It is once again that time of year.. the pursuit of finding the perfect holiday card that best show cases a glowing family picture and reflects a sense of style and sophistication, while being festive and unique. Clearly, I am sure that I make this process more difficult than it needs to be, but finding a card with the right colors that isn't too cheesy or too holiday looking while matching up the right fit and composition of pictures is actually a bit of a bear each year. And then there is the reoccurring debate at our house for how many to order, which I swear we get wrong every single year. To that end, Hunt is apparently making a spreadsheet this year to keep track going forward of how many we need. I want to be annoyed at this since I feel like Hunt would spreadsheet our entire life if he could, but in actuality it will probably be really helpful. I'm already pretty confident that I under ordered this year.
Much to my delight, I was able to pull up images of our cards going back to 2009 and import them. It's fun to see them all together like this! I hope that this years will turn out well in person.. There were actually a lot of pics of HG that I wanted to use, but it's definitely a balance to keep the card from being terribly busy looking. We didn't really get any exceptional ones of the three of us, but I chose this one for the front in the end because it is actually a great/accurate representation of our family this year-- Harper is literally running away from us as we tried to get her to pose in the leaves and thinks it is hysterical, while Hunt laughs and I'm still pretending that there is a shot left to pose for. We have genuine expressions, though, and HG certainly looks "Merry and Bright" as she escapes, so in then end I think it works well. I still have some lingering guilt that Winnie is not on the front in the family shot, but the day that we were doing the pics we made the executive decision to leave Ba-Ba at home. I felt like a shit parent for leaving our first "child" out of the experience, but I also knew that it was going to be a cluster just trying to get shots with a toddler.. In the end, I was completely correct that there was no good way to capture the posed, happy/smiling/aren't we a delightful family group shot, but the candids of Harper are so awesome and perfectly her that I really don't care.
2012
Last year's card was sadly one of my most favorite pictures in my least favorite card. After seeing a bunch of really beautiful friend's cards from Minted the year before, I really had high hopes. On the computer, the colors of the card seemed to match up perfectly with our outfits, but the end was result was muted and grainy, and the picture had a bizarre green tinge. I had also added a little note on the back and the blue was so light that it couldn't be read. Perhaps the lesson there, is to remember that I am adamantly opposed to the "Christmas letter" where people either end up sounding way too full of themselves, or over share entirely too much. After reluctantly sending them out, it occurred to me that maybe I should have contacted customer service about the quality and then when I did it turned out that they actually agreed that the cards were crappy and would have re-printed them. By that point, they were already sent, though, so I just settled for a credit. I still just completely adore the pictures that came from this photo session last fall. Harper was sick, and we literally almost cancelled minutes before we were supposed to walk out the door, but so much had been done to get ready for them that we decided to just try and make it work. Many of the pics have what we describe as Harper's "mher" face when she's clearly not into something/not feeling well, but the colors turned out glorious and there are some really special shots. It was exactly the rustic/farmy look that I had in mind going into it. We currently have some of them framed in B&W versions in the living room, but as we re-do some of the downstairs layout furniture, I am going to move them to a different wall and put the color versions up instead. The B&W are sophisticated looking, but the colors are just too pretty to miss.
2011
Imagine my delight to find a card that so perfectly complimented our holiday outfits- especially without planning it all beforehand! We had Hunt's mom take these pictures out by the pool in our neighborhood, and it's funny now looking back to see that I made Hunt wear a sweater when we were in SoCal and next to a pool in November. It is a strange phenomenon to celebrate holidays when you live at the beach. The first year that we were there, I was absolutely giddy about spending Christmas with Winston at dog beach since it was such a novelty, but by the second year I actually craved a little winter to go along with the holidays. People thought I was nuts when I would tell them that I missed the seasons, but Christmas just doesn't feel real among palm trees to me. Finding an acceptable picture for this card I do remember was a bit tricky- Harper was a little scrunched up ball or fussing and someone was always looking the wrong way or Winnie was flailing around, and the sun was so bright that Hunt was super squinty. I remembering wishing that we could get pictures on the beach to use, but at the time with figuring out a newborn it was a feat just to get us all dressed and take some pictures outside our front door. All in all, though, this card really did turn out well and it was so special to finally be the ones with a beautiful newborn addition to our family.
2010
This card is probably still my very favorite. The colors are amazing and so well composed together, and it is just classy and elegant and simple. The picture was taken at Hunt's cousin's wedding, which was in the middle of a great trip that we took to Vancouver and Portland. We were in mid-move process at that point between Indy and San Diego, and it was definitely a stressful time in our lives, but that was a fantastic trip filled with some beautiful scenery, wineries, and amazing food. I loved the dress that I was wearing that day, and I remember feeling pretty. My arm looks somewhat toned in my sister's perfected sorority girl pose, which I love. It's funny how bittersweet so many things are, though.. when I see this picture and think of that trip I am also so easily reminded that I was secretly walking around that trip pretty confident that I was very early in the stages of finally being pregnant again, and I was so happy and petrified on the inside while I was trying to go about each day like normal. I can't remember for sure, but I think I told Hunt that I thought I was pregnant again, but I know we definitely didn't talk about it. When we landed back in Indy, I went to the bathroom and saw some spotting and immediately felt my heart drop.. Early the next morning we actually had to turn around and fly to NYC for Hunt's best friends wedding, and it was clear at that point that I was certainly not, or no longer pregnant. We still managed to have a wonderful time in NY at the wedding which was one of the more enjoyable ones that I have attended (despite it being record high temps and me feeling relatively crappy), and then we returned home to commence with the final stages of our move to San Diego. Anyway, all that comes flooding back from one picture on a card, which is crazy but true. 2009 and into 2010 were definitely a rough period for Hunt and I, arguably probably some of our lowest times since we've been together, so the irony that we have a beautiful perfect smiley, happy Christmas card to show for then is not lost on me. It certainly adds stock to what Hunt is always reminding me- which is that things on the inside are never as shiny as people may let you think they are. I have a tendency to assume that everyone has these perfect, wonderful lives- or at least their Christmas cards sure look like it- and I often judge my/our life on a comparative scale. It's conceivable that other people got this card in the mail and thought we were the ones to be jealous of that year, and yet how little they knew of all that we were really struggling with.
2009
Look at that perfect little puppy pose. This was her quintessential puppy position- back paw paws crossed, and one of the front all tucked in. It occurs to me now looking at this that I don't remember the last time I saw her actually sitting in this position. Ba-Ba, as she has now been coined by Harper, has certainly been such an amazing gift to us over the years.
