Picture {Im}perfect

 a series taking you beyond the "perfect" photo 

The facts ::

This picture was taken by Louis DeLuca of the Dallas Morning News in January of 2013 :: Jeff was being sworn into his first session as State Representative

What you see ::

It looks picture perfect with this blissfully proud look on my face as I hold Jeff's grandfather's bible for Jeff to be sworn in with. It really is a beautiful picture, one that means so much to me. I feel so fortunate to have these priceless pictures taken on this day, two years ago. I will probably never have other pictures like these - and they are very special.

What I see ::

You might see that pride on my face {which is true} but you don't see is what transpired moments before this picture was even taken. We were walking up to the house floor, for the first time as a family, I was carrying a two year old little girl while she was having the temper tantrum of her life.  You don't see me sitting down with our two children while my husband tries to introduce us to the fellow members on the packed house floor and sweat running down the back of my dress trying to keep everyone in line. You don't see the photographers and news cameras in the aisles that I just knew were trying to get an ugly picture of anyone that they could in the chamber.

You also don't see all of hard work that was put into getting to this day. You don't see the late nights, the midnight phone calls & the block walking. You don't see all of the precious volunteers, or the nasty arguments that brought so much heartache and the middle of the night discussions. You don't see the anxiety in my heart about raising two kids apart from their beloved daddy for weeks on end.

When we finally sat down at Jeff's desk that day - with all of the anxiety of keeping our littles entertained and quiet in a room packed full of people with their eyes on you - this photographer from the Dallas Morning News got "stuck" right in front of us. As in, literally on the floor right in front of my feet. He couldn't easily make it out and they had already begun saying the pledges and the prayer, so he sort of plopped down on the ground for a sec.

In my mind I thought :: "Awesome. Now we're going to be in the newspaper with my four year old on an iPhone and my two year old having a temper tantrum." In reality, he was the sweetest photographer who tried to entertain my sweet little girl and I ended up with priceless photographs of this truly special day.

When I look at this picture, I don't see the picture perfect family it shows. I see all of the dear people behind this picture. I see the volunteers. Our family and friends. Our church and the many prayers that got us to this day. A lot goes on to make pictures like this happen and I would love to hear about yours.