Wednesday, May 16, 2012

My Mother's Day Picture

This Mother's Day was my fifth Mother's Day as a mother, and on Saturday (the day before Mother's Day) I told Chad there was one thing I wanted for Mother's Day. After he gave me a look that said Do you realize that Mother's Day is tomorrow and there's no way I'm going to pull off getting you something else?, I think he was relieved to hear my request. I wanted a picture of me with my boys.

Why did I want a picture of me with my boys? Well, there's the obvious reason that I am their mother and it was Mother's Day. But as I was searching through more than two years worth of photos to find a few photos of me with Alec and Chase together to use as profile photos, I found about three. Three photos of me with my boys. From the past two years. I'm not great at math, but I'm pretty sure that works out to about one a year.

It's not that we don't have photos of the boys. I didn't count, but I'm pretty sure we're into the five digits of photos of the boys. And there are plenty of photos of the boys with Chad, the boys with grandparents, the boys with friends, the boys with the dog. But only three photos of the boys with their own mother.

Why were there only three photos of me with my boys? Well, mothers wear many hats, including but not limited to chef, nurse, maid, and now photographer. Since I'm always the one taking the pictures, I never seem to make it into many photos myself.

So after Chad learned that all I wanted for Mother's Day was for him to take a picture of me with the boys, I think he felt like he got off easy. At least he felt that way until picture time.

You see, since I've been the family photographer for four years now, I've learned a little bit about taking photos of kids. I've learned that it takes about 50 photos just to get one kind of good one. If I want a really good photo, I can count on at least 100 tries, a little bit of luck and lots of frustration.

So here is a glimpse into my Mother's Day picture:

Attempt #1: Let's try to get a shot of the three of us on the couch.

Chase is looking at the camera like I'm squeezing the air out of him, and Alec is looking somewhere else.

Now Alec is begrudgingly looking at the camera but Chase is looking somewhere else.

Alec is already tired of having his picture taken and is now goofing off, and Chase is ready for his nap.

Now Chase is goofing of and Alec is once again not looking at the camera.

Well at least I'm still smiling.

Ok, I think we've all had enough of our first attempt.

Attempt #2: Let's go outside this time.

The boys actually look good...it's me who wasn't ready this time.

Ok, I'm ready now...but the boys are not.
 
I don't even know what's going on here.

More goofing off from the boys.

I'm pretty sure this was Chad's attempt at humor.

Let's try to get the boys to give me a kiss before calling it quits.

And the Winners:



I honestly don't know what people did before digital cameras. I can't even imagine how many photos were thrown away and how much money was wasted on photos of mom's butt.

So next year when Mother's Day rolls around again and I tell Chad that I want another photo of me with the boys, he might think twice about feeling relieved. At least I can't complain about not having any pictures of me with my boys now!

28 comments:

  1. We have a Christmas card attempt that looks a little like this ;-)

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  2. I feel the same way Kim! Photoshop also helps! :-)

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  3. This is ridicolously hysterical, and actually happened in the Keele house this am. My girls had their token "Big Sis/Little Sis" shirts on and i thought I'd get a cute picture....

    After 10+ photos, "Katie, sit up." "Avery, smiiiiile." "mommy, Avery is touching me."
    A few rolls by Avery, Katie pulling at her leg to bring her back...... And the fact that I was going to be late for work had I continued....

    I gave up. I actually had planned on blogging mine as well. I will be sure to give you "credit.".

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  4. I know exactly what you mean. I went through 12 years of pictures to find one of me and my kids other than a group picture we had made in a studio once. Guess what...there were maybe 5 in all. I am the one always taking hundreds of pictures....so I asked my daughter at her dance competiton to let her take one of us together for a change. She completely blew me off and I was TICKED!!!! My husband finally took notice after a few minutes of me walking around moping before he realized I was reall upset over this. Give me the camera he says and he took a quick shot. Not the best picture..but it's my facebook profile for a while most definately!

