Just take the picture already!

Today was picture day. I've never liked picture day. There's way too much pressure involved.

Will I have a good hair day? Will I be in a good mood (and hence have a genuine smile)? Will my outfit look good on camera?

Let's just answer all those questions about today... no, no and no!

At six p.m. this evening, David, Noah and I had an appointment with Sears Photo in Heath. We used this shop for Noah's six-month pictures, and they turned out great. So it seemed like a logical choice for Noah's 1-year portrait and our very first official photo as a family.

It was not meant to be.

David had a horrific day at work. Noah had a meltdown during his bath at the babysitter's house (never had one there before... stranger danger!) and never quite recovered his usual bubbly personality. My hair, which was cute at 8 a.m., didn't last until 6. And my ensemble, which I loved at 2 p.m., did not look so hot on the picture proofs.

The photographer was no help at all. She kept waving a piece of cardboard at Noah, hoping that the air blowing in his face would entertain him...perhaps when he was 3 months old, not at 12. Noah was not in the mood to sit still. He wanted to walk, walk walk.

So she just kept dragging out the picture sessions. Me? I wanted her to just take the picture, smiles be damned!

Between the tears (Noah), the sighs (me) and the general agitation (David), we still managed to take some decent shots. And the ones of little man, big smile or slight, are precious.

But oh how frustrating! I am in no hurry to repeat that process anytime soon.

I was just able to view them online, and despite my better judgment, I'm posting them all here. For those of you not familiar with Noah, it is rare that he not have a gigantic smile spread across his face... a shame, really that we couldn't capture that last night.

And, what's in his hand, you ask? Daddy's cell phone. As a last resort, we pulled it out, because we knew it would keep him from crying (He was getting really frustrated waiting for the woman to take the picture. I don't know what was taking her so long to get set up.). So, all his 1-year-old pictures have a cell phone in them, but I'm okay with that. After all, it IS his favorite toy.

This one is probably my favorite of Noah. It looks great in the bronze overlay we ordered it in.



He stayed still about 30 seconds for this shot. A record! And yes, there's the phone.



We didn't order any sheets of this pose. No smile for my smiley guy.



Seriously, what's with my hair?! This is the family shot David likes. YUCK, I say. Although, I do love the homage to our dear Buckeyes.



This one's pretty cute. He's No. 1 in our book!



I think this is Noah's favorite shot. He was having a ball on Dad's back. I've got my stupid head tilt going again. Why wouldn't the photographer correct that???



Ugh. Bad hair (me, obviously). David's smirk/smiling. Noah still looks cute!



This, one, FINALLY, is the only picture of me I liked. Plus, David's smiling, Noah's at least grinning. We're having this one printed.