School Pictures ~ Kindergarten

Anna Claire and Mallory's school pictures came in this week, and I'd say the expressions on their faces pretty much sum up how they each felt about kindergarten those first few weeks...

One day, I know we will look pack on this picture of Anna Claire and laugh {actually, we're kinda laughing now}. She's thinking, I'm not gonna smile and you can't make me. Sweet thing had a hard time adjusting those first few weeks, but now the tears are all dried up and she's doing great.

Mallory, on the other hand, walked through the doors of KA and never looked back.

Still can't believe they are in kindergarten ~ they are reading, writing, adding,...and recovering from their first case of pink eye. Kindergarten ROCKS!

Easy as 1 ~ 2 ~ 3

Yay! I got some embroidery and sewing done last week in time for Anna Claire and Mallory's spring school pictures. For the first time I embroidered a collared blouse...I had NO idea what I was doing, but it turned out to be as easy as 1) hooping the collar {and stabilizer} only...

2) stitching the letters...

 

3) voila! two precious blouses for the girls to wear under their new spring jumpers!

 

My new favorite picture of Anna Claire... 

I love this chevron stripe; it reminds me of an Easter egg. It's happi by Dena Fishbein, and I used my favorite Bonnie Blue Abigail lined jumper pattern...also easy as 1~2~3!

 

Can't wait to get the girls' school pictures back. I hope they turned out cute! 

Smile for the Camera!

School Pictures 2012...

Point and Shoot

Just can't wait to see these pictures. Anna Claire, Mallory, Connor, and Dylan did great though the girls got a little tired near the end. 400+ pictures ~ there has to be a few keepers!

School Picture Proofs

I just scanned these and in doing so realized I missed the deadline for ordering ~ today. Oops! I think I'll try to call the photographers tomorrow. These are too cute {and too funny} not to have as keepsakes!

Christmas Pictures

I say it every time: I am not going back to Portrait Innovations. Even though we do always get some good shots of the girls, it's just so stressful - mostly for me. The drive is not fun, the photographers aren't always good with babies, and I think I'm over the whole studio portrait "style." I'd love some more artistic photographs next time.

Yesterday we went to have Anna Claire and Mallory's picture taken for our Christmas cards. The girls were just not in the mood to sit still and smile. And who can really blame them? They are 18 months old (today!) and constantly on the go. They weren't incredibly fussy or anything - just not exactly cooperative. Mallory's pigtails were a mess, and we're finally able to get Anna Claire to keep a bow in her hair, but I forgot to put the grippy tape on the bow she is wearing in the picture, so it was constantly sliding around her head.

My goal was to get just one good shot of both of them together and smiling that we could use on our Christmas card. Well...

These are just a few of the (unedited) pictures. Shots of the girls individually turned out much better than those of them together, so we may go that way again this year with the Christmas cards. Maybe I'm just too picky looking for the perfect picture. My girls are beautiful in all these photos!

When the time rolls around to have their two-year-old pictures taken, someone please talk me out of going to Portrait Innovations.

Picture Day

For a couple of months now, I have been trying to have the girls' "one-year-old" portraits taken. I really wanted him to take the pictures, but it's not quite in the budget right now, and historically the girls have been a bit temperamental during photo shoots. I couldn't bear to fork out big bucks and then not have the pictures turn out (maybe we'll try when they're a bit older), so back to Portrait Innovations we went.

Of course, Anna Claire woke up this morning with a huge mosquito bite on her forehead. I doctored it all day long to no avail. In addition, she only took a fifteen minute nap. I think it shows in the pictures (the bite and the crankiness), but it always amazes me that we can still come away with some really good poses.

These are a few of the [unedited] best...
The girls had had enough by the time we switched outfits, but we still got a few good ones... And one more just for fun...

Sneak Peek

Here are a few of the girls' pictures from this afternoon (unedited as I am sure you can tell - my arm is in the second picture).

We got some great shots of both Anna Claire and Mallory. Both girls were all smiles and in such good moods for the entire photo shoot. I am so proud of them.

Nevertheless, despite all our practice today, we couldn't get them to smile at the same time in the same picture as I had so hoped. That's okay; I'm not sure they could get any cuter...

Say, "Cheese!"

Tomorrow we are taking the girls to have their six month/Christmas pictures taken. Cross your fingers that it goes better than our first portrait session three months ago. I can't help but believe things will go more smoothly - the girls are older and they smile at the drop of a hat these days. Wish us luck!

Check back in tomorrow night to get a look at the pictures.

September Favorites, Part Three

I won't even try to recount the events of the girls' first portrait session. Let's just say there was a great deal of crying and we're lucky to have the beautiful pictures below. Believe it or not, we have 73 more pictures on disk with no tears. I never would have thought with how upset they were.

September Favorites, Part 2

Three Months Old!