Don't try this at home!

On Friday, I decided it was time I took Gracie in for her 2 year old portraits. You might remember that last year I took all three girls to Olan Mills for portraits. They all wore their Chinese dresses. They turned out great!

So, the question was, do I try to top that this year, or with money being tight, do I do something a little less expensive but yet document Grace's 2nd year. I opted for the latter. I made an appointment at our local Walmart for a session, thinking that I would use the online coupon that I found while making the appointment. I scheduled the appointment for 11 a.m. on Friday morning, thinking that it was late enough in the morning that she would be well rested, and early enough that she wouldn't be cranky and need her nap.

I had the dress, shoes, and tights. The dress came from a friend that had bought it for Grace last Spring. A very cute black and red holiday dress. The tights red, and the shoes black patent leather mary janes. We didn't have any matching bows for Grace's hair, so I decided to pick one up at the store beforehand. Much to my surprise, there were really no red hair bows at Walmart!! So we settled for a frilly red pony tie. It worked well, and Grace had the extras that came in the package of multicolored ponies to play with while we waited. So were were ready, or so I thought.

What I didn't count on was a 2 year old attitude! She started out pretty well, trying to accommodate the photographer to make her happy. We were to have 7 different poses, and by about the 3rd pose Grace had had enough. She wanted nothing more to do with this photo shoot, and decided to show both me and the photographer who was in control. Let me give you a hint that it wasn't either of the adults! She had a meltdown, and refused to cooperate. Finally after prodding to try to get her to cooperate for "just a little bit longer", I decided to try something that every parent swares they will "Never do that when they have children!". I bribed her! I told her she could play with my cell phone if she cooperated. Somehow that worked, and we made it through.

Really only abut 4 of the poses were good enough to consider for purchasing. And of course, after the photo shoot was over, we had to sit through the photographer's sales pitch to try to get me to spend $199 to get "the best deal" they had, and then the $149 next best deal, and $79 deal. During that time, Gracie decided that it was time to let mother nature take her course, and she dirtied her diaper. So instead of taking the time to take her to the restroom and change her diaper right then, I decided to wait until we were finished ordering the portraits and then change her, which really was only another 30 minutes or so.

So after we finished up, I reached in the diaper bag, and much to my surprise there was NO wipes in the bag! Who took the wipes out of the bag? Why would I leave the house with a diaper bag that didn't have wipes in it? How in the world was I supposed to change her diaper without wipes? This is where it comes in handy to have the photo shoot take place in Wally World! I just went back to the baby department and picked up a package of baby wipes, went through the checkout, purchased them, and headed to the restroom. We were able to get her cleaned up and head home, but I have to tell you I was pooped out (no punn intended)!

Gracie came home, ate a quick lunch, and took a 3 hour nap. So it was obviously tiring for her too. I have to say, it was not a fun experience. I will not ever take a 2 year old to get their portrait taken again. But I do have to admit that my little girl's photo that we selected, which was the coupon deal they had with one pose, is mighty cute! So maybe it was worth the hassle. I'm sure when I pick the package up on December 5, I will have almost forgotten about all the hassle, and just enjoy the beautiful smile on my girl's face!