Wallace Family Christmas Photos 2015

This time of year is so busy, isn’t it?! I was out of town, had a couple of friends stay with me, the kids had their last week of school, Crew’s birthday is next week and I’m incredibly behind with my gift shopping! But…the Christmas pics are now here and I even finished addressing the Christmas cards today too! I’m fiiiiinally moving in the right direction! 🙂

I’ve posted a TON of pics this time! Sometimes I think it’s fun to not just see 3-4, but an entire session, so here you go!!! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

The prep time for this photo shoot was literally planned in less than a day’s time. Our sweet friend/photographer offered to squeeze our family in when she had a last minute cancelation. Matt already had plans in the morning which meant I was rushing about like a crazy person trying to get everything in order. I would NOT recommend taking photos that last minute! 🙂

We were running late and got stuck in a ridiculous amount of traffic on the way which meant that we only had about 20 minutes of sunlight left. UGH! But, my friend still nailed it anyway!!!!

My sweet princess being her normal goofball self! 🙂 She could be in her pajamas and still look adorable!!!

This lil one has a special place in my heart. He was having a hard time participating, which is fairly common with him and photo shoots. He doesn’t care for them much at all. We finally got some smiles out of him, but if you keep scrolling down you’ll see that it wasn’t ALL quite this cute! 🙂

This kiddo…he’s almost always smiling. No really, like always smiling!!! He is such a joy. He’s really close to losing both of his two front teeth. We were hoping they’d come out before Christmas so he could sing the song, but so far they are just really wiggly and not coming out! 🙂 But, even with loose teeth his smile is one the most precious ever. 

My handsome Crew. He loves to giggle and laugh and play. He doesn’t care if there is a camera or not! He just wants to be tickled and wrestle! And he loves his daddy holding him!

The Kai man. I confess, I totally ran out of time and didn’t fix his hair…but he still looks amazing…and so grown up here. 🙁 Sometimes life can get so hectic and it’s pictures like this that make me pause and remind me to slow back down…especially this time of year. I don’t want to miss the little moments.

This is what family photo shoots look like at times. This is sometimes the reality behind the beautiful photos. There is almost always one that does not want to have fun.

That mad face. I still think he’s cute.

But, there is always one that needs a little bit of extra love.There is always one that feels hardened, or left out, or in need of some extra attention.

I am often no different than my kids. There are plenty of moments I make life about me and what I want and I turn my heart, just like he is turning his back, on those who love me the most. In those moments as a mother I can either get mad and demand he obey, or I can choose to pursue him just as Jesus pursues me, in kindness and love.

Here I am sharing with him the need to love others more than he loves himself. I am sharing with him that I need not only his face to smile but his heart too, because his heart matters far more to me than his face.  And I am reminding him over and over and over and again how loved he is and how I value him more than these pictures being perfect. And suddenly there is a crack in the ice…

 I love how my friend/photographer just kept taking pics even through the rough spots. She knows me well in that it is those moments I want to capture even more than the staged ones. Those type of moments not only make a photo shoot like this more “real” but it’s also these moments that sum up the majority of my life as a mom.

If Christmas pictures are meant to capture our family at this season of our lives, in this year of 2015, then it is photos like this that better display what life actually looks like day in and day out. I don’t want to look the other direction, or push those aside and forget they ever happened. I want to embrace this as reality, move toward one another, and grow together.

 

My sweet Kate has this awful habit of tucking her hair behind her ears!!! Which I am normally fine with…except for photos!!! So here she is teasing me and making sure I see her trying to tuck her hair again! Silly girl. I love her.

Oh how I love him and his never ending joy!!!

I remember when there was just the two of us. It was a long time ago, but I remember! We used to take walks and play frisbee in the park together. We would travel and eat dinner whenever we wanted. Our house was cleaner and the noise level much lower….but oh how we wouldn’t trade it for even a second!

Merry Christmas from the Wallace Family! I hope you all have a fabulous week next week with family, friends and loved ones!!!

Photo Credit: April Ward Photography
Dress: Morning Lavender
Decorations: made by me 🙂