Hadley's Two-Year-Old Shoot

I was a little behind on getting Hadley's two-year-old milestone pictures done this time around too; however, 2-3 months after her birthday we finally got the job done. For some reason I completely forgot to get those shots up until now, but better late than never, right?

While Reid's nine month session was a breeze, we did not have such a pleasant experience with Hadley-girl's. Though I prefer Picture People usually, we have gotten some good photos done of Caleb at JCPennys in the past as well, so I opted to go there since they had the best coupon at the time. That may have been a mistake on my part though. Hadley was in a cranky mood that morning because her nap had been cut short I think, and the photographers there just aren't as good at getting the kids to relax, have fun, and get natural expressions. They also have a specific red light spot where the kids have to stay put, which means they miss a lot of good shots just because little ones get wiggly. Here's how we started out!

Despite the scowl, the photographer went ahead and took pics anyway, happy to get some pouty faces because she said they were classic for a two-year-old. She claimed she actually tried to get some like this of her son at that age. 

Well, this Mommy didn't want sour expressions of her little one, especially when they weren't characteristic of what a happy, bubbly personality my toddler really has. After a lot of work by her mother, Hadley finally somewhat cooperated though  - even a few smiles slipped out on occasion between the fusses. Juggling Reid, you have no idea how much effort this took, and I still thought a lot of the pics didn't really look like "her," but we ended up with a FEW pretty good shots in the mix after all.

After putting that lemon-slice-hairbow back in place a dozen times or so as it slid out of her silky hair over and over, we finally switched to a new outfit and added a sock monkey to the scene which helped some.

The studio always suggests bringing a special "from home" prop that's representative of your child. Since Hadley is such a blankie girl, I hoped to get some good ones of her with one of her "lovies" as part of the session too. However, it didn't work out so well because she was REALLY done at that point and to be honest so were we....Guess I'll just have to catch it on my own Nikon later, but that's okay since I know they'll be plenty of natural opportunities. :)

While I've been a little down on Penny's in this post, one thing they do have over the Picture People are their enhancements. Some of them turned out really cute this time.

The bottom line is that in the end it was worth it for these precious keepsakes (though it didn't seem like the time). The more I look at her sweet little face in some of these pictures, the more satisfied and happier I am that I put out the effort.

(Side Note: Not long after Caleb's fourth birthday I had pictures taken of him too, but I don't have the rights to those to share online sadly. Guess I'll just have to save them for his scrapbook and enjoy the framed prints once I get them all on up on the wall - hopefully before it's time for more photos!)