Memoirs of a Martin: My Very Own Mini Mouse

Once again due to being born in the midst of holidays and the season of sickness (I repeat definitely NOT due to second child syndrome), Miss Brynn's first official photoshoot with Aunt Shawna didn't happen until Saturday December 6th when she was 2.5 weeks old.

To say that day was a disaster would be an understatement. Thirty minutes prior to her arrival, Brynn was screaming in the rock n' play, Ryan was frantically trying to make our house look less like it's inhabited by squatters, Emery was running amuck, I was drinking wine in the shower to calm my frazzled nerves and the exterminator showed up out of nowhere. I legitimately thought there was a chance he would call CPS. I know I tease about this a lot, but as I looked around me the threat felt very real. Why was Brynn, who's allegedly the happy baby, screaming? She had a slight cold courtesy of her sister. Turns out sharing isn't always caring.

If you're thinking this story has a happy ending, you haven't dealt with 2 under 2. It didn't. Things continued to unravel and Brynn was awake, and very angry about it, the entire time. I was convinced that there was no way Shawna had any good photos and that Brynn would hate me forever for not capturing this short window of time in her life. To appease my over-anxious self Shawna agreed to come back again later in the week to take a couple of pictures while big sister was at school in hopes that there would be less going on and that Brynn would be in a more photo-friendly mood.

Of course, as fate would have it, Emery woke up that morning with a fever of 101 and full o' snot. Awesome. Luckily although she was awake the entire time, Brynn was feeling more ready for some close ups. So, that, my friends, is the behind the scenes of this photoshoot. Why do I tell this story? So you can question my parenting abilities? No, I recognize you and I both already do that. I tell it so that you can see how amazing Shawna is. When you look at these pics, you won't be able to tell ANY of that was going on. She really is a miracle worker. We love you dearly, Aunt Shawna! THANK YOU for dealing with us and for capturing our little cutie pie.

*sigh* This is my life guys. I tried to appeal to that exterminator to no avail, so you'll have to do. Heeeeelp!

Ugh. You again. Are you sure you're my Mama?

Seriously y'all. I mean it. Get a phone. I will create a distraction. Heeeeeelp.

If no one is going to rescue me, I may as well make myself comfortable.

Does anyone realize how exhausting screaming for 3 hours is?

You seeing this? Gross.

Please enlarge this picture and check out her facial expression. Ryan and I must have some very skeptical genes.

I love this tiny cobra! She melts my heart.

Are we done yet, Mama? I'll love you a lot more when we're done. (Probably.)

How do second time parents handle endless screaming? By laughing. Like this.

Mama's mini mouse.

Psssst. Photog lady- I think I'm too long for this pose.

Shawna was also kind enough to let us attempt a few sister/family pictures. Patience of a saint, I'm telling you. Have I sold you on her services yet?

EM: OMG, OMG, OMG, they're letting me hold her! (This was legitimately the first time we chanced this. Note we chose to do it on a king-sized bed where the margin of error was pretty conservative.) BRYNN: OMG, they're letting her hold me! Again- heeeeelp!

EM: I'm still holding da bebe! BRYNN: Lord, please let me survive this.

EM: Feeeeeeeeeet. BRYNN: Are my feet still there? Do I still have all 10 toes?

EM: This is the most exciting day of my life! BRYNN: Is this the last day of my life?

This about summarizes the chaos. Er'ybody looking at someone else.

Annnnd, last but not least, Emery was being a serious ham and Shawna managed to nab quite a few cute ones of her solo. She is at such a HILARIOUSLY fun age. I can't wait to see what Brynn is like when she hits almost-2.