Today is my baby girl’s birthday. This girl is a ball of sweetness, courage, sass and just the best. I can’t imagine our family without her. She constantly tells us to “be brave like Wonder Woman”. She will cup my face with her hands or throw her arm around my shoulder and say “I just want to keep you forever”. She also is super independent, determined and so creative. She loves to come to work with me and to build things. Her favorite store is The Home Depot. Seriously, how cute is that? On July 4, I told my husband I had to go to Home Depot and she gasped so loud and said “Home Depot?!?” and she had to come with me. I like to get photos of my kids around their birthday, at the very least, so I can see how they’ve grown. This year we decided to have a Home Depot Photo Session for her 4 Year Old Pictures.
I checked with an employee that it would be okay to take pictures in the store before and also checked in with the customer service desk when we got there. They both thought it was an odd request but thought it was really sweet when I told them why. I don’t normally like to shoot inside and since it was on a Saturday, I knew the store would be busy so I kept it to just my camera and my girl, no extra lighting or equipment so as not to disturb business. The last thing I want to do is ever get us kicked out of that store!
I did search a little to see if I could find any examples of people doing something similar. I found a lot of references to the #hobbylobbychallenge and the #michaelschallenge where people try to take pretty pictures in ugly places. Our motivation was different but it was fun to see how some people have done things similarly. Here’s what I found for inspiration a Lowe’s session, an engagement session, and another child photo session. I really love the time we got to spend together and how they turned out.
We started in the garden section and I just followed her lead. She headed toward this plant and just starting talking about it.
She was a bit upset when I told her we weren’t getting it that day. She loved the pink plastic pot.
She spent a lot of time in the flooring section. Counting and feeling all of the carpet samples. That’s a section we don’t usually go to so she was excited to lead the way and check out something new.
Then to the paint samples. She LOVES this aisle. She stares at the colors and talks about how she wants to paint her room. So far she has picked pink, yellow, blue, purple.
Then to the door section. She also loves this area. She likes to open all the display doors. She also knocks on the door and wants me to say “who’s there”!
Then to my favorite section, the wood! She’s used to picking out pieces, checking for warp and loading up the cart.
Then it was on to the monthly kids workshop. We love to go to these. It’s totally free and active. Kids learn how to use tools and build confidence. After our little session, my husband and son met us at the store to join us for the “build day” as we call it. The kids had been apart for maybe 30 minutes but they ran to each other in front of the customer service desk, like a slow motion reuniting on a beach. It was adorable. They embraced and were so excited to see each other.
She gets so into it and is so proud of herself. The little hammers they have for the kids are also adorable! If you have young kids and have never been, you should check it out. It’s usually the first Saturday of each month but check with your local store. They also offer other workshops if you’re looking to get into DIY projects.
I just love her tongue sticking out when she is concentrating. I do that and so does my dad. It’s fun to see things that the kids get from each of us.
I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as we did. Libby was quite proud of them. Would you ever do a photo session at something like this? What place would your kid pick?
Happy Birthday to my sweet girl. I can’t believe how fast kids grow. If you want to see how much she has changed, here are some of her past fun birthday posts. This is a tradition I hope to keep at least until they leave our nest :).
Birth | One Year | Two Years | Three Years
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