The Annual Photoshoot

My friend Andrea has been taking our family pictures for Christmas cards since 2008: the first year it was Nate, me and Henry and we missed the first snow of the season by one day. The second year I was pregnant and just starting to sport a baby bump and I remember thinking that life could not get any better since we were incredibly happy and excited for 2010 to arrive. That feeling of anticipation and holiday fun and visits with family was absolutely priceless and I'm so glad our pictures reflect that happiness. Of course, we missed snow on the ground that year, too, by a few days but our pics were still fab. This year we planned the pictures a little later in the year mostly because I really really wanted that white stuff to be in our pictures because darn it, we live in Wisconsin and nothing says Merry Christmas! like a blanket of snow.

And so on December 5 we had Andrea come to our place, which was literally the day after the first decent snowfall. Perfect! I knew I wanted some outside shots of our family in front of the decorated duplex to remember our home in the years to come. This is where Truman was born, where we've had so many milestones as a family, and who knows if we will still be here next year at Christmastime. And so we bundled up and snapped pictures outside.....then inside by our tree....and then just Truman and I headed to the nursery for some mommy/baby shots since we never did get to that newborn photoshoot. It's safe to say our pictures this year are phenomenal and Andrea just keeps getting better and better at photography.

For a sappy little side note: although I thought life couldn't get much better last year around this time, it absolutely did. As I look at these pictures of my happy little family I catch myself getting a little choked up, wondering how I got so lucky to be blessed with these boys in my life. While we are far from perfect, and life still feels like a whirlwind of hectic days strung together to make a year, I am reminded that God has given me a beautiful life---even when it's totally crazy.

Enough sap. Let's look at the pictures.

The happy Wisconsinites, pretending to be warm.


Probably one of my top two favorites, mostly because of Truman's face.


Score!! The snow. The decorations. The Christmas cheer. Love.


And if you are one of the 80 people on our Christmas card list, you will see that this is the one I chose to display. It took much deliberation to decide on just one shot but you can't go wrong with the snow, a sled, and two Santa hats. :)


Cannot handle the cuteness. Nate pulled him around the front yard for fun and he loved it until he tipped over backwards. Whoops!


My little Grinch----the colors are just too perfect.


And the family back in the warmth of indoors. I love our Christmas ornaments, by the way. And Truman's argyle sweater.


The mommy and baby shoot! Love my little man and his belly.


He loves mommy's necklace!


Love.


Happy baby boy, obviously the light of my life.


I wanted some of me lifting T up like this and my triceps are still burning from this task. :)


Just hanging out----my idea of heaven, pretty much.



So that's that. A Christmas shoot plus a nursery belated newborn shoot. Hope you enjoyed and if you live in Milwaukee, you need to hire Andrea to shoot your family asap.

Now to decide which ones to frame...