Photo Shoot

When an offer arrives in the mail for free photos of a new baby, you can guess what a new mother chooses to do! Well, today was Little Man's one month birthday so his Mommy and I took him to the Sears Portrait Studio for his first photo shoot. After all, with coupons offering free sitting fees, free 10X13's, 50% off packages, who could pass up such savings?

We arrived with his three outfits in tow. Who could have his first month photo shoot in one outfit? We had his Lil Man overalls that he wore home from the hospital. We took his Cowboy outfit complete with his suede (very tiny) cowboy boots. And we took his Doggone Cute outfit with matching dog toy. As the photographer and Little Man's Mommy worked on posing, Grammy was designated the stage hand in charge of props and costuming. Did I ever have a work-out. Rushing back and forth with new outfits and props is not a job for the faint at heart!

After donning all of his outfits, the photographer had a brilliant idea to do a naked baby shot with him resting on his Mommy's extended arms. That was going quite well until Little Man decided it was time to um....... let's say water the black velvet backdrop. Being the mother of three daughters, I am not experienced with the watering devices associated with little boys. It did make for a memorable day!

Gone are the days when I took our girls for photos. Computers have revolutionized the photography industry so we were asked to wait only 15-20 minutes and the photos would be ready for viewing. Little Man was getting tired and hungry and a bit cranky. He had a milk snack and then his Mommy was called into view the photographs. Grammy was given the job of entertaining the hungry, tired baby. He threw quite the fit for me as I tried to walk, rock, talk, sing, and entertain him. The faster I walked, the louder he cried.

Being a mother who always detested pacifiers and who never allowed our girls to have one, I could never foresee the day that I would buy a pacifier for one of our grandchildren. However, that day arrived today. I casually walked back to where our daughter was reviewing the photos and took a five dollar bill out of my purse and Little Man and I headed for the baby department. I was on a pacifier mission, hoping that would calm him down. Suddenly, he fell soundly to sleep. Grammy was rescued from the prospect of having to purchase the pacifier! Thank the Lord!

We walked back to the photo studio and the sales associate had our daughter tightly wrapped around her little finger. She was purchasing every package, picture, and portrait in sight. Those money saving coupons saved us nearly $300 dollars today (not counting what Grammy purchased)! They also sold her a "money saving" discount card where she can return each month and "save" MORE MONEY at their photo studio. Are those marketing geniuses or what?

In two weeks we will have enough photos to nearly wallpaper Little Man's home. You realize, he will never be month old again, so what was a mother and a grandmother to do?