Family Picture Day

A few days ago I saw the family photo’s we recently had taken. A local photographer and fellow military spouse lead us to a nearby pagoda. The car ride was fine, the kids were in good moods and I was hopeful that this year we were all have great big smiles and giggles during the shoot. My kids are generally very happy and love to get their pictures taken except on picture day. Baby Girl has a willful streak and does not like to perform on command. Little Man has no problem performing for an audience, but has such energy it can be impossible to get him to hold still. The combination of these two personalities has proven challenging in the past. Last year my daughter screamed and did the ugly cry almost the whole time we were posing and my son kept running through the fallen leaves. But I KNEW this year would be different.

Well it was better than last year, at least. Everyone was in a great mood until Baby Girl fell. Not just fell, but face-planted into the gravel. She wasn’t really hurt and didn’t even get a cut but it was enough for her to get mad and not want to leave my side for a single moment during the next hour of photo’s. Any time I tried to put her down or let go of her hand she would scream. Most of the pictures include her thumb firmly planted in her mouth. But the tears weren’t too bad and I had renewed hope that they would turn out.

Courtesy of Sarah Pagano Photography

This morning when I saw the photo’s I was so impressed and happy that they looked so good! They perfectly captured who we were; my handsome husband, my precocious son and my serious daughter. But it wasn’t the pictures that moved me as much as what the photographer wrote accompanying them. You see, we are an adoptive family. For us, it is simply how our family was created; adoption is a part of our lives and we talk openly and honestly with our children regarding their individual adoption stories. We encounter a lot of curious people who want to know more about adoption, each with his or her own motives.  But what is most interesting for me is seeing how others perceive adoption. The photographer did what I find most difficult, she was vulnerable. She discussed how we as military members all belong to a large adoptive family and how it related to her religion as well. It was beautiful.

So I will try and explain what adoption is to me. Adoption is the most selfish thing I have ever done. I asked two other women, mothers, in their darkest hour to hand over the most precious gifts my husband and I have ever received. There will never be a day that I will sufficiently say thank you to either of my children's birth parents. There simply aren’t enough words and will never be enough time. So I try my best with photo’s and letters. I honor them by telling my children who they are and why they are special. I fight back tears from the overwhelming emotion I feel when discussing my love for my children and the gratitude for their birth parents.

All this from an hour spent wrangling kids and trying to get something good for the Christmas card. It’s amazing the sentiment a simple photograph can provide.

Information for Sarah Pagano Photography can be found at:

http://allthethings.co/sarah-pagano-photography/