The dreaded Christmas card picture

Why does it have to be so hard to get ONE decent picture?!?  I swear, the stress of getting a picture that is worthy of showcasing on our family Christmas card is sometimes not worth it.  Having a one-year old and an almost three year-old makes the task virtually impossible!

Last year we all got in our Christmas card picture...and it actually turned out halfway cute.  I mean, neither kid was actually looking at the camera or smiling, but it was as close to perfect as we were going to get.  It definitely wasn't the plan for all of us to be on the card, but at the time Olivia was too young to sit up on her own and Kahn was too young and definitely too stubborn to actually hold her so to avoid me having a nervous breakdown and beating my kids during the photoshoot, Kahn and I had to jump in the picture so we could hold both kids in place and quickly snap a picture.  Although the picture's not perfect, I liked it!  And I really liked the idea of having an annual picture of our family.

So, this year while we were in Orlando the day before Thanksgiving, we had a family friend (and also a very skilled photographer) take some pictures of us as a family.  Basically, it was a disaster!  Olivia was honestly horrible for the pictures...she basically cried in every picture and wanted nothing to do with any of us.  She pretty much has a mind of her own these days and if Olivia doesn't want to do something, Olivia doesn't do it!  Surprisingly, little Kahn was super cooperative (very unlike him) and actually looked into the camera and smiled.  Him cooperating had nothing to do with the continuous bribes we offered him!  I really wish bribes worked for 15 month olds!  Probably all together Jacquie took 100 pictures and about 5 were decent!  Although, I have to say...the picture that has ultimately made it onto our Christmas card is pretty darn good!  I have absolutely no idea how we managed to get a decent picture of all of us with Olivia being so difficult.  I obviously can't share the actual picture that has made it onto the coveted Peterson family Christmas card, but I did see it appropriate to share one of my favorites from the photo shoot...this about captures what a family photo session is like when you have small children!

Big Kahn picking little Kahn's nose and Olivia screaming her head off and me acting like we're one big happy family!

Priceless!