Plan to fail

I had a goal, it didn't seem like an unattainable goal, I had a plan in place for everything to work out just so. But there is a Murphy's law somewhere that says this "If you plan and prepare for pictures, somehow something will go terribly wrong." And plan and prepare I did, and terribly wrong it went. All I wanted was to get a good Christmas shot of the family. I had plans to make Christmas cards (okay, maybe more of a Christmas email) all the kids had new church outfits and the house was decked out in Christmas decor.  Saturday night I said to Chris before we went to bed. "I want to take pictures tomorrow before church. We all need to be ready by 12:00." It was such a do-able request that he didn't even bat an eye at the word "pictures" I stayed up an extra hour fashioning the perfect hair pieces for each girl. I laid out clothing and everything was as ready as it could be.

The next day came, baths and showers were had all around, out came the gel, curling irons and hairspray bows were in place and shoes were tied. WE WERE READY!! With time to spare! Chris made the kids a little snack (that wouldn't ruin the pretty clothing) I sat down to feed the baby, things were going so well. Which really should have been my first indicator that things were about to go terribly wrong. About 5 minutes later Chris came upstairs and said "we have a problem, Addison just threw up." I asked if it was a choked on a bite of food throw up (our kids have killer gag reflexs) or a stomach bug throw up. He said he wasn't sure but he had wiped her down and sprayed her dress with Febreze. Pictures were still on.

I finished feeding Brielle and corralled all the children onto the piano bench in front of the tree. In a stroke of luck I snapped a picture right away that appeased my smile requirements and had minimum blur.

I set the kids free and started to shoot a few singles.

When did this girl grow long luscious locks?

When I got to Addison I noticed she was looking a little green around the gills. When I started shooting I noticed she seemed to be swallowing slightly. I decided maybe having her on the carpet wasn't the best of ideas so I would be happy with the pictures I got and move on to Brielle. Chris took Addi gave her a cup of apricot juice and sat with her in the kitchen.

After Brielle I set up the tripod to snap a few family shots. I was almost done when I heard that horrible sound that every parent dreads. The sound of the clenching of stomach and the projecting of liquid. My earlier question was answered, it wasn't a gag reflex problem. The Boost had a bug. But I had a plan, and I had prepared and I had spent an hour on hair pieces. So I did what every good loving mother would do, I stepped over puddle got a rag wiped off her dress and called the family for one last picture. Chris requested one more spray of Febreze so we could all sit by her and still smile. She got spritzed and I was kind enough to stand her in front so A- the smell didn't waft to anyone's noses too quickly and B- if she threw up again it wouldn't be on anyone. Now the real miracle of this whole story is that Chris didn't axe the whole thing. He isn't a picture taking lover, and this was a less than ideal situation. He must have been feeling extra charitable or maybe he saw the slightly crazed look in my eye as I was stepping over apricot spray on my carpet and grabbing febreze bottles and knew just to go along. He gave me 4 self timed clicks of the camera before putting an end to the slightly ridiculous situation. And our own little Christmas miracle occurred, we actually got a picture with all eyes up front.

Alas, even with all that effort there was no Christmas card, or email or shout out of any kind because for the next week we all took turns being sick and I just barely got around to taking these pictures off the camera. Looking at that little smiling girl you wouldn't guess she was 2 minutes post puke and about 2 minutes away from the next bout. But just looking at this picture brings back a slight pungent smell and a small roll of the stomach. 

Dear Addi Boo,

Please don't read this in 20 years and think I was a terrible mother. I promise I snuggled you and tickled your back for hours after this picture was taken. After I scrubbed the carpet that is.

xoxo- mom