Exulte, People!! We Did It!

As we all know, today was picture day for the kidlets. As we all know, just about any time I try and do something with the kids where I'd prefer a happy outcome, it usually ends up in tears, bloodshed, and/or dents in the wall from Tate running into them out of sheer irateness. Really, who would expect today to be any different?

We headed over to Aubrey at her great little studio to get the party started. And seriously, people, if you live in the Green Bay area and feel the need to photograph your kids (or yourselves, or pets, or plants, or shoes, or...whatever. I don't know, people take pictures of weird things), there is no reason not to go to Aubrey. (http://www.photobyaubrey.com/) She knows what's up. She has fruit snacks! Oh, and she takes great pictures, too.

Nora and I got there first. Eric and Tate were on their way back from Milwaukee and were going to meet us there. Nora took a little while to warm up and pry her face away from my neck and allow Aubrey to look at her, speak to her, or generally acknowledge her presence in any way, but once she got warmed up, she did great in her little ballerina outfit.

Then Tate got there. Yeah. He took one look at the situation, realized he was somewhere where he would be expected to at least partially behave and cooperate, and blew his shit, hardcore. He ran his ass straight of there and didn't stop til he careened headfirst into the wall. Now that I think of it, I probably should have checked for any damage. To the wall, I mean, not Tate's head. I think he's built up a layer of steel under his forehead. You could bounce a bowling ball off that thing at this point.

Me: "Tate, do you want to go sit over here on this chair?"

Tate:"NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRRRCCCCCGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHBBBBBBBLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAHRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTTIMGOINGTOEATYOURBRAINS!!!!!!!!!"

It took a loooooong time to calm him down. Fruit snacks saved the day. Thank the Lord for Tonka fruit snacks. After he digested those, he graciously allowed us to escort him into the studio. He then climbed up on a chair, sat down, and turned around. Now this would have been great if we were doing a photo study called "Tate: A Boy and His Ass", but that's not really the look I was going for. After awhile, he would peek over his shoulder. Smile? Nah. He looked like this guy.

But thanks to Aubrey and her infinite patience, and the sugar rush from the fruit snacks, Tate finally started to warm up and crack a few smiles. Then he got REALLY comfortable and started spitting on the chairs. I didn't really feel the need to capture that on film, though. Inevitably, though, once Tate start warming up, Nora started melting down. We got some awesome shots, though...I was really happy with the end results.

How kickass are these.

Yeah, that last picture? That's pretty much our life, summed up in one shot. Hair pulling. That's it. That's what we do. Pull hair. That sucker's getting blown up and hung on the wall in the front hallway to warn all ye who enter here. Hair. Pullage.