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  5. That last one with the kisses is adorable. My husband never picks up a camera, either -- which is weird, since he can't be parted from most other electronic goodies. I've been making a point of assigning my brother (an amateur photographer) to take pictures at family gatherings, in the hopes that I'll be in a few of them. I'd like my son to know what I looked like before he gave me gray hair.

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  6. Seriously, those photos should be framed in the order they were taken. Those are precious!!!! You remind me of the "mall Santa"... no matter how much my grand kids were fussing on his lap-- he kept a smile on his face at all times. Just that alone was hysterical... just like your precious photos!!
    big hugs,
    Cheryl

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  7. I love these pictures. Your sons are adorable!

    Thanks for finding me through SITS. Oh, and by the way, go Steelers! :D

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  8. Oh so cute!! The last one is precious. I'm a new follower. I have a little boy as well. He's 2.5 and two girls- ages 8 and 10. Yes, I decided to start all over again and loving it. Had to beg for the 3rd for many years. :)

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  9. Mom's But was Dads favourite picture!!! At least that's what my husband tells me. I'm running with it. In from SITS

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  10. I have a hard time getting my husband to take pictures. He says the camera is complicated.

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  11. At least all the failed attempts are fun to look back on, and you did manage a couple of great ones. I try my hardest to make sure I'm in the picture every now and then. So far, I'm doing okay at it.

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  12. Family photos are another one missing from my file. So...not only do I not exist in photos, but their are no photos of BOTH Mom and Dad with the kids. Nice. And those? They are the hardest to get because now we have two adults focusing on two girls trying to hold still plus the infant. Ugh. Photo day.

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  13. I completely relate to this post. There are hardly any photos of me with our boys for the exact same reason you describe: I am the photographer. The final photo is very sweet.

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  14. Your blog is so true. Moms are the photographers, usually. I love the digital age. I love seeing Facebook photos and most of them don't have me. Thanks for the post. Enjoy your SITS Day. Today I posted http://www.eaglesclawsanctuary.com/2012/11/06/writing-passion/

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  15. You got some fun photos. And you have a beautiful smile!

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  16. Too cute! I'm the photographer too, and I do the same thing, try to get in at least one picture with them. There aren't very many of me with them when they were younger, so good job mom! Happy SITS Day!

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  17. I feel your pain with the pictures!!!

    I actually love yours! I think the funny ones are endearing!

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  18. Your boys are adorable. I love the second to the last one where the little one is sucking his thumb...that or sticking his finger in his nose, either way it's precious.

    Stopping over from SITS!

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  19. Funny post. Loved the photos, they were worth it. I have literally thousands of photos from the past 36 years of mothering and I am in hardly any. When once in a while I see one I know why though. I'm happy to stay on the other side of the camera in most cases. But it is important that you get a few of you so that they remember you were there. I swear, when it's time to bring out the photo album because YES you did take them to Disney, and YES you did go on vacations, and school field trips and were with them just about everywhere - you have to have a way to prove it. ESPECIALLY when they're teens and their memories get very short.

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  20. Glad you got at least a couple keepers! Love the butt photo. You know you're a mom when you have a butt photo!

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  21. What a wonderful family picture! Happy Sits day! Enjoy!

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  22. Lol! Great pictures!!! Happy SITS day!

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  23. Love this! That looks like lots of fun :D
    Thank you for sharing with us x

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  24. Awww these are SO cute !!! Whenever I meet up with any one I ask them to take photos of me and my daughter as I NEVER get any and would like to remember that I was actually there too in the future :-)
    http://myfroley.blogspot.com

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  25. I love all of these pictures!! I realized the same thing recently - we have a gazillion pictures of our boys but none of me with the two of them. Usually it's because I don't feel like taking a picture or think that I don't look nice, but I realized that it would be a shame when the boys grow up and they don't have pictures with their mom when they were younger. So now I'm trying to make more of an effort. Happy Happy SITS Day!!

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  26. But the series of pictures is fantastic! It's like a little flip book! Love it! :)

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  27. Too cute! The one your husband took of your butt...lol just like a man.

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