Thanksgiving = Family Pics X 3

Thanksgiving weekend kind of passed us by in a blur of camera flashes...this is due to the fact that (much to Brian's dismay) we took not one, not two, but three sets of family pictures. The first set of pics was of the Shelton side of the family (including Brian's parents, their three kids and spouses, and a combined six grandkids all age five and under). Brian's dad is about to turn 60, and rather than a party, he wanted family pictures of us all (isn't that sweet?). So we gathered at a photography studio in Fort Worth at 10:00 on Saturday morning. As you can imagine, chaos ensued.

Charlotte and Jensen were doing great until it came time to take a pic of just the grandkids. Everyone was posed (Jensen was being supported by cousin Laird) and ready to go...all that was left to do was to place Charlotte on her tummy in the middle of the group. Aaaaaand...cue Charlotte-style meltdown! We sang, we danced, we blew bubbles, we made idiots of ourselves in general...nothing would snap her out of meltdown mode. She was lying in the middle of the grandkids just sobbing as the photographer took pictures. It wasn't pretty (but it was slightly funny). So we took her out of the picture and calmed her down while the photographer snapped a few pics of the five non-melting-down grandkids. Once she was calm, everyone left the room except the photographer, Brian, Charlotte and me. We put her down by herself on the white backdrop and she worked it like a supermodel. Perhaps our little diva just wanted the spotlight all to herself! So the photographer's plan is to edit little Charlotte into the picture of the other grandkids...which I think is hilarious. I can't wait to see the finished product...Charlotte sitting front-and-center, surrounded by her cousins, looking as peaceful as can be. But we will always remember that things aren't always as they seem!

The next day, my mom decided she wanted to take family pictures to use for Christmas cards. So we gathered at my parent's house and smiled pretty for the camera. Well, at least Brian did...

I love this because we are all clearly discussing how to fine-tune our posing, and Brian is ignoring us all and smiling at the camera as if to say, "OMG-can-we-please-just-get-this-over-with-NOW."

Then we had some fun with the menagerie of golden retrievers that always results from the entire family being together:

Yes, that would be Jensen going for a Bear ride. Yes, the blurry gold thing in the front of the picture is poor Mr. Bear. Yes, my dad and my brother have way too much fun with these things. And also? Check out Jensen's hair...I spiked it up for the pics! Doesn't he look like a big boy?

Kisses from Mr. Bear. I love how much my babies love dogs. They are definitely related to me!

Charlie-Bug having a deep conversation with Grandpa.

How Charlotte really feels about all this picture-taking.

After all that fun, we had our third photo shoot yesterday. We took pictures of just Brian, me, Charlotte and Jensen (and of course, Bailey!). We met the photographer out in a rural area complete with a field and barn. She took a ton of pics and was really sweet (I'd wanted her to take Charlotte and Jensen's newborn pics, but she had recently had a baby herself and wasn't working at the time). Taking pics of seven-month-old twins plus their parents and dog is no easy feat, but I can't wait to see the pics and hopefully make one into a Christmas card.

So, all the picture-taking is complete and we are left with one sick Jensen and one tired Mommy. Poor Mr. Man picked up a cold somewhere over the weekend and he is now snotty, pitiful and not sleeping too well. Not much we can do except hope that somehow we get lucky and little Charlotte doesn't catch it...not likely considering that Jensen's main goal in life is to get as close to his sister as possible!