The Lindstroms just had our very first family picture taken. The Twinstroms are 19 months old, and we just got around to having a professional picture taken of the fam damily. We didn't even do it because we wanted to, we did it because we had to for our church's directory. Even so, I put it off until the last possible date. We have snapshots of the family, and we have oodles of pictures of the kids, and even a handful of pictures of my husband. I'm usually the photographer because I don't like to have my picture taken. I am not so easy on the eyes.
You know what the worst part of the family picture is? It's coordinating the outfits without looking like you're matching. I suck at this task. It also stresses me out.
At one point I was so irritated because I hate doing the outfit coordination so much, when I realized that either I would have to do it, or it wouldn't get done. While the Lindstroms don't mind sticking out like a handful of sore thumbs, we're not ones to go nude in the church directory (though, that would shake things up a little).
After about three days of thinking and coordinating (and amazingly, very little shopping) we got it all figured out, and I'll be damned if my kids didn't all smile at the same time. It actually turned out okay, and I'm sure our fellow congregants are content to continue to be in the dark when it comes to knowing what we all look like naked.
The family photo is one of those things that you wish you had when it becomes too late. I don't necessarily mean that someone has to die or something before you realize that you wish you had a picture of the whole family. I mean that in four years, when the Human Cannonball is eight, and the Twinstroms are five, I'm going to be darn glad that I went through the headache of finding coordinating (but not matching) gear for the five of us. It was a small price to pay (especially when you compare it to the amazing load of cash I accidentally dropped on the purchase of the very best of the best photos) because you can't turn back time, just ask Cher.
