Gimme a D!

Y'all, it took me EONS to find out what #tbt meant.  Like, I had to pose the question on Facebook after somebody tagged me in some photo circa 1997 or something.  It turns out, there's a whole world of hashtags out there that I know nothing about. You really haven't lived until your mom tells you what #ootd means.  Or, for that matter, your 5-year-old teaches you how to get a movie from Redbox.  But, I digress. 

I've been wanting to join in the throw-back fun, but I don't get real jazzed about photos pre-kids.  Of course, now that I have children I am the bane of everyone's existence: blogging about them, printing out, texting, emailing, or posting photos of them on my wall (real and virtual). 

Anyhoo, this picture is relatively unknown to everyone but me and Mike.

 It was one in a series of photos I took as a gift for him for Father's Day, when the kids were almost 3 and 18 months.  I'd never done a "photo shoot" and considered the term to be reserved only for studios, waif-like models, and somebody holding up a weird reflector thing.  My shoot was timed right after nap and a cheese stick, and my models were paid in Pez candies.  Our studio was the backyard, right next to the hydrangeas from our wedding in full bloom. 

I had to take pictures fast, dancing around like a monkey and nipping any potential for drama in the bud.  Sarah kept hunting for pine cones and getting distracted by bugs, while Will tried to pick his nose with the letter "A".

This might be against #tbt rules or something, but below are a few of my favorite shots. With Father's Day coming up, it's important to remember the main men in our lives.  Just like with Redbox, the littles have to spell it out for us:

I've done a shoot like this every year since, and I tend to think they go easier than this first one.  Even so, these pictures are some of our all-time favorites, second only to this year's photos with baby #3. 

(I'm linking up with The Mom Creative for her Throwback Thursday Stories, so check it out!)