illness delayed milestone portraits

i had always planned to have maddux' two-year and manning's six-month pictures at the same time since they were so close together. but with the back to back to back illnesses their little noses have been so red that i haven't been able to do it. everyone seems to be doing well now so two days ago i scheduled pictures. i always struggle with what time is the 'safest'. (is there ever really a 'safe' time to get everyone to behave and smile?) i try to figure out the perfect time of day where no one will be tired or hungry. the most kids we have had, the harder this has gotten to figure out. so i went with 5pm. madelyn would be home, everyone would have been fed and dinner isn't until 6pm so they shouldn't be starving.

this afternoon i was struggling with what they should wear. we have their milestone pictures hanging in the dining room. madelyn and mason are wearing navy in theirs so i wanted to stay with the same colors but then it occurred to me that i am going to have the same trouble come june when everyone gets their birthday pictures because maddux will be in navy. whatever. we like blue, our walls are grey, the navy looks nice. i did add in some green to add a little more color. (yes, these are the sort of thoughts i have - always planning.)

the photographer called yesterday to ask what i wanted and plan out the best order to get the kids to pose (because i would have to bring all four, i thought i would get a picture of all four for matt's office - he only has pictures of madelyn hanging up!) the photographer asked if i was going to have someone to help me. when i said, no, she strongly suggested that i try to get someone to come and help me. i told her that we would be fine and then prayed that the kids wouldn't try to make me a liar.

we barely got there in time and i wasn't quite happy with maddux' hair (we are trying to let it grow long enough to have curls again) but we made it and the kids did great! when we were ready to leave the photographer was complimenting them in a sort of disbelief. she had commented several times during the session that they listened so well and were so well behaved.

here are a few of my favorites from the session:

manning did not like that he couldn't see me when he first got started.

right before we left the house (and i mean "right before" like the kids were in the car and i dug maddux' out of the hamper and used a wipe to get some yogurt off), i remembered that the boys all had superman outfits. what are the chances this will happen again? and i thought it would make for a cute boy picture in matt's office. we did this one last and manning was d.o.n.e. he was fussy and kept yawning.

so happy with the shots we got. it was a fairly easy session for us (read: i wasn't sweating bullets by the end). now who else thinks maddux' hair looks like a woman from the 80s? matt and i both had the same thoughts about it. poor kid. i really did try to fix it. i didn't want to slick it down because that isn't maddux. i regretted wetting madelyn's hair down for one of her infant pictures because it just didn't look like her. plus, i don't go for 'perfect' - i go for a nice version of their everyday. sorry, manning, mommy tried. love.