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Holiday cards are some serious pressure.  Especially, I think, because I kind of hated the ones we sent last year.  Hated the picture, design was meh.  I was determined to do better this year.  Which, of course, means that the photography gods have not been smiling on me recently.

Oh, sure, I’ve got some cute pictures from October that will certainly work. But I also have this mental block about wanting them to be as recent as possible, even though the kids don’t change in appearance month-to-month they way they did as infants.

And the last few weeks have been, to say the least, rough.  Fewer daylight hours for nice outdoor shots. Lots of cold and rain. A week of visitors and holidays throwing us off our normal routine.  Six hellacious days of (suspected) H1N1 for Rebecca.  OMFG the tantrums.  Yesterday, I think the two of them made a pact before I got them out of bed that at least one of them would be screaming at all times.  Thank god M came home early from work, because I was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.

Anyways, all that adds up to a notable lack of good photos.  Sunday night, I made a declaration: I had until Wednesday afternoon to either take some new pictures or just order cards with the October pictures in them.  So I carried my camera to our various outings this week.  Indoor activities, flourescent lighting, and never-ending runny noses and tantrums seemed to indicate it just wasn’t going to happen. Nothing holiday-card-worthy.

And then, just before lunch today, the hazy sun was out and it was warm enough to play outside.  The fates aligned. The tantrums paused. I pulled out the camera and just kept clicking.  That’s the joy of digital photography, is it not?  Just keep on clicking.  Doesn’t matter if 95 out of 100 shots are crap.  The more you take, the more likely you are to get the one.  (If you need tips, Sarah posted some great ones on HDYDI the other day.)

And so, before I click “confirm order” on this year’s batch of cards, here’s a few that, adorable though they are, did not make the final cut.

I blame my stepmom.

A few weeks ago, she started asking me to send her a photo of our family so that she could start working on her holiday card (she usually includes pics of me and my siblings and our families).  Of course, we have virtually zero pictures of all four of us together. There was a crappy one from apple-picking, an unflattering one from the summer. Very slim pickings. It’s not easy getting us all in one picture. Very seldom do we have the extra hands to pass off the camera.  Anyways, my mom came to town and we made it a point to remedy that situation. Not spectacular, but it’ll do.

Of course, that got me thinking about my own holiday cards. It’s too early, of course, but I was now already on that mental path.  I realized that I have nothing remotely recent of the kids that I could use.  How is that even possible?

While I’m still taking a significant number of photos (think 700+ for October), the subject matter has shifted as of late.  When the kids were younger, I would take photos of them all the time, doing basically nothing. Everyday photos.  Tons in the backyard, multiple different days at our favorite playgrounds, etc..  Now, I do that a lot less.  I think I got bored/burned out by the backyard photo sessions. Yeah yeah, I thought, they’re going down the slide again. I only have 8,000 versions of that shot.  A lot of things felt that way.  Been there, done that.   So more of my recent photos have been of events.  A gymnastics class, a birthday party.  Sometimes even just doing silly things around the house.  But they were action shots. Things happening.  Capturing events and moments. Subtly different from simply taking pictures of the kids. Does that make any sense?

At the same time, although I didn’t realize that the two issues were probably related, I have had the feeling that the overall quality of my photos was going down. There were still some good shots, but a lot of them felt very mediocre.  So much of it just trying frantically to catch the moment, not focusing on actually taking good photos.

So, this afternoon, I decided to go back to what worked and do a little photo session in the backyard.  The late-afternoon sun was indirect lighting, the three oak trees in my yard have started to give up their leaves.  I admit that having the kids leave their jackets off was an artistic choice that was a touch inappropriate for the weather, but everyone did fine with their pink cheeks and red noses.  And I was really happy with some of the shots. They may or may not end up as the official holiday card choices, but at least now I have options. Here are some of my favorites.  Even the imperfect ones made me happy.

Krissy has set us all with an impossible task today: pick your top 5 pictures of your kids from their first year. In the case of multiples, the top 5 of each kid solo, plus your top 5 of them together.

