We took a family photo yesterday, right before we left to go to my mom’s house.
Cute, right? Aw, what a sweet little family I have. And here’s what it took to get that shot…
“OK, you guys! It’s Easter, and we’re looking cute. Let’s take a family photo! My camera remote needs to be pressed every few seconds or it will stop communicating with the camera, so I’m just going to fire off a few shots as we go.”
“Are we ready?”
“No!”
“Let’s try this again.”
“No. Draw a cat, daddy.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Where did daddy go?”
“Maybe she’s hungry? All she ate for breakfast was Easter candy.”
“OK, let’s give this another try.”
“Yeah, that didn’t work so well.”
“She’s got her PlayDoh now. At least she’s happy, right?”
“I guess we’re done. Hopefully we got something usable out of that.”
“Hey, where’d everybody go?”
Beth
April 25, 2011 at 12:57 pmCute… and the photo strand makes it even cuter. :)
meghan mccann
April 25, 2011 at 12:58 pmHow funny are these pictures!?
Thats life for you!
Happy to be a new follower! Love your blog!
maile
April 25, 2011 at 12:59 pmthis was awesome. :)
Beautiful family too.
Janice
April 25, 2011 at 1:01 pmI literally laughed out loud when I got to the seventh shot, with poor El in full on cry. What a great series to have! And yes, you all look cute.
Kelly
April 25, 2011 at 1:02 pmThis is so funny! thanks for keeping it real!
Tiffany
April 25, 2011 at 1:04 pmLove this!!!
Joy_UK
April 25, 2011 at 1:04 pmOmg these pics are the cutest!
You’ve got an adorable family :)
Funnelcloud Rachel
April 25, 2011 at 1:07 pmOk – hilarious! I know you were going for the sweet family photo, but the hysterical glimpse into your daily life and attempts to get the photo is the real treasure!
Sadhbh
April 25, 2011 at 1:09 pmVery Cute! I had a similar experience trying to get a shot of my twins in their new Easter outfits:)
Traveling Mama
April 25, 2011 at 1:10 pmSo funny and something any parent can identify with! Love the shot you got though!
renee
April 25, 2011 at 1:10 pmhahahh soooo cute! i love your living room, especially that rug!
tracy
April 25, 2011 at 1:11 pmI love how your dog gets in on the action!!
Laura_NEAPOLITAN
April 25, 2011 at 1:12 pmI was laughing so hard by the end of this…I can’t tell you how much this mirrors my current experiences trying to “capture the moment”! Thanks for sharing the story behind it all.
m.o.m
April 25, 2011 at 1:13 pmThese are sooo great! Love seeing reality (good, cute reality).
Kristal
April 25, 2011 at 1:15 pmHilarious!! So glad you shared.
Elaine
April 25, 2011 at 1:15 pmso funny! Funnier that I didn’t even notice the play doh in the final pic until seeing it in the storyline!
Audra
April 25, 2011 at 1:17 pmOh snap these are hilarious. HA!
Franziska
April 25, 2011 at 1:18 pmI laughed so much. It’s so familiar! We wanted to do something similar a few weeks ago. Guess who wasn’t very happy about it? Right! The little one! :)
Notorious MLE
April 25, 2011 at 1:19 pmI have lived this same scenario so many times! Sometimes I think blogs intentionally or unintentionally give the idea that is easy to have perfect, adorable kids. I appreciate your willingness to let us see some of the messy. :)
Katrina
April 25, 2011 at 1:19 pmloved the photo play by play – you all looked so sweet!
michelle d
April 25, 2011 at 1:20 pmthank you for sharing that! too many times i wonder how many shots it took for someone to get their great family pic and it was refreshing to know that really no one has it altogether =)
val
April 25, 2011 at 1:20 pmoh my gosh this is great! my favorite part is how calm you both seem as Eleanor is falling to pieces. priceless.
casey
April 25, 2011 at 1:25 pmlove it.
Laura
April 25, 2011 at 1:26 pmYou totally photoshopped your husbands head in your winning photo, didn’t you?! Looks great!
Making it Lovely
April 25, 2011 at 2:23 pmThe winning shot is two photos edited together! Me and Eleanor on the left, and then Brandon and August on the right.
