I almost had the title as “Christmas Pictures… a horror story”, but I can’t really call it that. Everything ended up ok. It was just… an adventure.
So, we did our Christmas pictures yesterday at WalMart Portraits Studios (home of the cheap packages and the really expensive extra picture sheets). The photographer had been recommended by my friend Wendy who also got an appointment next to mine so we could have both our 2 yr olds there together. You may think that’s what caused the trouble. Au contrair! That was my salvation. Wendy and Emma kept Alexis adequately entertained when I couldn’t and Wendy held Branwen on multiple occasions for me when I needed to do other things. I don’t know what I would have done without them! But that’s not telling you half the story…
First, par usual, we couldn’t get out the door on time. Amazingly enough, we did manage to get out in enough time to make it to WalMart by 9:50 (the appointments were at 10 and 10:30), but that was because I was aiming to get there by 9:45 and thought it would take me longer to drive there than it did. Still, I had to exchange the dress shoes I had picked up for Branwen because I accidentally picked up newborn instead of the next size up, and my 7 week old is on the large side. 😛 Customer Service had a slow-moving line as they often do, so I waited quite a while to give them the shoes and say I wanted to exchange them for size. I ran back, couldn’t find the same kind of shoes, found some that would do, went back up and had to wait in line again. I was glad Wendy was there to take the 10 o’clock appointment so I didn’t feel quite so rushed.
We finally got organized and got into the picture area. Emma, Wendy’s daughter, was having her picture taken, so I started changing my girls into their outfits. That went pretty well. Alexis was good because she was entertained by Emma’s picture taking experience. Branwen decided to spit up on her outfit, but it cleaned up easily, so that wasn’t too bad. I got the girls ready and waited just a little bit for the photographer to be finished with Wendy and Emma.
Our turn came. Ok, here’s where the fun starts. Branwen is now hungry. I don’t want to take much time to nurse her because that can take a half hour… the length of the appointment. Alexis, on the other hand, is in a fine mood, but if you tell her to smile she gets a really scary-looking grimace on her face. It’s her idea of smiling on demand. So there we are, Wendy, Emma, and the photographer trying to get Alexis to give a real smile while I stand there holding my pinky in Branwen’s mouth. Every time Alexis looks like she’s about to smile, I pull my hand out of Branwen’s mouth as quickly as I can and the photographer snaps a picture. 😛 Needless to say, it took an awful lot of film to get any half-decent pictures. After maybe 20 minutes we did manage to get one that was very cute, so that was fine. So I ask the photographer, “How many more pictures do we do?” She responds, “Six.” I just about turned tail and fled at that pronouncement. However, she made a very reasonable suggestion: we would take the remaining pictures of just one of the girls at a time, 3 of Alexis and 3 of Branwen. Alexis did ok for hers. It was a little difficult to get that elusive smile, once again, but it came eventually (with much coaxing using bubbles, a feather on a stick, a Pooh Bear, and a soccer ball) and 3 pictures were taken, one of them being especially adorable. Then came Branwen’s turn.
Apparently Branwen takes after her mommy. She doesn’t like to have her picture taken. She would be fine as long as I was holding her, then we’d put her down to take a picture and she’d start crying. At some point, I decided I’d better nurse her after all (there was no one in the appointment slot after mine), and that calmed her down… a little too much. She fell asleep. I said, “Let’s just take the pictures of her sleeping.” That would have been great, only she woke up and started crying whenever we put her down. 😛 So how did we end up getting any pictures of her? The photographer actually put the fabric that had been on the table (looked a little like lamb’s wool) over my front like a barber’s apron and I held her, leaning way back so none of my head would be in the pictures. The pictures are definitely not ones that would be chosen for a WalMart Portrait Studio ad, but they were done and she wasn’t screaming in them. 🙂 Her eyes aren’t open, either, but… oh well. After trying for an hour to get nice Christmas pictures — well, you take what you can get.
I must say, I’m glad that’s over. And I’m not looking forward to next year. But as my mother has had cause to tell me, I shouldn’t borrow trouble. Maybe both of my girls will be perfect angels by next year and the pictures will be a breeze. 😉