Cox Family Pictures - 2009

As I mentioned previously, we indulged in our first ever location photo shoot! I've always wanted to do this, but it seems we always put it off in lieu of a quick trip to Sears or Wal Mart for annual pics of the kids.

I do have to say that this was a very stressful experience. As you may know, Nolan takes a minute (or hour) to warm up to people, so arriving at the location and immediately having to smile at some stranger with a camera didn't seem like an easy thing for us to do. However, we were pleasantly surprised with how well Nolan did.

AT FIRST......

Then, the tide changed. Perhaps the change began the moment Jason uttered the words, "Wow, Nolan is really doing well." Smile....

We spent 45 minutes of our hour-long shoot chasing Nolan around the park and trying to get him to play the "picture game." He ignored us in favor of the ducks in the pond. He then started yelling "NO" every time we spoke to him. Finally, he found a baby wipe in my purse (intended to be used to gently wipe any dirt off my precious children during our perfect photo shoot) and proceeded to clean the ground. He never relinquished the wipe, and it makes a few appearances in our pictures.

Bailey, on the other hand, was WAAAAY into the process. So into it that she actually thought she got to call the shots....literally. She kept telling the photographer how to pose the next shot and, of course, her ideas were outlandish (i.e., "What if I carry Nolan up that tree over there? That would be a good picture!") So, we expended our energy chasing Nolan and telling Bailey not to be so bossy. Not unlike any regular day, really.

Afterward, we were exhausted and I was convinced there wouldn't be a good picture in the bunch. But, I think they turned out a-okay. Of course, I'm not including the ones where Nolan is scowling or Bailey is making a monkey face. :-)

Enjoy the highlight reel....