Lily
April 25, 2011 at 1:27 pmlove this! you’ve inspired me to try to convince my husband to paint our new sunroom pink- and this shade is perfect. i’m sure you’ve posted it somewhere, but can you tell me what it is??
Making it Lovely
April 25, 2011 at 2:23 pmBenjamin Moore’s Wild Aster.
Lauren @ chezerbey
April 25, 2011 at 1:28 pmLove it!
Also love your cardigan, where is it from?
Making it Lovely
April 25, 2011 at 2:24 pmAnthropologie, a couple of years ago.
bungalowbliss
April 25, 2011 at 1:34 pmHa, that was great! Just wait until August gets mobile–even more fun! :)
(Everyone looks lovely. Hope you had a happy holiday.)
Carrie
April 25, 2011 at 1:38 pmYour hair looks awesome!
Such cute photos!
Victoria (Batzy)
April 25, 2011 at 1:39 pmAw I love Eleanor’s smile…so cute!
aimee c.
April 25, 2011 at 1:39 pmhaha! those series of shots are priceless. :)
Jules
April 25, 2011 at 1:42 pmHilarious.
RO
April 25, 2011 at 1:53 pmHahaha.. Love it. I cant believe its been this long.. time flies.
Thats the theme of my day!
Gorgeous Fam!
Ro
Emily
April 25, 2011 at 2:00 pmSo sweet..just wait til August is walking too, ha!
Cherri Porter
April 25, 2011 at 2:00 pmThat sounds about right! I actually prefer family photos where something is askew. It gives everyone something to talk about years later and it’s much more interesting. And, you know what they say about well behaved women…
Sneza
April 25, 2011 at 2:02 pmI love the photo (all the photos) but I feel like the artwork on the wall dominates everything else. It seems to scream “Look at my beautiful octopus hair! Look! Look at me!”
jodi
April 25, 2011 at 2:14 pmhee hee! i love this play-by-play! adorable.
Nolita
April 25, 2011 at 2:15 pmSo cute…We had about the same ordeal with our family picture and in the picture I posted, EVERYone in the family looks happy except for Mommy. I looked peeved. Oh well…I was a little by then…
BTW, I thought about you when I ended up in pink and brown for church yesterday. I wish I’d gotten a picture of me when I was wearing my brown shawl… next time!
Carey
April 25, 2011 at 2:19 pmahhaha I love it!
Pencils
April 25, 2011 at 2:24 pmVery sweet. Eleanor is adorable even in the one where she’s crying hard. And that’s a very pretty outfit on her. I saved a little white cardigan for my daughter’s Easter dress…and then it was over 70 and humid and she didn’t need it anyway! It had been freezing all month.
kelsey
April 25, 2011 at 2:30 pmtoo funny! you did get a great shot, though. :)
Jana
April 25, 2011 at 2:30 pmawesome to know I am not the only one who goes through this for a decent family photo :)
Dimitra
April 25, 2011 at 2:33 pmHehe! That was so lovely and funny!
Loved the descriptions :)
Marcie
April 25, 2011 at 2:37 pmOh boy do I remember those days! And that was pre-digital so we never knew if we had even one decent picture out of the whole roll until it was developed. Now that our kids are all out of the nest we never seem to all be in one place at the same time to get a family picture. I think we’ll have to resort to Photoshop if we ever want to get us all together in one photo. At least there’s that!
marysza
April 25, 2011 at 2:44 pmohh nice room!! it’s so beautiful;d and a funny bunch of family photos;d it made a smile on my face! :)
Theresa
April 25, 2011 at 3:04 pmI think most moms can relate.
Carolyn
April 25, 2011 at 3:08 pmThose have to be some of my favorite photos! (and I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one with a difficult to photograph child)
Kara @ Just1Step
April 25, 2011 at 3:08 pmHahahaha I love it. That absolutely cracked me up.
Tanya from Dans le Townhouse
April 25, 2011 at 3:08 pmSuch an adorable family! I love the narration of all the photos it took to get the right one.
ELISE
April 25, 2011 at 3:21 pmAbsolutely Adorable !
jodi
April 25, 2011 at 3:24 pmThat is completely adorable! I love the sequence of photos…looks a lot like ours! :) Your family is definitely gorgeous.
liz a.
