Tales at the Portrait Studio

We made a rookie mistake two years ago when we got Brady's first set of professional pictures taken. Armed with the theory that we only wanted the "best" for our son, we were sucked into spending almost $300 at the Picture People at the mall. Needless to say, we have long since learned that there is nothing wrong with JC Penny's studio.

That said, we thought today would be a good day to get the boys pictures taken. We called the store and made an appointment for 4:30. Knowing that we were headed there with two young kids and wanting them to at the very least be in a good mood, we carefully planned out our day in advance. At 12:30, Brady had a big lunch and went down for a nap. We kept Cameron at bay until 2:30, when we gave him a bath and got him changed into his Christmas sweater. Erica took her shower and did her make-up, and I followed with my shower. By 3:30, Brady was up and her was the last one to get ready. We were out the door by 4:00, armed with a bag full of diapers, toys, snacks, bottles, and sippy cups.

We arrived a little early for our appointment. To our horror, the waiting area was jam-packed with families waiting to have their picture taken in the single studio. As we figured, they were running about an hour behind schedule. We decided to whether the storm and play man-to-man defense. At our house, Erica and I are either using man-to-man or zone defense to take care of the boys, depending on the situation. Today was a good man-to-man opportunity. She took Cameron out to feed him and hopefully wake him up. I took Brady to get a pretzil with cheesey dipping sauce. We waited, but luckily both boys were good. As our turn was getting near, Brady was starting to tell us how he got his picture taken back in May in this studio with Babcia and Dziadziu. I don't know how he remembers all of this, but he does. It is kind of strange.

Our turn came up, and in we went. For the most part, the boys cooperated as we went through the different poses. Then, we went and ordered our pictures. By this time it was 6:30, and both boys were showing signs of fatigue. Cameron was getting cranky, and Brady just wanted to be put down so he could run around the store. Somehow, we managed to keep them entertained while we looked through pictures.

We finally left the store close to 7:00 and completely exhausted. In the car, I told Erica how I saw a young couple with an infant in the studio. I remembered that it wasn't that long ago that we were in that same situation, but now with two kids and our hefty double-stroller, it is more than double the work to do something like we did tonight.

But, I think it will be worth it. The pictures came out great!