Every January, on Martin Luther King Jr. day, we don coordinating clothes, comb our hair extra carefully and get in the car for family portraits. 

The pictures will be back next Monday, but I have one on CD that I bought straight out so  could order a large one from Snapfish.  For now I will share the progression of family shots.   Enjoy.  And check out the metamorphosis of my hair!

Just one child.  We had no clue!  LOL.
We dropped over $100 on this photo shoot.  I still have some left over. 
Anyone want a wallet sized photo of John and I circa 2001?

Still one child.  Just found out #2 was coming. 
Look at Stewy’s little self.  ♥

This next one was one of those years where you just weren’t
going anywhere.  The photographer got two, and I mean only two images. 
Look at Stewart’s face.  The other shot showed Stewart renting his clothes
like an angry Old Testament prophet.  Do I look stressed?  Do I? Do I?  LOL. 
Still, no clue.  We spent hardly any money this year.  But I did buy a handful.
Look at Nigel’s precious baby self.

Love this next one.  Look at my sweet boys.
I was about 12 weeks pregnant with Marie here.

I love this one.  They are 4, 2, and 6 months old.  I love these guys. 
I’m starting to get a clue…  And I wasn’t stressed. 

Well, by this point I had long since accepted that it all about the percentage
of people who look good for the shot…  With five people, if four are looking
good, that is 80%.  For $12.88 or $3.99 a sheet, does it matter if a few aren’t looking? 
At least we look so good.   Look at Marie’s joyful self.  And Stew’s big Daddy hug.

I was pregnant for Tabitha here.  About six months.

This one is, um, special.  I never realized until just now how goofy it is. 
The kids are all looking a little stressed!  Hmmm.  And John and I look relaxed. 
I don’t remember anything special about this day, at all!

The first thing you may notice here is the kids are wearing the same clothes. 
Yes, well, it gets hard to find coordinating outfits for 6 people.  If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

I love my hair. 

These photos are my favorite.  These are pics of pics.  We didn’t get to go in on
Martin Luther King Jr. day that year.  We ended up not getting in until March. 
I LOVE our clothes.  I LOVE the poses.  I love the kids’ faces.  I LOVE these pics. 
Many of this year’s photos still hang on our walls.

These were the worst pictures ever.  EVER. 
Our appointment was at 3 or something.  They called early in the day and asked if we could come in an hour early.  We agreed.  Adjusted quiet time.  Got ourselves together, got there early and promptly waited over an hour.  Seriously.  Then we were RUSHED through our sitting.  They cut Marie out of the picture.  The other family shot had Tabitha’s shirt askew displaying too much of her skin.  I didn’t buy any except the cheap-o package.  I also politely shared my dissatisfaction in the online survey they sent out.  I ended up with two years’ free membership and a certificate for a boat load of photo sheets.  I accepted happily knowing we had a new baby coming in the next year.  I was 5 months pregnant with Johanna.

Speaking of Johanna, here she is!  I love this photo. 
Love it.  I like the pile on the floor.  I love our colors. 
I love that I can see their personalities.  It was a great shot.

And this is the first one from this year.  I ordered a 20 X 30 for over the fireplace from Snapfish. 
I hope it gets here today.

Look at their faces.  They are so cute!
I wore the same sweater as a few years back.  As I said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.