April 25, 2011 at 3:39 pmhow funny and adorable is this! i love the look on your husband’s face in #5…..you know exactly what he is thinking! hilarious! we had seven, so you can imagine our family pix….always someone running in or out, or crying, or picking their nose….wonderful memories! thank you for sharing!
Alisa (mrsbcs)
April 25, 2011 at 3:45 pmEleanor reminds me soooo much of Olivia. It completely cracks me up. I keep wondering what it would be like to add another dynamic to the family (meaning #2, and trying for a boy) I kind of get to see!
I think O would still run the show. Does Eleanor wrangle the dog too like Olivia does?
carolyn
April 25, 2011 at 3:58 pmawesome. that is exactly why we have zero family pictures.
{LOVE your shoes!}
Liv
April 25, 2011 at 4:07 pmI happened to do the same thing with my Easter photos as well!
It takes a lot of work to look perfect.
Connie
April 25, 2011 at 4:09 pmThis was awfully funny and cute!
Sarah
April 25, 2011 at 4:23 pmI liked the “all she had for breakfast was Easter candy” comment! That was totally my kids yesterday. We left their Easter baskets out for them so they would be waiting for the kids to see when they woke up and they were already ripping into the m&ms by the time I got downstairs yesterday!
michelle
April 25, 2011 at 4:25 pmreal life w/ a toddler!!!! love it!
Heidi
April 25, 2011 at 4:55 pmSo adorable! And how like little ones – I love the set-up series of photos, thanks for sharing it.
Hello, by the way. I have been following your blog for several years, but I’ve never commented before!
Giulia
April 25, 2011 at 5:29 pmLOL…too funny. This is super cute, thanks for sharing the whole ordeal. We did our Christmas photo that way, we made it a race with the blinking light and the kids loved it, squealing and all…
RD
April 25, 2011 at 6:04 pmSo funny–but the sad news is that it doesn’t really get better as they get older. I’ve got a 16 yr old and an 11 yr old, and getting a family or sibling photo is excruciating. The one you salvaged turned out great, though!
julie @ duet letterpress
April 25, 2011 at 6:25 pmtoo funny! i didn’t even notice the playdoh. cute picture :]
Jillian
April 25, 2011 at 6:48 pmThe whole family is so adorable! And I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who has photoshopped family photos together. A little of this, a little of that…
Nat@ dear little house
April 25, 2011 at 7:08 pmCute, I love the last pic! It is clever how you have told the story of the photo, through photos!
Clearly Composed
April 25, 2011 at 7:37 pmThis made me giggle…out loud! :)
virginia
April 25, 2011 at 7:37 pmI love this post! Totally made me laugh out loud because it’s just so real. You guys make an adorable family and the end result is a great one! :)
Ellen
April 25, 2011 at 8:01 pmSuch a cute series of pictures! It does take lots of patience to get one good picture! You have a beautiful family!
Heidi S
April 25, 2011 at 8:16 pmSo funny! I have been there many times! Just wait until both your kids can run away.
Mrs. Kinne
April 25, 2011 at 8:18 pmI am in love with this whole series of pictures– and all of the Easter ensembles! :)
hena tayeb
April 25, 2011 at 8:19 pmSo cute. I have one and I can only imagine.. just getting him to look at the camera and not try to eat my ear is a task.. smiling is a whole different story. But in the end it’s always worth it.
Kathy
April 25, 2011 at 8:21 pmVery cute!
katie
April 25, 2011 at 8:29 pmso so good!
happy easter to you and your little wild family.
<3
jenn
April 25, 2011 at 8:33 pmI liked how you shared the images. I’ve tried with two people and 3 dogs before… there were a lot of “outtakes” and I had to use a timer since I didn’t have a remote. very cute thought… even the outtakes.
Khemy
April 25, 2011 at 8:35 pmWhat a story..very cute..
Kelley@thehiddenlist.com
April 25, 2011 at 8:46 pmOK…this is hilarious! Something that you’ll treasure forever and show at her wedding!
STC Weekly Digs. | something to chase
April 25, 2011 at 8:49 pm[…] over at Making it Lovely has a cute post on her Easter family photo session which I fell in love […]
Chloe Chinn
April 25, 2011 at 9:29 pmLove the photos! You have a beautiful family and it’s nice to see family memories being made inside your home where life happens :)
Little Gray Pixel
April 25, 2011 at 10:14 pmHilarious!
