Who Knew how Prickly Pete would change our lives

Dylan loves superheros, and has worn some superhero PJs and clothes. He likes them, but has never been one. Who knew that he would actually be able to BE a cowboy! The thought had never crossed our minds. In fact, Dylan had these leather cowboy pants since before he was born. They were a cute shower gift from Kathy Wang. They came with a little pair of matching cowboy boots, (size 0). The pants were so big at the time. They have hung in his closet for over 3 years and are a perfect fit now!

I wanted to get some good pictures of Dylan and Isaac on the horse to cancel out that first sad picture of Isaac. But I wanted cowboy hats. I borrowed a straw one from Corrie, but it kept flying off of Dylan b/c it was too big. I tried the dollar store, then Wal-mart. Florida stores don't seem to carry Cowboy stuff. I was looking for maybe a belt with gun holsters and thought about cowboy boots, but didn't find anything. So, for the first time in my life, I went inside "Western World." It shares a parking lot with my dental hygiene school but I have never had a reason to step inside. Until . . . we met our horsey. Western World had some weird chaps, expensive ugly boots, and some toddler rodeo shirts. I didn't fall for it b/c I had outfits in mind from their closet. I did NEED some cowboy hats though. Dylan picked the colors. They're like Woody's hat, from Toy Story. Every time Dylan gets on Prickly Pete, he wants the red one "zipped up" so it won't fall off while he rides so fast to "save the city."

So, they had a perfect mini photo shoot. Isaac didn't even seem to notice that I had strapped something to his head. He was so excited to get to be in front on their new ride.This is how Dylan rides into town to save the city. He's a serious cowboy (right before he goes crazy.)Isaac's showing off his Wranglers.Here's the shot of Prickly Pete, oh, and my cute little baby cowboy. Dylan loves his pet horse. (And is well on his way to braces, oh well.)

A close up

This was so easy! They just looked at me and laughed and smiled real smiles the whole time!

This is my favorite one below. Isaac looks like a sweet happy baby and Dylan is so happy that his smile covers his eyes! I was only paying attention to their faces and didn't notice I messed up Isaac's sleeve until I ordered some prints of it. I LOVE it in the wallet size though. I wish I knew how I did it:)

Each picture is a little different, even if they all look the same to you. I tried playing around with them in photoshop. I didn't change anything with two or three of them. Some are edited too much and some are still too dark. I was trying to go for an old timey feel for the Wranglers one and stopped before I messed it up too much. I have so much respect for real photographers. (Not the ones in *portrait studios, I'm pretty sure I could do that with a day of training because everything seems to be calibrated and rehearsed and they push the same silly poses on each subject.) I'm talking about the location photographers who may or may not have a studio. They edit pictures but make it seem so easy. There is a LOT of behind the scenes prepping and editing. I didn't even think much about cropping when I was playing around with boarders on these until I was placing an order. This was a fun learning experience, and it's just my own kids, so no stress.

I wonder if I'm alone in this, but I really feel like I need to have good pictures of my kids at least monthly. I don't always do it, but it's a weird urge. It's not just because of holidays, although those are good brain storm starters. I could really blow some money on pictures if I had it. I know I worry, but I think it's important to have recent pics of my kids in case they ever go missing. I also want recent ones of myself in case I die. I want them to be able to remember me. Morbid I know, but life is fragile. I just don't have a good memory and pictures are really the way that I remember events. Perhaps that's why my posts can be so wordy too. Anyway, if you'd like to hire somebody who's a real photographer, my Aunt Robin and friend Kiesha are starting out and are available. Email me. The behind the scenes editing makes the pictures sooo worth it. If you haven't had a location photographer, try it, it's addicting! (I'm sure you have excuses every month like I do, even if it's like our Trojan horse that unexpectedly brought me me back to my Oklahoma roots.) Now I want to go to the Cowboy Hall of Fame by my Grandma Gille's old house. I don't think I've ever been there even though my dad and uncles helped build the cowboy statue in the front that I've driven by many many times.

*I still go to those portrait studios b/c sometimes I need a studio or their good cameras for my last minute ideas. They're also inexpensive for being able to walk out with prints in my hand. In fact, I would have loaded up Prickly Pete so they could do this photo shoot, but they said they didn't have any cowboy props, so I spent the $ on the hats instead. I feel bad making a photographer set all up just for a little something, I don't want to waste their time.