Well, even though we haven’t been able to settle on a design for our Christmas card yet this year, we’ve absolutely settled on a photo!
A couple of weeks ago our dear friend Claire (we first met her in the delivery room with Evie Grace as our NILMDTS photographer, but she has since grown into near family for us) made time in her busy busy photographer schedule to shoot our crazy crew for an hour or so.
We honestly walked away from the shoot full of apologies and in total disbelief that she had been able to get anything worth anything. Hazel hit her head right when we arrived, so she was cranky-pants. Oliver vacillated between being totally into it and totally over it. And because of traffic, we missed the golden hour of light by a solid 30 minutes.
So you can imagine our great delight when Claire shared a sneak peek on Facebook and it wasn’t awful at all – it was AWESOME!
I guess maybe that’s the mark of a really good photographer – with kids especially. You have to be able to see past what might make a parent feel harried in the moment, straight through to the moment they won’t want to forget twenty years from now – the moments they’ll really treasure.
So what if the smiles are crooked or if the baby doll makes it into almost every photo? It’s part of who we are right now – I love it! We’re so grateful to have a photographer who has an eye for childhood – check out these two pictures I would have absolutely missed! I don’t even know how she does it!
(And yes, having a doll baby and a shotgun in our kids’ family photos absolutely makes us official Southerners.)
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And, since we absolutely love this little picture of our family this year, I’m super excited to get to ordering Christmas cards! Only, I’m having a terrible time deciding which one… what do y’all like?
Kacia says this one looks like the cover of a really expensive magazine :)
I just threw some random stuff into this one – I think I’d really have to give it some thought if we actually landed on having this be our official card, but I like the idea of a year in review.
I like the snowy look of this one. Paired with the type, it just feels like us!
And this – well I just adore this one. The typography is excellent, love the gold, and of course I love the passage. It’s a frontrunner.
I found these designs on Minted.com and it looks like if you order through this referral link, you’ll get $25 off of your order!
If you do order through Minted, I’d love to hear which style you chose! And if you have a favorite here, help a sister out – I just can’t decide!
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Happy Wednesday, friends! Consider hopping over to read today’s SheReadsTruth Thanksgiving devotional – it’s about giving thanks in sorrow and I just adore it.
I’m digging the expensive magazine cover ;) the photos are fantastic! I love Minted. We haven’t decided on a design yet either.
Love the idea of a year in review card – so much fun to recieve!
Does the referral link work if you already have an account?
ooh – good question! I’m thinking you’d have to sign up with a new account to get the $25 – it’s probably just for new users :/
well I love ALL of them but that snowy one is just perfection.
Love the first one!
Oooh! Great photos. What a beautiful bunch you all are! The last one (gold type) is my favorite, but something about the rule line cutting through everyone’s ankles bothers me. I wish there was more grass at the bottom to play with so the photo could be nudged just a bit higher.
Second choice, the snowy one.
Also… do you have short hair now??
Personally, I am not a fan of the phrases Season’s Greetings or Happy Hoidays.
that said ~ i adore the last one ~ love the font & bible quote & the gold.
it’s beautiful.