Picture {IM}Perfect

The facts ::

These beautiful pictures were taken 10 days after our sweet little Landry boy was born by one of our dearest friends Sarah. She is incredible at all photographs, but especially her newborn shoots. It's fabulous to see her in her element. This is a picture of my awesome husband and our sweet newborn.

What you see ::

A gorgeous picture or our sweet newborn sleeping soundly and seemlingly light as a feather. You see strong and handsome hands holding him up and the bright and heart-lightening smile behind those hands blurred out in the background. {It's my favorite part of the picture, actually}. You see those perfect little baby hands folded so sweetly and you might get a warm and fuzzy feeling that comes over you and think to yourself ::: "awww.... I want one." 

Stop. 

What I see :: 

Okay, let's just get this out of the way - Newborn pictures are cruel. As in, I-would-rather-give-you-my-right-arm cruel. Here's the situation - you've just had a baby - 10 days ago at the most - and then you're supposed to gear up to not only get out of the house, but get out of the house with makeup on and in a semi-clean state. You probably haven't washed your hair since you got home from the hospital and now you're supposed to wash it AND fix it. Good luck, ladies - you will soon feel like a million bucks. 

So you get clean and you're smelling great. For like a split second. You're still experiencing the constant sweating, so you soon reek of sweat, not to mention breast milk {or formula - which is equally as appetizing}, spit up and poop. Inevitably your sweet babe either didn't eat well or didn't sleep well so he {or she} WILL be crying - and if you're a first time mom this can be t o r t u r e. If you're a second or third time mom your tendency will be more like "he'll get over it".

You get to the photographer and you feed your sweet little one a little bit extra just to top him off. Your mind is blown by the idea of feeding even when they're not hungry and giving a pacifier if you're not planning on doing it. Then here comes the best part :: You actually have on clean clothes, but now to get those precious newborn pictures that are the cutest - you must take off that diaper. That's right - your sweet babe will just be lying naked on the bean bags... on the blankets... and yup, you guessed it, on you.

So - when I look at this picture - I see the beautiful sweetness for sure, but I laugh deeply, remembering the awkward poses that feel completely unnatural. I remember the newborn poop running down Jeff's arm as we are posing this picture. I remember sticking the paci in L's mouth any time he'd make a peep and very slowly attempting to take it out without him noticing. I'll remember the sweat running down my back {and my front} and the anxiety that formed when our little one pooped and peed on the carpet. I'll remember our awesome photographer wiping said body fluids off of my shirt so she could get the good picture. {The sacrifices that she makes!} 

These pictures are beautiful, no doubt. But when I really look at them - if I let my mind linger on these photos - I feel all of these emotions coming back. The anxiety and self doubt of being a mom of a newborn, but also the happiness and adrenaline and concern. What I appreciate the most is that in 10 years when I look at these pictures, the emotions that flood back will be different than the emotions that flood back right now. I can't even imagine that day right now, and I want to record the hilarity that was newborn pictures as well.

Do you have pictures like this? Do you have pictures that are really more than a picture? I'd love to hear about them!!!