Cheers to 2009

Cheers to 2009! May your new year be filled with surprises, smiles, and special moments.


I have instructions for you for 2009. Fairly simple, read on.

1. If you're having a baby or getting married or graduating in 2009, please consider BuddyBoo Stationery as an option for your announcements, shower invitations, wedding invitations and programs, or party invitations. You won't regret it.
   
2. If you're not having a baby or getting married or graduating, please share BuddyBoo with others you know. Everyone has a million contacts, I'd like all one million to know about BuddyBoo.
   
3. Take a moment to remember all the events in your life in 2008. Even the not-so-fun ones (we all have 'em). Learn from all of those moments.

As always, share the blog...share my site.

Jean

BuddyBoo is going to the Moms 2 Mom Expo

Hi everyone

I'm attending the Moms 2 Mom Expo in Brooklyn Park on Saturday, January 10, 2009. This event is filled with resources for you. I invite you to come check it out!

The Moms 2 Mom Expo costs $5 to enter and all proceeds go to a mother in need. This year's mom is Amy Taylor who is in the last stages of cancer taking over her body. Her Caring Bridge site is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor.

Moms 2 Mom Expo

Grace Fellowship Church

8601 101st Ave. N.

Brooklyn Park 55442

Doors open at 9:00 and show closes at 3:00.

As always, surf my site, pass along my blog, spread the word.

Jean
BuddyBoo

High-Functioning Autism Through Mom’s Eyes

I might have some more people seeing this blog now. I sure hope so anyway. Can I have your attention for a few minutes? Do you want to learn something new?

The media has done a wonderful job of getting the word "autism" into homes and conversations. Cameras have followed families and young adults into their private and personal lives to show how autism has an effect on more than just the individual challenged with it. The camera has shown fear and frustration on children who have so much to offer but can’t verbalize it. It has shown exhausted mothers and fathers trying to find ways to cope with challenging behavior at the grocery store or in a restaurant. Celebrities have told their stories of success, failure, opinions on therapies and causes. You’ve heard some of this, right?

What the media hasn’t shown yet, at least from what I’ve seen, is those people who will fall through the cracks unless someone is a strong advocate and never rests.

What does high-function autism (HFA) mean anyway? Is it different from Aspergers? What about PDD-NOS? For our family it means we feel blessed to have a child who speaks and is considered very high functioning. He has a lot of struggles getting the right words out and often ends it abruptly with, “Nevermind.” Sometimes I see it as a form of silent autism because so many people have no clue our son has any special needs.

Why do I use the term silent?
When he scratches his back it’s not because it’s an itch. There are hives covering his entire torso because he’s worked up about something happening and internalizing his fear/worries/anxiety. But you see him scratching an itch.

When he stomps his foot on the floor you see a kid working cause and effect. He’s doing it for the deep sensory impact it’s providing his body. Shortly after that, he’ll be jumping from the highest point of a couch or playset onto his knees. Makes me cringe just thinking about what his knees will be like at 45.

When he’s trying to tell you a story, you hear him stumble on a couple words. Those words never come to him and if he does get something out without your help, the word is wrong. An example of this is if he wants to say, “Would you like water in your cup?” it will come out, “Would you like water in your bucket…I mean, um, not bucket….I mean cup?”

Buddy was at a birthday party this past weekend. It was a bowling party, something he’s really enjoyed lately. After 2 short hours, he was ready to leave. He was overwhelmed with the lights, the music, the massive projector screen playing a movie with no sound. The arm that holds the pins while it’s pushing the tipped ones out of the way was a complete distraction. How does the ball come up that shoot? Where do those pins go anyway? Who is working the machines in the back? I had to bring him back to reality after each roll of the ball. Sure, that’s an attention-span issue, I understand that. But he’s on medication to help that. If he wasn’t on that medication, how would he have been? He’s also on another medication to help with the worries and hives, yet he still was covered in them all day yesterday.

Why do I care? Why should you?
Buddy will not fall through the cracks on my watch. He will not miss out on academics because I didn’t push to get something to happen. He will not slip into a spiral of sensory overload because I failed to recognize his needs and do that beanbag sandwich. He will not miss out on most normal kid activities because I didn’t do my research first on how he can get the most out of it without breaking down. He is my son. I do everything for him.

BuddyBoo Stationery also cares. Since inception, my first priority is to pay it forward. So with each purchase made with BuddyBoo, a donation is made to making sure autism is not a feared disorder and making sure autism research continues to move forward.

Why should you care? Because if you’re reading this, you know autism or you know me or you know Buddy. And now, officially, autism has touched your world. Please spread the word, spread this blog posting, and follow any of the links I have placed in the blog above to educate yourself more on autism and its effects on people. Most importantly, believe you can find the beauty in everything around you. I believe in the beauty in my Buddy. There is so much more to him than autism. While I need to focus on it more sometimes than not, it’s so his world can be as normal as possible so others can see his beauty as well.

Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing with someone else.

Wedding Invitations on a Budget

With the economy being the big buzz word of the season, I thought I'd share some ideas on how to make wedding invitations more economical for you. There are a number of ways you can make your invitations interesting and still get the main point across, which is, "Come to my party!"

• Reply postcards instead of a card in an envelope
  You'll not only save money on postage, but also on paper because those little envelopes cost money, too
• Reply email address!
  I recently had a couple do a custom email address and that is how their guests will respond to their party. Emailing is free for everyone.
• Eliminate that pesky piece of tissue paper - what's it for anyway?
• Have one sheet of paper for your invite - not folded
• Print the reception details on the back of your invitation
• Go with BuddyBoo Stationery. BuddyBoo works every project to become unique and economical. My goal is to make your wedding stationery talked about - it sets the stage for your event!