Jen @ Rambling Renovators
April 25, 2011 at 10:53 pmSo so cute. And ohmigosh, our 2 year olds are the same ;)
abeautifulparty
April 25, 2011 at 11:19 pmthis is what true family photos are made from. I love it!
Sarah Hettervik @ http://agirlintransit.blogspot.com/
April 25, 2011 at 11:34 pmHaha this had me laughing!
– Sarah
Gabi
April 25, 2011 at 11:41 pmI can so relate to this :) Thanks for putting a smile on my face today and for sharing this story with us. Your family is adorable!
Ban Clothing
April 25, 2011 at 11:59 pmhaha, totally ‘real’ life!
Christy @ Kreating Kandyland
April 26, 2011 at 12:18 amAnd this is exactly the reason I begged for a digital camera and finally got one for Christmas. We could never get any good pics of the kids. Lately I’ve been using the multiple shot function which takes pictures quickly in succession. LOVE this function and was able to get some really cute pics of the Easter Egg hunts and Sunday morning best. I’ll have to post some on my website this week. Great photo story (that would be a great scrapbook layout too!)
Emmmylizzzy
April 26, 2011 at 1:07 amThis is fantastic! And I can so perfectly relate since my house is ruled by one of those crazy toddler things as well!
Bethie
April 26, 2011 at 2:43 amMy absolute favorite is the shot where you’re both staring at the toy horse that has randomly appeared out of nowhere (before randomly disappearing once more).
luuvely
April 26, 2011 at 6:57 amhahahah i was thinking the same thing!
and then the dog appeared and then somehow all came together..and it looks so cute :)
Amanda
April 26, 2011 at 3:08 amTotally adorable :)
Cristina
April 26, 2011 at 7:10 ambellissimi!! August is a giant!!!!!!!
Joy
April 26, 2011 at 8:51 amhe he he…“Maybe she’s hungry? All she ate for breakfast was Easter candy.” I feel that!
elisabeth
April 26, 2011 at 10:38 amhilarious! both you and husband v. patient…and extra lol that all she had for breakfast was easter cand!
bekah
April 26, 2011 at 10:45 ami loved this! what a great little family you have! & you look beautiful!
Azra
April 26, 2011 at 10:53 amI love it. You guys are so cute.
Cindy
April 26, 2011 at 12:14 pmThis is seriously hilarious! So glad to see that we are not the only family who have a rough time getting that dreaded family photo done. I don’t know who is worse..the hubs or my almost two year old twin girls (one whom also has been graced with the name Eleanore). Luckily my eldest daughter is a trooper. Anyway, such a cute photo!
marybeth @ babygoodbuys.com
April 26, 2011 at 4:02 pmAdorable, and it looks like it was worth the time it took to get it right! You’re one patient mom :)
Your shoes are super-cute, too!
Stephanie
April 26, 2011 at 7:02 pmI love how August just watches all the action. Older siblings are the best entertainment. On another note I clicked on the photo booth pics and I am in LOVE with your daughter’s sunglasses. Where might I find a pair?
Cathy
April 26, 2011 at 9:43 pmThat’s too funny! While the lead-up was entertaining, I’m glad you got a good picture.
jbhat
April 26, 2011 at 10:52 pmI loved this. Because it’s as true as can be.
jbhat
Lottie
April 26, 2011 at 11:00 pmI LOVE THIS and it reminds me so, so much of my own family. My 2 year old daughter (very sweet natured most days) now refuses to have her photo taken with her 2 week old baby sister. We do have one pic … but that’s with her pointing accusingly at the newcomer!!! Anyway, just wanted to say how much I love your site and what a lovely family you have. These pics are adorable and very relatable too!
jen {fuzzy sushi}
April 27, 2011 at 1:19 amToo funny! I always love the mini captioned sequence we make out of the outtakes even more than the actual “successful” photo.
marichucky
April 27, 2011 at 3:31 amI absolutely love your family photo. Before I read the rest of the entry I thought how all of you could be so perfectly smiling. Woa, the making-of is absolutely the best part!
And what I like most, a perfect photo may need some photoshop. Thanks for sharing, you have a very beautiful family.
Amanda
April 27, 2011 at 10:01 amThis is so cute. After reading this I scrolled through really quickly to make a it a “movie” since it’s in sequence you can see some “movement” in there. :)