It’s always an adventure to plan and execute our annual family Christmas card photo. Every year I decide we need to be practical and just go to a professional photography studio. But then the thought of getting the kiddies dressed, keeping them clean and happy while we try to get a DECENT photo within the designated time period, well, yeah, that thought just equals loads of STRESS. So we always buckle down and pick a Sunday to stay home and just GET IT DONE.
The first year we did the photo, Bean was only 4 months old. We dressed him in a cute red Santa suit and took about twenty photos of him laying on the bed before he started to squirm and cry.
The second year, I think we had 250 different shots of Daniel wandering all around the house. But then we took him outside (barefoot) and he plopped down in the front yard and smiled. DONE.
Last year was the first year with Annabel. She was 10 months old and Daniel was 2. We finally got a shot of the two of them laughing in front of the Christmas Tree. It took over an hour of dancing, playing puppets, making faces, and throwing things in the air to get that ONE laughing smile. We were EXHAUSTED.
This year, Annabel was sick. She’s had a snotty cold since Thursday and I almost canceled the in-house photo shoot we had planned for Sunday. But time was running out to get these Christmas cards ordered and mailed, so we had to take a deep breath and just go for it. By the end of the day, Bean had finished off two “treat” bowls of whipped cream (bribes) and Annabel was just…OVER IT.
But…we did it! We got the photo! (Christmas is indeed a time for Miracles.)
Now I can finally cross this off my holiday “to do” list and worry about all the OTHER things like shipping out all these gifts piling up in my bedroom closet and trying to find a pair of shoes to wear to the hubbie’s company holiday party on Friday night. Phew.
Here are some 2009 Christmas card photo “outtakes” from Sunday morning…AND afternoon. It was a LONG (but really fun) day.
