Baby announcements can get me back into the will? Maybe it's not too late to do one...

When the Babies! were born, I'm pretty sure the only announcement we sent out was me answering the phone in an exhausted voice and saying "You'll have to call me back. I haven't slept in three days."

Eventually, things settled down and we got to the point where we had a spare moment or two to send out birth announcements. That point was yesterday, which is a little too late. If I send out birth announcements with nearly-three-year-0lds on them, Sweetie will be carted off for experiments by a secret international group of OB-GYN's, just like Octomom was.

Had I thought ahead, we could have had our baby announcements done by Peachtree. They've got style after style available on their site, and it's easy to make them up; just click on the one you like -- say, this one: And then fill in the details of your baby, like the birth weight and name and stuff. Then check out and e-mail the picture you want to use to them, and next thing you know, you're announcing your baby in a nice way, a way that won't get Nana to say "Well, you could have been a little nicer." A way that will get you written back into the will and maybe also get someone to hire a little help so that you and Sweetie can get at least one night of rest.

Plus, the announcements themselves are really nice. Better than something I'd do at home on my own, because I have no idea how to get those graphics and frames and things and Peachtree prints them on real card stock, but not so hard as somethign you'd buy in a store. Who wants to be inserting photos into cardholders when you should be holding your baby?

I see from browsing around there that Peachtree does other prints jobs, like invitations and holiday cards and stuff, so it's possible to use them for every major event in your life, moving from birth to high school graduation to wedding to finally getting a good night's sleep, which I expect will happen in the nursing home.

Seriously: A birth announcement is a great way to introduce friends and family and coworkers to your newborn bundle of joy -- a way to show them that cute confused expression your guy had on his face as you brought him home for the first time, or a way to let grandparents see just how tiny her little hands are, and a keepsake for everyone who's going to want to know that new little family member. So do them right -- and Peachtree is an excellent, easy and inexpensive way to do them right.