Feathers, Pearls, and Two Stinkers

Remember our fall photo session with our friend, Stephanie? I was in love with the artistic quality of Stephanie's pictures that we had taken in the fall, so I contacted her about doing some new pictures of my girls who just turned five and two. We had big plans to do a "vintage" theme. Stephanie had some vintage suitcases. We gathered some props like feather boas and headbands, long strands of pearls, etc. I even found the perfect vintage inspired dresses at Old Navy. Stephanie pulled some strings and scheduled our photo session at The Propylaeum, a historic home in Indy where our friend Audrey's dad is the caterer. Our photo session was scheduled for this morning. Needless to say, I think we had big expectations for the pictures.

Needless to say, I wasn't taking into account that my girls are ages five and two.

We stayed in one bedroom for all the pictures, which was probably best because Piper ran all over the place and wouldn't sit still for pictures. Avery in the meantime was dramatically posing so overboard that Stephanie had to ask her to not pose so much! Avery would tilt her head and strike a model pose. Poor Stephanie.....I think Avery was trying to run the whole photo shoot. At one point Avery wanted to pose like the Statue of Liberty with one arm up in the air holding an imaginary torch. Yeah.....this is why five year olds are not professional photographers.

Then there was Piper. Every single time Stephanie asked Piper to lay somewhere or sit on a chair, Piper would simply say, "No." The girl cannot say more than 20 words, but she has the word "no" down pat. Piper refused to keep any kind of hairdo in place and ran around the whole time like a typical two year old with her hair wildly hanging in front of her face. She is not into posing for pictures like her big sis. She reminded me so much of her Daddy. Whenever someone asks him to do something that he thinks is weird, he makes the same face that she did.

At one point, Avery and Piper were laying side by side. Stephanie was standing over them to take their picture. Avery said, "Hey Stephanie....did you know I can lick my armpit?" Yep. That's my girl. At that moment my visions of sweet, innocent little girls sitting still for vintage portraits were pretty much shattered. It would take a lot more than some pink feathers and pearls to make my girls to be sweet, calm, and innocent. It would probably take valium.

Then Avery had the audacity to say that she was hungry because I didn't feed her breakfast. She acted like she was so hungry she just couldn't possibly go on with taking pictures. The real story is that I offered her three kinds of cereal, which she declined. She ate a granola bar...at her own choosing! Keep in mind this is after we went to Old Navy yesterday for the dresses when she threw a hissy fit and said to the whole ENTIRE store that I was being a bad mom. If this is five, what will sixteen be? I am so scared!

I really hope these pictures will turn out okay, considering the craziness that went on. Stephanie, my mom, and I were all sweaty and exhausted by the end of it. Stay tuned for actual photos from today. As soon as I get them, I will post some.

In the meantime, call Stephanie for pictures. She is so sweet, patient, and creative.....
and she doesn't mind taking breaks so you can lick your armpits.