motherhood

after 2+ years of motherhood, the i think the most stressful thing i have had to deal with is christmas card pictures. after baths with girls who scream when you wash their hair, picking out an outfit (tights and shoes included), trying it on and then realizing it wasn't the right one, then putting on the keeper outfit, getting the batteries charged on the camera, remembering to change my underwear before we leave the house, defending myself when my husband says that he thinks i'm crazy and answering "no" when he asks, "didn't we already take a picture this year that we can use", packing a bag with treats and toys to keep the girls happy during the picture taking process, and we haven't even put the girls in the car yet. then once we're at the beach balking like a chicken to get the girls laughing, handing out the lollipops to the girls, going through a box of wet-ones to wipe the red lollipop marks off of their face so they don't look like i'm trying to put red lipstick on 2-year-olds, comforting the girls when they drop their lollipop in the sand and when they realize that they can't eat it anymore, running back to the car from the beach twice because more wipes are needed and a different barrette that holds more hair is needed. and after my husband has patiently taken 88 pictures and we have returned home thinking we surely have one picture we can use in this years christmas card we realize there is not one. let me say that again, not one with them sitting and smiling together. so we chalk it up to a wasted morning and then after looking at the pictures again we realize that the pictures that are not posed and are full of their personalities are the winners. i think we are going to end up using the first one, but i have learned a valuable lesson. professional photographers are underrated.