Upside-down Alex
Every year (since Aaron’s and my first anniversary), we’ve gotten our pictures taken, usually around our anniversary. This year, since Aaron was totally stressed with school, they were pushed back to after Aaron’s summer term was over, i.e. today. Aaron is so great because he basically is willing to go along and do whatever I want—he’ll wear what I want him to wear (except pink or purple, LOL), have his hair done how I want, help with Alex, etc. Recently I got Alex and Aaron matching ties from MyFavoritePal.com. They have ties from infant to adult that all match. The kids’ ties and some adult ties are zipper ties (which look so much better than clip-on) and you can easily loosen them if they get tight. And I was really impressed with the quality of the tie (I got a zipper tie from the mall by LDS Living that promptly started to fray and fall apart. These look like they’ll last awhile even with toddlers).
Anyway, the ties are red and so I went out to find something that would match. I don’t *do* red (I look better in cool colors) so I found a black and white dress with a little red. Because the dress was mostly black, I picked out black pants for Aaron and Alex. I thought it all came together nicely. We also had casual outfits with jeans and such. Along with the clothes, I picked out some of Alex’s toys to bring along. All-in-all, it was very stressful getting ready despite all the preparations yesterday. We had our appointment at 10 a.m., but we were late because of my last-minute stuff (trying to find the right pants for Alex, getting makeup and hair done, etc.). Aaron and Alex ended up having their hair done when we got there and we arrived not even wearing our outfits (in fact, Alex only had a diaper on. Not even shoes).
The Happy Family
So we went in and everything turned out good. Yesterday a friend in my ward cut my hair and did a great job, so I was feeling great about that, and I liked the clothes I picked out. Then we got to the second stressful thing of the day—picking out the pictures, sizes, and if we want enhancements. It turns out that JCPenney now has the option of buying a CD with digital copies of the pictures. They are high-quality versions that can be blown up to 22″ and you have complete rights to them (so you can do whatever you want including printing them out). I’m so stoked. Instead of spending an hour trying to decide what to get, I was able to just get the CD and I can decide later and print them out a lot cheaper. It was $120 for the CD (more than what I usually pay for when I buy pictures), but I can give copies to anyone and everyone, so they can print out pictures too. I think it’s totally worth it. We also got a free 8X10 with the deal as well.
So overall, it was great. Alex was impatient after 5 minutes and wouldn’t stay still, but that’s a two year old for you. Now I’m dead tired and ready for a nap. Too bad I have to work now! You can see all the pictures on SmilesByWire (email me or leave a comment letting me know if you need the link). Yay!
I have to say that the pictures came out so cute. I love that you can buy the CD and do what ever you want with them. I think that is so worth it. One of these days I am going to get my family together for pictures. It is a lot harder to coordinate 6 people then it used to be.
Yeah, with one two-year-old running around and not wanting to be still, I can’t imagine dealing with more (though I’m sure I eventually will!), but I love having family pictures (so stressful, but worth it).
And I agree. The CD is totally worth it, and I think that this year I’ll finally send out pictures because of it. Before I had to figure out who wanted pictures, which ones they wanted, what sizes to send them, mailing them so they don’t get bent, etc., etc., but this time all I have to do is find out who wants CDs, make copies for everyone, and send them all out. Much easier. And even if people want me to print them out for them, they can say which pictures they want and what size and I can just get them printed. I know everyone is getting exactly what they want.
It’s so time consuming the day we get pictures to go through and figure out which ones to get and how many to get. But with this, it took us about 5 minutes. “We want the CD. Done!” Love it!
Your grandma was raving about how great the pictures are and how Alex is turning into a little boy. So let your grandma know that you can print up some pictures for her off the CD because she was thinking of buying a CD.
So I am suppose to be leaving soon for Salem, the family reunion is tomorrow. Love you, Mom