There Is A Good Reason You Pay Someone Else To Do This

Sunday before church we attempted to take a few family shots of us in our Easter-wear. We knew it wouldn't happen after church so we were in a bit of a hurry. What a disaster. We got a few good shots, and I wasn't going for a professional picture... just a nicer than average candid to prove that we are actually a family. Things I didn't account for, or Things That Will Make Your Family Pictures Look Super Home Made.

1-Crooked pictures, sippy cups and too-short skirts. Clayton informed me that I was flashing the world in my dress, (I normally wear it with leggings, so I didn't even think about it) so I had to change again before church. FYI- we were not on time.
Being super late to church due to my hormonal fits about pictures and outfits= Religion fail.

2-Forgot to take off my glasses for all of the indoor ones which cast big shadows on my face. Dumb dress was wrinkly anyways, something I didn't notice until I saw it in pictures. I edited it a touch to make it look smoother here.

3- Pregnancy adds about 10 pounds to my face, 5 going to right around my eyes. This isn't exactly something I can prevent, but you'd better believe I edited the crap out of this picture.

4- Every shot of Clayton and Eleanor will look adorable and perfect.

5- But let's be honest, it's how mom looks in the shot that depends on whether it sees the light of day or not. Were there cuter ones of Eleanor? By far. Luckily she gets thousands of cute pictures on here, so I can sacrifice a few for my vanity.

6- While taking off your glasses may make you look better in the shot, it might affect how in focus your self-timed shots are. Oh, and cute as she is, Eleanor was done, done, done by this point in our little project. That can be tip #7- You have 6 maybe 8 good minutes to get a two year old to participate. After that it is just child abuse.

Letting her play made it all better.

And was sooo worth it for this adorable shot.

8- The cutest shot will be cluttered with backyard mess because it's the only one that wasn't staged. Alas.

We had a very nice Easter despite my harried beginnings. We had some wonderful friends over for an Easter feast (A freaking feast I tell you!) and the day before our neighborhood sponsored a huge egg-hunt for the whole ward that went really well. I will post pictures of that next.