Mr. Etsy

Lee,

Thanks for supporting me in everything that I do. I am so grateful for you and I think we make a killer team :) Not many husbands would stay up until the early hours of the morning wrapping flowers for headbands.... you= the bomb dot com :) Maybe you should open an etsy shop? I heart our family, even if this is like the only good pic from our last family shoot. I guess that's what happens when we have 3 girlies!

Love you LP

Lovin the blue!

Just a sneek peek for Connie. Her boys were so busy and SO fun! More to come, but I knew she'd love a picture to see :)

lovein it

Check out what I've been up to lately over on my photoblog. I am so lucky to be hanging out with some of the most attractive people ever!

Sharp Talons

"OWL" love you forever my Gwenny Penny. I had to capture how cute you look today. You are finally starting to make some noise and your cooing melts my heart. You are the sweetest happiest baby... except for dreaded bath time :)You are growing so big way too fast. Love you.

Saving my Pennies

I am saving my pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters to go to this boutique! So many attractive things to buy :) A friend and I will have a booth and have many many many headbands and necklaces for the offering! If you are looking for all things ruffled, frilly and sparkly.... COME HERE!

Me today

Tonight at 11:22pm as I am rushing to finish my daily jobs of cleaning and dishes and editing and preschool.. I mean joyschool (delia always corrects me) I glanced at a shelf in my kitchen to find delia's hand prints all over in the dust. Yeah the shelf was dusty... having 3 kids is getting to me alright.

And I thought, I am grateful for those hand prints. The moments I spent with sweet 3 year old delia or wide eyed 5 year old Eden or giggling and drooly 3 month old Gwen are the most precious things to have. Tomorrow they will grow older and change and I must cherish every moment.

I must be getting older, because I am beginning to not care how perfect everything looks, or if I dazzle everyone with my handmade whatevers and just want to soak up every dinnertable conversation, or funny things Eden tells me about her school day. How sweet Eden is to ask a less popular boy in her class to play at recess, or delia high fiving Santa at the Mall and then turning to me and saying..."Its just a guy dressed up" so matter of factly :)

I LOVE my life today and tomorrow and next week, just as it is.

And my best part of each day is my family.

I trade you one smile for a cupcake

Pink boots, pink cupcakes and lots of silly giggles... hey whatever it takes to get a little girlie to smile right? :) Thanks Westergards for a fun time with your family! Check out my photoblog for more pictures!

Monkey see, Monkey do

So sweet to have this girlLoving this girlAnd making Mom a little mad that she could get her to smile better than I could!

Porters lately

Alright get ready for some randomness... so rewind back to fall break, we were sick and stayed home all week! So we crafted with sewing and coloring and cutting and decorating :)

Eden's spooky bats
delia's jolly jack-o-lanterns
face painting to prepare for costumes....
and here's a sampling of the shirts brit and I made :) sewing lessons for Brittney and she did so well!
Then on to Halloween... or the remains of our jello earthworms, notice there is a lot left, the kids thought they were too gross to eat :)
and just to keep it random, a pic or two of the girlies on Sunday before the freezing weather hit!

All the kings horses and all the kings men...

Sneek peek for the Anderson Family. Their little girlie KILLS me with her sass (something I appreciate, just not in my own girlies, at least not when its directed back at me;)

Since I'm working at getting my photo blog going, I'll post more pictures over there. :) Just training all my good little blog readers to check it out and come back often ;)

*and no worries, their little humpty dumpty fell off the wall, but didn't get hurt, just confused at why everyone was laughing at him :)

A Name and a Blessing

I LOVE my family.
I LOVE ruffled sleeve dresses.
I LOVE October weather in the backyard.
I LOVE Sunday brunch & muffins.
I LOVE all shades of pink zinnias. (Only in AZ in October!)

I LOVE Gwen in her perfect tiny white dress.


Highlights of Gwens blessing 10/10/09
*delia asking when we were going to bless gwen. Emily telling her we already did. delia questioning why gwen wasn't wet. Emily tells delia we are not Catholic?
*Gwenny's tiny white shoes.
*all my girls dresses and accessories were handmade :)
*muffins with pink toppings.

the smell of a fireside

Sunday was Gwenny's first day at church.

