Family Portraits

For my Christmas present, I asked my little sister Natalie to take pictures of my family and Cameron for his 1 year photos. She is an amazing photographer! Here is how they were planned and how they unfolded.
December-ask Natalie to do our photos

January-we decide Saturday, 31 January at 1pm is the day and time. Mindy tries to keep Cameron scratch and bruise free.

Two weeks before pictures-ask Natalie to borrow her red dress for pictures; begin planning outfits. Meanwhile Natalie is scouting out places and thinking of things she wants to try.

January 25-Natalie sends detailed email explaining what she wants to try with link to an example; Mindy and Tyler love it and it's a go!

January 27-Mindy washes clothes she is sure are going to be worn. She makes sure Cameron does not wear any of the items all week to be sure they're clean.

January 29-Natalie comes over to help Mindy with the outfits; we discover dress is too short and have to rework the ensemble. We come to a conclusion for all three outfits.

January 30-Mindy irons Tyler's shirt, Cam's shirt, and her dress and tapes up the hem. Mindy and Tyler make sure to go to bed early so as not to look too tired in the photos. Natalie buys white butcher paper.

January 31-Picture day!!
morning-Cameron gets a bath and wears sweats up until picture time; Tyler spends a little extra time on his hair.
late morning-Cameron and Tyler take naps and Mindy spends near 2 hours getting ready
noon-Cameron wakes up and Tyler heads up the lunch effort for the family and feeds Cameron.
12:30-Natalie shows up at the house and clears one corner of the house of all portraits, pictures, chairs, and table. Tapes the butcher paper over the carpet. Cameron is diligently kept off the paper so as not to rip it. Mindy, Tyler and Cameron get dressed. Mindy has to find a new hair do since her original one didn't look as planned. Also Cameron's outfit is adjusted just a bit--his tummy is falling out from under his shirt so he gets to wear a sweater over it. :)
1:00-Natalie plugs in her lighting and turns it on; it burns out immediately. She heads back home to get her rotatable flash. Mindy begins to change Tyler's outfit completely since there is now time; chooses out a different shirt and tie.

1:30-finally all the outfits are PERFECT and everyone looks good and ready. We just need to keep Cameron happy until Natalie gets back which should be any moment; he is allowed to play on mom and dad's bed with mom nearby. He has fun until he has an unexpected meeting with the windowsill and within 10 seconds flat has himself a lovely

swollen black eye.

Needless to say, this was the only picture taken that day. Unfortunately, I failed to enjoy the irony of the situation and never was able to laugh about it. ;) But it does make a great story. Such is life with children!