keep things short but it's very hard. We went to my parents' cabin both in June and July, so I included a few photos from that. The rest are pretty much all photos of Oscar, and a couple of everyday shots.

Sadly, I've run out of plastic pockets now, so still playing catchup! Hopefully it won't take me as long to get them as it did with the ink, as we're already almost in September! It totally feels like fall here already, with cooler temperatures and rain. Our apple tree is full of apples, and I've noticed the leaves have started to change color. But for once I'm actually looking a bit forward to the new season, with cozy cups of tea and knitting projects. I've already started lighting candles at home. What are your plans for September?

2016 ALBUM: MAY

Another month is over! And boy, has it been a special one. It might have started out a bit slow, but it certainly got a bit busier when our little Oscar arrived. Now he rules the household and takes up majority of our time, which means that putting together these few couple of pages took way longer than normal haha. But I'm still up to date with this album, and I'm happy with that!

Its also dawning on me that there's a good chance I won't be able to fit the whole year into this tiny album, which is a bit annoying. I've tried to keep it short for each month, but I clearly need to make more of an effort there. Also, yes, it reads "waiiing game" on the above photo spread. I ran out of t's and only realized once I'd started putting down the other letters. D'oh! So the extra "i" is really just a placeholder until i get some more t's.

And now we're already in June! We were hoping to be heading to Manchester this weekend for a friend's wedding, but unfortunately Oscar's late arrival made it a bit difficult. So instead, Graeme's parents are taking the opportunity to come visit and meet their grandson. We haven't seen them in person since Christmas, so looking forward to that! What are your plans for June?

2016 ALBUM: MARCH & APRIL

I was a bit late with finishing the March chapter of my 2016 album, so I decided to just wait with the post until I was done with the April chapter too. And whoa, this means I'm actually 1/3 through this album. I swear 2016 just started?

I had a bad case of the flu over Easter so ended up spending a little too much of March in bed, and didn't really take a whole lot of pictures. April's kinda been a bit of a waiting month. I went on leave after the first week, and I've been keeping busy since. A friend of mine also came to visit for a weekend, which coincided with my surprise baby shower (they caught me totally off guard, I was just taking the dog for a quick walk when a bunch of cars filled with balloons and friends in party hats pulled into my driveway haha)! Spring's also brought us a bit of sunshine, and sunshine = walks on the beach.

We have no plans for May, as I suspect we'll be rather busy once the little one arrives! My due date was yesterday, so guess he'll be here any day now. Hopefully he won't hold out on us too long!

2016 ALBUM: FEBRUARY

Hello, and welcome to another segment of my 2016 album! So far I'm really enjoying having this as a physical album, and I can't wait to see how it develops throughout the year. I continued to keep the embellishments pretty minimal, but added a bit more handwriting this time, which I think I'll continue to do.You can see the post for January here.

February has been pretty cold, but the daylight is finally starting to stick around for a bit which makes a world of a difference. We had an awesome weekend trip to Sirdal with some friends, which was a winter wonderland. We had the best weather, Graeme and I got lots of cross country skiing done (complete with hot cocoa breaks), and lots of board games were played. I also reached the 30 week mark, and completed a couple of projects for the little one.

Plans for March include hopefully finally finish off our bedroom so we can move back into it! It's taking way longer than expected, but we got the window replaced last week, so hopefully we're nearing the end. Easter break is also coming up, but I think we'll mostly be staying at home. I suggested taking a short trip to Stockholm, but then Graeme pointed out that a) flying might not be the best idea when you're a month off your due date, and b) if we did, we'd run the risk of the baby being born on Swedish soil if he decided to come early. I immediately imagined myself in labor, essentially reenacting that scene from 30 Rock, panicking and trying to get across the border back to Norway haha. Easter break at home it is!

2016 ALBUM: JANUARY

This year I’ve decided to take a slightly different take on my monthly Instagram posts. Inspired by this blog post, I’ve decided to take the challenge and turn my Instagram account into a physical album. Because no surprise here: I love physical albums. I’ve always been inspired by those full year Project Life albums, but at the same time I know I’d get fed up and burned out and never complete a whole year. But this is doable, right?  So I got myself a mini album, and got started. And without further ado, here’s the January chapter in my 2016 mini album!

January has been a pretty cold month. We saw a good bit of snow, and temperatures got as low as -12 C. I love the snow, so I was really sad to see it go! Should see a bit more of it in a few weeks though, as we're heading up to the mountains and spending the weekend with some friends. Should be fun!

I've kept embellishments pretty minimal, but might add some later if I feel like it. I'm curious to see how this will evolve, and what my January will look like compared to my December. Hopefully it'll all fit in the same album!

To be continued!