5 on Friday Family Photo Tips and a Sneak Peek :)

Last week we had family photos done! This was something that had been on my to-do list for a long time because mommy is always behind the camera and never really included in any pictures :) Our photographer was great with kids which helped SO much.


Here are a few things that we did to help ease the challenges of taking photos with the babies. (These are not the original files, so they are a little blurry, but you get the idea.)

{1. Plan, plan, plan}
I knew that I wanted to work with clothes that we already had. I wore a dress that I've had for sometime and Hollin wore a dress that I bought a few weeks ago. They didn't compliment each other at all, so I did have to run out and buy shirts for the boys. I think it all worked pretty nicely :)

{2. Bribery}
Bribery is a must unless you have angel babies. Jimmy ran out the day of the pictures and bought white tic-tacs.  They're small and will not leave color on clothes. Score!

{3. Naps and Bath}
This is pretty obvious, but we scheduled the photos after Hollin's nap. She always wakes up with terrible bed head, so a bath was a must. (We usually reserve baths for after dinner.)

{4. Pajama Car Ride}
The weather was pretty mild, so we let Hollin ride to the Arboretum in pajamas. It's a good thing we did because she had an almost blow-out on the way there.

{5. Be Natural}
Ok, this one is hard, I'll admit. I always get a little nervous that our pictures will look forced. It helps to get a good vibe with your photographer and let your little ones warm up to him/her. Jimmy helped make me laugh by saying dumb things in my ear :) It helped.

I'm so happy to have these images of my sweet family and can't wait to get the rest of them!!