You know what I have to remind myself sometimes? That really insignificant things don’t matter. I have a tendency to build things up in my head and then I unravel when they don’t go exactly my way. Who cares if all of our outfits *coordinate* on Christmas morning. Really. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone was comfortable and the girls were happy, than if we looked like a Christmas card?
Kamin and I had talked off and on about when we would take family photos for our Christmas card and the only time we could work it out was while we were camping over the Thanksgiving holiday. I always use our photos for the front of our Christmas card and this year would have been no exception. I had high expectations because, blogger. Doesn’t it always matter that other people validate my feelings AND my Christmas card?
We opted to take pictures after lunch on Thanksgiving Day because we didn’t want to get dressed up more than once while we were on vacation. I was smart to make the girls wear something other than their photo outfit to lunch because they both ended up having pancakes and syrup instead of turkey. We made a quick change of clothes before heading out for an afternoon hike. Did I mention it was not quite 30 degrees and the *perfect outfit* I picked out for Sophie was short sleeved. Josh was in a huff about the entire situation, the girls were freezing and K was trying to take our pictures and keep her family happy, too. All of that to say, it was a disaster. The thumbnail versions of the photos are adorable, but when you really start to look at them, we look miserable and the girls are making weird faces in almost every single one.
In the beginning, I was a little irritated. Not with K, whose photos never ever disappoint and who pretty much immediately volunteered a redo. Not with Josh or the kids, because it wasn’t their fault we were all freezing and suffering through a food coma. I was just irritated because things didn’t go according to MY plan. Then I opened up the template for my cards that I designed weeks ago to see how I could resurrect my idea and was quickly chastised by my own words. Celebrate ALL the things.
I get frustrated when people criticize social media and our lack of face-to-face communication. I know that there are certainly worst case scenarios and I’ve definitely been guilty of scrolling when I should have been engaged with my family at the dinner table. I’m not saying that we don’t need a gut-check every once in awhile. What I am saying is that I’m so thankful for all of the moments I capture with Instagram that I might not ever remember otherwise. Is it self-absorbed to mention that sometimes I scroll through my own feed longer than I scroll through yours? I find myself laughing out loud over a moment that I thought to share and had completely forgotten about. The staged family photos will be treasured I’m sure, but I’m more thankful for the little moments that might go unnoticed if it weren’t for modern technology.
A failed photoshoot reminded me that the real beauty of this season is in all the little things. I decided to pull one of my favorite photos from each month of 2014 for this year’s card and really? I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. Milestones and selfies and holidays — these are the things I’m most thankful for this year.
And while we were being non-traditional, I figured a yearly recap via the Infographic was the way to go! Josh and I had the best time coming up with the fun facts to share on the back. Some are 100% true {dead cats, anyone?} and others are a little exaggerated {I don’t actually spend that much time watching television each week}. I loved it so much that I’m planning to do a monthly blog review using an Infographic each month in 2015. Any quirky statistics to include or questions you want answered?
And because “who doesn’t love a good flashback?”, I decided to hang all of our Christmas cards together on our bedroom door this year. Yes, we sent out cards before Sophie was born, but I kind of hate displaying the ones from before our family was complete! You can see them all up close and personal by clicking on the following links: 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 What’s your favorite?
Merry Christmas, friends – I hope it’s your best ever!
