Have you seen all the picture-perfect family Christmas cards that people send these days? I thought it would be a great idea to have some family pictures taken, you know, professional ones. However, Gracie decided to get sick for the first time, we had Aaron’s family with us, Aaron was wrapping up some crazy last-week-of-the-year votes on Capitol Hill, and it made it extremely difficult to schedule the photo shoot.
As December slipped away, I knew that my chances of sending out Christmas cards were blown. For that matter, any cards. Undeterred, I was set on having some decent family pictures somehow. This morning, Gracie wanted to play and decided to skip both her morning and midday nap. Seeing a super small window of time when the light was just right and the baby was just starting to get tired, I snapped into action, and pulled it all together in thirty minutes – all three of us dressed and ready to go, location set (right across the street from our front door), camera and tripod set up and tested for light. It was now or never.
It was cold, windy and overcast. The light, however, was just right for the type of photographs I wanted to have, but there was one minor detail: I am terrible at taking pictures of people (I think) and much better at taking pictures of food. I forged ahead as Aaron tried to get Gracie to smile and look at the camera by laughing, whistling, dancing up and down, and shaking various toys in front of the camera. And it seemed to have worked!
With little time on our hands, I clicked away with the remote, hoping I was getting at least a few photos where we were all in focus or all looking at the camera. When you look at these pictures, I have no clue how Gracie looked and even smiled directly at the camera, considering both Aaron and I had to be in the pictures with her, most of the time. But thank goodness, she did!
Isn’t this one of the cutest daddy-daughter pictures you have ever seen? I am biased and I know it.
Here are some of the photos from our first family photo shoot. I loved each picture and I am so glad that we decided to do it and made it happen! These two make my life so rich and blessed. It is one filled with love, lots of laughter, love, hugs, and kisses. I am in awe of the miracle of life each time I see Grace and watch her grow so fast! Having Gracie in our lives has made us a family and what a blessing that has already been!
The greatest joy one can have in this life is family. I love my little family and am excited to see what this New Year 2015 will bring us. Happy New Year to you and I hope it is a fantastic one!
