Back in February, I had a few people send me the link to a cute baby contest The Honest Company was having, urging me to enter James. I think my mom sent it to me three times.

honestbaby

The last time my mom sent the link she said, “The deadline is in a few minutes, just send in a few pictures!” I thought, eh, why not, and sent in three recent iPhone pictures. I think I got the email out with about two minutes to spare.

A few days later, I received a call that James had been picked as the size three boy! I was totally surprised because a) I’d already forgotten about the contest (my mind is a wasteland) and b) I’d had zero expectations. Of course I think James is cute, but I’m his mom! The woman from Honest scheduled James for a special photo shoot a few days later.

The shoot was at a studio in West Los Angeles, not far from our old condo. James and I walked in to an impressive spread of baby/toddler and adult snacks and drinks. James was not as excited about this as I was. He was far more into the assortment of toys that were spread out for him and the other kids to enjoy.

We only had to wait a few minutes before it was James’ turn. I changed him into a fresh Honest diaper (bicycle print), and set him down on a large, curved white backdrop. I joked with the photographer that he’d have to adjust his white balance, and he laughed…but then said, “Oh yeah, you’re right!” James is a pale, pale lad.

The whole thing took about thirty minutes. While the photographer snapped away, I asked about the photos and what they’d be used for. One of the women from Honest told me that they’d most likely be used for promotional materials, like Facebook posts and possibly an email blast. I figured it would be something along the lines of a “These babies were picked in our contest!” type of thing.

About three weeks later, I received an email from one of the contacts at Honest with some photos from the shoot. They were soooo cute:

James, for Honest Co

James, for Honest Co

James, for Honest Co

James, for Honest Co

(see what I mean about white balance?)

I forwarded the photos to my family, and kept my eye on the Honest Facebook page and newsletter, but as time passed I forgot to look for James and mostly just looked for deals.

Last week, I started getting messages and emails that said, “Did I see James on a diaper box at Target?” And I was like, “Noooo…wait. No. Honest isn’t sold at Target.” Except I hadn’t really been paying attention to the internet on May 30th (James’s Birthday), because that’s when Honest announced their new partnership with Target. Still, I just figured he was on some promotional stuff, not an actual box. Then my pal Jayme posted a photo and I was like, “Holy….”

zomg

Then we found them on the Target website on the size three box. But I still wasn’t going to believe it until I saw it myself with my own eyes. I started stalking our local Target – a true sacrifice – with no luck. At the end of last week, I received a package from Honest with James’ box, plus a note that read in part, “Surprise! We picked James for our new Target collaboration!” And I was like, “Imma let you finish, but the internet scooped you five days ago.”

Our local Target finally put the boxes out yesterday, which was good timing because I was out of diapers.

Weird

And then we did this and Annie was like, “…wait a minute!”

weird

Annie: What is he doing in that box?
Me: That’s the box he came in.
Annie: James didn’t come in a box!
Me: Sure he did, his picture’s on the front.

We’re going to pack away an empty box so James can get a kick out of it when he’s older…and we can use it to embarrass him in front of future prom dates.