Family Photos

We took family pictures last month. We don't usually do that sort of thing - we never took professional engagement photos or newborn photos, but I found a photographer running an end of summer special and decided to go for it.

In reality, the photo shoot was a total bust. Elisa drooled all over her outfit, so we had to put her in a backup outfit that the photographer didn't seem to like that much. She was super fussy by the end of the shoot, and I don't blame her, as it took about 2 hours and half the time she wasn't looking at the camera, nor was she remotely interested in all the antics we were pulling trying to get her attention. Then there was a mid-shoot poop situation and screaming diaper change. By the end, it was past lunchtime and we were all getting hungry and cranky. As we left Griffith Park, Paul and I were bickering about something stupid. I started crying. I'd wanted everything to look so nice and perfect, and it definitely was not feeling nice and not at all close to perfect.

So really, it was not a very happy situation.

It's funny that once you have a baby, people start calling you a family. And although this year has brought more challenges to our marriage than any of the 11 years that we've been together, we're doing our best to be a family. Which means that no, things are not always happy. Not everything goes perfectly, not every outing is free from tears and tantrums, and at the end of it, somebody is always hungry or has said something out of frustration. But we're trying, and being a family means we're not giving up. We love each other and that's what counts, and that's what I hope these pictures show. All in all, I think they turned out pretty well. Here are some of my favorites.

All photos by Bracha Jade. Elisa's denim smock dress by Kumquat.