This is madness. I took well over 4,000 pictures in their first year of life (and my pace has only increased, so if she sets this challenge again about the 2nd year, I am screwed). Picking even 15 from those is ridiculous. So, I’m not sure if this is really my top 5, or just “some of the best.” In fact, for the sake of not going insane over this task, I’m going to choose my favorite by season (one each from Fall thru Summer), plus a newborn picture. Because I said so. And because otherwise this will take me all day and I’ll share approximately 300 shots.

Anyways, here you go.

First up, my Baby A, my Big D, my Señor Fussy-Pants: Daniel.

The photo we used for his birth announcement, approximately 10 days old.

Two months old, at our first mom/baby class, having some tummy time.

Six months old and digging sweet potatoes.

Daniel and the tickle-monster, eight months old.

11 months and loving the kiddie pool.

Alright. I’m just going to stop there for Daniel. I’m not going to keep looking at the million other great ones. I swear.

On to Baby B, the Nugget, Miss Becca Bean.

Rebecca’s birth announcement picture, 10 days old.

The swaddle model, nearly 4 months old.

7 months old, getting a kick out of the shared bathtub on the kitchen table.

Nearly 9 months old, the new crawler tests her skills.

11.5 months old, Rebecca enjoys a graham cracker in the shade at the lake house.

And the pair of ‘em. Two totally different kids, but always linked.

An early favorite: one week old, leaving the hospital.

Out for a stroll, 3 1/2 months old.

Their 8-month chair pictures were probably my all-time favorites.

Almost 10 months old, and playing outside was such a hit!

One year old!

And just one more as a bonus. A very, very special place in my heart for the polaroid that was my very first picture with both kids. Three days old.

Hope everyone out there is having a lovely day.

As you can see, I went for the same gift as last year: a trio of framed photos spelling out DAD. Unlike last year, however, I was unable to cajole the kids into standing together with the letter A. Darn mobile toddlers. As it is, it’s a miracle I got these photos taken. There was about a one-hour window wherein it was a) not raining; b) M wasn’t home to ruin the “surprise”; and c) I actually had a functional camera.

Anyways, we’ve let him sleep in a bit. Now I’m off to make a little breakfast and deliver it upstairs, then I think we’ll hit the pool.

Happy Father’s Day, one and all!

Alright, so you know I broke my camera. It was very, very sad for someone who can easily knock out 1,000+ shots in a given month. But, fine, time for an upgrade. Decided that I really wanted the D80. D60 isn’t much of an upgrade (especially since they kind of re-vamped the lower-level models, it’s arguably not as nice as my older D50), D90 is the new hotness but entirely too expensive. D80 is the winner, except it’s discontinued. Find a factory refurbished floor model online for the same price as the new D60 in stores. Even got it with a new lens and some other goodies. Great.

Tracking info on UPS said it was out for delivery. Stayed home all afternoon in case it would need a signature, and it finally arrived at 5:45pm. Annoyed that I missed what would probably be the last sunny day in Boston until the apocalypse, I did manage a few shots outside after dinner. Already, I’m in love, especially with the wide angle of my new lens. Remember how I talked about my yard full o’ plastic? Couldn’t take a good picture because my 50mm lens couldn’t get the whole thing in a particularly good shot. 18mm, on the other hand…

I swear, I don’t live on 3 acres. But I can get the whole yard in one shot with that bad boy zoomed all the way out. Another fun effect is that I can take a picture of the kids when they’re standing right in front of/below me. Makes me feel about 19 feet tall.

But, then, I noticed some funny things about my new camera. Ports on the side that seemed unusual. Options in the menu that my model doesn’t support. Strange buttons that I had no idea what they do. Eventually, I figured, I’d read the manual and find out what they all are for.

Then, I was uploading some of the new pictures to my computer. Usually, iPhoto automatically recognizes the camera that you’re using. But it didn’t say D80. That’s strange. Wait a second. Let me look at the front of that camera. Nope. It does not say D80.

It says D90.

They sent me a D90, with all 12.3 of its megapixels, and all of it’s video capabilities, and all of it’s $1200 hotness.

No. No, I will not be informing the company of the mix-up, thank you very much. I’m just going to sit here and revel in my good fortune.

Because, clearly, it was meant to be.

