Moms it's that time of year again: time to schedule family photos. We're usually alone in wanting to have them taken, but we desperately want to capture our little ones where they are right now because we know by next week they'll be bigger already! The scheduling is tough, getting everyone dressed and stuffed into the car is a pain...ugh. 

Here are some five tips on how to make family photos less painful:

1. Ask your photographer for black and whites. 

This eliminates the need for getting everyone dressed to match precisely. Also, black and white prints go well in every room in your house, whatever the paint color.

2. Go someplace where the kids can have fun afterward.

If you're doing photos at the beach, let them run in the waves when they're done. If you're at a local park, let them go on the swings after. They'll need a reward for having behaved so well (ha ha!) and you'll need a break, too.

3. Don't expect miracles.

I get it: you're paying money for a photographer. You're thinking to yourself what a waste it would be with no good photos. You're tense because you want them to behave. It's ok. Your photos will be much better if you let yourself relax and let your photographer direct the kids. Let's work with their natural abilities: running, playing, jumping...

4. Get prints made as soon as your photographer makes them available.

I know what you're thinking: "Of course she wants prints made. She gets paid!" While that may be true, I'm not only a photographer but a mother of two boys and I love to procrastinate. It's one of the things I'm great at! I had professional photos done four years ago. Do you think there are any prints of that shoot in my house? Nope. I didn't have them done, didn't have them done...next thing you know it's time for another professional shoot and they're several inches taller anyway with completely different clothes and haircuts. Get them done right away. Having beautiful prints of your family in your home far outweighs the Agony of Procrastination, for which there is no reward.

5. Have a good time!

My husband always says, "Moms make memories." Your children most enjoy you when you're down at their level, being silly and having fun. If you have fun, they will, too.