Well, I took the girls to Sears today for portraits. Mind you, outside of Charlotte's school pictures from a month or two ago, she has never had a professional picture taken. Ever. In her 3 1/2 year existence.
After years of totally not comprehending why/how people can spend a ton of money regularly on photo shoots, I finally have the insight. Ellie was cranky and not so much into smiling, and Char was kind of a stinker, but there were about 10 or so really cute shots. I had a horrible time deciding which ones to get, especially since in my head I was ONLY going to get a couple of 5x7s to use for Christmas gifts. I was able to keep it under control, and kept reminding myself that we don't even have the wall space for all of the pictures, and especially with Ellie changing so much every month (week, day!) not to go too nuts with ordering everything. So I didn't. But I get it now, so my apologies to those I once perhaps scoffed at for the portrait sessions. I won't give up my candid shots, but man those professional ones were good!
We also went to see Santa, where once again my cheapness err...frugality?...kicked in. Gone are the days of a $5 Polaroid shot in a cheap card that you stick on the fridge. The cheapest you could get pictures with Santa was $16. Come on. Seriously? I am super cheap. I realize this. But I just thought that is such a rip off for a picture with Santa. So thankfully Charlotte was pictured out and when I asked her if she wanted a picture with Santa to bring home, she declined. I thought they wouldn't let us in, but they did.
Char wouldn't sit on his lap, stood about 2 feet away, and asked for her Diego Center and a Piglet. Santa said, "That's it? Nothing else?" and she said that's it. Then he asked if she wanted to talk about anything else, she thought about it and declined that too. And then, refusing to hug him, she extended her hand for a hearty handshake. Hilarious!
Here's the link (I think) to the Sears pictures. Enjoy!
https://www.searsphotos.com/?shareid=S205939281l2637PF8HEU