One of Those Days and Santa Pics

Last week I took the kids to the mall to get their Christmas pictures taken. I had everything all planned out, the night before I had the clothes ready, diaper bag packed, all of the snacks we would need for the day, etc. I wanted Kaleb to be in the pictures too because I do not have a professional picture of all three of the kids together so I was excited to FINALLY have this done. Our pictures were scheduled for Thursday so last Wednesday night guess who wakes up at 3am in the morning? That would be Brennan, he woke up and watched TV for a hour or so before going back to sleep. I knew then that the next day was going to be rough. Great! So on Thursday morning when we picked Kaleb up from school I realized as soon as I looked at Kaleb that I had forgotten to have John cut his hair the night before. Wonderful! I was going to get it cut at the mall, but we didn't have enough time. We did have a few minutes before our pictures were scheduled, so we decided to go and see Santa. For the first time in THREE years, my children finally sat on Santa's lap and they actually look happy! I was so surprised and they let me take my own picture so I saved myself twenty dollars,yea! If you notice, in Santa's hand is Brennan's Cd case. Yep that's right, Brennan took his Cd's in with him. I'm telling you, the boy is obsessed with Cd's!! When Santa asked Ayla what she wanted for Christmas, she said," Lots and Lots of babies, one, two, three, four, five of them! It was too cute and of course Brennan doesn't understand yet so Ayla told Santa that Brenna wanted a "train" for Christmas! So up to this point everyone is in a good mood and then we head off to get pictures done.




We got to the portrait studio and they were running behind. Bad for us because it is getting close to lunch and nap time. So the whole time we waited the kids were doing fine but it was sooo hot and crowded there that Brennan started coughing. I had Kaleb go get the kids a drink because they were getting so hot. Wouldn't you know as soon as Kaleb gets back, they call our name. Brennan gets ticked off because I try to take his drink and Cd's away so he can get his pictures taken. Let me insert in here that Brennan always does great for pictures, he is a little ham and is always in the best of moods. Now Ayla on the other hand...well let's just say that's another story..lol.



So Brennan starts throwing a fit and has a HUGE meltdown, he will not let them take his picture AT ALL. He would not stand beside Ayla or let Kaleb hold him. I tried everything, and to be nice, the lady taking the pictures was not much help..AT ALL.
So every time I would take his Cd case away from him he would throw himself on the floor (which he NEVER does), he was throwing the props and telling me "NO" the whole time. I was horrified, if we would have been at home, he would for sure have been in a time out. At this point, it IS his nap time (remember, he was up the night before, so he is extremely tired) and he is hungry so he is DONE. I had the lady take Ayla and Kaleb's pictures together and then some separate ones of both but we were not able to get all three kids together. There was one point where Brennan was mad and throwing fake snowballs out in front of the camera and she snapped it real quick but other than that, I have no Christmas pictures of Brennan.



I was so upset, stressed out and on the verge of tears and a breakdown when we left. It just seemed like nothing went right that day. I'm sure there are many of you who can relate. It was very disappointing for me, I hate when things do not go as planned. I was so excited to get a family portrait, but I guess we will have to wait and try it again another time. On a positive note, Ayla was a little angel. She even let me change her outfits so we could get some pictures in her Santa Tutu.



After pictures we were planning on walking to the other end of the mall to mail a letter to Santa but I was so upset that we just went straight to the car. When we were in the car I remembered that I was suppose to take them to the Health Department to get their second H1N1 flu shot. Some how I mustered up enough strength to take them in and get their shots. That was a TON of fun, I am sure you can use your imagination on how that went. Anyway, it was just one of those days, hopefully they will be few and far between! I am happy that I did get a Santa picture though!