DIY Maternity Photos

I had some big plans for our maternity photos.  We'd go to the Botanical Gardens in Norfolk and they'd be awesome.  However, that plan continued to grow more complex.  I wanted to go on a weekday to avoid crowds, but we were getting some rain.  The garden I wanted to take photos in requires a bit of walking, which I'm not good at.  And perhaps most complicated of all, on the way to that garden is a kids' splashground area, which Eliot would sure want to play in.

There are some fields by our neighborhood with awesome buttercups.  Chris and I thought that would make a great alternative and we could go whenever.  Morning or evening light is the best, but apparently buttercups also close up around these times.  Oops.  We made the most of it anyway, and I love how the photos turned out!

And I realize that I am really missing my contacts.  I have been wearing just glasses for about six months now because my contacts started making my eye very irritated.  I only wore my contacts for about an hour here, yet my eye was already goo-ing up.  Yuck!  I'm calling the optometrist....  This is the first time I've had this problem in my 13 years of wearing contacts.

Chris and I take our own photos with a remote.  I generally set up the family shots and then run in.  Taking pictures with a toddler can be difficult and even moreso when there isn't a person standing behind the camera, but somehow we've taught Eliot to look at the camera and smile.  He says, "Cheeeese!  Yogaaa!" over and over.  It's so funny.  Sometimes it requires some tickles for smiles too.  And afterward he is rewarded with playground time.

I gotta say, though, I am pretty proud of how well these photo sessions turn out considering we take them ourselves in just about ten minutes. And we didn't get any ticks or chiggers!  It's the little things.

And just for fun and comparison, here I am at our 28 week (third trimester) photo session with Jack followed by a 37 week photo with Eliot.