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6.12.2014

PHOTOS FROM THE JUNK DRAWER


Are you in for a treat!

This week we've been doing all sorts of exciting junk around the house. Such as... setting aside all the pants Huck's outgrown since spring. And redesigning the blog on a whim. (Why do I do this?) And then this huge project I finally finished just now, the sorting through of all the photos on all our old hard drives so the graphics team at my publishing house can get started already on the layout of my book. Which is weird. (Almost as weird as me trying very hard right now to properly use CAPITAL LETTERS and SHIFT KEYS! I swear this is slowing my brain down, do I really have to do this? You're Worth It, InTeRnEt.) 

Ohhh, you misty watercolor memories. A few photos felt like a punch to the gut they carried so much of my heart. All the feelings, all the sentimental garbage, blah blah blah, uh wee-oh wee-oh wee-oh (is what Huck used to say when he was certain he was saying actual sentences but only really knew maybe a handful of words). So here are a few. I think they've never made the blog (as far as I remember?), but, eh. Cue the Barbra Streisand. Go get a kleenex.


Huck on his first birthday. We had a little costume party with all his little friends. He went as Charlie Brown. 


This unflattering photo, taken in Lancaster, PA. Looking back on this, I should have known. I should have known that this Amish hat that I jokingly told Brandon I would buy just to get a reaction out of him would some day haunt me forever. I have seriously kicked myself over and over for not getting it. Come to my house, you might think I live on a farm. I'm not kidding. What is up with me? I am thinking of learning to pickle green beans this summer.


I can actually, physically feel that puppy when I look at this photo. Oh golly. I can smell him. His grape jelly head and those corn chip paws. The rough hairs along his belly and the soft hairs on the top of his head. Oh I want to give that boy a real good snuzzle. Barnaby MacDuffleMuffins, your mommy misses you. 


So this one time I was asked to speak at a blog conference, and it was, like, 2009, and I had no idea what in the world I was doing, and they needed a headshot, and I was all, "Would this work?" and then Brandon said, "No."


Barney was very supportive when I asked for his assistance in teaching Brandon how to swaddle a baby. 


These are the lilacs we grew along the back fence of our yard in Idaho. Brandon and I talk about these lilacs all the time. We often wonder how they're doing. If you're in Moscow + you happen to see them, will you tell them we say hi?


I wrote a post about the 13-hour cereal sale at the Rosauers a million years ago. It's this eternally weird yearly tradition in Moscow, and who even knew it but I guess I'd taken a photo for documentation purposes that I promptly forgot about the minute I left. So there you go. That's a lot of Frosted Mini Wheats, but I stand by it. 


The view from my room of dreams when our killer Hyacinth was blooming. 


Me, Elk River, twenty-five weeks pregnant, being a very good sport.


Oh break my heart, Peter Pan. 


The rainbow over Roosevelt Island the day Huck was born.


All three of us Randys.


!!!!


Are you seeing this, uterus?!? Come on already! What gives!



Hashtag Real Life, Bishessss. Nursing on a Thursday morning, giant tangle of who knows what on the dresser. Glamorous.


But really, guys. Thank heaven for selfies. Quit villainizing the selfies! (Pregnancy + nursing hormones gave me some really killer freckles, right? Not very cute killer freckles. Sloppy killer freckles.)


Huck's cousin Theo came to visit us one April when they were both about six months old. I sometimes forget how hysterically fat my baby was, I'm so glad I have ridiculous photos like these to remind me. Everything I ever wanted, I tell you.


This is the closest I'll ever get to a Felicity-opening-credits-esque shot in this lifetime, probably. (Hey Kaitlyn... I just got an idea....)


There was once a time when Brandon was so opposed to having his photo taken, so righteously indignant every time the camera came out, that this was the face he made. Every single time. To my future children: please use this photo for your dad's funeral program.


Huck's first subway ride, at four days old. Can we talk about my pregnancy hair?


Your girl is lovely, Hubbell!

The end.

40 comments:

  1. The photo of the rainbow on your boy's birthday made me misty. If there is any stitch of magic in the air a new mommy will find it. I think that is so special. That was a mighty big rainbow for your boy. <3

    I also will pull out the camera tomorrow and forever to take a hundred more pictures of our everyday-ness. Thank you. xoxo

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  2. AnonymousJune 12, 2014

    Thank you for capitalizing the letters! It's really much easier to read. This was a fun post - such cute little dogs!

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  3. These are so fantastic! Fat baby Henry! I have such a weakness for fat baby thighs. And I personally think your sloppy killer freckles are literal perfection.

    Also, speaking of the redesign, it's so lovely, but it's currently too wide for my browser. I use Chrome on a Mac, maybe this is just a me problem? But I thought I would bring it up in case it's something that can be fiddled with.

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    1. thanks for letting me know! i'm still fiddling, so i'll just fiddle a little further. :) xo

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    2. I second this! The redesign is lovely, but I'm on one of those big Mac laptops and I still can't even see the photos in full - I have to scroll to see them and never get them in their entirety on the screen. Other than that, looks great! Awesome post x

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    3. Third here - I can see the full photos on my desktop at work, but the text/content on the left is about 1/4 offscreen. Otherwise, it's a lovely redesign.

