Photographs

They're done. The Christmas pictures are taken and printed and now what will happen is I'll end up taking a picture of the kids that I love even more than I love their fabulous professional pictures....happens every year!!

Allow me to relay the picture experience. I wish I had videotaped it because the photographer was wonderful and the boy was a crazy typical two year old loving having his picture taken, and the girlie peanut was a total B. I cannot convey to you the looks that my daughter gave this very hardworking photographer with words.

The girlie peanut aka the girl, is almost 8 months old- the 20th is her birthday. She has this unbelieveable personality that is just to die for! The past few days she's been miserably sick- very first cold and ear infection. Not a fun combo! We stayed home today and then headed down to grandma's for pictures and a haircut for the boy. So, her personality has been priceless. Think about how you are when you don't feel well and how you can express your feelings in words and now think about an almost 8 month old who can't. The looks that this child has been giving me and just about everyone around her have been PRICELESS! The faces she makes are unbelieveable!! Yesterday, we hit Target after taking her to the doctor and I swear to you she sat in the cart and would shoot daggers at people who came too close to her. These sideways glances were just too much for me! It was a repeat, even better performance today.

We took the kids to Kiddie Kandids in Babies R Us. I have used the Picture People in the past and to be quite frank, the pictures were good but I did most of the work. I was the one making the kids smile and laugh. I was the one running around entertaining, etc. I would walk out of there sweating my ass off and I still had to wait over an hour before the prints were done and there was little to no retooling. Kiddie Kandids is GREAT! The photographers do all of the entertaining, they make the kids smile, the do all the work! And you walk out of there within 15 minutes with perfect photos. You can do effects to them, black and white, zoom in and out, take out any real imperfections. They're great, really I can't say enough good things about my experiences with them. That being said, today was no different. Our photographer was the manager of this particular store. She was so nice and accommodating. She worked so hard and with my kids that's double!

The boy went first. Quite the little model. Smiling, posing, laughing, it was like a freaking photo shoot...the kid should be on the cover of the next Parents or Child magazine. Seriously! Then we did both kids together and it was still ok. Boy- prize winning smile, Girl- happy, smiley, cute, drooling all over her red stain dress but thats ok because she had fabulous patent leather shoes on and great shoes make all ok! Now it's time for the girl alone and little did our photographer know but she was about to earn her paycheck for the next 2 years in about 15 minutes. The girl got up there without the boy and repositioned and turned into this pint sized attitude. This poor photographer is dancing around, playing with ducks and dusters and anything everything and nothing will make my child smile. The look on her leprechaun-esque face reads, "You a-hole what the hell are you doing? I'm not going to freaking smile for you. I met you like 2 minutes ago and I barely smile for those I know, you want me to perk up for you. You try being on amoxicillin and motrin with all of your teeth poking through the flesh in your mouth and see how much you smile!" I shit you not, this is what was read on my tiny little daughter's face. This look continued for the rest of the session. Everyone got involved in trying to make the girl smile...me, grandma, Nicholas, even a few of the babies r us employees came over. It was nuts. By the end I was on the floor not knowing whether to laugh or shed a tear and our wonderful photographer was sweating bullets but still super nice and accommodating!

What are the results of all of this...FABULOUS pictures! Seriously great pictures that I love. I only wish we had the ones in between the smiley ones...the ones that could have the hysterical captions! The kicker of this whole experience? The girl gets changed back into her "civilian" clothes, aka onesie and overalls, and laughs her freaking head off and can't stop smiling!! What a little nut job!??! I love it! I love the attitude...I won't love it when she's 14 or 17 or 29 but right now I think it's hysterical. It's like she's taken that little piece of me that I didn't think would be passed on and run with it. She may not have my hair or eyes or skin but she's got my attitude and "people skills"....she's my little girl and I LOVE her!