Friday with Finn

Here it is...Baby Boy's 3-month picture.  Long awaited...I know, but I confirmed that my Mama (and Pops, too, not to be left out!) received their copy via the United States Postal Service.  It's a little bit pixelized because I had to scan it in and then upload it.  Because I am cheap.

I decide one week and 5 days after Finn officially turned 3 months to call and make an appointment.  After careful consideration, I eschewed JC Pennys Portrait Studio and Wals-Mart in favor of a relatively popular quickie photo studio.  I called on a Tuesday morning and spoke with a seemingly nice girl who's pupils, upon hearing that I'd never been there before and that this was my first baby, immediately morphed into the shape of dollar signs.  She eagerly assured me that they had an opening for me that day and...wow....at the exact time I requested.  I fed the baby and put him down for a nap so that he would be a chipper chicken for his first official portrait.  After a longer than usual nap, I started to panic a little that we were going to be late.  I got the baby dressed, put on the biggest bib I could find so that he wouldn't drool or puke on the new outfit that I purchased specifically for this moment and headed out the door.

We arrived - EARLY (which is nearly unheard of and amazing given that I wasn't quite sure where I was going).  Was asked by photo girl if we wanted the Christmas backdrop.  I said no and she informed me that we'd have to wait for the other studio.  This was not a big deal as we had arrived early.  So we waited.

Fast forward 20 minutes.  We are still waiting, but now we get to wait with a darling little Hispanic boy in a lion costume (so dang cute!) and his very pregnant mother (so dang huge!) who had an appointment after ours.  Little Lion was vacillating between throwing large Lego blocks around the waiting area and squatting down to look at Finn, who at this point was drooling like a broken water main.  And still we waited.  I watched the FOUR KIDS UNDER FOUR monopolize the other non-Christmas studio by running around and absolutely NOT paying a lick of attention to the harried mother who was trying to corral them.  The dad was there...except he wasn't doing anything the help get four kids to smile and look in the same direction at the same time.  In fact, he looked bored and as annoyed as I felt.  Oh, and did I mention that it was noon...lunch time, anyone?  I sure as hek wouldn't pay attention if I were 4 years old and starving and my sister was pulling my hair.  Even the mac-and-cheese bribe that the mom was tossing out wasn't making those kids pay attention.

We finally got into the non-Christmas studio.  Things were going well, Finn was smiling and holding his head up and pretty much working the camera like a pro.  In the middle of changing the backdrop, however, Little Lion decides that maybe he wants to be in the pictures with the cute baby AND COMES INTO THE STUDIO!  And the mother just smiled and chased him around the studio as best as she could.  I think she was just tired and couldn't move very fast because of her ginormous belly and her overly-energetic son.  I can relate, so I tried my best to help her snag her Lion.  We finally cornered him when he crawled under the kid-sized armchair and got stuck.  By that time, Finn was getting a little hungry and kind of fussy, so we finish one final pose and sit down to place the order. 

BALLS!  All pictures were cute.  I mean, really cute.  I mean, Gerber called and wanted to sign him as their new baby model cute.  I knew they were going to be good, but they were really good.  And obviously I am his mother, so I should think he's cute, but the sales girl totally knew it, too.  Even the mom of the 4 kids, who was still there with her hungry kids, knew it.  She told me.  The sales girl was counting her commission in her head.  Luckily, she informed me, I didn't have to make a decision becasue I can purchase ALL OF THEM for the low, low price of $500.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I told her I'd like to pay my bills this month and feed my kids and put some gas in my car and not have my husband become my ex-husband.  I watched the dollar signs fade a little from her pupils and the air around her chill just the slightest bit.  She tried to sell me on 4 poses, then 3 then 2... 

I wanted them all, really I did, but I finally had to strap on my cheap pants and choose just one.  I felt like a terrible mother for not buying all of the pictures of my darling boy to save for posterity (or for his future girlfriends to laugh at).  I understand that this is the feeling that they want you to have so that you can justify eating cereal for the next decade because your grocery budget is now hanging on the wall.  I fake texted Uriah so that he could be the stingy one, and then told the girl that I was so sorry, but "we" were going to go with just one pose, thank you very much.  I endured the disgusted look and the "If that's your final decision, I'm going to have to delete all of these pictures.  Are you sure that's what you want me to do?" final sales pitch.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reminding myself that this is just 3-months and that he'll have 6 month, 9 month and 1 year pictures.  I took my cheap-ass-one-pose package of pictures and my baby, waved to the Little Lion and his mama, and went home to hang my kid up on the wall and make something decidedly non-cereal like for dinner.

