meeting briana and group (chaos) pictures

madelyn met her little cousin briana during our trip. she did pretty well at being gentle with the baby except for the time i had briana on my lap and maddie ran up with her milk cup and knocked her on the head. it was just an accident, but i still felt bad!

so i had this brilliant idea to take the girls (all three) for birthday portraits at jcp. grandma had bought maddie and annabell matching dresses for the fourth of july so of course it became a red, white, and blue themed shoot. the day before we stopped at the grocery store to pick up simple cupcakes and birthday candles to use in the shoot (jcp requested that we bring a plastic sheet to put down underneath them when the cupcakes were in their hands). it was chaos! i mean chaos! the set up was totally different from the jcp up here. the camera must have been the first digital camera - ever - and had next to no mobility. plus the photographer had some very unrealistic expectations for two one-year-olds. she wanted them to both stand behind briana and rest one of their hands on her shoulders. okay - like that was going to happen. not to mention that it was like a hundred degrees in the studio/closet and very crowded with the photographer, the table the girls were on (yes, a table - as in off the ground), and at least three of us as wranglers at all time. however, when it was all said and done, we got a few good shots. the pictures got a lot better once annabell and maddie sat down with their cupcakes. now i just need to schedule time for maddie's one-year pictures...

love.