Tanner (11), Troy (17 months), Tori (4), Ty (8)

I had fun planning for this shoot this season. ?? I was inspired by the red and white tie idea and once that plan came together, the rest fell into place. ?? Accessories can make all the difference sometimes. ??And because my clients may like this info, here is the vendor list for this shoot:

Tori’s red pettiskirt and her white lace romper: ??Chic Baby Rose

Red feather headband (these look beautiful on newborns): ??Bebe Bands

Black velvet jackets and vest: ??Children’s Place

Red and White Ties and Bowtie: ??PaigeGrayson & Company

Red and White polka leg ruffles: ??Zulilly

 

I am not going to lie to you. ??Troy was a toughie. ??I was praying a lot during this shoot that we would get some??salvageable??shots of the baby. ??At the end of the day, it did come together but he was quite the challenge. ??I realized that by the time Troy is old enough to be truly cooperative, Tanner will be a teenager. ?? That’s what I get for spanning my kids out over a decade. ??

I had to try the Santa bag idea but Troy was not a fan.

I have used her red petti for Christmas pictures since she was under a year old. ??It has become a tradition. ??She will probably get some use out of it until she is 7 or 8 so I want to keep incorporating it to mark her growth each year. ??Who can go wrong with a petti? ??Love them.

No need to be commenting telling me how “old” Tanner looks. ??I already know. ??Don’t want to hear it.

Would you look at that! ??BOTH eyes on the camera! ??It was an overcast day so Ty struggled with his eyes less outside. ??The sun still causes him to cross some without his glasses on. ??Love the above shot of my sweet Ty.

On the way to Circle K for milk and donuts one morning this week…

Ty: ??I am a HAPPY BOY!

In the car on same said trip…
Graham: ??Ty is my hair all crazy?
Ty: ??No! ??It’s my favorite hair ever!
I laughed so hard. ??It was a total “Elf” moment.

On cleaning the front room…

Tori: ??Grrrrrr… ??That is going to be HARD!
Ty: ??Hey. ??You know what Tori? ?? Life is hard. ??Right mom?

Again, I had to laugh because Ty really can’t relate to that statement. ??He has the best quality of life of anyone I know BY A LANDSLIDE.

In years past, we have tricked him and wrapped his Xbox games in larger boxes so that he couldn’t guess. ??This year he begged me not to do that. ??He even went as far as bringing me Xbox game boxes to make sure I understood what they needed to look like when I was done wrapping them. ??:)

And another Ty funny from this week…

He got in trouble with mama and had a loss of??privileges. ?? He then let Tanner know that he was going to avoid some consequences by some planned deceit with mom (that is pretty unusual for Ty because he is so honest). ??Telling Tanner was his first mistake. ??I was brought into the loop on the subterfuge 2.5 seconds later.

I, then, detail to Jim in front of Ty that Ty now has a MUCH larger loss of??privileges??due to his attempt to deceive me. ??Jim adds his two cents. ??Ty looks at Jim all wide eyed and says ” Daddy! ??I wasn’t going to deceive YOU!” ?? ??I was grateful he had his back to me when he said that because I could not have hidden my mirth. ??

I also don’t care to hear how old my baby is looking. ?? We cut his hair the morning of this shoot because it was getting way too long. ??Everyone is saying that he looks older but I don’t see it. ??He is still my BABY and he just looks itty bitty to mama.

Like Tanner, Troy gets a lot of mileage out of a few words. ??He has begun saying “that” for everything. ??Tanner did the same thing. ??Turns out, you can skip learning like a million nouns if everything is labeled “this” and “that”. ??Unlike Tanner, he still babbles a bunch so I still think he will be a chatty baby once he gets going. ?? ??My favorite this week has been “Um that”. ??This is short for “I want to eat that”. ??He can say “eat” but usually prefers “um” which is short for “yum”. ??I dislike the fact that he still calls me Daddy but can say “Heidi” perfectly. ??I tried to deny this but he said it crystal clear too many times this week when talking to her. ??Grrrrrrrr. ??She is also the only one that can get him to say “Mama”. ??If I try, he laughs and says Daddy. ??Has it become a game to him? ?? Afraid so.

I missed out on a great video opportunity this week. ??Tanner told me that Troy was in the room with Ty imitating his game playing tics. ??They were standing side by side and Troy was copying all Ty’s movements. ??That would have been hysterical to capture on film. ??Hope I get that one day.

Oh JOY! ??I had to process it.

Have I mentioned Troy’s??tendency??to tantrum? ??He did not want to hold his brothers hands and walk with them. ??He had places to go.

LOVE this above picture. ??LOVE IT.

Couldn’t decide which shot I loved the most of my beautiful amazing man and darling daughter. ??I bet she will love these pictures of her with her Daddy someday. ??(I love Jim’s scruff! ??Wish he would keep it all the time. ??Not full Duck Dynasty but headed in the general direction).

Troy is a bit on the??possessive??side when it comes to his Dad and Mom. ??If either of us is engaged with another sibling, he finds his way into the middle of it pretty quickly. ??At almost 18 months, he is just finally going through the??separation??anxiety stage. ?? All of my children waited until 18 months to hit this stage. ?? If Troy sees me getting ready to go, he begs to be held and then waves goodbye to everyone sending a very strong message to his mama. ??The other day, I had to put him back down and leave him at home and Jim said he cried a full 30 minutes over it. ??

I may have mentioned this in my last post but I giggle at how these three have named each other “Tants, Tights, and Torts”. ?? Ty tried out “Toots” for Tori but that didn’t go over well. ??It has stuck for a good long time and I hear these endearments frequently. ??The one phrase that Jim and I haven’t been able to wrap our minds around though is “Sargent”. ?? We can’t figure out how this started or what on earth it means. ??It is used by the trio as follows:

“You said if I blah blah blah than you would be my Sargent.”

” I thought you were going to be my Sargent.”

“I won’t be your Sargent anymore if you….”

“I will be your Sargent if you…”
Doesn’t it seem to you that the currency here would be getting to BE the Sargent and not in the having of one reign superior over you? ??I do not get it. ??We have asked them over and over about this. ??What does being someone’s “Sargent” mean to you? ?? Why would you want that? ?? What do you get out of it? ??What is the benefit (or loss) to you?

We have still not received a rational answer from any of them but it is quite the bribe/threat between them. ?? Are they intentionally keeping us out of the loop on the details? ??LOL.

No surprise who rules the roost with the quad right?

Have a very Merry Christmas!