Say CHEESE!

There is a large family portrait that hangs in my parents' house of all eleven of us before my brother Jon left on his mission. My mom loves it because we are all still "little" and at home. I remember my mom agonizing over what each of us would wear. I got stuck wearing the dusty rose sweater with a (cringe) broach clipped to my collar. I'm on the end of the row, and I look 20 lbs heavier than I really was. Even my mom apologizes for making me wear it, but we needed the pink to pull the "color scheme" of hunter green and dusty rose together.

Last year I was invited to sit in on a focus group for Busath and give my opinions about a new line of photography they were starting called Bounce - meant to be a contemporary, casual children's photography session. Kids are supposed to wear bright, simple clothes and just kinda run around or bounce on a trampoline or play w/ their favorite toy, and the photographer just captures moments as opposed to poses.

Anyway, long story short, I got a gift card as a thank you, and I'm now found empathizing with my mom's situation in trying to find clothes for the kids that aren't too expensive for this family photo shoot (on Oct 3rd)! I've consulted with several of you, but I thought I would ask you once again to help me vote on some options. I'm losing sleep over this. I know, it's ridiculous and vain. It's just not every day we get a professional portrait done of our family.

I've decided to go really casual and put everyone in jeans and either brown or black shoes (the kids only have brown, so it'll be brown for them or bare feet, which might be kinda cute). So, I'll give you a moment to envision the lower-half. Okay, moving on...

I'm stuck to know how to dress Josh and I. We're putting the kids in white, and I'm struggling to decide whether we should all be in white too, or if we should be in a color. I'm thinking either Brown, Navy or Black/Gray or some sort of combination. I went to TJMaxx to window shop and found a cute top in every color that I'm thinking about. Can you help me decide? (camera phone pics, sorry)

a.) This is a black shirt, I know it looks charcoal. 3/4 sleeve, button down, fitted.

b.) I know this looks like a maternity shirt. It's not. It looks pretty cute on. I have plenty of white shirts at home, though.
c.) This is a navy pin-dotted top. I'd put a white tank underneath. Fun sleeves, cute tie on the front.d.) Brown top, simple and a nice fit. I'd wear a white tank under this too, obviously.

Josh has a charcoal gray button-down shirt, as well as a white button down shirt.



E.) 1/2 zip Merino wool (black or charcoal)











F.) cotton vest (brown or charcoal)














G.) v-neck sweater cotton (brown heather or black)









H.) brown jacket








I really like the way that kids in white look in photos. They look so pure and clean and it really allows one to focus on the face instead of the clothes. So, white is is!

1.) Blouse from Target for Boo














I've looked all over for a solid colored, fine-ribbed cardigan as an option to toss on for some of the photos, but I can't find one that I like, so this is what we've got so far.

Yaks is wearing a white button-down shirt that we already have.



Now, is this too stark? Should I toss it w/ a vest or something? Does anyone have a vest in a 3T size that would go along w/ this "scheme"? No dusty rose, please.












Vote away before I just break out the dusty rose sweater!