phamily photos

there is no such thing as all four of us being in the same frame and looking good. no such thing. there is also no such thing as two of us being in a picture together and looking good (that's how bad we are).

this december month has got me doing all sorts of preparations for the holidays. this includes christmas cards. which makes me think: i need to include a picture! so i've been trying to take one. and trying. and trying. this even inlcuded me wandering the perimeter of my parent's newly remodeled home and trying all the doors and windows until i found one and we took one inside the room that will soon be the computer/office room. those pictures were terrible. plus, i looked fat (i did. i know because i told my mother this and she said, "you do not!" then i showed her and she didn't say anything. this did not offend me. this is an example of why i love her). i looked fat because i was using a box the remodelors left behind and my camera and the timer button. i would push the button, urge ava to use her pretty smile and not her creepy scrunchy smile and then run to sit next to ryan and not lean forward. because ryan has a small head and i might have a big head and when i sit next to him and lean forward in pictures his head looks teeny-tiny and i look, well, fat.

i refuse to not include the family photo because i hate it when people don't include theirs. i want to see everyone! especially if they've had a baby. and i really want people to include cheesy, badly-written bragging letters that make other people's eyes glaze over. i eat those up. and i laugh. sometimes i call ryan to read them out loud to him. his eyes glaze over when i do this so i can't do it when he's driving in the car.

so, does anyone have any suggestions or stories of a similar thread which will make me feel better? also, i will get a cute family picture if it kills me. or if i just have to tie ava's hands down so she stops wiggling and saying, "seth's tickling me!" because he is not.