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The Joys of Family Pictures!

I never realized the effort that goes into taking a family picture until I had a family of my own. Our first experience was with Ben as a newborn. We took him to JCPenny's when he was just a few months old. I have to say it was a very stressful experience. It was our luck to get a photographer that was all Gothic...black clothes...black make-up...black hair! Ben screamed the entire time and I didn't even blame him. I was a little scared myself. We ended up buying one picture, not because we liked it, but because we felt obligated to do so. After a few months of staying far away we finally ventured back to get pictures taken. We found a new studio called Portrait Innovations. Our experience was much better this time around. We struggled to narrow down our huge selection of quality pictures. I wanted them all. We went through a great phase with Ben until he hit that cheesy smile phase. We were back to working up a sweat to make him smile. Yesterday Ben did great, but I also realized why I haven't taken Kate to get pictures on very many occasions. She has a mind of her own. She does not want to be told what to do. Where does this come from? She is Ben's polar opposite. I was stressed before we even started the pictures. She would not let me french braid her hair. She ripped off her cute little bracelet in one tug less than a minute after I put it on (breaking it in the process). She refused to sit or stand by our family. She would not hold Ben's hand. But boy did she think she was funny. She knew she was pulling my strings. She wasn't in a bad mood at all...she was just being Kate. Full of energy...Full of life...And never ending. And so I suppose that's what is most important to capture. The real Kate. Our photographer loaded some of our shots to her blog. I am excited for the forthcoming collection. I was amazed at what she did capture of the kids, especially Kate. How did my mom ever do it? 9 kids! I ask myself this question everyday.

My daddy is a smoke doctor!

This entry is soley for me. Years down the road I want to remember the mind of my 4 year old. One afternoon Ben and I were having a pleasant little conversation. Ben informed me that he knew lots of doctors and he really does. He began naming them all, while I added what kind of doctor each one was if he didn't already know. He started with Uncle Rob...he's a baby doctor. Then on to Gavin and Carsons' daddy...he's Kate's ear doctor. Uncle Mike and Yadon's daddy are both teeth doctors....Dyson and Meilani's daddys' are both bone doctors....Madeleine's daddy is a cancer doctor....Jennifer Kate's daddy and Boo are x-ray doctors....Jason and Nicoles' daddy and Sammy and Jaxons' daddy are both eye doctors....And then he came to David. I asked him what kind of doctor daddy was and he said, "Mom you know...He's a smoke doctor!" I was completely puzzled at first and asked him why he thought that. He elaborated and started talking about our visits to see Daddy outside of OU. I put two and two together and realized that everytime we have visited David or dropped something off to him we have seen patients outside of the hospital all gowned up, IV poles and all, smoking. What 4 year old who knows smoking is bad for you wouldn't think that is why they had to go to the hospital? And that must be why his daddy always has to go there....to help them get better. And I thought OU was suppose to be a "smoke free" campus! We laughed and thought this idea would eventually go away. But, this past week I took Aunt Di to the ER for some severe abdominal pain. After picking Ben up from preschool I told him we were headed to the hospital to help Aunt Di. It took quite a bit of convincing to get him out of the car. He didn't want to go in there...."there would be too much smoking and Heavenly Father doesn't want us to smoke!" I promised him no one would be smoking inside and he eventually ventured out of the car. Later that night, while I was fixing dinner, he came into the kitchen and with a very worried look on his face said, "Mom, why did Aunt Di have a smoke?" It was difficult to keep a straight face. Of course in his mind that is why she must have had to go to the hospital. David is on call tonight and in Ben's bedtime prayer he said, "Heavenly Father, thank you for today. Please help my daddy to help everyone that smokes get better! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I think David will always remain a "smoke doctor," but at least Ben will never take up smoking!