Christmas card attempts

So, we were going to send out a picture Christmas card again this year. Note: were. I don't even know where to start explaining my feelings about this. Yesterday, we dressed Eve up in her Christmas shirt and pants and I started snapping pictures of her on the couch. But Jim didn't like that, so he spent 30 minutes building an elaborate backdrop made out of wrapping paper and cardboard and props. Then we sat her in front of it and got so frustrated (all of us) that we gave up. We were all cranky, and didn't really know why. Jim, because it wasn't working - she wouldn't sit up, wouldn't smile, kept falling over. Me, because I didn't think we needed such elaborate planning. And Eve, because we were stressed and flashing lights in her eyes repeatedly.

So we tried again this morning. Same thing. Jim wanted it to be just so and have everything in place so we would have the best chance of snapping a shot with her actually smiling. Unfortunately, that is extremely difficult. #1, she doesn't smile on cue - we need to act like idiots to make her laugh. #2, our camera has that stupid 2 second delay, so that by the time it takes the picture, she's already turned her head and has her eyes closed.



I am nearly totally fed up and ready to invest in a Nikon or Cannon that instantly takes a picture.

Another issue we had was that Eve wasn't sitting up straight.



As you can see in these pictures that we did manage to get, she is slumped over and just looks...I don't know. We tried laying her down, but that looked even worse. So we gave up. And as I was sitting there crying, I realized what was bugging both Jim and I - we wanted her to look normal. A normal kid would stand in front of a tree or something and smile. A normal kid would...well, look normal. So, here are our attempts at a Christmas card picture. They are cute snapshots, but not cute enough that Jim and I want to make one of them the Christmas card image. So, this year I am sending regular cards. I went out and bought some at Hallmark. And I will just tell people that if they want to see her, they can look at this blog. And for those friends and family members that don't "do" computers, I will include a snapshot.