Hellobee Boards

I'm not really sure of the "point" of birth announcements nowadays either, with social media and texting and all that... but I do know that I love having a cute little baby on my fridge to look at for a while.

@ShootingStar: For us it was to send a photo to relatives that wouldn't be there to see him as a newbie. We have family in California, Hawaii, Chicago, FL, KY - we're spread out. I love getting birth announcements in the mail, they're only that tiny for such a short amount of time.

I don't think they're something that you "have to" do. Especially in a world with Facebook, email, etc.

We sent them to a wider array of people than who got to meet her of even be on a text list (like my dad's cousins, etc). Our LO was born at Thanksgiving time, we did newborn photos when she was 9 days old, and the photog let me pic the photo at the end of the session so he could immediately edit and send me that one. I popped it into a birth announcement on shutterfly and then we sent them out as our holiday cards for the year.

We did them cause we have family that aren't on FB or we texted a picture. Plus I think that it is fun to get them on the mail and keep them on the fridge.

We did them because I have a lot of relatives that aren't on social media and because I block most of Hubs' relatives. Plus I know I like getting them so I have a cute baby hanging on my fridge.

Even though I don't think we will do it, I do love getting them.

@HellOnHeels: birth announcements cover a corkboard behind my desk at work, hehe

We did them because not everyone has FB and/or has met my kiddos. We never received any gifts from anyone for sending them, nor did we expect any.

No LOs here but add me to the camp of people who LOVE getting birth announcements. I think the babies covering our fridge have significantly increased DH's baby fever

ETA: Def don't see them as gift grabby. Just sharing an important time in your family's life!

We did them! We have tons of out-of-state family that may not meet LO for years, plus we had a coupon for shutterfly so we essentially paid only to mail them to us and then to the recipients! They came out so cute! Also, I did not expect presents, I just wanted to show her off

I love the formal, traditional feeling of a nice birth announcement. Love receiving them and keep them all! And we spent such a bundle on newborn photos, I wanted our friends and family to have a hardcopy too!

@ShootingStar: We gave them to family and friend so that they would have some pic of LO from a day or so after she was born, with her birth stats. We also sent them to some family who we aren't close to but who sent us clothes for LO.

I did them because they're cute and who doesn't like getting some happy mail. And maybe I'm a little old fashioned and still really like paper invites/announcements/thank you notes.

If you really just want one for the baby book, the RE's office, and people who would actually keep them, you could use a site like Tiny Prints - I think their minimum order is 5. Nobody needs to know that it wasn't widely distributed

1) A lot of our family is either a) not on social media and/or b) live too far away to come see him as a newborn (most of my family still hasn't met him).

2) A lot of DH's family is very traditional and it was expected of us.

3) I liked having it, and most everyone we sent them to liked receiving it. FB is great for sharing photos and all, but I think there's something nice about getting something you can touch and put up on your fridge in the mail--something that isn't a bill, anyway! Two of our friends kept E's up on their fridge for 8 months!

We have a lot of friends and family who are older (and therefore aren't on social media) and who we don't see too often. These also happen to be a lot of the same people who came to my baby showers and who are genuinely interested in our lives. I felt it was a nice way to let them know that DD had arrived.

To me it's also just a nice, formal, traditional way of announcing your baby's arrival in the world. Sometimes I think too much of our communication takes place online and there's something to be said for something tangible.

We did them for two reasons.
1. So family and friends who don't have FB could see him. We just recently moved far away from our friends and family so most didn't visit.
2. We used them as a "thank you" for all the people who sent cards/gifts/flowers when E was born

I've never sent out birth announcements either- that's what Facebook and texts are for, lol. I do like getting them, but I think they're kind of outdated. Once upon a time, relatives may really have no idea you had a baby until they got the announcement, but I think that's just about impossible now. I am planning to send out a family picture Christmas card and will include the stats on that.

I've never equated them with gifts at all. I think they are nice to send to family that lives far away and Friends you may not see often.

I never did them because I'm lazy. I also don't send Christmas cards either....

Everyone I know is on Facebook or I emailed pics to them