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    4. Hi Natalie! Mine is the same! so Im scrolling side to side! Hopefully you can work it out! xo

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  4. i LOVE the new look. it's awesome. i do agree with amanda jean up there as it's currently too wide for my browser, too. i use safari so it must not just be chrome, obviously.

    but also. huck. seriously amazingly cute. gosh.

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  5. Oh man, the memories. Seeing these old photos of your life reminds me of where I was in my life when all those events were taking place! Thanks for the trip. :)

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  6. I am so happy to see capital letters - like more happy than I should be. It makes your posts SO much easier to read! There are a few entries that I have a headache from about 1/4 of the way through & gave up on. This makes me happy because now I'll actually be able to read your work :) Yay!

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  7. AnonymousJune 13, 2014

    We're about to leave Moscow so my husband can go to grad school, and I'm already nostalgic for the Palouse. (Can you be nostalgic while still living the moment you'll remember longingly?)

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  8. Awww, my little man was a fat baby too. I look back at old pictures and think, "John, why are you wearing a fat suit?" His face is hidden in there somewhere!

    -Emily Hansel

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  9. Yo, that night owl post was killing it. Wonderful!

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  10. That was great. So heart happy now!

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  11. This post is so fun :)

    P.s. the redesign looks fabulous!

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  12. I love the trip down memory lane! And both of our vests in the last photo. I also love the photo of Huck's first subway ride. Priceless.

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  13. I really liked this post! Our kids are the same age and I've been reminiscing about my daughter's baby-ness lately as well. I remember coming across your blog for the first time years ago and being amazed about how wonderfully chunky Huck was! My daughter reached her maximum chunkiness around 6 months then turned right into a string bean ever since (I thank her 6'8" athletic dad for that!). I'm due with a boy any day now and hoping this (last) time around I'll get a chunkier baby ;-) Thanks for your sharing a trip down memory lane!

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  14. what a great trip down memory lane. fat huck, i almost can't stand it - he's so cute! and peter pan and barnaby!! so sweet.

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  15. this was so sweet! loved the photos.

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  16. aw i loved all lowercase, i always get yelled at for typing like that too. people who need proper capitalization to read, boring much? still dig the blog either way!

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  17. These pictures are all so sweet -Hanna Lei

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  18. With all the capitalization, it almost doesn't sound like you! Is that weird?

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    1. And I don't mean it like the weird criticizy jerks on the internet. I just mean that the way this post sounded in my head while reading it was markedly different than usual. That's all!

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    2. haha, it didn't sound like me to me either when i wrote it! it even felt different. i'm not sure it'll stick, but i figure this font seems to cry out for occasional caps, and also, personal growth and things? we'll see we'll see. ;)

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  19. Wow this is indeed a perfect drawer of treasures! I loved looking and squealing at Huck's fat marshmallow thighs. But all of the cutest baby pictures aside, I love reading your blog posts, Natalie! I have been peeking at your blog for a couple of months now and reading about your wonderful family really puts a smile to my face. And since I live in NYC myself, it's nice looking at my neighborhood in a different light. :)

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  20. Nice! I just spent a few days redesigning my blog too. I've jumped out of bed like a happy child on Christmas morning, all excited to go play with my blog again. Feels good, doesn't it??
    Also, great post! I'm about to have my first baby in a few months and Huck's fat little legs just sent me surfing through your new-mommy blog posts all over again. Can only hope my baby will be as chubby as yours! :D

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  21. pssshhhh selfies FO LYFE!! and oh my word my sweet Birdie turns 1 today and i was going through her younger pics as well.....LAWDY. my cry-count is currently at 2. babies!! oh how they grow!!

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  22. The photo of little Huck on your chest is EVERYTHING <3

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  24. Im team lowercase letters! I love your blog, thank you for sharing your riteous little fam, and I am so excited for your book!

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  25. Hi Nat,

    I'm a long time reader of yours! I know about your struggle with infertility, and just came across this article. I thought you might be interested!

    http://thisdomainis.blogspot.ca/2014/06/the-miracle-of-izaiah.html

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  26. this is amazing. i love discovering old photos. at that felicity photo is perfection!

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  27. i waved to those lilacs for ya

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  28. Heyyyyyy I always like your all lower case (which is weird for me because I'm one of those annoying grammar sticklers), but I thought it made your words, I don't know, personable somehow. Not that they're not when properly capitalized! It just made it different and not at all difficult to read. I support your capitalization, if you so choose. But anti-capitalization seems distinctly Natalie-esque.

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  29. I love your Felicity references!

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  30. Where were you in Lancaster? I don't recognize the picture...You actually rock that Amish hat, I have to say. Very few people can do that. Ha

    -- Abby
    littlecityadventures.blogspot.com

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  31. This post seemed more like a throwback to an older version of Natalie (as in past Natalie, not agewise). I really enjoyed it. Caps or no caps, doesn't matter to me, but it just seemed your heart was in it today. Always rooting for you.

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  32. So fun looking back. Loved this post.

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  33. AnonymousJune 16, 2014

    I love this post. I don't know you and I have experienced so little of what you have, but even without knowing you well or being able to fully relate I can see the love filled memories and the full life that has been lived around the capturing of these photos!!

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