Birthday Photos

Back in January both of my kiddos had birthdays.  Upon our return from Thailand I took them to our little photo shop to have birthday pictures done.  Sometimes getting photos taken of our very little cute and white kids can be tricky.  For example, I have heard stories of friends having their kid's pictures taken and then sometime in the future seeing an advertisement with their child's face on it from that photo shoot - ya know...the photographer used/sold the picture without ever checking with the parent.  This is something we would like to avoid. 

Also, in the United States we extremely pale people want to look more tan, but here they try to look more white.  Here my skin is not pasty; it is beautiful, really.  People actually tell me this.  I have learned to accept my white-y-ness and embrace my alabaster skin, well that is until we are in Texas during leg baring season and I can get my hands on some self-tanning cream.  Anyways, instead of photo-shopping professional pictures to add color to people's skin, here is it standard to whiten people.  Each time we have our kid's pictures taken we tell them, please do not adjust the color of our kid's skin.  Incidentally, AB's skin is so white we have been asked if we put anything on it to make it that white.  Does sunscreen count?  I hope she learns to love her white skin and does not do anything (apart from some quality self-tanning cream after she turns 16) to try to give it some color. 

Lastly, small details that are important to us when taking pictures are not so important here - like a rip in the white background that exposes the floor.  I find it ironic they will go through the trouble to whiten skin but not blot out the tear.  Also, the use of props are quite common, and since I have not had pictures done in the US I cannot compare, but I can say, on the walls of the photo shop here, I saw pictures of sweet little girls dressed in all white with ringlets holding transformer action figures or dump trucks.  Next time I am going to bring my own things for the kids to hold. 

This photo shop did not open until DB's nap time, so he was a bit of a cranky pants.  AB did better than DB, and they probably ended up taking 200 pictures of her.  Unfortunately about half of them were with an ugly plastic flower, and I just cannot seem to get past it. 

This is the only good picture we have of DB standing alone, because after this picture in the rest his sweater looked like...

this, and since I was standing beside him I did not even notice until we looked at them later.  Bummer. 

AB did well.  I like this one.  She is wearing the dress she picked out on her birthday.

I feel like this one fits her personality.

There is that plastic flower, but the picture of her is super cute.

This is how she let us know she was finished and did not want another picture taken of her.

Yes.  DB is crying, but it is cute - No?

 Follow the sequence of these pictures.  They were quickly taken in the order that follows.

This is quite possible my favorite picture of the day.  He too was finished.