Here’s what not to do:
Don’t bribe your children with chocolate chips. Because then you’ll have brown drool dripping down their chin that you’ll either 1) Spend hours editing out later or, like me, 2) Leave it untouched and tell yourself the Mouth Diarrhea just portrays a more accurate depiction of general life with these boys.

Don’t buy a brand new dress just for this occassion. Because then you’ll rip it within 15 minutes of wearing it and think, “That was not worth it.”

Don’t put the camera on self-timer. Because then you’ll have a whole bunch of super cute ones that aren’t quite in focus. Actually, this isn’t so bad if you just squint. For a few them, I’m willing to eternally scrunch my eyes when I look at them because they are just that cute. For everyone looking at these images, I’ve sharpened them up a ton and if you aren’t a photographer yourself, I’m hoping you won’t notice (too much, anyway).

Don’t hand the camera to a person who has no idea what they’re doing. Because then you will, once again, end up with some “Oh, that could have been so cute….if only we didn’t look like tan clouds of fuzziness. I can tell though, that woulda been a good one.”

Don’t do a Kids Only session one day, and then a Family session on a completely different day. It’s driving me NUTS that none of these have the same white balance. I even considered turning all of these images into black and white just so they would all match…but then I think that my buying a new coral dress to match Rhenner’s plaid shirt would become an even BIGGER waste of money and, well, that just makes me shudder. Yes, even more than the mis-matching white balance makes me shudder (You non-photographer people….just nod along).

Here’s what else not to do: How about you not edit out that mosquito flying around your son’s head to remind you in the future to use bug spray. Probably about a gallon of bug spray would suffice.

See below: The brown drool. Trust me, there were worst shots. I chose not to include them – you can thank me later.

Here’s my final what NOT to do when it comes to taking your own family photos, and it’s an important one so listen up:

Please, please PLEASE do NOT…..not take pictures of your family. And while you’re at it, stop worrying about what you look like or how many more pounds you have left to lose — GET IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA, TOO. Set up a tripod! Set it on a timer and run like the wind! Or don’t, and then hire a professional. I don’t care how you get the photos, just don’t forget to take them. You’re not going to regret it.

This session was FAR from perfect and I took a BAJILLION shots and in every one I can name something that I wish I had done differently or something that I wish I could change about it. But that’s just my “Photographer Eye” getting the best of me. The rest of me? My big ol’ mama heart? Well she is screaming with joy at this photos. She wants to blow up life-size images of these boys in her life and have one in each room. Or how about a mini version to fit in every pocket of every pair of pants she owns so that when she reaches inside one, instead of finding a 20 dollar bill she finds Axton’s dimpley smile or Rhenner’s Big “Oh!” Face.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to take pictures.