step by step...

Little things are happening here at the Rusco House.  This week, the kids received their passports in the mail.  Jason and Cameron had old passports from our trip to Uganda in 2007, but it was time to renew and get Hayden her first passport.  This process was not simple.  The first major hurdle was getting a picture of our girls.  Both girls have a crippling shyness issue when it comes to strangers taking their picture (I'm actually quite ok with that... there's a lot of creeps in the world!).  Darren found a passport photo app for his phone (insert Apple slogan here) and tried to get a good picture of the kids.  Jason agreed right away, look at the camera, don't smile, etc, but Hayden had a bit of difficulty.

 And then there was Cameron.  For a while now we had been impressed with Cameron's progress from turbulent toddler to fantastic five year old.  Unfortunatley, the girl hit a major setback.  This summer she has been in a phase where she refuses to have her picture taken, you may remember this:

Sweet, isn't it?  So we have a whole summer of shots like this and my stealth attempts to take pictures while the little darling is unaware of me.  And then it was time to take a passport photo.  She had a meltdown the magnitude of which we have not seen in these parts for nearly 2 years.
Epic.
Horrific.
Laughable.
Because honestly, wouldn't you laugh if your kid refused to have a picture taken?  Finally, in an eleventh hour attempt, Darren snagged THIS photo:

My little Lindsey Lohan.  I am one proud mama.  When she got her passport in the mail, I think Cameron was a little embarrassed at what she had done.  So for the next 5 years Cam will travel the world with this little number, let's all pray that she is in a better phase the next time around!