Family Photo Shoot

We recently had the pleasure of having the lovely Jacquie from the Sweeter Side of Mommyhood meet us at our favorite local park for a mini photo session.

I have wanted to have professional photos taken of the four of us ever since we welcomed Ella, back in late April. I decided though, after much deliberation, that waiting a few months would give us ample time to prepare for these photos, and I was hopeful that waiting until early September would provide the perfect weather and backdrop for the event.

When I say prepare, I suppose what I mean, is that I was hopeful that with time, my very busy-bodied toddler would cooperate for the photo shoot and pose on command like the well trained tiny human I like to think that he is, resulting in photographic perfection.
Well, as any of you who have had a toddler know (particularly a boy toddler), there is no amount of preparation in the world that could have helped that cause.

While I had dreams of pristine family photos, where all of us grinned, obediently in the direction of the camera, it was not to be.

You may or may not be able to tell from the pictures, but the shoot was mostly chaos. Getting the four of us in the same frame was a bit of a circus. Max, wanted to play, and run, and be chased, and Ella didn’t know what to make of it all. Mike and I were frustrated to say the least.

The great thing is though, Jacquie was patient with us. A mom of 2 girls, with one on the way, she was compassionate and understanding in regards to how unpredictable the behavior of toddlers can be, and low and behold, she captured our family beautifully.

Between the few still posed photos that she was able to snap, are the animated and silly ones where Max is laughing hysterically because I am tickling him to keep his attention. The ones where Ella looks like she’s simply had enough, and the ones where all four of us are looking in different directions completely oblivious to where the camera even is.

In the end, I couldn’t love the photos that resulted any more if I tried. They are a candid, crazy, depiction of our life right now. Not posed or pristine, but real. This is how things look most days around here, and with that being said, I know I will treasure these photos always. Looking at them will be a constant reminder of what time spent hanging out with an infant and a toddler are like, although in the photos we look a little more cleaned up than we do on a regular day!