Milestone Pictures

Abbie and Carter had professional pictures taken last Tuesday. I wanted to have pictures taken to mark Abbie at 3 1/2 and Carter at 18 months. (Yes…I was behind a few months.) For some reason, having their pictures taken always stresses me out. I have a hard time figuring out what they will wear that goes well together, making sure they have shoes, tights, ribbons, etc. that match the clothes, etc. It took multiple trips to the mall and Target crammed between ballet lessons and nap times to finally get all the gear together. Abbie’s dress and tights were from Baby Gap, but her shoes were from Target. Carter’s clothes were from Gymboree, and thankfully his one pair of brown sneakers will pass with any outfit. I was at Hancock Fabrics the night before trying to find grosgrain ribbon to go with Abbie’s dress because I new the silver headband I had bought was going to end up being a wardrobe malfunction. Ugh. I was exhausted before the actual morning of pictures even arrived!

I love the photographer we found here (thanks Michelle!), but her studio is almost an hour away in Kingwood. So I had to get the kids up and fed and out the door by 9:00 in order to get there on time. I also had to make sure I had my emergency picture bag which included brushes, ribbons, rubberbands, fruit snacks, M&Ms, CDs, CD player, and a Gymbo doll. I just knew Carter was going to be a disaster at these pictures and made sure I was as prepared as possible. I just hoped a surprise Gymbo doll, fruit snacks and M&Ms would be enough to coax a smile out of him (or at least get him to stand still in front of the camera without crying). We were also meeting Michelle and her kids for lunch afterward, which meant I had to make sure we had anything we would need for that.

I figured that with an hour car ride ahead of us, putting them in their clothes for the pictures was not a good idea. Unfortunately, that meant me hastily dressing them in her studio in about two minutes. I dressed Abbie first and so the photographer started taking pictures of her. For the first time ever, Abbie really had a great time having her picture taken. She loved the photographer and happily agreed to do whatever the photographer asked her to do. We even had her favorite CD playing in the background. At least I am pretty sure that was what was going on. During this time, I was trying to wrestle Carter into his one-piece and overalls. I was also trying to fix his bed head, all of which he wanted nothing to do with. When it was finally his turn, he would not even step in front of the camera without having a fit. I brought out Gymbo, which he just proceeded to reach for and cry for when I wouldn’t give it to him. (I love you and all Gymbo, but don’t need you in these pictures forever.) He would not let Abbie within two feet of him. Trying to get a picture of them sitting next to each other was not happening. Finally, we just had to take a break and walk outside for a while. The photographer and I were desperate by the time he came back in so we brought out the last resort, the M&Ms. Sure he would probably have rainbow colors melted on his tiny hands and chocolate smeared on his mouth, but at least he would be in a picture. She dumped a bunch of them in a tiny, tin bucket and let him go to town. We finally managed to get a few decent pictures of him.

By then, I was done with pictures. I mean done. So we changed back into their “comfy” clothes, packed up all of the stuff we had brought with us, and headed on our way to lunch. I was so happy when those pictures were over!

I loved the way the pictures turned out. Maybe 5 years from now I will look at them and not even remember the chaos behind them, but I doubt it! (Oh, and don’t you dare complain that there are more pictures of Abbie than you when you are a teenager, Carter!)

Caught Mid-Chew!