Here it is...Baby Boy's 3-month picture.  Long awaited...I know, but I confirmed that my Mama (and Pops, too, not to be left out!) received their copy via the United States Postal Service.  It's a little bit pixelized because I had to scan it in and then upload it.  Because I am cheap.

I decide one week and 5 days after Finn officially turned 3 months to call and make an appointment.  After careful consideration, I eschewed JC Pennys Portrait Studio and Wals-Mart in favor of a relatively popular quickie photo studio.  I called on a Tuesday morning and spoke with a seemingly nice girl who's pupils, upon hearing that I'd never been there before and that this was my first baby, immediately morphed into the shape of dollar signs.  She eagerly assured me that they had an opening for me that day and...wow....at the exact time I requested.  I fed the baby and put him down for a nap so that he would be a chipper chicken for his first official portrait.  After a longer than usual nap, I started to panic a little that we were going to be late.  I got the baby dressed, put on the biggest bib I could find so that he wouldn't drool or puke on the new outfit that I purchased specifically for this moment and headed out the door.

We arrived - EARLY (which is nearly unheard of and amazing given that I wasn't quite sure where I was going).  Was asked by photo girl if we wanted the Christmas backdrop.  I said no and she informed me that we'd have to wait for the other studio.  This was not a big deal as we had arrived early.  So we waited.

Fast forward 20 minutes.  We are still waiting, but now we get to wait with a darling little Hispanic boy in a lion costume (so dang cute!) and his very pregnant mother (so dang huge!) who had an appointment after ours.  Little Lion was vacillating between throwing large Lego blocks around the waiting area and squatting down to look at Finn, who at this point was drooling like a broken water main.  And still we waited.  I watched the FOUR KIDS UNDER FOUR monopolize the other non-Christmas studio by running around and absolutely NOT paying a lick of attention to the harried mother who was trying to corral them.  The dad was there...except he wasn't doing anything the help get four kids to smile and look in the same direction at the same time.  In fact, he looked bored and as annoyed as I felt.  Oh, and did I mention that it was noon...lunch time, anyone?  I sure as hek wouldn't pay attention if I were 4 years old and starving and my sister was pulling my hair.  Even the mac-and-cheese bribe that the mom was tossing out wasn't making those kids pay attention.

We finally got into the non-Christmas studio.  Things were going well, Finn was smiling and holding his head up and pretty much working the camera like a pro.  In the middle of changing the backdrop, however, Little Lion decides that maybe he wants to be in the pictures with the cute baby AND COMES INTO THE STUDIO!  And the mother just smiled and chased him around the studio as best as she could.  I think she was just tired and couldn't move very fast because of her ginormous belly and her overly-energetic son.  I can relate, so I tried my best to help her snag her Lion.  We finally cornered him when he crawled under the kid-sized armchair and got stuck.  By that time, Finn was getting a little hungry and kind of fussy, so we finish one final pose and sit down to place the order. 

BALLS!  All pictures were cute.  I mean, really cute.  I mean, Gerber called and wanted to sign him as their new baby model cute.  I knew they were going to be good, but they were really good.  And obviously I am his mother, so I should think he's cute, but the sales girl totally knew it, too.  Even the mom of the 4 kids, who was still there with her hungry kids, knew it.  She told me.  The sales girl was counting her commission in her head.  Luckily, she informed me, I didn't have to make a decision becasue I can purchase ALL OF THEM for the low, low price of $500.

After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I told her I'd like to pay my bills this month and feed my kids and put some gas in my car and not have my husband become my ex-husband.  I watched the dollar signs fade a little from her pupils and the air around her chill just the slightest bit.  She tried to sell me on 4 poses, then 3 then 2... 

I wanted them all, really I did, but I finally had to strap on my cheap pants and choose just one.  I felt like a terrible mother for not buying all of the pictures of my darling boy to save for posterity (or for his future girlfriends to laugh at).  I understand that this is the feeling that they want you to have so that you can justify eating cereal for the next decade because your grocery budget is now hanging on the wall.  I fake texted Uriah so that he could be the stingy one, and then told the girl that I was so sorry, but "we" were going to go with just one pose, thank you very much.  I endured the disgusted look and the "If that's your final decision, I'm going to have to delete all of these pictures.  Are you sure that's what you want me to do?" final sales pitch.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reminding myself that this is just 3-months and that he'll have 6 month, 9 month and 1 year pictures.  I took my cheap-ass-one-pose package of pictures and my baby, waved to the Little Lion and his mama, and went home to hang my kid up on the wall and make something decidedly non-cereal like for dinner.