Giving grandma what she wants

We spent this past weekend in Kansas City celebrating Chip's sister's 40th birthday. In between the big bash and brunch the following day, we managed to squeeze in some time with the Jones family, who were nice enough to host us while we were in town.

While my mom loves that Sherri and I get along so well (and that Brian and Chip get along a little too well at times), I'm sure it killed her to miss out on quality family and grandchild time. So there were a lot of calls between Kansas City and Highland, most of which ended with a request to get a picture of Brennan and Mary Clare together. Okay, we've tried this three times, and I have to tell you, each attempt gets worse. Our first attempt was over a month ago, and I think that one worked because Brennan wasn't walking yet and Mary Clare was propped up in a boppy. The second attempt was over Easter at my parents house. By then Brennan could walk, so he kept trying to get out of the chair. We finally got him settled next to Mary Clare, and then my mom made the ill-fated decision to hand Brennan a ceramic bunny "because it would be cute." Brennan promptly took that cute bunny and knocked cute Mary Clare in the cute head. So that ended that photo session.

That brings us to this past weekend. While Sherri and I had our misgivings, we still decided to give it a whirl. As Sherri held Mary Clare, I went outside to get Brennan, only to find him taking fistfuls of dirt from a flower pot and throwing it in the driveway. He was really getting after it, with his arm cocked all the way behind his head. Unfortunately, while his intentions were great, his grip was not, and most of the dirt ended up on his head. Mean aunt that I am, I promptly removed him from the potful of dirt and took him inside for a quick clean-up. As I went to work on his hands and face, Sherri decided to wet his hair in an attempt to get it to lay down. Oh, it laid down, alright. Dirt + water = mud, the most organic hair gel of them all.

After getting Brennan reasonably presentable, we put the two of them together and hoped for the best. Sadly, what you see above is the best. Seriously. If you don't believe me, check out the rest of the photos here.

Maybe after seeing this, my mom will realize that in order to get this mythical grandchild shot, we either have to (a) wait until they're both sleeping or (b) give them some booze and hope for the best. Either way, I will definitely be seeking refuge in the bottle the next time we give this a go.