We Tried

Dear Addie,

This week, we tried.

Not naive to the reality of life, with everyone growing older, calendars packed with school, work, and social plans, we made an effort. We tried for a family picture.

Clara was home for the weekend. Gabe didn’t have rehearsal until later in the afternoon. You, though a little lethargic, were in a good mood. The Lions weren’t playing until later, and of course, it was raining - because why wouldn’t it be?

We said - Let’s do this. Everybody say cheese!

It was a particularly dark and rainy morning here in the woods. Four out of five of us managed to get ourselves ready and somewhat presentable, while you finished up a morning nap.

Side note: We have spent so many years feeling like we were living in some kind of strange autism-related social experiment, surviving on little to no sleep, and now, somehow, we’re in the season of sleeping all the time. You're clearly working through some health stuff, and we’re navigating that too. It’s wild to witness, honestly. But I digress.

I woke you up, helped you get dressed, and dried your wet hair from your earlier tubby. You were clean and camera-ready in no time flat. Downstairs we went, ready to get after these long-awaited family photos.

Let’s officially do this!

Wait, just kidding, we weren’t all ready and we had to wait just a few unexpected minutes while Daddy finished ironing his shirt. You know just enough time for me to glance away for a moment... and turn back to see you in the kitchen, already undressing.

You were over it.

And we hadn’t even started. Ahhhhh.

All dressed again, and with the rest of the family now officially ready, we headed out into the rain to document our Dream Team: 2025 Edition. Not our first rodeo, we knew we had about ten minutes tops to pull this off. God bless rapid-fire iPhone photography. Seriously. And, living in the woods, we’re lucky to have multiple greenery-filled backdrops just steps away, all without ever leaving the driveway.

We posted up in a few different spots, but our usual bag of tricks to get you to smile just weren’t working. You gave us the literal reaction of saying, “say cheeeeeeese” — in that flat, teenage, appeasing kind of way. No smile. Just pure, mildly annoyed monotone.

*Every year we do this is when I realize how much taller you are than me lol

Realizing you haven’t been feeling 100% — or let’s be honest, even 75% — I decided to hand you your headphones, hoping that might at least get a smirk.

But you were uncrackable. We tried.

1,000% not wanting to push you, knowing you haven’t been feeling great lately, we were proud of your effort, and I told you that you could go inside and be all done, while we finished up taking a few more photos of Clara and Gabe.

Assuming, something I really should know better than to do, I figured you went up to your room to lie down...spoiler alert - that's not where you went. Fast forward, oh, about three minutes… and Gabe looks over and says, “Mom, Addie’s naked.” Sure enough, there you were, emerging from the other side of the driveway, half-dressed in jammies, holding your shirt in your hand, clearly looking for assistance.

*Documenting mama getting her steps in!

Never a dull moment. Like, never.

With the rain picking up a bit we deciding to call it on the family photo session, and we all headed back inside. When we got inside I had to laugh at the pile of clothes in the middle of the kitchen. You had quite literally wasted no time getting out of them and back into something more comfortable.

We tried.

Addie, I know your world feels off right now, but you are doing a really great job.

And you know what? Maybe next year, if the stars align on some random weekend and we’re all together again… we just do a jammie pic - I’m game for that.

Love you, baby girl.

Mom

"say cheeeeeeese!"