30 Days of Thankfulness Day 7

Today I am thankful for cute babies and family portraits. We went today to get pictures taken because, for some reason, we haven't had portraits taken in a YEAR! I am actually pretty disgusted with myself for this, especially since I didn't get 1 year pictures taken of her. : ( Oh well. We actually went to 2 places today, which may have made me crazy, but it went exactly how I wanted. Maybe I should explain.

This is what I wanted to accomplish with pictures: a family portrait for Christmas cards, some cute Christmas themed pictures of Kalaya for family members and some 18 month pictures in the dress I wore in my 18 month pictures. (my mom has saved a LOT of outfits from when I was a baby. Good job mom!)

So, we first went to JC Penney's, because I had good coupons for them, to get all of the pictures of Kalaya. Here is the site: https://viewimages.jcpportraits.com/myalbum My email is mcmahonkp@yahoo.com and the password is apollo11. We had a free session fee coupon for only one person, so we didn't do the family portrait at Penney's. We did get some fantastic deals and saved a lot of money. We did several with Kalaya in her Christmas outfit and several with my dress from when I was a baby. So cute!! In fact, there is one Christmas picture that will be used at our local JC Penney's to promote Christmas pictures this season!! (picture P13) I'm totally psyched, it is adorable!

It was crazy how well she did this time. Last year we had portraits taken for Christmas and she hated every second of it. We didn't get one smile in over an hour. Not ONE! In fact, we had to settle for catching a picture when she wasn't sobbing. It was a disaster and we paid waaaaay too much for a private studio. (although they were very helpful, very tolerant and really good quality pictures) This year was like a different kid! (major difference between 6 and 18 months!) She wore both outfits, allowed the change, let me change her hair style, sat or stood exactly where she was told and smiled big for the camera each time. She even said "cheese!" for almost all the pictures. And, it was during nap time on the day after changing back the clocks after having to wait longer than expected. She was fantastic, we are so proud of her.

Then, we went to Sears to take one of the family. I didn't want anything fancy, just a basic, quick picture. They also have really good coupons. They insisted on a few of her, which are cute, but I didn't buy any of them. (we have PLENTY from Penney's) We bought several of the family picture of us sitting on the ground together. I think she looks cute, but the picture isn't anything fantastic. However, it was cheap and we look nice and that was all I wanted!! You can see those here: http://www.searsphotos.com/Default.aspx Then log in with my email: mcmahonkp@yahoo.com and the password is apollo11. Click on My Albums at the top. She looks like such a big girl!