The Weekly Austin - Holiday '09 Edition

Last year, I had grand plans to take a fantastic Xmas picture of Austin and make it into a card to send to everyone we know. (SEE? SEE HOW CUTE OUR KID IS? SUCK IT!) My mom got him a great little outfit, the tree was perfect, and I had borrowed kick-ass gear with which to shoot this masterpiece.

What'd I end up with?

That's right. That's a SCREAMING BABY. And we all know, nothing says "Hooray for the Birth of Jesus" like a screaming baby.

With these memories fresh in my mind, I decided to take another crack at it this year. He's so much older! I thought. He can follow instructions! And he co-operates with me most of the time! I just knew I'd get much better results. (I can hear my mom laughing her ass off all the way from Virginia Beach as she reads this.)

I'm not sure if it's the button-down shirts, the Xmas tree, or what, but Austin and holiday snaps? DO. NOT. AGREE. Behold, Screaming Baby's replacement, SCREAMING TODDLER:

And in case you're wondering, I had to do a tight close-up because the only way to keep this writhing demon spawnI MEAN MY BELOVED CHILD still was to wedge him into his Bumbo seat. This was pretty much the best shot I got.

So if you get a holiday card from me this year, don't be surprised if it's a stick figure scrawled onto a Post-It note. Because Mommy is packing up her camera gear and climbing into the bathtub with a bottle of wine. (Isn't that what all the pros do?)