Making This Blog Legit (And a Little Design Contest)

I LOVE this birth picture, donated by one of my readers.  Do you remember that moment in labor?  That "prayer" moment?  Love it. 

Hey ladies (and gents, if there are any)-
So, I have seen a few articles lately about the legality of using pictures on a blog.

I have a confession.  I am not good with computers.  I don't know how stuff works.  I am also bad with cameras.  My kids will someday ask for proof that I raised them and I will be like, "Uhhhhh....do you need a picture or something because I don't have any....".

Anyway, when I started blogging I really just wrote stuff that I couldn't cover in my natural birth classes or just to rant and rave without actually offending people who knew me in real life.  Eventually OTHER people started reading and somewhere along the line I realized I needed to add pictures to the blog.

I used a free pic site for a while at first.  Then they changed it.  I was told you can just pull stuff from the Internet.  I honestly don't even know if that is cool or not but I THOUGHT it was for a long time and used pictures that I just found on google searches.  I use LOTS of pictures from my Facebook peeps.  (THANK YOU if you have shared a picture of your birth or your baby or your life with me!)

But lately I have read that it is illegal to pull pictures off the web.  I don't think there are TONS of pic's like that on this blog but KNOW that I have used some.  I apologize if that was illegal or wrong and I will be slowly pulling them off.  I blog briefly at night when my kids are snoozing so it will take me time.  I don't have hours of time to devote to this but it seems like the right thing to do.

Anyway- that is me trying to be more legit and honest.  I didn't know I was being dishonest and I hope you can honestly forgive me.

Also!

I need a picture for my blog logo!  I love the Venus picture that I have up above (brown, curvy, that one)  but I sure as heck didn't take it and I don't I can keep using it without burning in hell or something so.....

If you would like to design a picture for this here little blog and submit it to me, I would be EVER so thrilled.

You don't have to, because let's be real, I can't pay you.  I can however tell people you are awesome, and I will do that.

I would love to have it keep honoring the beauty of the Venus, which to me represents the curves of pregnancy and the way it changes our bodies forever and how much we should cherish that (without being really graphic).  But let's be real- beggars can't be choosers!

So- if you would like to take the time to design something for me and give me permission to use it forever in exchange for some link love on my blog I would greatly appreciate it.  If anybody submits anything I will share the top few on Facebook, get some feedback, and have a big announcement!

You can send me your stuff at mamabirth09 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Also- if you would like to just share your pictures (don't have to be professional) with me for use on this blog OR for use on my mothering.com blogs I would LOVE IT.  They can be pictures of anything- family, birth, breastfeeding, children or even just flowers or tables or a kitchen or a bird or ANYTHING.  I need pictures that I can legally use.  If you want to watermark them that would be GREAT.

Though I do blog about my experiences as a mother, this blog isn't nor will it ever be a photographic chronicle of my kids because I just am not comfortable with that for ME (but I think it is awesome other people do that.  I love those blogs.)  So anyway, I won't ever just produce my own pictures and I do need your help and generosity with that.

Thank you-

Sarah