I can’t say that I live life with no regrets. Lately, I’ve been feeling a lot of mommy guilt. Everyday we go through the same cycle of dropping the kids off, rushing to work, preparing dinner, and submerging ourselves with the nightly grind of bedtime routine (this can take hours upon hours). I can probably repeat this cycle with my eyes closed. When the weekend comes, it’s catch up time. Time for groceries, time for house renovation, time for laundry.
We are just too busy. Too busy to take the kids to foliage sightseeing. Too busy to bring them to pumpkin patches. There’s always an excuse. And now we are heading into the second week of December. DECEMBER?!? Our X-Mas tree is still not up. No presents bought. Nada. I would hate to let Christmas pass by without building memories and traditions with the kids.
Sometimes I question why we work so hard if we don’t enjoy life more. Do we live to work or work to live? I would hope the latter.
In an effort to change things, we took the kids to watch a holiday movie first thing this morning. And when we went home, I took some holiday pics of the kids. This is important because it’s Axel’s first Christmas! I plan to take more as the holiday approaches. Next time, of the kids together! This plan doesn’t always work out.
Since we don’t have any holiday-worthy decorations up to use as backdrop, I decided to keep it really simple. Plug in some white lights and let the kids get excited. With baby Axel, I stripped his clothes and put on a Santa hat.
And with Zoey, we put on a classic red holiday dress and a faux fur cape.
If you want to try this for your little ones, I would take the pictures on a cloudy day. If the room is too bright, the lights won’t show up as well. Also, I would do one thing differently- either use less lights or scatter them out more. I find that some images showcase just a jumble of lights. I think you would appreciate the individual lights more if less lights were used.
Taking baby holiday pictures doesn’t get easier than this! Also, I do love how the black and white pictures came out. They’re just so classic.
Have a wonderful weekend.
lezoemusings.com 
Amazing pictures, LOVE how you captured their emotions! I still haven’t post-processed my holiday pictures…I’m almost going to give up, since posting Thanksgiving and Christmas pics in February borders on tacky 🙂
I completely relate to time flying by, staying at home these past few weeks, each day seems like a carbon copy of the previous, and before the day begins, it’s time for the bedtime routine (again!) Parenting isn’t for the faint of heart….
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Thanks for the lovely idea!!
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Such beautiful pictures!
http://zarouch.wordpress.com
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Such an honest and humble post, I love your thoughtfulness and creativity!
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Times will change. A time will come when you will want to spend more time with your child. The child will grow up sooner than you think and the early childhood will be only a fond remembrance
Enjoy while it is there.
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The pictures you captured are beautiful!
And I can relate to those feelings of guilt also, especially so during the holidays. I often remember how special my parents made it for us and the great memories I have. I’m sure they were just as busy as we feel at times and feeling as guilty, so I wonder, maybe we aren’t doing so bad with what we are able to accomplish. I think regardless of how much we are able to check off the Christmas to do list, our kids will take with them some really nice memories.
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The photo of Axel is so precious. I love the B&W white. Looking forward to seeing more upcoming holiday pics!
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It’s seems every mom I have talked to lately has some similar struggle with keeping all the plates spinning this season. And yet, I don’t think Christmas was ever meant to be that way. Great photos! I think I will try the white lights with my kiddos this weekend
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I LOVE the photos! Your kids are adorable! 🙂
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Wishing you and your family a joyous season.Jalal
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Really cute pics! You are creating memories for sure!!! It will calm down after the remodel and the bones get a little older! Hang in there!!!! Xoxo
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Babes get a little older! Darn iPad!
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We all struggle with that balance and the routines that demand our time. It’s so hard. I love these pictures though. Beautiful and creative!!!!
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Adorable… Loved the pics, Kellie.
The question that you put forth in the beginning is a question that I ask myself everyday.
Cheers
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Those photos made my heart sing with adorableness! Too cute!
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Life has got so busy. Just have to make moments of slow whenever we can and string them together. I just spent 10 minutes with my 2&1/2 year old folding a pillow over my head!
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What beautiful shots! Hope you and your adorable little ones have a lovely Christmas together. It’ll be all those small things you do together without even realizing it that are the things that will hold a special place in their memories when they’re older anyway 🙂
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gorgeous children! great pictures 🙂
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You have the most adorable kids! And using lights is such a creative idea. Makes them look all the cuter! 😍
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Those are beautify pictures. I’m sorry you are feeling mommy guilt, but I can honestly say I don’t remember anything until I was about 6 with one or two fleeting memories from when I was 5. If you’re too busy now to make traditions you’ll be too busy later when they’re older, too. Find things that will work now and forever. For us that was watching the Charlie Brown specials and putting up the tree together. I hope you can find some good down time soon.
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I hope you get more time with them! & some me-time too. 😉
Lovely photos as always! 💙
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Beautiful!
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Being a parent has always been a challenge but the “time thing” has become so major now. I think each parent/couple has to find their own ‘peace’ with their chosen path. For a very short time we took our oldest (at that time only) son to daycare. It was a woman that we found after a very long search….she was wonderful! She helped to alleviate some of the guilt/regret we felt. As adults, our “boys” have shared childhood memories…..fun b’day parties, backyard “camp-outs”, tree houses, etc…….. They have never voiced (in any way) the thought/feeling that we were absent from their lives. Enjoy these precious little ones…..they grow so quickly……..Thank you for sharing such precious photos!!!! Hugs………………….
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It is so hard to believe how quickly time passes…sometimes it’s just too much to take in! at least for our little ones, time for them is cherished. Those pics are too cute!
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