I put all of the “first semester” of James’ While You Were At Preschool pictures into one post, so of course I had to do the same for the second semester. It’s so cool to look at how James grew through the months. Plus, there were some pictures I’d forgotten about!

I  received a lot of questions about the series over the nine months I put it together, so I thought I’d answer some of the most frequently asked questions.

Q: Do you take a bunch of the photos at once?
A: Nope. With only a couple exceptions for travel or appointments, I took every picture while Annie was at school. Between dropping Annie off at school and James’ nap time, I only had about 30 minutes to get everything set up and take the picture. Luckily, my mom was almost always around for the pictures. This was especially helpful as James got older and more mobile. A spotter was necessary!

Q: Did you photoshop the pictures?
A: No. I took every photo with my iPhone. I then ran the picture through the A Beautiful Mess app, adjusted the exposure, and wrote the caption.

Q: Do you own ALL of those costumes?
A: Some of the costumes we owned (my mom loved the pictures and often would show up with a new costume or accessory), some we borrowed, and many I improvised or made with my sewing machine, my cousin’s cricut, and a lot of duct tape.

Q: What did you have to do to get James to smile all the time?
A: He’s naturally that happy! But I’d usually whistle or make a silly noise to get his attention. As he got older, he often was distracted by the props – especially the Peeps!

Q: What does Annie think of it?
A: Annie really loved all the pictures. She always wanted to see the props I used, and she’d often engage in pretend play based on that day’s photo (she ran around with the Olympic torch I made, and she and James played “police officers” for hours). She just told me this morning that she wants James to “still do silly things for me this summer,” so she’s already missing the photos.

(To see what Annie said about each adventure, just click on the photographs.)

while you were at preschool...I had a massage.

while you were at preschool...I painted your portrait.

while you were at preschool...I clowned around

while you were at preschool...I got some ink.

while you were at preschool...I got ready for your birthday.

while you were at preschool...I saved Metropolis.

while you were at preschool...I knew when to hold 'em.

while you were at preschool...I got ready for the big game.

while you were at preschool...mommy covered me with kisses.

while you were at preschool...I went for the gold.

While you were at preschool I got ready for Presidents' Day

while you were at preschool, I played cupid

while you were at preschool...I saw some patients.
The misspelling in this one will haunt me for the rest of my life.

while you were at preschool I hit the links

while you were at preschool I took this hog for a spin

while you were at preschool I walked the red carpet.

while you were at preschool I went to a Mardi Gras parade

while you were at preschool

while you were at preschool I joined the March for Babies

while you were at preschool I found the pot o' gold

while you were at preschool I protected and served

while you were at preschool I pulled a rabbit out of my hat

While you were at preschool I pumped some iron

while you were at preschool I took this car for a test drive

while you were at preschool I cut mommy's hair

while you were at preschool I picked you some flowers

while you were at preschool I hung with my peeps

while you were at preschool I did the bunny hop

while you were on spring break we partied at the pool (while you were at preschool)

while you were on spring break we slept in late (while you were at preschool)

while you were at preschool I won at Scrabble

while you were at preschool I closed some deals

while you were at preschool I worked on greased lightning

While you were at preschool...

While you were at preschool...

While you were at preschool

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photo 2.JPG

While you were at preschool

while you were at preschool

While you were at preschool...

While You Were At Preschool

While you were at preschool

While You Were At Preschool

Which one was your favorite?