Periodically, I like to have pictures taken of the kids.  A few weeks ago, we took in all the kids for the first time.  We had a few good pictures of Franny and Cole but Delaney didn’t find the whole process very pleasant, and she was either crying or visibly close to crying in all of her pictures.  Hoping for better luck on another day with a different photographer, I scheduled retakes.  Today was the day.  There is only so much, however, that I can control or prepare for.  Although this is true of even an only child, each additional child inevitably lowers the probability for an ideal experience—there are just too many volatile variables with such young personalities, not to mention physical variables like rest and hunger.  With a seven month old baby, I wasn’t holding out for ideal, but I was really hoping for an adequate portrait of the three kids together.  Well, today wasn’t our day.  We did get great pictures of Franny and Cole, as well as a nice picture of Delaney by herself.  But today, the three of them together just didn’t work out—our sweet, little Delaney just found it all too much to handle.  In this case, the littlest variable was the biggest variable.  We’ll try it again in a few months, when she is a little older and a little more comfortable with new environments and experiences.  I know that won’t make it a given, but hopefully the variable will work in our favor.