Say cheese

I question why I do this every year. It is a painstaking exercise and I put a lot of pressure on myself and the rest of the family to comply. I get very stressed-out as soon as I wake up in the morning. I pray that Ian and Sam got enough sleep the night before and will hopefully be in a good mood. My fingers are crossed that Jeff is in good spirits too and up for the challenge. I realize that when it is over and we are headed back home, I have not been breathing properly and let out a huge sigh of relief it is over and I have another year to go before attempting it again.

This is the annual family picture I am talking about. The one where we include the dog.

The big thing is figuring out what color we will wear. It is very important that we are color coordinated. I like to change the colors so the picture looks a little different from year to year. The bottoms are easy and will either be jeans, khakis or black pants. And, I try to assess what we already have in our closets so that I am not buying new outfits for everyone.

Once that is figured out, it is important to get on The Picture People's calendar for their first appointment of the day. This is the only time (other than at 8:00pm at night) that they will allow pets in their studio.

When we arrive, I calmly tell the photographer what she is up against. She probably has all of five minutes to get the best picture she can. After that, more than likely, someone in my Toppall team is done. And by that I mean, D O N E. There is no changing poses, no changing backgrounds, no adjusting anything.

If it isn't apparent by now, let me say that I am the only one who wants to be there. Last year was a real disaster when we sat perfectly posed for 15 minutes and everyone was on their best behavior. I got very excited at the thought of how great these pictures were going to turn out. After a mysterious disappearance by the photographer, we come to learn that his camera was malfunctioning and not one single picture turned out. I left there in tears and the manager followed me out offering everything under the sun to get me to come back and do a re-shoot. I guess she didn't get the memo on what a challenge it is for me to get us in there in the first place.

This year went a bit better. Ian is finally old enough to understand what I am trying to accomplish and didn't even give me one bit of trouble on wearing a turtleneck. Bailey was happy to get out of the house and take a trip to the mall. And in his own way, Jeff even has accepted my need to do this each year and does his best to go with the flow. My wild card was Sam. She wanted nothing of it. She saw the decorated plastic Christmas trees and longingly looked at the ornaments calling "ball...ball....ball...ball." She was not happy sitting in my lap or even staying within the perimeter of where the picture was being taken.

Each year it does get a little easier. Although I have a feeling that once Sam is old enough to want her picture taken, then she is going to want major say in what she is wearing too. How will I convince Jeff and Ian to wear pink?