Life with the Hills (and other oddities) : Maternity Pics

Whether or not to get maternity pics was a heavily debated topic in my own mind for quite a while. On the one hand, I knew I would want to have some decent keepsake photos recording this time in my life. I will love looking back on them and showing them to Alex one day. However, I also took into consideration that even under the best circumstances, I HATE pictures of myself, as a rule. I am not photogenic in the least, and I feel like the camera always always picks up on my worst angles - that bit of arm fat, my naturally wide face, those thunder thighs. Plus, anytime I'm asked to do a "serious face," I end up looking confused or pissed off. So add about 25lbs, a gigantic belly, and a good bit of swelling to that equation, and I was not especially jazzed about these photos. But I did them anyway, and I am very glad of it. Granted, there are quite a few that shall NEVER see the light of day, but we did manage to take several that I really like and will treasure for years to come.

I decided to have professional hair and makeup done, because...well, they're pretty much the only parts I feel like I have control over at this point. There are NO professionals who could make my swollen ankles any less puffy, my face any less wide, or my hips any less massive. So, hair and makeup would have to do. BEST DECISION EVER. I definitely like the pictures a lot more than I think I would have without that perk. Another added bonus was that our photographer, Sara, from MamaLove Photography, was so nice and really easy to work with. She also made sure to take MANY pictures from each angle, ensuring that there were at least a couple decent ones amidst the (many) rejects.

And thankfully, even though I felt like I looked like this in all the pics...