Visit www.buddyboostationery.com for all your stationery needs. Weddings are a special event creating memories for a lifetime. Start it off right with invitations - after all that's what your guests will see first.

Become a BuddyBoo Follower!

There is a button on the left under "I Like Fans" to help you follow my blog. Please click on this and continue to receive notifications when BuddyBoo sends a new post. And, again, I appreciate your sharing of this blog, of my website, of my capabilities.

Jean

How to Make Christmas Cards Stress-Free

Christmas is filled with parties, programs, cookies, shopping, family, friends, school vacation, more cookies, more shopping, gifts hidden everywhere, lights up, Santa sightings, .... right? Why take your own time to get your Christmas cards together? BuddyBoo Stationery is ready to create a personalized, customized, energized Christmas card to show off to your friends and family. Here's what you need to do:

1. Pick your photo
2. Decide your quantity
3. Email or call BuddyBoo
4. Work on your address list

That sounds easy, right?

Visit http://www.buddyboostationery.com/ today. Your Christmas cards are just an email or phone call away.

And here's a new challenge for you. Pass this blog address on to 5 other people you know. Anyone with the special code will receive $5 off* the total price of Christmas cards.

*Offer expires 1-1-09.

Special code: BBChristmas08

When to Send Baby Announcements

A new mom asked me this week when the perfect time is to send a baby announcement. Probably the best advice I could give right away is that when baby is just home from the hospital your spare time should be spent snoring.

The perfect time is when you're ready for it. Sometimes all it takes is a super-adorable photo to give you a jump-start into doing it and contacting BuddyBoo. Let me take care of the design and production! All you have to do is gather your mailing list.

Visit http://buddyboostationery.com/baby_announcements__birth_announcements to see some samples and get an idea of what BuddyBoo Stationery can do for you!

And remember - share the blog...

Jean

BuddyBoo

Tips for Baby Announcement Photos

I'm working on a couple baby announcements right now and thought I'd talk about some ideas I've had on taking great photos of your baby for announcements.

1. You don't need a professional photographer. You do need great natural lighting and a decent resolution on your camera. Find a window mid-day without sunlight streaming right in (you don't want to blind your bambino). A slider door is best so your baby can be right next to the best natural lighting.


2. Get close and get at the same level. If you're on the same level as your baby, you will get a more realistic angle for the audience. Getting close helps eliminate outside clutter, like the chair your baby is propped up on or part of a bookshelf in the background. Lay down if you need to get that right angle. You don't want enlarged nostrils.


3. You have a digital camera, right? Take a bunch. Don't delete until you've looked at all of them on your computer. That tiny screen on your camera won't show you the full effect of a picture.


4. Keep in mind when you're getting really close that you don't want to chop off part of baby's head or chin. Your announcement designer (I really think you should go with BuddyBoo Stationery) will be able to make those adjustments to make the whole look perfect.


5. You know that newborns have their eyes open for 3 minutes a day. Have the camera ready. So cute with eyes open, but if you really like a peaceful image of your baby sleeping, that's a decision of yours, too.


6. Pay attention to your background. With my kids I frequently used a plain-patterned blanket as a background. It helps draw the audience's eye to your baby's face, not the animal on the blanket behind baby's head.

Check out this photo below. This was taken by mom Jodie Schoenwetter from
Spring, Texas, and is absolutely beautiful. The lighting is incredible (no bad shadows), it shows the baby's personality very well, and the angle makes it very powerful.

BuddyBoo Stationery is an excellent resource for your baby announcement needs, wedding invitation needs, graduation announcements and part invitation design. Visit www.buddyboostationery.com.

Getting ready for the weekend...

I'm getting ready for the weekend and looking forward to an evening without distraction to work on a wedding program for October, work on a wedding invitation for this winter, and a baby announcement for a bambino set to arrive the end of this month. I have a lot to do and looking forward to it.

Want just one card for a birthday present? I've got a stack of initial cards already made that I need to post on my site. Pretty cool...

I'm thinking about checking out a wholesaler. Haven't researched it enough to really be serious, but hey. If I want BuddyBoo out there, that's a good place to try.

Hey, SEOs
I've also designed a company logo and company letterhead. She loves it! I've designed a flyer to sell a condo, a customized gift certificate for a CEO taking flying lessons, and lots of weddings and babies. I can't wait to start on Christmas greetings in a couple months. I have ideas for my family, just need to start creating.

First Blog for Everything

Well, this is my first time blogging. A very wise person told me if I have a passion for what I do, my business will grow to what I dream for it to become. So look out, world: here comes BuddyBoo.

That being said, what do I write about?

I'm new to this blogging site, too, so not quite sure how to spread the word on my soon-to-be blogging addiction. I'll attempt to get a link to my website www.buddyboostationery.com and then get BuddyBoo's website to link to this.

Couple things to attract attention on those magical search engine optimization tools...
I love seeing new ideas on wedding invitations. I'm doing a ceremony program for a couple in October who already had their invites done. When I asked what she wanted in her programs, she said her invites were very simple and nothing special. I received the invite in the mail and WHOAH. I loved it. I can't wait to come up with great ideas to coordinate with them.

Baby announcements are so fun for me to create because there is so much we can use as the theme. I've partnered with a great company in the Maple Grove/Plymouth, MN area and can't wait to get some business out of that relationship.

I'll leave my first post like this for now. This weekend I'll think about other things to write about. I like to tell stories, so it can't be too hard for me.

Hey. If you get sent a link to this blog, send it around! I love fans (see that link over there?) and this is a great way to keep BuddyBoo fresh in the big internet world. Send me ideas on what to blog about, too, if you have them.

Jean
BuddyBoo