Every year, I am always so impressed with the beautiful family pictures we receive as people’s holiday cards. I will never understand how all of these people are able to get such great pictures of their babies/kids. Pictures of families dressed all in the same color, on a beach somewhere, with babies who smile on cue and kids with hair that is neatly combed and yogurt free.

I anticipated a struggle with getting a respectable picture of our two, so I started the quest early.

Here are some that didn’t make the cut.

And here’s what we ended up with. The only one where both kids were looking at the camera and no one was crying or scowling.