Elyssa's One Year Photos

This post has been a long time coming.  A few weeks ago when we had our family photos done we also had Elyssa's one year photos taken.  Being our smiley cheesy girl most of the time, we thought getting good shots of Lyssa would be a piece of cake.  Boy were we WRONG!  She was so grouchy!  That poor photographer probably took a hundred photos trying to get Lyssa smiling.  I appreciated her persistence and think she got some cute shots, but at the end of the day I was reminded why I think I'll just do my kids photos myself from now on.  Maybe someday I'll invest in one of those flash reflectors. So now we'll move on to the photos.  We'll start with the personality shots... 

Animal crackers were the only thing that would console this princess, as you can see throughout the shoot. 

I tried to explain to Lyssa that I needed her to put down her crackers and smile for a few pictures.  She looked at my like "are you crazy?  Have you tried these crackers, Mommy?"

This was the winner of all the personality shots, which now decorates her nursery...

Now on to the more formal shots for the living room wall.  If you look close you can see tears all over this grouchy little girl's face.  Poor baby.

Nick tried to pull out all the stops, wearing props on his head, dancing, singing... not much made her happy though.

I liked this one a lot, but it was so washed that they didn't eve recommend buy it.

Cute, but I wanted something that would look good next to the picture I have up of Alec. I love those two tiny little teeth though.  

Little Miss Big Eyes

This was the formal photo we chose for the living room.  Not her typical happy cheese smile, but zoomed in a little bit it looked perfect next to the photo of Alec, and shows off a more formal side of my ever growing Princess.

I was thinking last night about how big Elyssa has become.  It doesn't seem that long ago that she could nuzzle in and fit perfectly on my chest, so tiny, sleeping peacefully.  Now she wants to do everything on her own, demanding independence.  She's constantly trying to walk on her own, meaning she's constantly falling down on our hardwood floors (note to self: buy a house with carpet next time around), meaning she has lots of bruises and cries about 50% of the day.  Lyssa won't let us feed her anymore, meaning she doesn't get as much food and there is always a mess for me to clean up.  Anything her brother is doing she wants to do.  She's very dramatic, but so very sweet.  When she calls out for "dadeee" in her almost southern accent, it melts all our hearts.  When she gives you those big open mouth kisses on your cheek, you can't help but forget about the tantrums.  When she blows you kisses, you can't help but want to give her a squeeze.  

I can't imagine my life without you, my dear miracle baby.  

We love you, Elyssa.