The Schwartz's vs Picture Stress

Tomorrow is our last round of pictures with Shannon.  And I'd love to say that I'm excited about these pictures, but I'm not.  Not that I don't love Shannon.  I do!  She is amazing and I would highly recommend her to anyone in the Nashville area.  We bought her first moments package and I don't regret it one bit!  I love every single session we've done with her and I think she's done a great job catching Sarah's milestone throughout the year.  But I'm photo-fun-ed-out.  Getting ready for these pictures is really stressful for me!  I have to pick the family outfits (cause Chris doesn't care what we wear) and I'm HORRIBLE at putting together outfits.  I live in two things: workout tshirts and shorts in the morning pre-gym, and a tshirts and jeans in the afternoon post-gym.  When I have to buy nice outfits, I seriously shop off the mannequin.  I look at a plastic dummy and say, where's all the stuff for that to a sales lady.  I'm pretty pathetic.  So dressing myself for pictures for posterity sake AND my daughter--gag me!  And please, don't get me started on shoes and accessories.  The only piece of jewelry I wear regularly is my wedding set and anniversary band, and little diamond studs in my ears so my holes don't close for the umptenth time.  And well, shoes, it's very sad when your husband owns more shoes then you.  I have about 3 pairs of sneakers (running, gym, and everyday) and 2 pairs of Teva flip flops, and 2 pairs of "church shoes" which is actually the same shoe I just bought it in both brown and black.  

ANYWAY, I usually get outfits together months in advance.  And I try to think of something cute and special for Sarah to wear to make her pop.  And while many people make fun of it, we do the matchy-matchy color for family group shots because, well, see above for my inability to put together outfits.  So it's easier for me just to say what color we are going to wear then try to get "coordinating" colors and outfits put together.  But this time, it's less than 19 hours from picture time and I haven't got a clue what everyone is wearing.  I don't even have Sarah's hair bows picked out yet!  I think I've been a little bummed about these pictures because we were supposed to save the last shoot for when Sarah is standing and walking on her own and the little stinker just flat out refuses to do so.  She can stand and walk on her own.  She's done it many times before.  But recently she just throws herself on the ground crying when I try to let go so she can practice.  So I'm deathly afraid of an photo shoot tantrum.  (Like when she basically cried through her whole 4 month old shoot.)  Though I must admit, Shannon does such a good job, you can't tell that's what she did.  

So, to try to get myself pumped up for pictures.  (Wahoo.) I thought I'd show you some of my favorites from the past.  Prepare for picture overload.  But I kept them small since there are so many.

Sarah's Newborn pictures

This is our first family group shot.  Sarah's only 10 days old and her stupid nasty umbilical stump hadn't fallen off yet, so I begged Shannon to try to keep it out of the picture.  Obviously the family color was pink...you know...because we had a girl.

I love how precious and tiny she looks sleeping across our arms.

Stole this idea from a friend.  Her cute little toes with our rings.

That flower bow doesn't look nearly so big on her now.  She wears it frequently.

Sarah's 4 month pictures (Milestone: tummy time)

This is probably my FAVORITE family picture.  I just love Sarah's smile.  And we went with green for the family color scheme since it was spring.  The next day was actually my first mother's day.

I think I would have liked this picture more if Chris's eyes and top of the head hadn't been cut off.  It's a really darling picture of Sarah.  And see how she's reaching for me.  That was the beginning of the clinging throughout this photo shoot.

I love this picture.  I had it blown up and put in our bathroom.  I like it because it reminds me of when her hair use to stand up on its own before it got long enough to lay flat.  It was adorable.

So the diaper cover is awesome.  I saw some on etsy and they were over priced.  I overestimated my ability to be crafty so I purchased all the stuff and quickly was overwhelmed and begged my friend D. Burns to "help me" make it, which in the end turned into me talking her into making it for me.  But it's perfect and I love it.  And if we ever have another girl I'll probably beg her to make me another one with different flowers so I can hang that picture up to the one of Sarah.

This is one of the only pictures Shannon snapped that showed how irritated Sarah was.  I like it because it's the early stages of her attitude.  

I don't know, this one just seems classic.

Sarah's 8 Month Pictures (Milestone: crawling and pulling up to stand)

She was thrilled over these blocks.  And Shannon had to snap quick because Sarah knocked them over pretty quickly.  (And immediately started chewing on them.)

This one I had blown up to 20x30 (the size of a poster) at Costco for only $9.  Then I spray glued it to foam poster board from Wal-mart ($3) making an awesome mantle picture at a fraction of the cost for a sturdy board print and it covers all the cables and chords up there.  It makes me happy.  Of course I never noticed the precarious placement of my hand until I saw this thing in poster size.  Now I'm looking forward to replacing it.

This was from a series of her crawling along the sidewalk towards Shannon.  I just like how blue her eyes are.

Not a big fan of my giant thighs.  But I think this picture is sweet because she couldn't stand up on her own, yet she's happy just to be leaning against me.  You know, like she trusts me.  Little does she know that now if she leans against me I step away trying to get her to stand on her own.  I'm awesome.

I wish I could zoom in on just their faces.  They are making the same face.  It's ADORABLE.  

We went through a phase where if I lay on the ground she'd immediately crawl on top of me.  I thought it was cute.  She's grown out of that phase so I'm glad I have this picture.

Cheesing it up.  My only complaint about this picture is Daddy put the hand on and it folded the brim up like a dork.  Now she looks nerdy instead of being able to tell that her hat looks like a watermelon.

This is her "huh?" face when you call her name.

Christmas Mini Session (this wasn't apart of the first moments package we bought, I just wanted some pictures to send out in our awesome Christmas cards.)

I've realized I'm always making a dumb face in pictures because I'm trying to get Sarah to laugh.  You can also tell she's clinging to me for dear life, because this was another one of those sessions where she cried the whole time.

This was the first time we ever swung her between us.  She laughed hysterically.  That's not always the case now.  Sometimes it makes her scream and cry.  Never know till you do it which mood she's in though.  

Ok, so I like this one because she's just tutu cute!  Ha, bad pun.

So wish us luck tomorrow getting Sarah to NOT cry the entire time.  I'm going to try to talk her Auntie Cami into coming.  It seems that when Cameron is there we have a good session and we she isn't Sarah cries a lot.  (Cam was there for Newborn and 8 month and missed the other 2).  However, our session is at 9 am and I don't think Cam knows there is a 9 am on Saturday.  And really, let's hope the little stinker shows off her standing and walking skills, because I'm tried of telling people and myself that she really can do it.  

And then, really, wish us luck if we ever have another kid since Shannon Payne Photography has moved to Nashville.  Fun fact, I interviewed more photographers than pediatrician for Sarah.  Yes, you read that right, but in my defense I really liked the first pediatrician obviously because that's who we chose.  Whereas it took me 5 tries before I found Shannon.  In fact, I think I'm done having kids because I don't want to go through the stress of trying to find another photographer.

Oh and just in case someone is thinking it, no this post is not an advertisement for Shannon.  She didn't ask me to do it and I'm getting NO compensation.  But seriously, if you live in the Nashville area and need family pictures...here's her website.  www.shannonpaynephotography.com  And really, if you know of a good, affordable, family photographer in the Memphis area, I'll be needing that name when it's time to do Sarah's 2 year old birthday pictures or else we're going to Sears.