pictures can lie

One of the ways I *truly* am a slacker mama is that I don't really get that many professional portraits taken of the girls. I remember sitting around one of my new mom's group playdates, and all the moms were talking how they took their kids to picture people on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Me...not so much. In fact, Grandmom actually was responsible for having E's first portraits taken when she was 6 months old.

So, when John went out of town a few weekends ago, I got the idea to take the girls' pictures. I called Picture People and Portrait Innovations and they were booked solid. The local Target had an opening at 12:30, so I snatched it up.

At about 12:10, the girls were done with lunch, in their outfits and ready to go. I had just changed A's diaper and we were playing in her room...when she fell and hit her eye on the window sill. A shiner immediately emerged. Undaunted, I bundled them up and off to Target we went.

In a nutshell, the session was a disaster. Only 4 pictures were taken, and they were all of E. Why? Because A was totally petrified of the gigantic camera-thingy, the nice lady trying to take her picture, the stuffed animal she kept shaking in her face...pretty much everything...and spent the entire photo session crying and holding onto me for dear life. So we left, and came home for an afternoon of relaxation.

At about 4:15 the Target studios called...they had a cancellation for their 5:00 appointment, would I like to try again? Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I said sure...and shuttled the girls back to the scene of the crime.

This time, A was an absolute angel -- hamming it up for the camera and being all around pleasant. E, however, was "that kid". She would not listen to a word I said, kept jumping on the litte platform, and finally, after an eternity about 10 minutes (and 6 photos taken) of photo shoot #2, I called it off. This plunged E into a tantrum to end all tantrums. Not only did she want "pretty pictures" taken of herself, but she also wanted to get a Dora book in Target.

So, after 2 photo sessions totally a whopping 10 pictures taken of the girls, you would think the pictures would be horrible...right? Nope. Here are the results of my pain and suffering. With pictures like this...I ought to do it more often.