Our Christmas Card Picture

Last night after dinner, we decided to try and take the dreaded "Christmas Card Picture." Every year we put on Christmas pajamas carefully selected from Gymboree. (Which by the way, getting in four different sizes is no small feat!) Then we try to set the scene by putting up some Christmas decorations, lighting a fire in the fireplace and gathering some Christmas trinkets. Then we try to assemble the masses for a picture. Now I will say that having four children never seems like a lot to me, until I try to photograph them together. It really is like herding cats. However, this year I was optimistic that it was going to go better, until we got started. First off, dead batteries in the camera. Of course! I made sure to charge them during the day, but apparently didn't have them completely clicked into the charger. So we found some that were dying, but hoped they'd hold out. After I entered the room and heard my husband yelling at the kids to just sit down and hold still, I knew it wasn't going to go well. We tried our hardest. Preston wouldn't sit in one spot. Brennen decided he suddenly needed to chew on his fingers. Maddox only seems to have one huge open mouth smile right now. (I mean huge. Like you could drive a freight train into that hole!) And Caden concentrates so much on his smile that he looks like Chandler Bing on Friends taking a picture. We could never get all four looking at the camera at the same time. We tried all every pose imaginable. Brennen didn't like the fireplace going behind him and so he started screaming at one point that his back was on fire. It was not. (Not even I would go that far for a good picture!) Caden just kept asking if we could just use individual shots, which is a no-go since the card is done and just waiting for a picture. I did everything in my power to get good smiles. However, what makes a 14 month old smile and what makes a 6 1/2 year old smile are light years apart! We still don't even know how this happened, but Bob got cut and was bleeding on the ankle somehow during the photo shoot. After an hour and ten minutes, the camera's memory card reported a problem. I decided that for better or worse we'd just have to use one of the pictures we'd already gotten. So, here's what we got:












Seeing nothing, right? That's because that's what we got. Somehow the memory card failed and we lost every picture we'd taken! I was physically and emotionally drained. (Frankly to the point of tears.) Bob said we'd try again this morning. I'll let you know how that goes. No matter what, you'll all see it in the card we send out this year. For those of you without children, when you get somebody's card that has a picture of their kids on it, please just realize the blood, sweat, and tears (literally) that went into it to get it!