Time Flies...

A couple of weeks ago, I ventured over to one of my FAVORITE children's stores while Caden was at school and LOW AND BEHOLD... there was a DEAL to be had. If I spent a certain amount of money in the store (which is NEVER hard to do), I received a FREE photo sitting with a professional photographer and a FREE 8X10 to go along with it!

SOLD!

We have never taken Caden to a REAL, fancy schmancy studio professional photographer... SO I was PUMPED about this opportunity and knew I couldn't pass it up!!

So about three weeks ago, on one of the WORST public outings Caden and I have EVER had together, we went in for his photo shoot! He was in MELTDOWN mode from the moment we walked in the door until we walked back out. It was BAD!! I drove home in a mix of emotions... part of me was sad and crying and the other part of me was angry and FUMING! Mostly, I was embarrassed. So I wasn't too sure how his pictures would turn out, but it was a free sitting so what did I really lose, other than my sanity?! Thankfully, not a pricey SITTING fee! :) So by the next day I was able to laugh it off and say... "small stuff... just small stuff!" Just pictures... there will be more...

And that brings us to today... my viewing of Caden's portraits! I had been given the price list at the photo shoot and had been SET in my mind and in my SOUL on what I was planning to order so as NOT to spend an extravagant amount of money on photos! And besides... I really wasn't expecting TOO much from these... if they were terrible I thought I could redo the shoot on my own and they'd be fine...

BUT let me tell y'all a little secret! The REASON people pay HUNDREDS of dollars for these professional photo shoots/photographers is because they are GOOD/GREAT/WONDERFUL at what they do. They can take a child in FULL on meltdown mode and make him look like an angel! And an angel is indeed what we have captured on film!!

From the moment I sat down in the proofing chair and she pulled up my file I was overwhelmed with happiness... at first glance the tears started coming. I was blown away. THEN as if to add insult to injury, she put on a SUPER SAPPY song about a child growing up and us wanting to remember these days as they are while we watched his slideshow... SHE HAD ME AT HELLO!!! I was SOBBING... big fat, tears... SNOTTING, wiping, patting, blotting... I was wearing my sucker sticker and was PROUD OF IT!! My boy was beautiful!!

I slapped her leg and said, "How dare you do this to a pregnant woman?!!" I mean I would have cried regardless, but OH MY GOODNESS... it was just terrible and WONDERFUL all at the same time! And so... I walked out of there with my Mother's Day present... and maybe a little bit of my birthday present too!

AND I am the proud owner of the following SIX digital files of a moment captured in time! My little man... the sweestest boy in the whole world!! The entire experience was ironic really... the worst he's ever acted gave me some of the BEST keepsakes and memories I'll treasure for a LIFETIME!

I can't believe that HE is mine...

I hope you enjoy these as much as I am... sans tears, of course! :)