Every year I come up with ideas for a Christmas card picture and most years I resort to a last minute plan B. In 2006 I decorated a small tree outside and tried to take Juliana’s picture – they all look like this as she is walking away from the tree toward me. Looking back I wondered if she was cold, but I checked the weather record for that day and it was 66 degrees. I was simply asking too much for a 13-month old stand still for 10 seconds.
2 years later I attempted another outside picture and it was cold that year, but I had a plan and it included a really cute coat and hat. But we got outside and her hands got cold and she stood there and cried and no amount of bribing convinced her to smile and/or look at the camera.
Last year I attempted my first picture of the three of them together. After that experience every time I see a Christmas card that includes toddlers and other children smiling and looking at the camera I am convinced they are photoshopped – it can’t be possible. In reality it looks like this.
So this year I decided not to worry about a group shot or the perfect background and instead focused on getting good pictures of the kids and I would build a card around the results. I enlisted my friend Michelle and we met on a Saturday morning for a photo shoot. Scott couldn’t come so there were no plans to make this a family photo shoot. One of my goals for this year was to have more pictures of me with the kids so I asked Michelle to include me in some pictures.
We ended up with lots of great photos and I selected a few of my favorites. As I was working on the card layout, I needed another vertical photo and I found one with Juliana, Ruslan and me that I really liked so I added it. Scott looked at the card before I sent it to print and we joked that maybe I should add (not pictured) after his name on the card. Apparently I needed to address that there is no picture of Scott, include some sort of disclaimer, because several people have asked my mom if Scott and I are separating because he isn’t in any of the pictures. Seriously? If I wanted to broadcast that sort of information I wouldn’t use our Christmas card as the vehicle. Every year I use the best pictures that I have available and that is exactly what I did this year.
Merry Christmas from the Connelly Familly, all of us…even Scott.
Ok, reading this post made me really glad that I opted NOT to put a picture of my husband and our elder on the card and stuck to just pics of the kids. I was behind the camera the whole time and I think people might have wondered.
Great card and beautiful family!
LOVE your card this year!
My goodness, why do people go looking for trouble?
Adorable card, adorable children. Anyone who does Christmas cards gets admiration in my book. I gave them up several years ago. I feel kind of bad about it, but I just can’t put them back on the holiday to-do list at this point.
i love when people include themselves on cards instead of just the kids. don’t get me wrong, i really love seeing the kids, but i love seeing my friends and relatives, too.
scott’s name was on the card. even listed first! if it wasn’t then i can see why people could have been concerned. i’m going to tell myself those folks who questioned just love yinz so much that they were terrified something went wrong in the time they didn’t see you. yeah. that’s it.
p.s. the card looked beautiful. one of my favorite photo cards this year. well done!
it IS rather amusing that you’ve chosen to exclude him from the pictures. I have pictures of me with the kids. . . pictures of Leslie with the kids. . . but none of Leslie AND me with the kids. So rather than add two MORE pictures, my card will have just random cute pics of kids on it. Because I cannot get a decent family picture to save my LIFE.