Whew, chile! This one was tough! I had so much fun planning and executing last year’s family Christmas photoshoot, I was fooled into thinking they’d all be the same.

But there’s a major difference between an eight-month-old baby who’s easily bribed with laughs and funny faces and a 20-month-old toddler who’s just not here for the shenanigans and refuses to get rid of her cookie and biscuits for the photos.

But through singing her favorite Coco Melon songs, taking a million breaks and just letting her rejoin the shoot when she was ready, I think we eventually managed to get some pretty great images.

I shared our photoshoot woes with my friends on my Instagram page and just about everyone asked me to include some tips to staying sane during photoshoots with a cranky baby. So here goes:

1. Keep your composure. It does get frustrating, but I learned quickly that I had to take control of the environment and that meant realizing my energy set the pace. That also meant remembering that baby doesn’t have the patience nor tolerance we have. Photoshoots are HARD even for us adults, so I didn’t put a lot of pressure on her to get the perfect shot. I just kept posing and smiling (and singing Coco Melon under my breath) even while she was having her moments, because if she just happened to give us a smile or big laugh, we could potentially get a good shot.
2. It’s ok if they get a little messy. Faren would not put down her Popeye’s biscuit and after trying to take it from her a million times, I realised that only ended in tear and screams. We even had a bowl of macaroni behind the pillows that we fed to her during breaks. LOL! Whatever keeps them comfy, you do.
3. Remember that the aim is to create memories, not to seek perfection. It’s ok if the baby is upside down in one pic or making a funny face in another, keep making memories and racking up those funny stories you’ll be telling for years to come.

While I wasn’t opting for matchy matchy with our glam looks, I did want us all to scream Christmas and sync beautifully. I found this cream mini tulle dress that I knew would look great next to Faren’s very holiday themed red and green plaid dress. Hubby wore a black dress shirt with a gray jacket to pull it all together.

Last year’s family Christmas photoshoot set the pace for what I hope will become a tradition; one glammed up look and one comfy matching pajama look for our wardrobe. For our PJs I again opted for Buffalo Plaid, but this time in blue. I just love this print for the holidays and just might do this in every color I find.

We also got some pretty cool gifts from Bahamian clothing company Bahari who gifted us their brand new matching PJs!

I was so tired after that shoot and I wasn’t sure how the images would turn out, but…we killed it!

Shop our looks (and similar!)

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Happy Holidays from our family to yours!