Thursday, September 17, 2009

Model Behavior

Today the LGs had their very first model photo shoot!!! It was for a Beall's circular that will be out 11/12 and 11/15. They behaved like....well, DIVAS!

We got there about half an hour early (I cant help myself. When I did not have kids I always arrived places an hour early. Now I am usually on time or half an hour early due to the little leaches) You are to wait in this little waiting room and then they call you back. So the girls were having a great time playing in the chairs and waiting. Everyone else came and went. Then a very nice lady came in and wanted to put a little make up on the space between their eye brows. This area has always looked bruised even though it is not. She was great tried to make it into a game. Tried to get them to trust her before she came near them. She put some on me, she let them play with the brushes... it went on and on... NO GO they were not having it. There was no way she was gonna come near them with a brush. She said "that's ok, we can photoshop it. Lets take them back and get them changed."

They wanted to know who would like the dress better...ummmm they both wear dresses all. the. time. OK, who would be ok with a head band??? If it's going around their thighs either of them but if you have to put it on their heads then I guess Emerson. So Emerson ended up in this Xmas dress that I thought was kind of ugly and I would NEVER buy for them (however in the pictures it was about the cutest thing ever...)and Avery ended up in Xmas PJ pants suit. They were there to be the 18 month models, they are 23 months old and the outfits were 12months sizes... all of them needed to be cinched in the back! OMG, are they anorexic already!?!

We head back to the studio and Avery wants to push the stroller back with us. I do not let her (1st mistake!) She has a little bit of a fit, but nothing dramatic. They want to shoot E first. I take E over to the 4x6 square she can be in frame for the shot. She is not wanting to stay in that area and Avery is somewhere off in the distance. I can hear her but cannot see her. I know she is not happy, but I am concentrating on E, who is actually getting more and more comfy. Then I hear blood curdling scream crying and I ask "is that my child?" Suddenly Avery RUNS to me crying like she had been beat. (Just so you know everyone there could not have been nicer, and I am positive no one touched her) So she is now in my lap crying and this makes E start crying. Wouldn't you??? If your sister was screaming like that there MUST be something to cry about. The photographer decides we should take a break and get them calmed down... REALLY?? you dont want hysterical babies in your ad???

I take the girls back into the waiting area where they seems happier and offer to nurse them. E is all for it. A is so upset she doesn't even want the boob! She finally succumbed to the temptation and nursed. We (I) decided to let let come back into the studio at their own pace. I hung out back there just in site. Then they finally walked back apprehensively. I showed them a rack of shoes. They played with the shoes. What girl can resist shoes? Then Avery wandered onto the set... I was like HELLO photographer get your butt into your chair! He started shooting and got what he wanted (minus the drama or tears!) They wanted a few more of the dress. So I coaxed E with one of the wrapped Xmas boxes. One of the set people sat on the floor and we played keep away with the box and then I would hand her the box and tell her to take it to the lady. One thing they did not tell me was any thing to the side of the LGs they could take out. Nice to know. So they get alot of E. So we are finished and the girls in the end had some fun.

When it was all over one of the people asked me if this was their first shoot... ummmm YEAH! The photographer said he was surprised they warmed up most toddler this age dont come back from that. You cant get them to warm up after they've been that upset. I think it was the nursing heehee. They also said that was totally normal for this age. They did LOVE looking at the photos of themselves when we were all done and I cant wait to see the circular.

Not sure if we will get any call backs to do any others but we can say they were models for at least one day! DIVAS ALWAYS!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Wallet Boomerang

Usually I blog about the LGs, but I thought today I would tell you about my amazing wallet/purse. In a round about sort of way though this is about the girls. Its about how they have brought forward in me this haphazard mindlessness that I have always had but now it is more me then it has ever been. Its like I am a mental patient that they let run loose. Before I was pregnant, in my 36 years of like, I could count on ONE hand how many times I had lost my wallet or purse and still have some fingers left over. Now I would have to use my toes and maybe a limb or two to make this count...
First off the wallet that I sport is kind of a purse too. I love it cause it is big enough to carry all my crap but small enough that I can toss it in the diaper bag and it matches the diaper bag so chick...

