This design is a special one, as it’s the 60th TotSites theme now available to Premium members!

Max

Patience
The first lesson of parenthood is patience. You discover you’re pregnant and then must wait almost an entire year to see your little one in person. Of course there is much to marvel at during pregnancy, but the wait can be excruciating, especially for those used to immediate gratification.

Once your baby is born, however, you learn that waiting for her birth was just the beginning of the endless cycle of parenting which requires infinite patience. She will sleep when she wants and wake when she wants. She’ll eat as much as she wants and will likely eat slower when you’re more than ready for her to hurry up. Learning patience has a purpose, however. Your baby is helping you learn to take life at a slower pace so that you can enjoy it that much more.

Forgiveness
When things go wrong in your life before children, you might have forgiven the perpetrator, but once you become a parent, you learn an entirely new meaning of forgiveness. There are two things likely to occur when you begin handling your own baby at home. The first is that you call your own mother and thank her for dealing with you as a baby. The second is you’re going to get frustrated and mad at your baby at least a few times.

She hasn’t done anything wrong – she’s just a baby and doesn’t know that 1am isn’t the best time for a play session or that poop that explodes out of her diaper is more than just an inconvenience – even at four in the morning. So no matter how mad you get that you’re now taking care of pooh emergencies instead of sleeping (again), you’ll always love your baby and constantly seek her forgiveness for thoughts she hasn’t a clue you ever had. The best forgiveness is the kind you allow yourself when you discover that no matter how hard we try, no parent is perfect – you just do the best you can to do what’s right for your baby.

Multitasking
The biggest skill of parenting is the ability to multitask. Your multitasking abilities kick into overdrive when you have more than one child, but even a single tiny baby can suddenly make things a lot more complicated around the house. How do your hold a crying baby and bring in the eggs and milk from the car? You need to fix dinner and entertain a tired baby at the same time. Nobody has perfected these kinds of skills better than slightly frazzled parents.

Ability to Take It in Stride
Parents are great at taking things in stride once the newness of the baby wears off just a bit. In the first few days, everything is like an emergency and stress runs high. But after a few weeks, you realize that arriving fifteen minutes late is okay if you have to change a diaper. And keeping multiple changes of clothes in the car is the simplest solution to the inevitable spit-up on the way.  Once upon a time you might have freaked if you found yourself covered in mashed bananas while driving the car with no make-up on in your house slippers. Now you just know that some battles are worth fighting and others are just as easy to skip all together in exchange for a hot shower and another snuggle with the source of those bananas.

You can always find more articles related to parenting and pregnancy on the TotSites article section. Feel free to leave a comment here on the blog or post on the community forums.

This was another one you requested, so layout the tablecloth, watch out for ants(!) and enjoy the Picnic Design, which is free to all members.

Max

Typically Parents fall into one of three categories in regards to how often they update their TotSite.

Daily
Some Parents prefer to update their site daily. They journal their daily adventure with their new little one and maybe add a picture or two. Taking 10 minutes before bedtime can be a great way to help keep your family milestones recorded so you can put your mind on other more important tasks - like sleep!

2-4 Updates per Month
During the first year of your Baby’s life there are so many changes, firsts, and smiles that you may want to keep a record of what is happening a couple times per month. This can be accomplished with a few quick sentences or even with the latest photos from the Zoo. Don’t feel like you need to write some long journal with every detail that happend during the month but instead just highlight the few things that made you laugh or smile.

3-4 Times per Year
In many cases Parents will update their TotSite around the Holidays as they have a ton of photos they want to share with friends and family (Be sure to order your prints with the new TotSites Photo Center - 5 cent Photo Prints!!!). They update a few galleries to their TotSite and then create a recap of the highlights since the last update. This tends to be a trend as Baby gets closer and closer to a full blown Toddler.

If Grandpa and Grandma had their way they would have you uploading new photos and videos every day. Heck, if we all had time, who wouldn’t want to journal their child’s milestones, photos, and videos in a daily format. The reality is not all Parents have the time or energy for this level of updates. Speaking from a personal point of view, I know we don’t have time to update our daughter’s TotSite daily. We typically update our sites when we order new photos (every 1-2 months) and this is plenty to create a Keepsake we will cherish for years to come.

There is no right answer for how often you need to update your TotSite. The idea is to share, record milestones, and most of all have FUN! Friends and family will enjoy whatever you can add to your TotSite and you can create a valuable Keepsake for when Baby is older (including comments from Great Grandma!)

Brian

TotSites Team

Try out this new theme, just in time for summer. The Ladybug Design is free to all members.

Max

Why use the TotSites Photo Center?

• 50 FREE prints for new accounts
• 5 cent *everyday* pricing - We encourage you to try to find a better deal!
• Great quality - all prints are done on Fuji photo paper

How do I get started?

• Go to the TotSites Photo Center and then follow the steps to create a photo printing account and upload your photos.

Can my family order prints and do I need to upload my photos twice?

• Anyone can create a TotSites Photo Center account. They do not need to be a member of TotSites.
• If you are a TotSites member, we highly recommend you create a generic Photo account to share with your family to upload photos you wish to share with everyone. Each family member can then enter their own address information and pay for prints themselves using your photos. This way Grandma who lives 300 miles away can order a print of that adorable Zoo picture at any time. Of course this is optional and you are welcome to keep your account private (or create two accounts and get 100 free prints!)
• You do need to upload your high resolution photo separately to the Photo Center. When you add photos to your TotSite we automatically resize the images for your site before you upload them (with the EZ Photo Upload). This allows you to upload your photos up to 50 times faster! Typically members share more photos on their TotSite then they want to print - so you get the chance to upload your print quality photos separately and in most cases saving you tons of time!

What’s Next?

We will be adding new features later this year to help you better integrate the print photo center with your TotSite. Stay tuned!

If you have any questions or concerns please contact support or post a comment in the community forums. We hope all of you take advantage of your 50 free prints and check it out.

Brian

We hope you enjoy the new Hockey Design. See your star Tot’s name in lights!

Max

Check out the new Trains Design!

Don’t forget to visit the new TotSites Forums. It’s a great place for asking questions, sharing information, interacting with other TotSites members and requesting new designs.

Max