Oh my goodness.  Yesterday was...comical.  And magical.

Let's start at the beginning.

Several weeks ago, I contacted a dear photographer friend, Abi, and begged her to do a photo-swap with me.  I needed new head shots, and it turned out that she was totally open to getting a few photos of her hubby and herself for their first anniversary.  She was even down to get a few photos of the whole family.  WIN-WIN-WIN.  

So that brings us to yesterday.  Both girls wake up with a fever.  Georgia has her first cold (BOOOO!!) and Charlotte is cutting molars.  Fan-freakin-tastic.  But neither heat nor cold nor dark of night or whatever will keep us from these photos, so we press forward, with the Nose Frida and Motrin in hand.  We get a bite to eat on the way, and our napping-is-for-sissies two year old falls asleep in the booth with her head in my lap.  Uh oh.

Strike one.  Sick kids.

Around 6pm, I realize that traffic in Dallas is a bummer (novel thought, right?) and text Abi that we won't make our 6:30 meeting time.

Strike two.  Late.

Getting close, Jeff and I make plans to call his sister after we are done, as she lives very close to our destination.  Perfect.  Except she beat us to the punch when we drive by her running on a jogging trail.  WHAT?!  Crazy.  Yell at her, scare her to death, tell her where we are headed, figure we'd see her soon, but have to hustle because...yes...running late.

We arrive and after a little small talk, I step aside to get dressed for my head shots.  

Strike three.  Not prepared.

Apologizing profusely for being that person who doesn't show up ready to go, I stuff my postpartem body into my outfit and awkwardly twirl and smile and guaff (more of a sound than a word...give it a whirl) for the camera.  And, side note, let me tell you--Abi is fantastic.  Because the awkwardness only lasted a second.  After that I felt like a beautiful princess unicorn girl, gracing the world with my presence.  S/O to Abi for teleporting me to that place.  Anyhow, wrap that up and head back to the car, where my two beautiful girls are doing their best to rip another hole in the ozone layer with their shrieks and cries, which makes me realize:

Strike four.  Hungry infant.

At this point I've struck out and am starting on the next batter.  But Abi and her husband, Charlie, are incredibly gracious and wait while we took care of business with the little girls. Around this time, Tiffany (Jeff's sister) shows back up and came bearing gold: popsicles.  YES.  Perfect.  And then she sooths the crying newborn.  Have I mentioned lately how much I love that girl? 

Anyhow, we all cry our way through the rest of the evening, and in the end, I am left with three things:

1. Renewed grace for my clients.  It is REALLY HARD to have my act together, but to do so while on a schedule and trying to look good?  Near impossible.

2. A LOT of love and respect for Abi.  She made me feel like we were the best people in the world, and never once showed any annoyance over my aforementioned strikes.

3. SO MANY GORGEOUS PHOTOS. Here's one.  You're going to have to go to Abi's blog to see the rest, because she deserves all the traffic in the world.

Tomorrow I'm going to share oodles of photos of the incredibly beautiful Abi and Charlie (and Charlotte's favorite--their pup, Rudy!).  In the meantime, we're still recovering over here in the Egger house.  I'm going to go back to bed now.  Just kidding.  Maybe.