Birthday Week Day 2: No Pictures Please

As part of Andrew's 1st birthday celebration, I wanted to get some professional photographs to mark this momentous occasion. We did it for James and wanted to keep the tradition alive. It was a beautiful day and he was in a great mood - full of giggles and smiles.

I dressed him up in his special 1st birthday outfit and headed over to the Elevee Photography Studio where our family photographer, Erica, was ready to capture this wonderful milestone.

Or so I thought.

Andrew wasn't having it. AT ALL. The minute we walked in the door the smiles disappeared and his grip on me tightened. When I brought him into the studio and attempted to put him on the floor in front of the gorgeous backdrop, the screaming began. The tears continued until the moment I put him back into his car seat and drove away. Can you say FAIL?!

My plan B was to get him back into his special 1st birthday outfit and snap some photos in our front yard over the weekend. Well, Mother Nature decided to bring on some rainy 30 degree weather so that was not happening.

So, instead, I snapped these shots. They are not professional. They are not perfect. But they are true to the type of kiddo Andrew is. A silly, curious, high-energy little man who is comfortable in his own surroundings with the people he loves most.

I asked Erica if she can send me some of the photos she did take while we were in her studio. Most of them are of him crying, but I need to have a record of it so that I can remind him when he is a Dad and his little boy is not cooperating on picture day. :)

Smile! (….please!): The Results

Now that the Holiday cards are out and hopefully arriving in mail boxes as we speak, we thought we'd share some of the photos that came from the JCP photo shoot a few weeks back.  Enjoy!

One of my favorites is the forced smile that he gave us in one of the silver background photos.  This kid is TOO MUCH!!

Smile! (…please!)

With the holiday season almost upon us, it was time to get James in front of a camera and capture some A+ shots for our annual holiday card.  Last year, we worked with professional photographer Erica Cormier of Elevee Photography and were really happy with the results.  Our little man (who was just 7 months old at the time!) was quite stoic throughout the session, but pulled out the big guns at the end and gave us the smiles we were looking for.

This year, Erica was all booked up by the time I thought to schedule our session so we decided to take advantage of a well-timed Groupon and headed to the JC Penney Portrait Studio in the hopes of capturing a few smiles worthy for this year's card.  Full disclosure - we were very skeptical.  James is not big on cameras and lately, has not been big on actually smiling.  He had been a bit more of himself over that last week, though, so we were hopeful.

Upon arrival, we met the photographer that would be shooting our session, picked out our backgrounds, and planned some of the shots.  After we made sure James was camera-worthy, we got started.  As we suspected, our little man was not into it.  Don't get me wrong, he was in awe of the lights and the camera and all the sites to see in the little room.  But not in a smiley way.  More in a "what the heck is all this stuff" blank stare kind of way.   But there were no tears.  There was no throwing himself to the ground kicking and screaming so already it was a success.

The JCP session was A LOT different than working with a professional photographer.  With Erica, we had an hour to get as many shots as we could. Some good, some bad - it didn't matter. There were plenty to choose from since she took over 200 shots.  At JCP, you get 15 camera clicks.  That's it.  Not a lot of time to get a camera-shy kid comfortable to smile.  We did all we could to get this kid to show us some teeth. There were dolls.  And Mother Goose Club songs.  And Peek a Boos.  And every silly face we could make.  Nothing.  James only smiles when James is good and ready to smile.

Luckily, he decided on one or two occasions that it was okay to let loose and look semi-happy.  In the end, we did get some decent shots which was a tiny miracle so we were happy.  We won't get the images for a week so I don't have any to show you, but I can share with you some Behind the Scenes footage that make me so happy and infuriate me at the same time. Once we were done, Ed and James decided to play hide and seek while we waited for the prints to upload on the computer.  Wouldn't you know, this kid was all laughter and smiles.  I wanted to kill him!  But instead, I picked up my iPhone and took some photos so that we could prove that he does indeed smile when he is happy.  :)

I think we did well for this year's holiday card - but I think I might call Erica now to schedule next year's session.  A girl needs way more choices than just 15. :)

Birthday Week Day 2: Picture People Part Two

As part of James' birthday celebration, we decided to meet up with Erica of Elevee Photography again to take some one-year-old shots of the little man.  We first met Erica back in October for James' 7 month photos at the Sully Plantation.  It was a chilly day made even chillier by James' sullen face.  For 2 hours, Ed and I jumped around like idiots trying to make him smile but we got nothing.  He cracked one smile and luckily, Erica captured it (thank God!).

Because Erica is a mom and a sweetheart, she offered to do another session with us for a fraction of the cost so that we can get some smiley photos.  We took her up on that offer this past Sunday.  It was a morning shoot so James was fresh and happy when we arrived at her beautiful home studio.  James was playful and jolly and a smiling machine!  Erica got some great shots - which we have yet to see other than these 2 teasers she posted on her Facebook page:

We are SOOOOO excited to see the rest because if they are anything like these, then we will have lots of walls in the house filled with this face. :)

Click, Click, Click, Flash

This past weekend, we did something very special with a very special person. The very special thing: Pregnancy Belly Photo Session. The very special person: Ms. Beth Belluzzo.

I've referenced Beth before here, but to recap, she is my very best girl friend that I met back at JMU freshman year. She is gorgeous both inside and out and is the best gal pal a girl can ask for. She is hilarious, successful and one of the best darn amateur photographers I know. When asked if she would take some photos of our family with the baby belly, she jumped at the opportunity which made me love her that much more. It takes a truly wonderful person to agree to give up several hours on a Sunday afternoon to take photos of a big fat belly. It takes an even more incredible person to drive from Arlington to Centreville to do it!

After assessing the best place for natural light in the house we got started and just had loads of fun. We took some in the bedroom...

...and then some in the baby's room.

We hit the lower deck...

... and the upper deck.

The living room made the shoot...

...and we even managed to grab some in the snow.

All in all, the photos came out great - we couldn't be happier. But the best part was spending time with such a great friend. Thank you so much Poochie Girl!!! We love you tons and truly appreciate your friendship. For a peek at the rest of the shoot, check it out here.