Lessons Learned About Taking Family Pictures

The first time I really wanted to start a blog was when we were getting ready to take family pictures this year. I had lots of thoughts about the whole process that I suddenly wanted to share. But first, a word about getting kids' pictures taken:

When Morgan was first born, I was anxious to have as many professional pictures taken as possible. We did newborn, 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, 1-year, 18-months, and then yearly after that. I was so careful to make sure each picture was perfect. I picked the perfect outfit and then scheduled out naps and feedings to make sure Morgan was as alert as possible. But we all know it never works the way it is supposed to...

I can't think of many picture-taking experiences when I wasn't frustrated. The picture people are ALWAYS running behind; so no matter how much time you spend planning, the kids are never in a good mood when it actually comes time for picture taking. Somehow, however, they usually manage to get at least one irresistible photo, so we keep coming back for more.

By the time I had Brynne, I'd lost some desire to take as many professional pictures. I think with Brynne I only did newborn pictures, 6-month, 1-year, and then sort of yearly.

My desire to go through all the effort for nice pictures took its first really big blow when I was having Brynne's newborn pictures taken. She was little more than a week old at the time, and I was full-on prepared for all the curve balls. (I had learned a lot from all the pictures with Morgan.) Lee watched Morgan while I took Brynne to the mall. We got there 45 minutes early, and I went into a dressing room to feed Brynne. Then we walked around for 10 minutes to make sure all the milk was going to stay down. When I felt the coast was clear, we headed back to the dressing rooms where I changed Brynne out of her plain pink pajamas and into her beautiful red Christmas dress. I hadn't even picked her back up when, you guessed it, she spit up all over the front of the dress. Then, to make things worse, she had a major messy, leaky poopy right then that got all over the bottom of the dress. I thought we were right on schedule, but I suddenly found myself hurrying to clean up the mess and get her PJs back on so we wouldn't be late. You may think there was no point to rushing since they are always late; but no matter how late they are running, they won't take your pictures if you're late for your "appointment". Where's justice? So that was the year we got super-cute pictures of Brynne in her totally plain, not-even-a-cute print, PJs. (Hey-at least they were pink!)

By the time Brynne was almost two, I was ready for some major simplification. I got pretty smart and started combining things. In my first "combining" year, I decided to have Morgan's and Brynne's yearly pictures taken at the same time. We went in September, so it was a month and a half after Morgan's birthday and two months before Brynne's. Close enough, right? But then I got even smarter. The next year we took family pictures and the girls' yearly pictures all at the same time. By the year after that, Morgan was in school so her pictures were taken care of. But we still try to do Brynne's picture and the family picture together.

I think I've also given up photography studios for good. The first year that we had all the pictures taken at the same time, we had them taken by my brother's neighbor in Idaho Falls. Wow-he does a great job!! We just went to his house for an hour and took all sorts of pictures --the family, the girls together, Lee and I together, the kids with each parent, each kid separately, etc. The best part was that he then handed over a CD with all the pictures and gave us permission to get whatever prints we wanted. We went back to him the next year too. It's great because we have all rights to the pictures. I put a few of them on this blog so you can see what a great job he did!

Even though I simplified many things, I continued to spend too much time making everything perfect. The biggest hang up was always what to wear. I didn't feel we had to match, necessarily, just not clash. The biggest problem was that Lee only had one nice shirt and he wore it every year. I finally broke down last year and got a few new shirts for him, but I still somehow hit a barrier trying to put things together for this year. I finally gave up and just made sure the clothes were at least clean. I also sort of gave up on "getting ready" for the picture. Brynne's hair is rarely done, so I didn't do it for the pics; and I did Morgan's hair how we do it every day instead of coming up with something new and cute. I'll admit I did blow-dry my hair instead of just putting in a ponytail, and I also put on a touch of makeup, but it was very limited effort.

This year we tried something else new -- we had our pictures taken by my friend Denise. We took both our families to the park and took turns taking each other's family pictures in each setting. With a few mishaps (sorry, Denise) we managed to get some good pictures, and this time it was totally free!! The family picture on this blog was taken by Denise at the park, and I love it. I decided it'll always be a stress trying to get kids to take pictures, but at least I've come a long way in simplifying the whole process!