A Photo an Hour

Just like you, we’re in the thick of it. Locked down. Housebound. Trapped. Claustrophobic. Days (months, actually) of not seeing people or talking to actual humans. Feeling as if we’re losing our minds and ourselves sometimes.

But what does a normal day look like now? Probably not all that much different than another time in our lives, actually. At least in a set a photos. There’s still cuddles and love and walks and thankfully some sunshine to be had. And that I’m thankful for.

The inside of our house has gotten smaller. We’ve added another human and a lot more stuff. We’ve shifted this way and that way to try to create more space. But there’s no space left to be had.

Winter is even harder as we can’t spill ourselves out into the garden. We stay nested inside waiting for warmer days.

This is just a regular Saturday. We have one every week. The food shop arrives. We play. We nap. We go for a walk. We feast. We’re all together.

This Saturday I documented our life in one photograph per hour from 7am to 7pm. (Plus a couple of sneaky extras for fun). It’s a time capsule for our family of what these lockdown family days are like. 

If you want a project to help you appreciate the beauty in the mundane of a regular Saturday, I highly recommend this. It is so therapeutic to see that these days that sometimes feel monotonous and grating are actually gorgeous and I love them. It’s a smaller and much more manageable take on a full year 365 project.

On this normal Saturday, I also forced myself to be included in my family photos. I took the time to set up my tripod and make sure I was documented along side of my loved ones.

Have you done a family photography project like this of your own family? How did it make you feel to look through the images?

7am - Shopping Arrives

7am - I love Saturdays. It’s the day we get our food shop for the week. The hoarder in me loooooves a full fridge. And the lazy in me enjoys pulling things out to make for meals. As the days tick on in the week and for is depleted the more I struggle to make dinners. On Saturdays we feast!

8am- The Fleeting Cuddle

8am - You wake up by 4 or 5 every day. So by the time it’s morning for the rest of the world you’re wired and racing with energy. It’s rare that you’ll sit still long enough for a cuddle. When you hug us you end up pulling us over or jumping around. But you sat with papa and rested your sleepy head at 8am for all of 20 seconds. It was fleeting but still a precious moment.

9am - Muddy Puddles

9am - Everyday you go for a walk. Either with me or with papa. It’s a battle getting out the door but you always love it. Today we walked as a family while Scarlett napped in the stroller. We found icy puddles to crunch and watched our warm breath meet the cold air.

10am - Spinach Pancakes

10am - Papa doesn’t like pancakes. I make them for you, me and Scarlett. You are 4 and have no patience with waiting for the pan to properly heat up and you gobble up the first batch that should go into the trash. By the time the “good” pancakes are ready you’re full up.

11am - Wardrobe Change

11am - You’ve never really liked being dressed. But you don’t protest too much since dressing you is a frequent occurrence. Lately you’ve not been interested at all and you let the tears flow in the process. I’m trying so hard to just love every phase of your babyness but seeing you cry makes me so sad. I hope you’ll be back to not minding the wardrobe changes soon.

11am - Napping Unicorn

11am - Nobody loves a stuffy as much as you. Especially when they’re new. Grammy sent you and Sissy little snuggles for Christmas and you’ve adopted both of them as your babies. You are such a good little mama and you put your tired baby down for a rest and tell us to be quiet.

11am - Breastfeeding

11am - There’s too much to do and see. Even in the four walls of this tiny house. You just don’t have the time to sit and drink your milk even when you’ve requested it. So you look around at any noise you hear or any movement you see. Luckily I hardly feel the stretching of my nipple that you take with you as your head swings around.

12pm - Nap Routine

12pm - Naps haven’t been so easy. We sleep together you and me. Holding, cuddling, loving. It’s my favorite part of the day but it’s also the hardest. My old body is breaking at being horizontal but not actually resting and your sis is left on her own to play. I need to change our routine but I’m a bit stuck. I am trying to introduce more sleep queues into the nap schedule. It’s early days still.

1pm - Waking Up Sad

1pm - You are such a happy baby. It’s such a joy to be around you. But the last couple of days you’ve been so grumpy. Even when you wake up from your nap and should be refreshed you’ve got nothing but tears. Are we in the 8 month sleep regression? Do your teeth hurt? Your front top ones should be cutting any time. Or are you just developing and getting ready to move and crawl? Everyday I ponder the reasons while I scoop you up to cuddle you.

2pm - Toy Mayhem

2pm - Because your bedroom is small and cozy, the cupboard under the stairs has been transitioned into your toy cupboard. It’s all yours. The vacuum has been long evicted as well as papa’s shoe collection. But you’re 4 and you just toss your things inside and slam the door closed. It’s such a mess that you actually stopped playing with most of your toys because you couldn’t find anything. So Papa decided to help you clean it out and organize it.

3pm - The Cupboard

3pm - The cupboard under the stairs. The home for all of your beloved stuffies and little toys that help aid in your beautiful imagination. As soon as the project of cleaning and organizing was complete you decided to write your name on the outside so we’d know to knock before we enter. But papa made you take them down so the tape wouldn’t pull the paint off the door.

3pm - Vacuum Concentration

3pm - You used to not mind the vacuum. Sometimes it even seemed to bring you comfort when you were itty bitty. But now that you’re a bit older and more aware of all the things you’re not quite so sure of that thing. It makes a lot of noise so you watch it with intensity.

4pm - Starting Dinner

4pm - So many fresh veggies on shopping day. I always have to restrain myself from using them all early in the week for massive veg filled dinners.

4pm - Washing Cloth Nappies

4pm - The wash. It’s the bane of my existence. It’s ALWAYS on swooshing and whirring and spinning away. If I could be rid of any daily core it would most certainly be laundry. Ironically I chose to dress you in cloth nappies to only fuel my hatred for this chore.

5pm - Eating your veggies

5pm - You are the best vegetable eater. You’ve always been enthusiastic about food. A true Dautlich! But the thing that’s the most impressive is how you do everything with so much style. Hold on to that carefree uniqueness. It is such a defining part of your brilliant personality and I wish for you that you embrace it as you get older.

5pm - Papa Love

5pm - Your papa. You’ve got him wrapped so tightly around your finger. The way he lights up when he sees you smile makes my heart so happy.

5pm - Baby Bath

5pm - You have always loved bath time. You get so excited to splash and play in the water that you often splash yourself and get surprised. I’m gutted we haven’t been able to take you swimming yet because I know you’ll be a natural when we get you into a pool.

6pm - Sleeping Baby

6pm - The glow of Ollie Owl on your sweet sleeping face. Full of peace. I could watch you for ages but I know I’ll be back up to the room in no time because you’ll stir just enough to realise the boob has left. Then I’ll get to admire you all over again. I don’t want to “look forward” to anything. I want to be present in this day. But I really will enjoy it when mama gets a couple of hours to just do mama.

7pm - Kitchen Tidy

7pm - Oh my heart. You make your way to the kitchen after working all day and getting H to bed to do the dishes while I put Scarlett to sleep. I know you do it because it gives you high blood pressure to listen to me washing the dishes with too much water. And you can watch a YouTube photographer while you clean. But to me it’s a little love letter every night.

7pm - Gin and Tonic

7pm - Gin + Tonic. It’s a necessity these days. But not too many because now everything gives me a headache in the morning.