"...But they wouldn't let us make the metal sign..."
We had our pictures professionally taken today. This is noteworthy because it’s our second car trip outside the house as a complete family. The first trip was on Christmas night to look at lights. Otherwise we’ve spent our lives going out in shifts, one parent plus Abbie, or huddled in the house trying to prevent the world’s germs from afflicting the twins and keeping the twins from afflicting the world.
Our appointment was at noon. The optimal time for pictures would be 10:30am, right after the twins eat so they’re at their drowsy best, and early enough that the world’s irritation haven’t yet crushed Abbie into a whining ball of frustration in desperate need of a nap. Ellie goes back to work in less than a week though, and we don’t have the luxury of waiting for optimal.
Leaving the house with all of our children simultaneously is an ordeal, especially when we’re trying to make everybody look picture worthy. We had a lot to do to prepare and should have started early, like Monday night; we needed to dress the twins, dress Abbie, console Abbie after hurting her feelings by making her change outfits in the middle of the day, pack alternate outfits, change the twins after they spit up on their first outfits, find the shoe that Abbie removed somewhere in the house, change the twins again after a diaper leaked, put Abbie’s coat on, warmly pack the twins in their car seats, change Abbie’s poopy diaper, and maybe if we have time make ourselves look presentable.
We drove to our nearest mall department store-based photography studio and arrived precisely at noon, a miracle on par with turning water to wine or thwarting an onsides kickoff recovery by a phantom offsides call. The session began smoothly as Ellie prepared the twins and I kept Abbie occupied with toys in the waiting area. The first few photos with just the kids also went smoothly as the photographer managed to take their picture in the split second when Abbie was smiling and the twins were both gasping for air between wails. Things grew a little rockier when we tried to just take a picture of Ellie and I. The twins were locked in their car seats and weren’t a problem as long as you don’t consider them screaming the whole time a problem. We had no way to strap Abbie down though, and she took advantage of our immobility by trying to shop for televisions while we sat. Eventually I remembered the milk I brought, and she happily sucked away on her sippy cup as the photographer quickly snapped some shots.
With all pictures taken, all we had to do was decided which poses and which sizes of pictures we wanted, and we could take our grumpy children home. This being a mall department store-based photography studio though, we had to sit through their sales pitch of upgrading our pictures with little luxuries like a sepia effect or a rush delivery so we get our pictures before the twins start school. You might think that wailing twin newborns and a toddler who insists on playing with expensive photography equipment would compel the photographer to skip or at least hurry through the upgrade sales pitch, but you’d be wrong.
With all poses ordered, we could finally leave. The twins ceased screaming and fell asleep after a few minutes in the car. The experience even drained Abbie as she fell asleep in her high chair after lunch. With everyone asleep, it was enough to make me forget how much trouble they were to get out of the house. Then the twins woke up hungry.
Our appointment was at noon. The optimal time for pictures would be 10:30am, right after the twins eat so they’re at their drowsy best, and early enough that the world’s irritation haven’t yet crushed Abbie into a whining ball of frustration in desperate need of a nap. Ellie goes back to work in less than a week though, and we don’t have the luxury of waiting for optimal.
Leaving the house with all of our children simultaneously is an ordeal, especially when we’re trying to make everybody look picture worthy. We had a lot to do to prepare and should have started early, like Monday night; we needed to dress the twins, dress Abbie, console Abbie after hurting her feelings by making her change outfits in the middle of the day, pack alternate outfits, change the twins after they spit up on their first outfits, find the shoe that Abbie removed somewhere in the house, change the twins again after a diaper leaked, put Abbie’s coat on, warmly pack the twins in their car seats, change Abbie’s poopy diaper, and maybe if we have time make ourselves look presentable.
We drove to our nearest mall department store-based photography studio and arrived precisely at noon, a miracle on par with turning water to wine or thwarting an onsides kickoff recovery by a phantom offsides call. The session began smoothly as Ellie prepared the twins and I kept Abbie occupied with toys in the waiting area. The first few photos with just the kids also went smoothly as the photographer managed to take their picture in the split second when Abbie was smiling and the twins were both gasping for air between wails. Things grew a little rockier when we tried to just take a picture of Ellie and I. The twins were locked in their car seats and weren’t a problem as long as you don’t consider them screaming the whole time a problem. We had no way to strap Abbie down though, and she took advantage of our immobility by trying to shop for televisions while we sat. Eventually I remembered the milk I brought, and she happily sucked away on her sippy cup as the photographer quickly snapped some shots.
With all pictures taken, all we had to do was decided which poses and which sizes of pictures we wanted, and we could take our grumpy children home. This being a mall department store-based photography studio though, we had to sit through their sales pitch of upgrading our pictures with little luxuries like a sepia effect or a rush delivery so we get our pictures before the twins start school. You might think that wailing twin newborns and a toddler who insists on playing with expensive photography equipment would compel the photographer to skip or at least hurry through the upgrade sales pitch, but you’d be wrong.
With all poses ordered, we could finally leave. The twins ceased screaming and fell asleep after a few minutes in the car. The experience even drained Abbie as she fell asleep in her high chair after lunch. With everyone asleep, it was enough to make me forget how much trouble they were to get out of the house. Then the twins woke up hungry.
posted by Matt at
10:09 PM
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