Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago I got a random call from my OBGYN.  They asked if the twins and I would be willing to participate in a photo shoot!

After I had Scarlett I got a letter from the Timpanogos NICU saying they were putting together a calendar and were looking for a bunch a NICU grads to fill the pages.  I called the number but they had already filled up all the spots.  So I figured this opportunity with the twins would be similar to the Timp calendar (I was wrong).

During the photo shoot Scarlett went to the Sawayas.  I found out after that she cried for 90 minutes!  Oh man!  Sorry Laura!  Still part of that rough phase we're going through right now... That night I asked her if she was nice and she said matter-of-factly: "no".  *sigh*  But I digress... On the way I picked up Laura Lowder from my ward to help me with the babies.  (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING!)  We got there early so I could nurse them and they could take a brief nap while I got dolled up.  I had no idea what to expect or how many screaming children would be running around. 

I asked the receptionist a few questions while she was finding a place for me to nurse my babies.  Apparently this wasn't a big group shoot.  Their new marketing campaign was targeting each city/area of business with different ads.  They wanted a doctor and patient from that area.  They asked one doctor in each area to be in the ads and then had them ask a patient of theirs to join them for the photo shoot.  For the Canton area ads they were going to use Dr. Bernardoni - my OB - and she said I was the first person who popped in her head!  I was the first twin ultrasound she did when she started at that office and we enjoyed our long journey together.  How sweet!  So the photo shoot that day was just for Dr. Bernardoni and me!  She just had her first baby a few weeks ago.  So it was fun to visit with her about motherhood.

They asked us to come in solid colors, nice casual, without doing my hair or makeup.  Ugh.  First, I don't own many solid colors.  I hate jeans (I ended up wearing maternity jeans, classy).  And have you ever tried to find solid casual baby clothes?  I will tell you that it is difficult.  I went to Old Navy, Kohls, Target, and finally Carters before I just decided to put them in these yellow shirts I already owned (I was hoping to find something that matched my outfit).  Second, no makeup and don't do my hair?  I am notoriously details oriented and a bit of a control freak.  I know, you're probably thinking "what? you? I had no idea!"  Well I am.  I know I am.  In fact, I did my own hair and makeup for my wedding because I wanted it done 'right'.  I kept going back and forth about showing up with myself already put together and feign ignorance.  But decided to just relax and see what would happen.  I should have followed my gut instinct and dolled myself up.  The girl who did my makeup/hair was really cool and she did a good job.  I just didn't feel like "me".  Oh well... it was just for one day.

After they got me and Dr. Bernardoni all fixed up we went into the lobby of the building where they had set up a bunch of lights, cameras, and computers.  The photographer's camera was hooked up to the monitor so the marketing director could look at the photos real time and make adjustments.  They had Dr. Bernardoni (who was wearing her white doctor lab coat) and me both hold a baby and our stylists would come adjust our clothes/hair/makeup in between shots.  It was weird to have so many people watching us "move your head an inch to the right"  "turn your shoulders in just a smidgen"  "sit up the baby more."  By the end our arms were exhausted and we were all hot and sticky from the lights.  I don't think the babies ever smiled - too much going on - but at least they weren't crying!

They said once the ads are put together they would send me a copy.  I saw our pictures briefly on the computer monitor.  I'll admit that most of the time I like photos of myself... but this picture gave me that sinking pit feeling in my stomach and I just wanted to cry.  I don't know why.  Maybe it was my hair that I just got cut and was too short.  The makeup I didn't like.  The baby weight that I'm still carrying.  The maternity jeans that do nothing to help my figure.  I don't know.  But I hope when the ad comes out that I will have accepted it and realized that I had twins 5 months ago and I need to lighten up a little bit.  One thing I found out is that the Canton ads will mostly be ran in newspapers - which aren't very high quality anyways.  Luckily I don't live in downtown Ann Arbor - the photo for that area will probably be on billboards or the sides of buses!  

It was a cool experience and I hope the twins will enjoy learning that they had a modeling career as infants!