2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned

2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned | Post Details

My Dress: Asos // My Shoes: Target // Necklace: Made By Mary // Necklace: Kendra Scott // Earrings: Kate Spade New York // Watch: Arvo Wear // Bracelet: Kendra Scott // My Coat: J Crew // Jackie's Dress: Target // Jackie's Shoes: Freshly Picked // Jackie's Coat: Old Navy // Husband's Shirt: J Crew Factory

2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned | Getting Family Pictures

After the amazing family pictures we got last year, I was on a mission to get half way decent ones again this year. Before Jackie was born, I was lucky to get The Husband to pose for a picture a few times a year. With Jackie, he not only wants to get pictures taken, he wants to coordinate outfits too! That makes my job of figuring out what everyone is wearing a lot easier. As per the advice of literally every mom who has done family pictures, I picked my outfit first and then decided on what everyone else was going to wear.

Last year I had the hardest time finding a dress I liked and I ended up buying something last minute that I loved. But I hated the anxiety of going through a bunch of dresses thinking they were perfect when I bought them and then hating them on. So this year, I planned in advance. I bought several dresses from Asos and this one was the perfect match. It worked with a dress I had just bought for Jackie and the Husband had a shirt with both colors in it! How perfect is that!?

2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned | Changing Plans

Last year, my dad took our family pictures when we were all at the beach for Thanksgiving. If you haven't seen those pictures yet, you need to. You can see them here. The lighting was perfect, I loved our outfits and the location was unbeatable. I knew this year was not going to be the same so I didn't set high expectations. We were planning on going to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving this year and I thought that would be the perfect time to do our pictures. My dad was willing to take them again and I thought we could find somewhere fun in the city or on our way home.

Over the summer, my grandfather was in the hospital for more than a month. My family is VERY close and we all live very close to each other. I have always had a special relationship with my grandparents and I am thankful for it. Seeing my grandfather like that was hard. He was at the same hospital that Jackie was born in, which is only 5 minutes from our apartment. So I was there almost daily. After what seemed like a slow but good recovery, my grandfather got sick again. We had been trying to keep him out of the hospital (under doctors' orders) but after 3 weeks of no improvement, they sent it back to the ER. This was the Monday before Thanksgiving. We immediately cancelled our travel plans. Luckily he is home from the hospital and doing better. We are grateful we still have him and we were able to have a nice Thanksgiving dinner at home.

2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned | What We Did Instead

The Husband had most of Thanksgiving week off of work and since we weren't traveling I knew this was the only time to get those family pictures I wanted. I got both of my parents to come with us, dad to take the pictures and mom to help with Jackie. We went to a local park where I have done blog pictures before. It turned out to be the perfect place for pictures. It was the coldest day of the week but the least windy so we had to just go with it. I was freezing the entire time but Jackie wasn't phased at all! She even put up a fight when my mom put her coat on her.

Just like last year, my dad did a great job! He isn't even a photographer. But he likes taking pictures and Jackie responds really well to him. He is also happy to get on the ground to get a shot! I am so glad we brought coats and my mom tagged along! We wouldn't have gotten anything done without her. And we ended up with the sweetest three generation picture!

Pro tip for taking family pictures: bring your child's favorite treat. I packed a container of peanut butter M&Ms to bribe Jackie with and it worked like a charm!

2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned | What I'm Doing With the Pictures

First, they are for our Christmas card. Funny story. I was making the card that night and realized the design I was working on (and loved) looked really familiar. After pulling out last year's card and I realized they are the EXACT SAME design! I debated about not getting that design again but I decided I liked it too much to not. And if someone cares that it's the same design, they don't have enough going on in their own life!

Family pictures also make the perfect gifts! I always buy a bunch of canvas prints from Groupon and go crazy getting them printed. I can then hang some in our house and give them as gifts to the grandparents and great grandparents. My mom will of course be getting a copy of the picture of the three of us!

2018 Family Pictures & How They Didn't Go As Planned | Shop the Post

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