Picture Mayhem

We've always had the pictures of our kids done at The Picture People. When Andrew was born we purchased a Portrait Club membership and have renewed with each consecutive child. The key to getting good pictures there (or anywhere I suppose) is choosing the right time of day and not freaking your kid out once your there. I know that the photographers there have the right heart, but sometimes they don't see that using the dreaded feather duster doesn't work on every kid. Andrew really hated that thing and so we finally learned to just tell the person not to use it before we ever started the sitting.

Getting pictures from the ages of 1 month to about 9 months is a piece of cake as long as we bring our kids fed and changed and rested. Once they become comfortable with their mobility, the process got more challenging simply because it's hard to keep them in once spot, but still, they liked to smile and respond to the silly noises and faces with a great picturesque smile.

Andrew has always cooperated with getting pictures taken and therefore we have some super shots of him at every age. (do you believe that for the first year, I took him for pictures every 2 months! YIKES!) Alissa still falls into that "easy" category and so far we have great pics of her.
Naturally, I've saved Anna for last cause she moved quickly from the "easy" category to the "we might have to skip this age (for pictures)" category.

Here's the most recent experience... 2 weeks ago when the kids and I went to IN to visit, we thought we'd get the pics done and my mom would come along. Picture People wound up being booked the day we went so we opted for a sitting at JCPenny. What a nightmare! Not because it was JCPenny, but because Anna wanted nothing to do with the camera or her brother and sister, which was the whole point of the photo shoot. I mean to tell you, she screamed the whole time! We ended up with decent shots of Alissa alone.

So, today, everyone was in a great mood this morning and I thought we'd give it a shot first thing when the mall opened. I made the appointment and the kids were in fabulous spirits. The ideal situation. We got there, they got us right in and to my surprise, Anna took an interest in the props that they offer. She flashed her gorgeous smile a few times before she fell apart crying and the pictures were taken... we thought. My theory about Anna is that she does not like to be told what to do. That means, if you can capture a good picture of her doing her own thing then lucky you, but if you start to tell her what to do and where to sit, forget it!

If you've ever used Picture People for photos, you know that they develop them in an hour. So we walked around and played in the play area for an hour...breaking right into our usual nap time, but we survived. I walked back into the store to see our pictures and was promptly told that there was a cord not connected right and none of the pictures were actually taken. RAAAAAAAH! I was not a happy customer. I now have 2 weeks to get Anna back in there for more drama just to recieve a free sheet. I'll let you know how it all turns out...

Krikey...he's really gone :(

Here we are dressed up as Steve and Terry Irwin (and Andrew is our Croc) for Halloween in 2003. Okay, so we're not exactly what you would call die hard fans of animal planet and sure we respect wildlife, but I wouldn't put either of in the category of wildlife conservationists. We did, however, get a kick out of watching the Croc Hunter get dangerously close to crazy animals like crocs, komodo dragons, rhinos and many more. We used to literally just sit there and laugh at how rediculous he was for trying such stunts. In my heart of hearts, I believe this man really loved what he was doing. He loved the learning that was associated with his job. He had a job that literally only a few people have in the world. It's so sad that the education that he was able to give by doing what he did can no longer be done by him.

I was so surprised to see that he had died. I mean of all people, for some reason, he just seemed the least likely. He really knew what he was doing. Even more surprising is how he died. I mean, come on... a stingray. There have only been like 10 people that have ever died by a stingray. And what are the odds that he was in exactly the right spot to get stabbed directly in the heart? I mean if he had gotten stabbed in the leg or the shoulder, it wouldn't have killed him. They say that the poison that a stingray produces is unlikely to kill a human. Here's a guy who takes all kinds of risks with other much more dangerous animals and he dies from a stingray barbing him in the heart!!! It would be like a lion tamer getting killed by a domestic cat!

Well, needless to say, I was so sad that he had died. I know it sounds silly, but if only for entertainment, we really enjoyed Steve Irwin. We even taught Andrew to say, "Krikey, it's dingo." when we read his book about different deserts. Perhaps we'll watch the reruns of The Croc Hunter on Animal Planet and remember the good times!