Lisa took off work Saturday so we could take the kids to have professional photos done again (Christmas was the last time we did pro photos). Someone Lisa works with refered us to a studio called Yesterday's Mirror that has a location in Lancaster County. The best time we could decide on for the appointment was 3:00 p.m., since the place does not open until 10:00 a.m. In order to do that, we got them up a little earlier in the morning, and shifted their nap time to be an hour earlier. Jonathan did not like the shift in nap time. After waking him up, he was very cranky both before and after feeding him before we left. So we knew this might be a rough experience from the get-go.
Once we got there, they were all okay except for Anna. She still gets scared of strangers. She didn't cry right away at the photographer, but in trying to get her setup for some of the pictures she kept going into crying spouts. We tried a combination of group and single pictures using various props they had available. They did manage to have a good number of photos taken. As time went on, though, it got progressively harder to keep Jonathan and Anna content. Lydia was easiest to manage most of the day, as she did not really get too cranky like the other two. After the shoot was done, we gave them some snacks we brought alonge. As we tried to make quick decisions on which shots to eliminate from the pool, Jonathan and Anna really got fussy and cranky. So once we eliminated as many shots as we could, we had them print out the shots that we might order from. So in the next couple of days, we'll try to make final decisions on which shots to buy prints of. We even had the photographer a little brain-dead by the end too. We were really mentally exhausted at this point.
After the photos, we went to a little pizza shop next door in the same plaza. Just being in a different place, with more noise from the folks making food, other patrons, and the overhead TVs they seemed to quiet them down. Anna cried just a little bit while we were eating, but it wasn't a total meltdown. The pizza was really good, too.
After pizza, we thought we'd make the most of Mommy's day off. So we continued on to the outlets in Lancaster. We got to stop in the Carters, Children's Place, and Gymboree outlets to get them some more clothes for this fall/winter. What is a little puzzling is that the kids fall asleep in the car seats, but refuse to sleep in the strollers for some reason. We finally got back home close to 10 p.m., and gave the kids their normal bedtime bottle. They didn't seem to want the whole thing, but at least they drank some. Once they were in their cribs, they went right to sleep (they usually go right to sleep most nights anyways).
Almost forgot to mention...this was the first trip for the girls in their new forward-facing car seats. It's nice to have all of them facing forward now. With the rear-facing seats, Lisa would have to unbuckle her seat belt and half crawl over the front seats to look at the girls to check on them. Now we can just turn around to see what they're doing. Jonathan has been much better about trips since he's been forward-facing. We're assuming its a combination of being able to see us and being able to better see outside the vehicle at stuff.
Jonathan and Anna are both getting good at climbing up the steps. Lydia does not seem to know how to do it or seem interested in trying yet. Jonathan has tried a couple of times to stand up without holding on to much.
Mommy found a table and chairs online from JCPenney's tonight that we will probably get. Our curent kitchen table only has four chairs, and we've actually owned the table since we first moved into our apartment in Towson MD back in 1994. So I guess it's time for something new. We're thinking that part of the kids slowness in learning to eat more table foods is that they do not really sit at the table with Mommy and Daddy when we eat. We're hoping that having them at the table with us will spark their interest in trying more things than if we just introduce stuff to them at their table and we're not eating the same thing. If anyone might be interested in our current table once the new one arrives, I'd be happy if I could get $50.00 out of the set.
