Jake was a wreck

at the photo shoot today. An absolute wreck. Some may ask themselves "I mean really... c'mon, is she surprised? The poor kid is always a wreck when they head out... doesn't she expect it by now?" and the sad truth folks is: yes I expect it yet somehow I am always sadly disappointed when it happens!
The kids woke up at 7:30 and the husband was kind enough to get up with them so mommy could get in one more hour of sleep in peace! Whata' peach that man is. Geez, I tell ya. Anyway, by 8:30 it was a mad dash to get everyone dressed and clean, to leave the house by 9:30.

Here's my mental checklist:

diapees & wipees
Cheerios & stars
sippy & bottle
kashi bar, string cheese, hot tea, water bottle (for me)
Change of outfits for kiddies
comb & spray bottle for the toddlers unruly hair
Buzzy & Mickey
Wallet & phones
Get kids in car and make sure socks, shoes, & hairbow are still in tact...
whewwwww.

We got there right at 10 and were about to make our way into the room... dun dun dun... I forgot the spray bottle!! The toddlers hair was a disaster and I needed water to comb it down. "sorry ma'am, we don't have a restroom in here. You'll have to go next door to Sears and use theirs." Now let me just tell you: I'm vain, but not that vain. I know where that restroom is in Sears and it's in the VERY back. Like, as far back as you can go. So I think "nah... forget it". Then Jake turns around and I see the back of his hair, which looks like a q-tip gone bad. "Let's go son" and off we went on a mad dash through Sears. You swear some of those shoppers looked at me like we had loot in our pockets!! So we dashed to the back, fixed Jake's hair, and ran back up to Picture People. Everything may have been fine by this point, except Mommy, in jeans, stressed, and running, equals a lot of sweat... So now in all of the pictures I have a majorly sweaty upper lip. Great. I'm sure online, you might not be able to tell, but oh in person... sure can.
So the special was a free 8x10 or 10x13 (I chose the 8x10 of our family for our hallway) and I got it framed with matting, and 20% off the entire purchase. I got a 5x7 sheet of Gilbert and I, and two 4x6 sheets: one of the family for the grandmas and one of Ava and I. I wasn't crazy about that one but everyone else seemed to love it. So, it can go in our hallway or in her room. So with the discount and 2 stamps on my Portrait Club card ($10 off and one free sheet), I walked out paying $52 bucks!! Not bad my friends, not bad. One thing I like about the Picture People is that if you buy the frame with the matting, you literally can just walk in your house and put it up. If you are a procrastinator, like I am, it's just so much easier! I would say that the perks are: you get all of your pictures in 15 minutes, they constantly have specials & coupons, you get every shot sent to your e-mail within 12 hours, they keep all of your pictures on file for a year, and you have the option of taking the pictures in a room as opposed to in front of everyone! (For shy kids, that's fabulous!!) The cons might be that you can't buy the rights to your pictures (by purchasing a CD) You have to buy sheets of whatever pictures you want if you don't want it to say Zazzle across it. Now, I don't know about you, but I plan on naming our next child Rebecca Zazzle Rubalcaba so I can just print out all of her pictures right off of the website!! Hey, times are tough. Whatever saves money right?

(*Disclaimer* No I'm not pregnant. Don't email me.)

So I would say that overall, the pictures were decent. Not fantastic, but decent. That, however, is due to the fact that my kids are homebodies and Jake doesn't like strangers. Especially when they make ridiculous sounds at him or tickle him in an attempt to get him to smile. Ava on the other hand, was perfect. Oh my little darling. She is an attention wh*re for sure. God love her.

I should have the pictures up shortly. I usually get them by around 9.

Have a great night!! :)
xoxo