b.lovely photography

Back in December I featured b.lovely photography. Later that month we were honored with the privilege of having her photograph our family. She was so patient and kind even though the boys were acting out like kids usually do when you need them to sit still. Her sneak peeks shortly after knocked me off my feet and when I received the rest this past week I was honestly in tears over how beautiful they turned out. The photos capture our family so perfectly that I feel like this collection is such a precious gift that we will enjoy for years to come. 

You can view her portfolio on her website and keep up with her most current sessions on facebook.

Here is a collection of some of our favorites...

featured artist: b.lovely photography

Friends- remember that amazing giveaway a while back featuring Amy of Life Love Oils? Well, her family is full of amazing talent and her sister Breanne is no exception. Click on over to b.lovely photography to check out her portfolio of gorgeous images. I just love how she captures families in their natural state.

Lucky for all you locals she is in town, but for a limited time. She is currently running a special, so do yourself a favor and contact her at blovely.breanne@gmail.com for more information, including her exclusive pricing and to schedule a session before she's back on the other side of the country. 

We have a session with her after Christmas, once all the craziness is behind us but we are still on vacation. I can't wait to share our photos with you once she's done!

family + maternity photo shoot

We haven't been great about documenting this pregnancy in photos, especially consistently posed and timed ones. Also, in an ideal world we would have done some updated family photos at least a year ago, and then some maternity photos much earlier in this pregnancy when I wasn't feeling so swollen...but all those things aside I really love the photos we got today.

My mom came out to our place to take photos this afternoon. We simply went down the street a few blocks to an orchard right next to our favorite park. The lighting was perfect, the weather was comfortable and the boys were cooperative. It was some kind of blessed event!

So here are pictures of my sweet family; Malakai at 5 years old, Desmond at nearly 3 (in October), and baby sister at 37 weeks 2 days. 

Easter 2014

Easter usually happens for us in 2 parts, so we get to celebrate all weekend. It's a mix of rejoicing with our church and our families in different settings. 

The past few years on Saturday we've had a egg hunt for the boys and then brunch at Ben's parents' house with his siblings and my parents + siblings as well. Everyone gets a chance to see the little guys do their thing and then we all eat and fellowship. It's a great time and something I really enjoy every year. 

Egg hunt in Grandpa + Grandma's backyard

Opening their eggs and Easter "baskets" (book bags!) 

Usually we try to have the boys decorate eggs during the week before but we just didn't get to it this year, so we brought a kit with us and did it after brunch. It worked out okay but it was rather rushed and Kai didn't really seem to be in the mood. 

Sunday morning the boys woke up early and I was planning on sleeping in a bit until I realized their Easter baskets were set out for them to find. I popped up quick to snap a few pictures, but they were so fast I didn't get anything good. Shortly after we headed to an earlier service at church. This was our first Easter at our current church and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Afterwards we headed out to Florence where later that afternoon we would celebrate with my extended family at my Grandpa + Grandma's house. Prior to that though we met up with some friends at one of our favorite coffee shops since we don't see them nearly enough and any day now they are moving too far away. It was a nice visit, albeit quick. 

Later that afternoon we gathered at my grandparents' place to eat and watch even more kids hunt for eggs. The beach is only a couple blocks away from their house so we all walked down and had the egg hunt right on the beach. We added beanies and water shoes to the boys' Easter outfits, which I found hilariously adorable. 

For the most party I followed after Desmond and Ben kept an eye out for Malakai while they ran all over the place. Malakai took off with the bigger kids up the hill. I love that he's getting old enough for adventures like this. While Desmond was easier to follow, he had a harder time keeping his eggs in the basket. His method cracked me up, he would pick up an egg, open it and put the candy in his basket and put the egg back in the sand. Pretty smart, but I had to follow after grabbing all the empty eggs so his unsuspecting cousins didn't run along to grab the empties. 

They had a blast running around after all the eggs and playing in the sand at the same time. We got quite a bit of sand in our baskets, but thankfully most of their candy was wrapped. They also took about half the beach home with them in their shoes. I'm not the biggest fan of sand, but it was all worth it. 

Desmond enjoyed finding driftwood and "digging for treasure" with Malakai. I'm told in the picture below where my sister and Ben are laughing that Malakai handed Des an egg that was filled with sand. Brothers. 

 

We had neglected to get a family photo the day before so I'm thankful that my mom snapped this one on the beach, even though we are disheveled and mis-matched, it's a great memory. 

{April 20th, 2014}

We headed back up the house to "de-sand" and the boys got another set of Easter baskets from G'Pa + Mima as well as more treats from Great Grandpa Rob + Great Gram Rhea. We stayed to visit for a bit and then headed back home, tired and content. 

Our Christmas Card

Let's Play Catch Up {December 2012}

Hi. I'm Shandell. I blog here sometimes. Remember me?

Oy. It's been a long time since I've sat down and updated {again} and there is a lot to talk about...hence the not having time to blog about it.

Well- last time I posted we were smack dab in the middle of a very hectic schedule. Ben had 3+ weeks of intense practice every night for the drama at church. It didn't take long for us to figure out that when you start doing more to further the kingdom of God, that the enemy attacks. He tried hard and we were down for a bit, but we got back up. Des suddenly wouldn't go to sleep for me, but once Ben got home and held him he would be out in less than 10 minutes. We had sickness throughout the house, and I broke my toe one night just when Ben was about to leave. Amidst all that I was left to prepare for Christmas on my own. I found joy in knowing that God had good planned through it all and in the end, at least 12 people decided to walk with Jesus because of the message conveyed through the drama.

Early in the month we actually made time to go get our tree at a farm, see the fire truck light parade go by a few blocks away, and prepare for and attend a cookie exchange.

