Photo lessons

You know those cute cherobic faces? The silly grins? The adorable laughs? Why are those so FRICKIN hard to catch on camera?! We went in for round two of photos at Penney's today. Dave refused to go since he went the last time. I ended up taking my grade school friend (who now incidentally lives in Lafayette), Jen, with me. It was a nightmare (the session, not having Jen with me). Last time, Noah did great and Callie was ho-hum and fussy. This time, Noah threw the fit of the century where I literally walked out, walked straight to the van, and put him in time out there to cool off. From the get-go when he woke up from his nap, I had a bad feeling about the afternoon. He just woke up...wrong. I planned this whole event so that they would just be getting up from their naps, be fresh, angelic, and happy. I tried bribery (I had Nemo snacks...but he wanted Cars snacks). I tried offering a cookie. I tried being silly. He would have none of it. To make matters worse, our photographer this time was just OK. The guy last time really tried and did cool poses and actually engaged the kids. If the kids would have been smiling, they would have been great. This lady just looked at me is if she wanted me to take the initiative. I asked her, "What would you like me to do with them?" She said, "Whatever you want". OK, as much as I appreciate having a say, I'm not the photographer and I don't have vision for this kind of thing...hence why I took them in. You could tell it was the end of the day for her and she didn't really care much. Jen did a great job of helping out so that I didn't start crying in the middle of Penneys. My one thought over and over again was why didn't I take the first round?! Hindsight as they say...

The only saving grace is that my friend Elizabeth took some pretty good shots of the kids this summer. None of them together mind you, but still...I'm hoping I can still order some from her. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try for round three, but if I did, I would probably call her. She does a beautiful job. For some reason, I just thought Noah would do better in a studio. Now, I know that he just has to be in the right mood no matter where we are. Darn two year old.

OK. Deep breath. As my dad told me when I called him frustrated on the way home: At least we didn't get into an accident to or from. His way of trying to help me gain perspective. Really, it's just a blip in the radar. I did purchase some Callie pics though. OK, so I just need to be OK with the fact that my kids aren't going to be photographed well together this year.

Ready for the kicker? As we were leaving the studio, Noah starts crying, "I want to take pictures! I want to take pictures!" Really?