Keepin' it Real: Family Photos 2014

Some people are fantastic at taking family pictures. They coordinate perfectly, everyone's hair is done and smiles are on and and lighting is magical. AKA everything you see on Pinterest. And then there's me and my little family. Let's just say we keep it real, AKA family photos are crazy and hectic and I definitely should have bribed almost everyone in my family. Here's what goes down:

First, we have Sam, standing there like the good man he is, but with a forced, pained smile on his face. He's not a huge fan of pictures (read: he hates them), but he does it anyway because he has a heart of gold.

Then there's Jason, with the best of intentions, but getting distracted by a blowing leaf or a blade of grass. (He has literally been distracted by a blade of grass before.) In this case, he was distracted by the 30+ dogs and their owners that decided to show up to the park right when we were taking pictures. In fact, the dog owners have a Facebook page, where they coordinate dog playdates at various local parks. I am not joking about this. Dog playdates. The dog owners didn't think this was nearly as funny as I did.

Baby girl, bless her soul, just wanted some milk. So she spent her time looking around for milk, holding her mouth wide open in the hopes that milk would magically drop into it, and experimentally tasting her jacket to see if it was milk. She was disappointed on all accounts.

And then there was me, your classic stress case. Is Claire's jacket covering her face? Is that gigantic dog coming to attack my child? Is everyone smiling? Is my hair curly enough? Or too curly?

To those families who just jaunt out for a quick and relaxing evening of family photos in which everyone is magically having the time of their lives and looking beautiful, TELL ME YOUR SECRETS.

My secret is having a great photographer. Great photographers can take the hot mess described above and turn it into something that actually resembles a nice family photo! A million thanks to Ashley Eliza Photography for taking these beautiful pictures. Ashley, you are a miracle worker. And, the biggest surprise of all, we even ended up having fun! Here are a ton of pictures that prove we really do love each other:

The Lion King pose is pretty popular around our house ^^

Whyyyyy did I forget to take my cell phone out of my pocket? ^^

This one might be the ultimate Christmas card winner? Or maybe the next one? ^^

She loves us, I swear ^^

And now for the hard part: choosing one for our Christmas card!

Tell me if you have a favorite.

Thanks again Ashley!