Chloe's Winter Pre-Baptism Photo Shoot

Yeah, it's been 6 months so I can't just show up like I've been here all along. I will make all the proper excuses and catch up at some point, but for today, I am just posting pictures of Chloe. I need help choosing a picture for her baptism program and on the off chance that anyone sees that I have an update and wants to weigh in, I would love the help.

I took Alyssa's pics at Lincoln Park in the summer since she is a summer baby. I took Alex's at Lincoln Park in the fall since he is a fall baby, so for years I had visions of Chloe's pics at Lincoln Park in the snow to complete the cycle. This turned into a huge undertaking.

First we had to find something dressy but warm. I wanted a navy blue dress and white jacket, which I have often seen at Gymboree during the holidays. Not this year. All they had was Christmas-y plaids. I looked everywhere for something else. I finally found a overpriced cute coat at Chasing Fireflies. I ordered it in a size 8 and it was too small. I shipped it back and requested a 10. They informed me that a 10 was out of stock until March so I canceled the order. By that point, I had already lost $37 on shipping to and fro. I started looking for something else. Then I was notified that a size 10 was in stock, so I ordered it and lost another $20 on shipping, not to mention the price of the overpriced coat. But, Chloe had her heart set on this coat so whatever.

Then we just needed a snowy day. Since her baptism is not until February 19th, I thought that would be the easy part. We had one big storm in November and we were en route to Michigan for skating that weekend. I figured we would have plenty more snow in subsequent weeks and months. Nope! We have had a few nasty cold spells, but every time there is precipitation, it warms to 38 and we get rain. This has been the snowiest winter everywhere else, but we have had NOTHING! Yesterday we finally got about an inch of snow. It was stupidly cold and the snow did not hang from the branches as it had in my vision, but it was now or never. I dragged this poor child out, and the subzero winds kicked our trash. I ended up with frostbite on my cheeks. I won't post a picture of that, but it is ugly. Thankfully it somehow failed to get Chloe.

Here are a handful of the pictures we took. Yes, she closes her eyes when she smiles. I spent the first few years of her life telling her to open her eyes in pictures. The effort to open her eyes while smiling would leave her looking like the joker. I finally realized that her eyes smile when she smiles. I love it!

#1
 
#2 Seth likes this one. It is very Chloe, but I think she looks a bit too much like a 25 year old supermodel and not an 8 year old.
 
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#4 Alyssa loves all the ones where she is making sassy faces.
 
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#6 Chloe likes this one best. She is attempting to hold her hair out of her face because it was so windy, but it kind of looks like an intentional pose. 
 
#7 This one is not an actual contender, but I included it because she totally cut and pasted that expression from her daddy. 
 
#8 I think this is one of my favorites
 
#9 Alyssa says Chloe will grow up to be a model because she is such a poser. Actually at my sister's wedding recently, the photographer LOVED her. He told many family members what a diva she is, and told me that both my girls are beautiful but that she has the "it" factor. She really does. 
 
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#15 I really like this one, but you can't see much of her. 

 
#16
 
#17 So Chloe! 
 
#18 I saw this one and liked it because that is Chloe's real, un-posed smile. She saw it and said, "that one is a real smile." 
 
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#21 Alyssa likes this one. I think she only likes the silly, sassy ones. 

 
#22
 
When we were done, Chloe quickly jumped into the car and bundled up into warmer clothes and a hat. I think we should have used a hat to keep her hair from blowing in the pictures. Thankfully, Chloe loves pictures so she was more than willing to go pose in the cold. She was rewarded with donuts and hot chocolate and a 2 hour late arrival at school. I would have done it after school, but snow has been so rare that I didn't dare wait and let it get away. 

 
Now which ones should I use? I need a full length one for the program and maybe a close up to frame for the table.