Model for the morning

Today I took S to the mall to get her birthday pictures taken. She turns 4 on Friday!!
It was a busy morning with running back and forth from Sears Portraits to Picture People.
We went to Sears first. It was a 9:30 appointment but we waited nearly 20 minutes before someone could take her pictures! Crazy but there was only one other photographer available. Another one was with a customer going over their order. And there were two trainees, clearly reading their training manual, and another lady but I wasn't sure what she was doing the whole time!
I felt a little crunched for time because I had made an appointment for 10:30 at Picture People. If only I knew!
So after the Sears woman took S's pictures, we booked it out the store to PP, which, thankfully, is next door. We had to wait there as well but it was worth it because the photographer was AWESOME and we got some great pictures.
But right after that session, we didn't wait. It was right back to Sears so I could pick out our poses before the photographer's 11:30 appointment. Then it was back to Picture People to pick our photos from that session!
S did great the whole time. She listened to both photographers directions, smiled like a pro and was patient during all the waiting. It helped to have a snack on hand and that Sears played Strawberry Shortcake videos and Picture People had blocks for her to spell out her name and build really tall towers.
M, on the other hand, was with Daddy at home. And a good thing too because I don't know if she would have lasted through all this. Well, maybe she would have. But she had a bit of a high fever Sunday night and, although she felt fine this morning, we thought it best she stay home. C was able to work from home, thanks to his work laptop. (M, by the way, has been fever free all day so she might have had a little bug of something.)
All in all, we got some great pictures of S from both places. But it was so hard to choose!
At PP I picked three sheets: an 8x10, a sheet of 4x6's and a sheet of 5x7's. And with the coupon I had and my Smile Saver card, I got them all for almost $6.
The picture I absolutely love from PP is of S jumping in the air. It is so cute and fun and so different from traditional poses.
At Sears I stuck to my guns....and the coupon I had for 35 prints for $4.99...and choose one pose. Then S chose a special birthday collage for her bedroom.
We will be back at Sears on Friday for our family picture. I also hope to get a picture of the two girls together and one of C and I; both of which will be for the mantle in our family room.
We'll be doing this kind of a photo trip in December for M's 2 year pictures. I just hope and pray that the wait times are not as bad. I may just consider doing Sears and PP on different days, although it would be nice to get both done in one shot. We'll see. I think for pictures in December, though, it is best to spread them out.