A Good And Perfect Gift

{Addyson 10 months}

When my daughter was 11 months old we got scammed. We took her in to a modeling agency after no fewer than 10 people sent us the same ad they had found online looking for baby models. I had never in my life thought of putting my baby into modeling, but as a new mom, the idea of getting fun pictures of your baby all dolled up and possibly helping them with their college fund doesn't necessarily sound like a bad idea. Well, we took the drive up to L.A. to meet with the couple that was instantly ready to book my daughter. They gave us the low down and for a couple of giddy parents, we were ready to sign the dotted line!

Driving home, we decided to call my parents and tell them the great news. Well, they immediately seemed concerned with the fact that we put money down upfront for this agency. Our little fantasy bubble was starting to pop and then we when got home and started doing more research on this company, come to find out the owner had been arrested 10 years prior for a baby modeling scam under a different name. Basically, they tell you to pay them and they guarantee you will get contacted by an agency within 3 months. They act as the liaison. Come to find out, they also pose as most of those agencies and in order to "complete" the contract they contact you only to never actually book anything. It hardly makes sense to me now being so many years later that we even fell for something so ridiculous, but I tell ya, the new parent excitement will get ya. They were all over the Rip Off Reports and I called the L.A. County Sheriff Department where there was already a case being filed and I jumped on board. Within a couple months the place was shut down once again and the scam artists fled the state. I was so livid and mad at myself for making such a foolish decision. We put down a good chunk of money and I wanted it back. The department that I contacted actually took the man to court and part of the agreement was that he was to pay restitution to the 17 families that had contacted the department and reported the fraud accounts. I couldn't believe that after years and years of them going through with this I was one of the very few families that was going to be getting paid back. Amazing, but gosh I feel so bad for the hundreds of families that didn't get what they should have. So still to this day I get checks in the mail for $100 every few months and slowly I will get my money back. Let's just say that left a bad taste in my mouth when it came to baby modeling....

So years later I've continued to have people ask me about putting my daughter and now son into modeling and I just don't even know what to think. I thank them for the kind compliments, but I truly have mixed emotions on the subject. I suppose if you have a child that loves to dress up and take pictures and truly loves to be in front of a camera, then great. I just have decided I don't want to force my babies to do anything they don't want to do for the sake of a college fund or any other excuse.

{Addyson 3 years}

Recently, my good friend Jessie of Juneberry Photo was doing a shoot for a local children's fashion line. They were looking for models that happened to fit the mold of my daughter. So I decided, what the heck. I know she loves to dress up, so let's see if Addy even likes being in front of the camera and asked to pose. We decided to give the shoot a shot. Addy was the youngest of all the kids there and like I figured, she absolutely loved the frilly girly clothes. She actually enjoyed taking the pictures for the most part as well. I was somewhat surprised. By about half way through she was ready to be done and that was okay by me! The pictures came out really adorable and to her it seemed like a big game of dress up. I will also never forget this day because I took her to Red Robin after the shoot and this was the first time she used a big girl potty outside of our house! She had been potty trained for a while, but refused to go in public places, so this was a big mommy moment for me. ☺

I'm not sure when the next time might be that we decide to do a shoot like this, but at least that shoot gave me a much better feeling about the idea of modeling. Jessie is just a natural with the kids, and really makes it fun for them. I don't know if I would ever go with an agency, but if Addyson came to me and told me she really wanted to pursue it, I would look more into it. Until then, it's family photo shoots and we will see what other activities she may like more than dress up. I'm still secretly routing for gymnastics, {says the ex-gymanst mom} but she refuses to do a forward roll with my help, so I'm not so sure that is going to be the winner.

I just love watching her grow into her own little person. I can't wait to see what she chooses to be involved in... where her heart is... what she loves. Most importantly I love seeing her grow in her understanding of being thankful. At night when we all say our prayers I ask her to tell Jesus what she is thankful for. She always thanks Jesus for mommy and daddy and baby Sawyer and then she usually will surprise me with what she says next. She has been known to thank Jesus for carrot juice, kitten tails, the stars among other things. I find her little mind fascinating. I love hearing her thoughts as she prays. I truly thank the Lord daily for my kids. Being a mother is such a gift. ♥

"Every good and perfect gift is from above." James 1:17