For Crying Out Loud . . . SMILE!

Remember when I had Stinkerbell's pictures taken by the amazing Brandee? Well, I finally got Zoe Bug's pictures taken too. The pictures above are great, but let me tell you, Brandee had to really work for them.

Zoe spent at least a half an hour refusing to smile. I about came unglued on her. 

We even put Stinkerbell in there to try and warm her up. Which was a little ironic since we had the same problem with her. At least when Brandee asked her to smile this time, she immediately pulled one of her fakey smiles.

Zoe got a little silly too, but she wouldn't cooperate, the little monster. Brandee had to go in and PhotoShop her smile, pulling it slightly up at the corners. She's amazing.

Zoe's wearing her poopie face in this picture. We call it that because, well, . . . never mind.

Apparently we can't make her smile.

I had the idea to run home to get Zoe's pink boots, and when I came back the girls were running around the house chasing Brandee's puppy and giggling like there was no tomorrow.

It loosened Zoe right up.

 

Now that's better. It's not a full on smile, but it's not sullen discontent either.

But maybe this one is.

I see my baby in this one. Zoe hasn't changed one bit since she was about eight months old. Sure, she's bigger and she has more hair, but her face is exactly the same. 

She has lots 'o forehead, no eyebrows and no visible eyelashes. Which makes her forehead look even more expansive.

Except today, because my friend, GaeLyn, artfully applied some eyebrows and I swiped her eyelashes with a little mascara. I wonder if Zoe felt like Miss Potato Head, the way we tore into her with the hair and the make-up.

What do you think?

Personally, I love Zoe with eyebrows and eyelashes. She's a sweet little thing and I could just eat her.

Here we have Happy Meets Melancholy.

It's really a look, but don't confuse it with Zoolander's Blue Steel.

This is introspective.

Flirty.

Sassy.

I love Zoe Bug. She's my Delicate Flower.

And then there's this little stinker.

Man, what a pair these two are. T-R-O-U-B-L-E. All caps.

Okay, forgive me, but do they look like someone cut some scary mouths out of a magazine and pasted them on their faces, slightly out of proportion?

That's what you get when you fake a smile. Remember that and don't let it happen on your face.

Doesn't Zoe look like a little lady in this picture? Trust me, it's an anomaly. I can't get Girlfriend here to keep her legs crossed when she's wearing a dress. Ever. She prefers to sit with her legs sprawled out in opposite directions. Just like her Daddy. 

I think she's part spider or something.

Whoa Nelly! I wasn't prepared for this one, but I about fell on the floor laughing when I saw it.

Zoe recently learned how to cross her eyes like this. She taught Annika how to do Taco Tongue and Annika taught her how to cross her eyes.

They're helpful like that.

Zoe Bug loves her new boots. Every time we leave the house she tries to get away with wearing these babies with shorts. I tell her "Try again, Sister," and she stomps off all melodrama and petulance oozing out of her pores.

Now I have to go through the bazillion pictures that Brandee took, and figure out which ones I want prints of. I've only shown you a fraction of them, but let me tell you, I have my work cut out for me.

Which one is your favorite of Zoe Bug? Help me out here.

Please.