You are certainly not going to see a picture of me, full bitch face, bloated and yelling at my girls.

Recently I posted a family picture on Facebook.  I am consistently humbled at how many people will comment about how beautiful my family is or just the niceness of the picture.  But I will also laugh, when people say that I look great based on these pictures--of course I do.  I only post the good ones.  You are certainly not going to see a picture of me, full bitch face, bloated and yelling at my girls.  I know there is probably one lurking out there but I am not going to post that willingly.

When I look at the Wangs in this latest family photo--I wonder if people know the possibility of what was going on before the picture was taken.  Or can you see what I see?

The first obvious is that constant of Rachel being held by Ching and Laurel sticking next to me.  This pairing always happens and while I should prevent it and mix it up a bit, I don't.  It doesn't see the point--until I lose some trivia game when it's "Team Smarties", C+R, vs. "Team Looks Good", J+L.

Then, let's look at Laurel.  While her hair is nicely brushed, it took awhile to get that way before the picture.  She has long, thick hair that gets very tangled but she hates brushing it..  If it is not brushed, it looks like a bad weave with a family of mice tucked in there.

To her right, is me.  Knowing that I wanted to have this picture taken on our only family vacation of the year, I straightened my hair and put make-up on to look casually natural.  But I am still critical--I think my teeth look a little yellowy and I didn't suck in my stomach.  (When did this become a norm for me?  Picture being taken--suck in your stomach.  Walking the floor at work--suck in your stomach.  Dropping Rachel off at daycare--suck in your stomach.  Running errands--suck in your stomach.  It's not a habit that I am proud of and it really bites.)

Rachel, who is sitting on Ching's lap is being typical Rachel.  We have to take several pictures because she won't look at the camera or she is acting goofy.  (If you ask her if she is goofy--she will correct you and say that she is minnie--no joke.)  So the picture that you see is one of 20.

Unfortunately Ching doesn't get a lot of my attention.  I am hoping he can fend for himself.  I am just hoping that his eyes are open in the picture but not too wide (to avoid that "I have just been jabbed with a cattle prod" look) and his mouth is closed.

This picture wasn't a casual--"oh, let's take a Wang family photo".  It was a "Rachel needs a family photo in her class--we need to get this done."  To actually make the effort and sit down and do this takes some effort.  The picture is fine and does the job.  And until next year when she needs another one...this one will have to do...