The 3rd Child

So, when people tell you you get lazier with your third child...it's completely true. You don't love them any less. You don't care less about their achievements. I don't know if it's the fact that you are just so much busier (because if anyone ever tells you it's no big deal going from 2 to 3 kids - they're a giant liar), or if it's the fact that you've already been there, done that.

When Evie was born, we had pictures taken every single month for the first 12 months of her life. Some were beautiful studio pictures from a very nice photographer (see her gorgeous 1st birthday pic in the previous post), and some were just plain old Sears or Olan Mills. But regardless, we never missed a portrait session. Although I wasn't as dedicated with baby Chase, even he had several shoots before he celebrated his #1.

So when Liam turned 1 a couple weeks ago, I started to feel pretty guilty that I had never had a photo session for Liam. Sure, he was in our family Christmas pictures. He had Easter pictures with his big brother and sister and a couple fluffy ducklings. He even had a mini shoot at his daycare this Spring. But we had never scheduled his own full-blown Liam modeling session. We love our Liam, but we just hadn't had the time and energy it takes to pull off such a feat as baby pictures.

So, my guilt eventually drove me to schedule a session (with the best photographer I could think of - she's AWESOME!...check out kandrphotograhy.net). And my scheduled session drove me to buy a couple really cute outfits for wardrobe changes. And 1 hour before we had to leave, panic drove me to call Ryan and have him stop to pick up a couple balloons and a cupcake on the way home. I suddenly felt like I had to make these the best pictures ever to make up for my whole year of slacking off.

But in the end our Liam, with his beautiful big blue eyes, was the one to pull it all off. You can't see the money we spent on the session, the clothes or even the cupcake. You can't see the last year worth of lost opportunities to capture precious moments. All you see is that sweet little boy made from love as his smile melts your heart.

But while we were at it...we did decide to throw his brother in sister in there with him for a couple sweet shots, too. Maybe tomorrow I will find time to sit down and tell you why Evie was holding her arm in every picture...