I have been meaning, since the day I got pregnant with Will, to have professional pictures taken. And yet I didn't make it actually happen until yesterday. Meaning I've left documenting two pregnancies, two newborn stages, Will's entire infancy and a good bit of his toddlerhood, and nearing half of Jake's infancy all up to us and our Canon Rebel digital camera. And our iPhones, which sadly, have captured a majority of our precious moments. That being said, I'm really not all that bad with our camera, so we do have some pretty good pictures of the boys and Jamie. I, however, am not in any of them. The only pictures of me with the boys are ones I've taken myself, with the camera at arms length. So sad. And while I set up a tripod to document my pregnancy with Will, Jake will have to be satisfied with iPhone pictures snapped in the mirror when someday he gets curious about how I looked when he was in my belly. Come to think of it though, I'm not sure a picture even exists of my mother when she was pregnant with me. And I would really like to see that. So, you know, an iPhone picture in the mirror is better than nothing. And quality aside, there are approximately a million pictures of our sons. But in the end, I would really like some professional photographs of our family. So yesterday, after finding a photographer who seemed good and reasonably priced, we had a photo session.
Unmitigated disaster seems like the only description to do it justice.
She started us out on a blanket, with me and Jamie kneeling, each holding a boy. Will gave her the "stranger danger" look pretty much the whole time. But at least he was STILL for those first few minutes. The whole rest of the time (which was over an hour, at the end of which we wanted to DIE) one of us was chasing Will (who only slowed down enough for her to catch a picture when he was walking UPHILL) while the other was trying to keep Jake warm and happy. And, whatever, they are little. It's to be expected. What I found disappointing is that every time I would think, "This is a good moment. I hope she's catching this." She invariably was NOT. She was so very focused on trying to get their faces (which were usually scowling) that she didn't seem to capture any moments. And moments is what I was hoping for. Jamie and Will crouched down by the little pond looking at ducks, Jake dozing on my shoulder. I almost wished I had brought my own camera, except that would have defeated the purpose of actually BEING IN the pictures. Eventually Jamie called it quits because the boys were just falling apart. We both walked away feeling frustrated with the whole thing. We had expected an experience like our engagement photo session, where our photographer gave us direction and then just let things happen, snapping pictures all along the way which resulted both in portraits and candid moments. But I'm not sure we'll be walking away from this with either portraits OR candids. I suppose I should reserve judgement until we've seen what pictures she did manage to get, but I know which ones she didn't and that really leaves me feeling disappointed. At least she wasn't expensive. But now I know what to be looking for on my photographer search. Also, it makes me want to take some classes in photography because what she did, I could totally do.
In other news, I think Will sang his first song the other day. Kind of. We have an Elmo addiction in this house (or Melmo, as he's known around here.) Anyway, there's this episode of Sesame Street (I stream them on Netflix) that we watch over and over about the Itsy Bitsy Spider. No, he doesn't sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider. That would be WAY too normal and not nearly as funny. In the episode, Ricky Gervais plays guitar and sings a celebrity lullaby to Elmo (who's entire bedroom is decked out in cars and trucks - something that thrills Will to no end). I started trying to describe the lullaby, but then, internet genius that I am, I realized that you could probably just watch it.
Will cracks up EVERY SINGLE TIME he hears the refrain. I played it when Jamie got home so he could see Will laughing except this time, Will started shouting "Nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh!" and giggling like crazy. I play that episode a lot, just so I can watch him do it. And now, we go around shouting "nuh nuh nuh nuh" at each other all day. It brings us all such joy. Jamie said that when he was rocking Will before bed last night, Will finished his bottle, handed it to Jamie, turned around and playfully said "Nuh nuh nuh nuh!" Will has such a wonderful sense of humor. Oh, I love that boy.
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