It’s time for the second edition of “The Kids Were Here”, a new project that a group of Springfield Photographer friends and I are doing as a blog circle this year!  If you missed the first round and want to see it, you can view it here.

This project is meant to document the messes our kids leave behind…and even more-so  the stories that those messes tell, and to help us track the memories.  I knew right when we first stalked about this project that I wanted to do a full post capturing EJ’s “lovies” in all of the places he leaves them. Michael and I tried very hard when he was small to get him attached to a cute, washable stuffed animal or a little blanket.  We were paranoid about anything big though because whatever was in his hands (which were necessary for him to sleep) was also often covering his face, so for his first few nights in his crib, we gave him 2 small finger puppets, a butterfly and a snail, excited that they weren’t too large to block his breathing.  Within 1 night, it was clear that these were going to be his chosen item…he wrings them around in his hands, passing them back and forth, until they are asleep.  He carries them when he is scared or tired, and when he is ready to go play after his nap, will calmly and carefully deposit them back in the crib where they wait for him until next time.  And they have ended up all sorts of places in those tired moments when they must come out to play, on vacation, or any other number of places.  It was so fun for me to document these locations of his sweet lovies, usually one at a time!

Here they are, in their most common locations- the crib, and the floor after they are thrown out (which you saw last time):


And here they are everywhere else!


Love the low light capabilities on this camera, but it is dark behind the crib…!

In case anyone wonders if we photographers “set up” or plan these pictures so that they look good…let this be your proof.  No germ-crazy mama would put her child’s lovie here…

…we became a little obsessed with keeping all toilet lids closed after that in case this became a pattern!



Make sure to check out my friend and very talented photographer Victoria’s blog here– you won’t want to miss it!!

If you want to view the original project by Ketti Photography, who has kindly allowed us to take part, click on the image below.