Every year I have minor anxiety over Christmas pictures.
Does everyone have two shoes on?
Is that peanut butter on your shirt?
Please don’t take out your hair bow!
Hand out of your pockets….
You know the drill.

So one year after tears from more than the children, I decided we wouldn’t do Christmas cards at all. Well, don’t worry Scrooge didn’t return this year, but I realized some of my favorite family pictures are when we are all relaxed in our own environment. I decided we would take pics in our living room where the kids felt comfortable. I was able to find a bunch of good choices from The Children’s Place for cute outfits I know they will use over and over. Veronica got her “swirly twirly dress” and the boys kept their shirts on. Which means, the comfortable knit sweaters did the trick. Rocco requested overalls and a reindeer hat. I don’t know what he was thinking, but you know, I obliged.

I usually do the run around to seventy-two stores trying to find decent, non-stained, maybe somewhat co-ordinated, but not too christmas-y looks for the kiddos, but not this year. It was an easy, under an hour, one stop success.

Not sure which photo we will end up using to snail mail, but I loved the natural smiles that came from this shoot. It was another weekend day enjoying being all together, Gabe being really good at making his kids laugh, and my talented friend snapping away. There were of course still occasional tears, (because it wouldn’t be family pics without them!) but all in all, three cheers and a glass of champagne!

Outfit Details:
Gabriel: Crew Sweater, Playground Pants, Nitro Sneaker
Veronica: Dress (sold out but similar), Tights, Shoes
Max: Crew Sweater, Chino Pants, Hiker boots
Rocco: Reindeer Hat, Overalls

*Photos by Chelsey Heidorn, post in partnership with The Children’s Place, and all thoughts are my own. Thanks for supporting the brands that make this blog possible.