{tree farm!}

{firetruck light parade}

{a sampling of my holiday projects}

In just one month Malakai got a new bed, his first desk, and a lit Christmas tree in his room. A lot of "firsts" for this guy. He was just a "little" excited.

On December 18th we had a pretty decent snow. It was a bit wet, but it stuck and looked beautiful for about 8 hours. Kai made his first snowball, which he promptly threw at me. Then subsequent others that he threw at his brother. We also made our 1st snowman together (last year I ended up making it all on my own). Desmond loved stomping around in the snow and found himself a puddle to play in. boys. 

We had a staff Christmas lunch at the church, a small group dinner that we hosted, welcomed a few new babies, and then we started Christmas celebrations early on the 22nd with Ben's side of the family.

{Pottorf Family Christmas}

Christmas Eve Malakai helped make cookies for Santa for the first time. We wrote him a letter as well. That night we usually attend the candlelight service at church but Desmond had a nasty cold so we had a quite evening. Christmas day we went 3 different places, Des was coughing so hard that day he puked 4 times (twice on me), the next day it was still so bad Ben stayed home (we were up all night). Then we had a couple days to prepare for the next round of Christmas celebrations.

{Christmas Eve Traditions: new jammies, cookies for Santa, story with daddy}

{Christmas morning stockings, Christmas evening with family}

The 29th was my birthday and on our way to a family outing Ben planned, Kai got car sick...once again, it was on me. The night of the 30th we had immediate families over for dinner to celebrate my birthday, that night Ben got sick...thankfully NOT on me. He was up all night getting sick and I was up with the boys half the night because their routine with daddy was thrown off. Even still, I enjoyed my birthday and we got through it.

{for my birthday- a pegboard for my kitchen, a necklace Kai made, boots I can't wear, and snuggles with my boys- yes Kai is asleep.}

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, we had our final Christmas gathering. Ben stayed home sick, and I took the boys for a bit. They faded fast so we left early and we were all in bed before midnight.

Today we all took it easy as Ben is still recovering from his stomach flu, and we are praying that nobody else in the house gets it next.

Needless to say, I fell behind in just about everything. House work (especially after the broken toe), Christmas prep, my part-time job at the church. I guess you could say my "resolution" for 2013 is to catch up! Now that most of our big events are out of the way I feel like I can breath and start to pick up the pieces (literally!).

I honestly feel so incredibly blessed. When I had hurt my foot I had family come over a few nights and help me with the boys while Ben was at play practice. Between Christmas and my birthday, we were showered with gifts. Not just material things, but gifts of presence and love as well.

2012 surely made itself known in our family's history books and I'm looking forward to the blessings and lessons that 2013 will hold for us.

Easter(s) 2012

As with every big holiday we had more than one celebration to be at for Easter, and it was Desmond's first. As overwhelming as it all is, we are blessed to be so near family that we want to spend time with during the holidays. In addition, we always save time for just the 4 of us to keep our own little traditions going.

Unfortunately on Good Friday, Ben was home sick. He'd been coughing every morning for months and months and it had finally become really bad all day. After a visit to the doctor they said Ben had bronchitis and started him on antibiotics. He slept and coughed most of the day away while I did my best to take care of all three of my guys.

That evening I did manage to color some eggs with Malakai. He really enjoyed it and after we did a dozen he wanted to do even more.

{yes my son is wearing sequins}

Saturday morning Ben still wasn't feeling all that great but composed himself for the gathering at his parents' place. We dressed the boys in Easter outfit 1 (of 2) and took photos before anyone necessitated a wardrobe change...

{Their first matching outfits}

Then we were off to visit with both our immediate families. First our kiddos were showered with gifts from Ben's parents and his brother David's girlfriend, Vanessa.

Then they hunted eggs...

Okay, Kai hunted eggs and my mom took Desmond around to motivate Kai to keep up with his "competition". Every egg Malakai found, he would stop and open it to see what was inside.

Once all the eggs were found we took a couple group pictures before Ben headed inside to rest until it was time to eat. The rest of us visited and after a while we had lunch. A little later we gave Des his first "solid" food- baby oatmeal. He was a pro. It was such a stark contrast from Kai's first food at only 4 months old.

After a bit more visiting we headed home and rested up for the events of the next day.

On Easter Sunday I headed to church/work early in the morning like I do every week while the boys stayed home until 2nd service. Ben got the boys into outfit 2 and took some quick photos for me.

{Des is wearing Kai's 1st Easter outfit...which is 9 month size}

My family joined us for church and we had an awesome spirit-filled service to celebrate our risen King!

After all my work duties were done we had a bit before the lunch and egg hunt at my Aunt + Uncle's house. My parents gave us some Easter goodies, then Ben and my family took Kai to play outside while I nursed Des to sleep. Shortly after we headed out and Kai fell asleep for short nap in the car, just enough to keep the grumpies at bay.

It was a relatively small gathering and oddly enough the only "kids" for the egg hunt were Kai and his cousin...2nd cousin? once removed? I don't know how it works... my cousin's daughter, Delia. So an almost 3 year old and a 1 year old. It was adorable. Sadly I don't have any pictures cause I was holding Des and Ben was taking video so they're all on my mom's camera.

After playing a bit and some dessert we took the boys home and gave them their Easter baskets from us (or The Easter Bunny). This was the best picture I got of that moment...

{Desmond's outfit didn't last the whole day}

Not super cute or posed, but pretty authentic for the stages my boys are in at the moment. Ben and I were actually cracking up at how Desmond was grabbing his bucket and trying to get to the stuff inside. Malakai loved the memory game and alphabet cards he got, but his most favorite "toy" has been the colorful eggs he collected over the past few days. On Monday he played with them almost all day...

Next up...Des' 6 month update. Yowza!