Last week, I somewhat hastily decided to get family pictures taken before the weather gets too cold, the corn is harvested, and all the leaves fall off the trees.
I know we just had family pictures taken when Simon was born, but that was over 6 months ago and he has changed SO much — plus, I’m about 40 pounds lighter 🙂
So I emailed my cousin (who lives on a farm and has access to a nice camera) and asked if he’d be willing to snap a few pictures if we came to his house some day after school. Fortunately for me, he agreed!
We had the most PERFECT picture-taking weather — cool, cloudy, no wind, no rain.
Tall corn stalks, paint-peeling barns, super green grass, and tin walls made the perfect back-drop for my style of family pictures; and I just can’t wait to get a few of them on our walls (replacing our 2-year old family picture when Nora is barely walking!)
So since I feel like I share almost everything else with you guys, and since you helped me pick out our wardrobe on Facebook (seriously, such good suggestions!) I felt that I should share the finished pictures with you.
For the record, I realize these photos are not professional quality. I paid my cousin $25 for his hour of time with a borrowed camera and I spent another hour of time editing the pictures with PicMonkey and Ribbet.
So while you professional photographers are probably cringing, these photos are good enough for me — and I’m sure you can imagine how much Dave cares about the quality of the photos 🙂
Also, the ONLY reason Nora was even somewhat cooperative is because we promised her a sucker on the ride home.
Also, for any of you looking to get family pictures yet this year, a reader shared this AWESOME infographic from the Marlen James blog.
Jennifer says
I love the images, the set, the smiling faces! That’s all that matters! You guys look happy 🙂
Sandy K says
You and your cousin did a fantastic job of the photos. You all look fantastic. Nora looks like Shirley Temple on the first photo. Good job on losing the pounds. I didn’t think you had any weight to lose.
Cindy says
Cringing? I think not! The pics look fantastic! You look amazing! & I can’t believe how fast the kids are growing! Nora is a lil cutie & Simon looks so happy! Great pics girl!
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
Lovely! I especially love the ones of you in all in front of the barn. And great infographic. Thanks for sharing!
Nena says
Beautiful! thanks for sharing
kathy w says
These pictures are absolutely adorable! Your children are growing so fast right before our eyes.
Anytime you can get together and have pictures made you should, especially when your children are small. Thanks for sharing them. Also, thanks for the tips on what to wear having
your picture made, very helpful.
Jenny C. says
Hi Andrea 🙂 I LOVE your family pictures! They are just beautiful. It’s so great to “document” your growing family. Thanks for sharing.
Tammy @ SkipperClan says
Love them and the way the clothes played off the background colors, perfect! Congrats on the healthy change since having him, too!
Amber says
Your children are gorgeous! I’ve seen lots of pictures of Nora on your blog previously, but I guess the deep color of her eyes escaped me in the past. She is gorgeous!
Jules says
Beautiful! Professional or not, they seem to perfectly capture your family and that is what matters. And please tell me you’re going to blog about how you *lost* 40 lbs. I know you are not a big fan of exercise. . . . .
Andrea says
hahah — I had a baby 🙂
The newborn photos were 3 days after Simon’s birth so I was very bloated and had lots of baby weight plus water weight. Now, over 6 months later, I’m back to “normal”!
No exercise plan, just lots of walks with the kids and busy yard work.
julie says
These are great! And honestly, if motherhood has taught me anything, it’s that i can’t go looking for perfection, i have to find the “it’s good enough” photo and just move on.
Plus, there are so many great card templates out there that have spaces for multiple photos. That way you can take a collection of so-so photos and make a really fun card. (And if the clothing colors look crazy, just make ’em black & white photos, no one will ever know!)
linda r (phila burbs) says
y’all make one beautiful family! love the pictures (especially the one with simon’s smile!)
Debby says
beautiful!! enough said
ShellyL says
These pictures are terrific! Seriously, you are too hard on yourself. I think they are perfect. Nora is getting more beautiful every day. Those eyes are gorgeous! Such a sweetheart and little Simon is just adorable. Great job! I look forward to seeing your cards. <3
Erin @ Magenta & Lime says
These are great photos!! Have you made your Christmas cards before? We took our own photo last year and made the cards on Vista Print and we loved them (oh, and they were really inexpensive, which was a big plus for me!)…http://www.magentaandlime.net/2013/12/taking-our-own-christmas-card-picture.html
Andrea says
yup — I even blogged about it a couple months ago 🙂
Amanda says
This is why we need our pics done soon! Shutterfly will start offering free cards, and I want to be able to take advantage 🙂
Erin @Magenta and Lime says
How did I miss this? Those announcement cards are so cute!!
Holly S says
Those pictures are fabulous and I really can’t imagine you getting better pictures even with a photographer. This is basically what I plan on doing for senior pictures for my son, my cousin lives in a pretty, small town in a rural setting and she is great at taking pictures. I just don’t see spending a fortune on pictures that we’ll be handing out to our family and close friends.
Dawn Kaestner says
I loathe pictures that look set up in a studio and think these are a perfect essence of your family. I would never have known these were not professionally done. And the one of Simon’s big smile makes it all worth it:)
Amanda says
Your kids are so stinkin’ cute – and have GORGEOUS blue eyes 🙂 I love the backdrop too – it’s perfect!
We’re doing family photos in a little less than a month. We want to get some before “baby brother” comes – so it will be a combo maternity (I’ll be 33wks) and family shoot. I found your clothing questions helpful, because I’m trying to figure out what we’re going to wear. It’s hard because my wardrobe is so limited at the moment! My husband and I are huge OSU fans (I’m an alumni), and there is a pic we took when I was pregnant with our son, in our jerseys, so we’re going to do a quick outfit change no matter what, so we can get a similar one with all of us in jerseys -I think it will be fun to have the 2 displayed next to each other 🙂
Jamie says
Beautiful family pictures! The one of Simon by himself smiling so big is fantastic! Nora did great too. Can’t believe you were able to get both kids looking in the same direction. We have 3 boys and rarely ever get all 5 of us looking and smiling at the camera at the same time. Great job!
Andrea says
haha thanks Jamie. We took about 300 pictures and literally have less than 5 where we are ALL looking 🙂
Linda Foster says
They are beautiful! Love the backgrounds too. They don’t have to be professional, it’s what matters to you! And these are great!
Paulette Smith says
These pics are amazing. I mean it. The colors are perfect, the poses are natural, and you guys are BEAUTIFUL! And those EYES. Truly, you’ve outdone yourselves. Simon is so stink-in’ precious.