Drama with a capital "D"

Emerson has not had her picture professionally taken since she was 6 months old. Oops, I sure did mean to do that every 3-4 months but somehow she is already 20 months and we missed quite a bit of time. Oh well.

I finally got the appointment made. I knew that it was going to be tough for Emerson due to her extreme shyness. I knew that she was not likely to smile. I really was just doing this to get some new pics for the family and move on. I had no idea that it would go down like it did.

This morning Emerson slept until 9:10!!!! What?!?!?! I took that as a good sign because she would be bright eyed and happy for our 10am photoshoot. She woke up in a great mood. (bonus). She quickly ate breakfast, dressed and we were out the door. We got to the studio early and there were several other kiddos having pics taken. Emy liked watching them and playing with the toys in the lobby. At this point I figure she might just do okay because she seemed to be warming up to the atmosphere- I mean she was wondering around the lobby by herself and everything. Wrong.

Elisabeth, the photographer, came out to get us and we went back into the area. Emy was cautious but okay. Then everything collapsed. You would have thought a stranger was trying to kidnap her. Emerson started screaming in terror. Why? Because poor Elisabeth put out a little chair for Emy to sit in. (Keep in mind that Elisabeth did not so much as touch or come near Emy in any way). Emerson kept trying to grab my arm and drag me out the door. She kept screaming and pointing to the door. This went on for 15+ minutes. At one point I just about caved and walked out. Her eyes were red, face splotchy and snot running from her nose--- perfect look for pictures.

Elisabeth must be an angel because she just sat there while Emy screamed. The only thing that got her to calm down was a soccer ball from the prop kit. After about 30 minutes of playing "soccer" Emerson was all smiles- OFF camera. She is such a stinker. The second she is off the backdrop she is happy, playing and laughing, even with stranger Elisabeth. Then we put her on the backdrop to take a quick shot and Emy either stares blankly or starts crying again. Okay, back off the backdrop- all smiles, back on- tears. Back and forth.

I must admit, it might have been the longest hour of my life- yes, we tried to get a good pic for an hour. I did end up buying a couple of poses-mainly because I felt like I had to with what they put up with... of course none of them have smiles though.

I will try to post the pics later when I get the energy to scan them in. Just wanted to share the drama.