It's a whole new world...

Not too long ago, I traveled with John McCain's campaign for NBC News.  The day before the 2008 election, we went to 7 states in one day.

So, why on earth was a "simple" Saturday morning spring photo shoot with Palmer and my niece, Elle, way more exhausting?

It sounded easy on paper: My sister-in-law, Amanda, had scheduled Elle to take spring photos at the beautiful Dallas arboretum.  She asked if I could bring Palmer to join for some of the shots.

Sure, I said.  I'll put him in a cute outfit and that will be that, right?  In FACT, this is so easy that I'll even encourage Rick to go play golf Saturday morning.

Big mistake.

I got up at 6am in order to start getting myself and Palmer both photo ready.  We were still late, by 20 minutes.

Here is my healthy breakfast, a half-eaten loaf of bread, that I kept grabbing as I happened to pass the kitchen.  When did my meals begin looking like this?

Innocent me before we got started:


The arboretum is packed.  Of course, it makes sense.  It's the weekend before Easter and we aren't the only ones who have the great idea to hire a photographer to shoot spring shots of the kiddos.

I've decided photo shoots are no longer fun.  They are now stressful.  Between getting Elle to smile and Palmer not to cry, I would be surprised if the poor photographers got any good shots.  Bless their hearts.

 Bribing Elle with goldfish:

 Unsuccessfully trying to keep the two babies in one place:

 Now, Palmer is screaming (and yes, his outfit is too big for him but gosh, it is cute):

 Semi-success:

At noon, my mother asked me what I was doing for the day.  I laughed and said I was too exhausted for much more.

However, Saturday was also my 30th birthday.  Since we had wonderful sitters lined up, Rick and I went on our first date post-Palmer.  Rick surprised me with tickets to a Mavericks playoff game.  Palmer was absolutely fine with his first babysitter.  I was a wreck....

Note: we weren't as hard-core as this fan. The playoffs really bring out the best people-watching.  :)

And here's one sweet photo of daddy and Palmer to end:

-Bethany