We had family pictures taken. It's already been a year. It was a crazy day. The pictures were at 6pm. I wanted to make a skirt for Chloe, so I decided to put that off until the last minute. I spent a lot of the day sewing that. It turned out ok, but I re-did it after the pictures. It worked for the pictures, but the fit wasn't quite right. After that I got the kids and myself ready and fed Seth before we left. We got the main picture done and a few of the kids before Lance and Brady had to leave for a church activity. The whole time I was thinking I should have had Seth's individual one done first, but I didn't. By the time we got to him, he'd had it. It was hot, kids were running. I was trying not to be stressed and crazy, but I was probably both. Plus, he was teething and ready to eat again since he thinks eating every 90 minutes is essential. Most of the pictures turned out really good. Having such cute kids makes that easy though. The photographer was also fantastic. You can see in the genuine smiles from my kids that they were having a great time.
We tried some different poses. Of course having such a large family is a challenge, but I think it's also challenging since Brady is about the same size as we are, then there's all these little kids. I really wanted to be next to Lance. There's a picture of my family when I was a teenager that my dad always hated because my mom is in the front with all of the kids around her and he's shoved in the back. He's right. It looks weird. It's too bad too since I really like my hair in that picture! We went right after track practice and my hair had been back in a braid. I didn't have time to shower, so I was just praying for some cooperation from my hair! Anyway, this is not my favorite pose. (My little sister thought Seth's face was hilarious in most of the pictures.)
This is our favorite one. Only Seth isn't quite smiling. My kids love it because you can see the emergency Smarties sticking out of my pocket. I only wish Isaac was up just a little higher.
Somehow, Brady grew up. He's only 13! He looks so much bigger though. He has a tendency to clench his jaw when he smiles. We kept bugging him about it and trying to get a real smile, which he would do, right until the camera came out, then he was clenching. That's just Brady though.
Chloe was all smiles for the group picture, but she would hardly crack a grin by herself. I let them wear whichever shoes they wanted since I didn't want the shoes in the pictures anyway. It's hard enough to get coordinating outfits, I just can't manage the shoes too. She's wearing her "Hydee High Tops." She loves these. They have about a two inch heel inside the shoe. She's one of the tallest in her class already, so she doesn't need them at all, but she loves them.
Eventually, we got her to smile.
I let them choose their backgrounds. Tyler specifically asked for the corner. Funny boy. He has such a cute smile.
Isaac totally surprised me. He can be so reserved sometimes, but he loved the photographer. She got quite a few good pictures of him.
He was very specific about his hair. It's hard to see, but it's sticking up into a little curl in the front. Look at that face!
Ahh Gabe.
I can't decided which one I like better. I like each for different reasons. He has such a smile in his eyes in both of them so maybe that's why I go back and forth.
I forced Lance to have a couple of pictures of us taken. In the first she told us to look at each other. I'm sure she was expecting some lovey, dovey, engagement or newlywed photo, but she got weird uncertain looks from us instead. Of course you can see my cell phone in my pocket and my hair tie on my wrist. I was on the other side of Lance before she asked me to switch and I forgot to switch my stuff. Grr. Someday maybe I'll learn Photoshop. I should keep a file of pictures I want to Photoshop.
Cute little Seth. He was so drooly and so done. He wasn't sitting up by himself completely yet, so we needed something to prop him up a bit. He was pretty jammed in that bucket with the pillow behind him. On top of everything else, a happy picture just wasn't happening. His sad face is pretty cute too.
While I was doing a wardrobe change with Seth that didn't work out at all, the girls got together and got some super cute pictures taken together. Most of the time they act like every other pair of sisters who fight about silly things. But sometimes, they're best friends. I hope they remember those times the most, because those moments are magical.
Mia had been asking for a picture with Seth before we even got to the studio. By the time we were done and that hadn't happened yet, he was in full meltdown mode. I really didn't think it was worth even trying. If only you could see what's happening in the background. Remember, I'm there with 6 kids by myself at this point, with a very unhappy baby, a two year old, and two other wild boys. They were running amok and I was ready to pack up and take my chaos home for the night. She was devastated. I couldn't handle any more tears, so I made sure she understood Seth would not be smiling in the picture. She was ok with that, so we got a quick picture of them together. She really loves her baby brother.
I'm always glad I make the effort to get family pictures, but they sure are a lot of work! It all starts with the clothes. There's lots of ideas about coordinating outfits for family pictures, but I really need someone to start a website where you can pick your colors and ages and genders of your family and have outfits sent to you. Or I just need a personal shopper. Shopping is not one of my strong points. Good thing I'm good at making cute babies.
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