Pediatrician visit

Today Faith had her 3 year checkup.

She's 38 1/2 inches tall and weighs 28 pounds.

That puts her in the 90% for her height and 15% for her weight.  Still tall and skinny.  But it won't be much longer before she becomes the "little sister" because at the rate Benjamin is growing he'll soon be both taller and heavier than his big sister. 

One, Three, and Five...Finally

After a stressful morning at the photography shop, I decided to take matters into my own hands.

So I took a white sheet outside and had my own little impromptu photo session.

And the kids cooperated much better.

In fact, even Benjamin laughed at my silly antics.

Some of us made silly faces.

And I feel like I was actually able to capture their personalities.

Much more so than the earlier photographer.

I think it helps when kids are in a familiar environment.

Although Faith and Grace are both so eager to please.

Benjamin.  Not so much.

Between the professional photos and the snapshots I took today, I think I certainly accomplished the documentation of my kids at the ages of one, three, and five.  Finally.

Professional Pictures Take 2

After Benjamin took his nap we returned to the photography shop.

But Benjamin was in no better frame of mind.

He decided that he did not like the photographer or having his picture made.

No matter how we posed the children he simply would not cooperate.

I finally convinced the photographer to just take the picture.   I don't care if he's smiling.

We took a quick break and got a couple of shots with just Grace and Faith.

They are best friends, you know.

Then I dumped Benjamin back into the photo.

And he tried to run away.

He was quite petrified of that photographer I think.

Grace smiled beautifully.

And showed her sweet spirit.

As did Faith.

And then we got to see more of their personalities.

After the photographer convinced me to hide under a sheet and hold Benjamin under the guise of photoshopping me out.  This was her idea of getting Benjamin to smile.  She assured me she would make me disappear.  Faith thought it was quite hilarious.

And Benjamin did finally smile.

But this was the best the photographer could do to make me disappear...  

After 20 minutes of saying "no" to $999 and $599 portrait packages I left with just one pose of all three children to hang on our wall.  And I must admit that I sincerely love it.  It shows each of my children's personalities exactly as they are.  Grace is such a sweet little girl who wants to make everyone happy.  Faith finds joy in the most mundane things and is able to light up the room with her laugh.  And Benjamin is already so strong willed and determined.  He doesn't care a bit what anyone thinks.  And while today was extremely stressful I am so thankful to finally have this photograph of my children and their personalities while they are at the ages of one, three, and five.

Professional Pictures Take 1

Right now my kids are ages 1, 3, and 5.  But it's only a matter of days before Grace turns 6 so I wanted to commemorate this time with professional pictures.  I was fully prepared or so I thought.  It was my idea to bribe my children with cupcakes thinking that they would be on a sugar high and super happy and smiley for their pictures.  Fortunately for me the gourmet cupcake shop is next door to the photography shop.  

We arrived promptly for our appointment but still had to wait almost 15 minutes.  In spite of my better judgement we began with individual portraits of each of the kids.  With a blue background that I don't particularly care for.  I had requested a solid white background so I could hang the pictures on my wall...but the photographer insisted on starting with the blue...

Grace and Faith were great and smiled beautifully for their photos.

Benjamin did as well.  But that didn't last for long.

By the time the photographer was ready to do a group shot our opportunity had passed.

Benjamin was crashing from his sugar high and wanted a nap.

So he screamed and and screamed and threw such a tantrum that the photographer suggested we let him take a nap and we try again in two hours.  

With one final shot of Grace and Faith we left so Benjamin could take a nap and hopefully wake up in a better mood.  I still want a picture of all three of my kids.  

First lesson learned:  As much as I like some of the pictures of Grace and Faith, I simply am not going to spend a small fortune for pictures that I will not hang on my walls thanks to the wrong color of the background.  I want our family pictures to maintain a cohesive look by having a plain white background so if I choose to group pictures together there is no visual clutter.  Next time I will insist on beginning with the picture and background that I am most likely to purchase regardless of "the professionals" opinion.

Lesson #2:  Mommas know their children and their temperaments best.  Young photographers would do well to listen to what the customer wants and take photos in the order requested.   They are not likely to upsale me a bunch of individual portraits if they can't get the one pose I most wanted.   

Diaper box car

For some reason Benjamin is fascinated with our diaper box.

Just about every day he pulls all the diapers out and tosses them around the room.

So he can climb in it.

And go Vroom Vroom!  Why buy expensive toys?

Potty trained

I think fingers crossed that Faith may finally be completely potty trained.  She does great at home but has serious issues using strange potties.  I kinda get that though.

She finally pooped in her princess potty today.  Hooray!

And treat from the treasure chest was her prize.  I hope she keeps this up.  

Dauphin Island

We have a bit of beach fever.

So today we headed to Dauphin Island for a change of scenery.

As usual Grace and Faith headed straight for the sand and water.

While Benjamin hung out in the shade.  

On our way home we even managed to spot a rainbow peeking through the clouds.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect day.