The first time I left it was in an ABC liquor store. I needed some Kahlua to cook with, I don't frequent ABC with the LGs often, but the one time I go I leave my wallet there. They have a police officer that fills out his paperwork there every evening so they asked him what to do. He pulled me up by my drivers license and called my MIL cause she is one of my emergency contacts. He also called me but I did not answer and did not answer when MIL called so imagine what she must have been thinking when she received a call from a cop at an ABC store... I got it back with everything still in it.

The next time I left it in a bathroom stall at 10pm in the hospital Avery was staying at when she had a respiratory issue. When I realized it was missing the following morning I of course ran to the bathroom to see if it was there. It wasn't. I went to the info desk and asked about lost and found. They did not have it. We left the hospital that day. It wasn't easy though cause my parking ticket was in it and I was afraid whomever took my wallet could have stolen my car as well. I had given all my info to the hospital with a description of the wallet. I waited a day or two and it was never turned in...so I thought. I had already canceled all my cards and was also saying the catholic prayer for lost items (I am not religious) approximately 2 months later I got a call from the hospital telling me they had my wallet! Everything was in it except the $8 and the gift cards I had...

A month or so later I woke one day and was going to take the girls to the zoo for a meet-up. While I was getting ready to leave I realized my wallet was missing. The last place I had it was at the Toys R Us the afternoon before. I was running in there to use a gift card I had and did not want to drag the whole diaper bag so I wore Emerson and put Avery in the cart. If I put my wallet in the seat with A she will pull EVEY. THING out of it so I put it in the big part of the cart. When I left I put the LGs in the car and the bag in the car and the cart into the cart holder in the parking lot.... AMAZINGLY my wallet was in the safe when I showed up there at opening time and we were off to the zoo.

Two days ago I went to Lowe's to do a return and I put A in the front part of the cart and E in the back. Well, I cant leave my wallet with either of them for reasons above so I put it on the bottom part of the cart. When I was leaving I put the girls and other stuff into the car and put the cart into the cart wrangler thing in the parking lot. As I was walking back to the car I hear a cart rolling and I knew it was my cart I had just put up. I turned to look and saw the cart rolling back-wards out of the corral and it turned toward me rolling backward to me and there is my blue wallet sitting on the bottom of the cart...

Lessons I have learned: My wallet really wants to be with me. The prayer for lost items WORKS! and ALWAYS put the carts up, its good luck!

If you see this please call me!!! Its mine!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Emerson's a genius!

Avery had a pair of sunglasses that Emerson wanted. I made them a juice and asked them "who wants juice?" Emerson grabbed it. When A saw that E had a juice she slung the glasses across the room and headed toward E to get the juice. E let her take the sippy cup from her and walked straight over to the sun glasses, picked them up and walked away like it had been her plan all along. I thought this might have just been a fluke but Julie says she's seen Emerson do this type of thing before...she's playing chess!

Here is a video of them just for fun...



Yesterday our friend Ronni (who I have known for like EVER) came to Tampa and she and I went to see Depeche Mode. We had the best time!!! Julie stayed home with the LGs and it seemed like all was going well when Avery put herself to bed and Emerson followed her. Then I got a text that said, "Prolonged crying what should I do?"... it was Avery and Julie ended up getting her up and she was a wild woman running around the house playing with the ball popper, giggling and generally partying it up! till...Julie decided it was time for Avery to go back to bed. Avery screamed, kicked, cried and BIT Julie!!!! BUT, she did finally go to sleep...and Julie "Enjoy(ed) the Silence".

This is my crazy friend Ronni

She brought a homemade Key-lime Pie...she is getting ready to attend culinary school!!!