We had a gorgeous, if rather hot, day yesterday.  Lots of playing outside.  And for whatever reason, I was in a close-up kind of photography mood.  These were, well, too good not to share.  Here you go, my big kids, 21-and-a-half months.

Play along with Candid Carrie for the Friday Foto Finish Fiesta!

What a wonderful turnaround from last week.  The last several weeks, even.  I have just felt like I couldn’t catch a break.  One illness after another, passing slowly through each member of the house (except, possibly, the dog).  Illness. Cold. Rain. Snow. General toddler malaise / tantrum / discontent.  It sucked. It kicked my ass but good. I know I have a tendency to put on a brave face and/or generally roll with the punches.  But man. That sucked.

This week, though, was literally and figuratively like sunshine and roses compared to the last month.  The sun came out!  The temperatures stayed above freezing!  The kids were less inexplicably insane!  Huzzah!

Not to jinx myself, but it finally felt like we had a nice string of really good days.  Generally happy kids, fun outings, successful classes, good naps.  There’s got to be some karmic payback in parenting for some of the really shitty days, and this week was it.

The highlight of the week was spending nearly two hours at a new playground with some friends on Wednesday afternoon. It was a great little playground – big enough that there was plenty of variety for the kiddos, small enough that it was possible to keep an eye out for them with a 1:2 adult:child ratio, and completely fenced in.

It was over 50 degrees (practically a heat wave!) and sunny.  The kids remembered each other and wanted to play with one another (sorta).  The two moms got the occasional snippets of conversation accomplished in between preventing injury and assisting climbing.

Oh, Spring.  It’s so nice to have you back. May we have a long, fun season on the playground. (With minimal injuries, please…)  And let the fun parts of twin toddlers outweigh the crappy ones.

First day in the high chairs, more than a year ago. Little babies, getting over a flu, not so sure what they think about their first taste of sweet potatoes.

Fast-forward, and I have two daring toddlers who have discovered a love for sitting at the table (or, as Daniel says, “peeebow! sit! sit!”  Plus, I have started itching to get rid of the high chairs that seem to collect so much residual nastiness after every meal.

But old table is too small to serve both duties: meal space for the kids and counter space for mom (which is woefully lacking in our not-quite-right kitchen).  A trip to the furniture store, and the ideal table is found. Counter-height, 36 x 48, four chairs with backs. On clearance, no less!  Pick it up in two days.

Big kids enjoying one of their last meals in the high chair (ravioli with pesto).  My, how time flies!  Using utensils, eating real foods.  So big.

After bed, M and I lugged the huge box in from the van, and made friends with a couple of Allen wrenches.  M’s comment: “this is what we take pictures of, now?”

A few hours later, it’s complete. Doesn’t match my kitchen at all, but I could care less. It’s exactly what I was looking for. Though I fear for the scratches and water stains… will have to make some kind of mat/tablecloth.  Still, though, isn’t it lovely? Boosters installed, as the kids are still too short. Four chairs!! Soon, family dinners.

Breakfast time!  New “peeebow.”  Kids got a kick out of it, and didn’t even scratch it up (yet). Daniel pointed out the animals on his new placemat. Rebecca continually reminded me that her cup is blue (“boooo!”). How time flies.  My big kids.

Cheryl hosts Makes My Monday at Twinfatuation.

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There are finally, finally hints of Spring here in Massachusetts.  Nearly all of the snow is gone, save for a few little patches in shady spots of the yard.  The kids played outside both days this weekend, once even without coats.  The forecast says we’re supposed to have high temperatures in the 40s and 50s for the next week or more.  And not a moment too soon, if you ask me.

While playing outside with the kids this weekend, I remembered the entry from Pioneer Woman Photography the other day on her addiction to Bokeh.  Well, with that in mind, I had to document the very first signs of Spring in my yard with my aperture thrown way open.  Behold, the azaleas next to my front door, and the lilac bushes that are my front hedge.  Soon… soon the flowers will come…

The kids are all set to take care of the lawn this year.  Who needs landscapers when your kids love the garden hose? And why do I suspect they will not like it nearly so much when it’s turned on?