Getting 3 girlies dressed and looking ready for 8 o'clock church plus me is no small feat. I may need to rely on superwoman strength for next week... good thing its conference :)

And Lee did help, but the sheer time alone to part the hair for pigtails, to curl in ringlets, to choose matching bows and flowers. Seriously supernatural powers.

So after church we all hit the hay. We haven't taken a Sunday nap in ages. It was wonderful. Baby loved snuggling up next to her dad :)

Later that night as I was talking to the girls as they went to bed, delia comments..."Mom, you smell like a fireside."

"A fireside?" I ask. "What does a fireside smell like?"

She replies matter of factly... "Oh smokey and stuff."

I LOVE my little little girlies and the way their minds work :) I guess I never explained what a fireside was, so she put two and two together.

Maybe next time I'll bring the graham crackers.

For Leah

There's a blue fence I've been eyeing for a few years. Its bright blue and weathered, and right next to a crusty motel. Just the things I look for in a backdrop.. right? ;)

My friend Leah met me to take some pictures of her kids and their amazingly long eyelashes. Seriously, the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion to pluck them out and superglue them to my eyelids. I know... I'm vain.
So I snapped a few of my girlies who were there too, since the fence was feeling extra fun and bright. ps- I LOVE Amelia, she is the happiest, smiley-ist baby. Yeah I said smiley-ist.Did I mention his eyelashes?

32lbs of sweetness

6 months ago 3 friends and I all realized we were growing a bump and expecting about the same time. Chelsie was due a few weeks before I was, Becca... a few days after me, and Corri a few weeks after me. Well, Mariah, Gwen, Davis and Brooklyn all came to Earth within a month or so of each other!

We got together on Friday and had lunch and introduced the babes to one another :) They were so funny all on the bed together. Davis was trying to eat Brooklyn's flower, Mariah was screaming in Gwen's face and they were constantly all wiggles :)

Mr. Right

I fell in love with this boy....
And am still in love with this man.

Happy Birthday Lee!

I love...
-when we used to ride in the bug and sing at the top of our lungs
-watching the stars out back on a blanket in Johnson Ranch
-how cautiously you drove home from the hospital with Eden
-painting until the early hours of the morning every night getting ready to move into this house
-going to the lake at least once a week that summer
-dancing barefoot in the kitchen after the girlies have gone to bed

You are the best thing that could have happened to me and I am so grateful for that!

I love you.

Family Photo Shoots!

Its that time of year to start
thinking about the holidays!

As in years past I am offering hour long family photo shoots for the next few months at an awesome price!
All images are yours to print/design into a Christmas card etc.
Locations up for grabs are urban: downtown Chandler & landscape: Gilbert's location TBA

Dates are first come first served, so email me asap with any questions and to book a date!
~Amanda porterhousephotography@gmail.com

Check out my new photography site! The link is in my sidebar! ------->

Reflections

Wowzers! I just got an email with the link to Reflections new site Another Testament. Please please check it out and share it with others. I know so many lives will be affected by this project, ours already have. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to experience the people, the trip and the testimony it bares.

http://www.anothertestamentofchrist.com/

special shout out to our amigo Jake for his featured interview :)

Precious Mariah

Oh goodness, I LOVE girlies, and big bows, and bling, ruffles and all that accompanies little girls! My cousin Rebecca had a baby girl just days after Gwen was born, and I am so excited for best friend cousins! I couldn't help but share this amazingly precious picture of Mariah as soon as I uploaded all of them. Such a dolly! Congrats Becca & Scott :)

girlie #3 is here!

Welcome to the world our cutest little sister Gwen :) Yeah for me for finally going into labor on my own... kinda a weird experience but so exciting and fun! She was born Saturday at 11:37am and weighed 8lbs 12oz. She is the best sleeper (knock on wood) and Eden and delia couldn't be more excited! Once Lee and I recover and catch up on sleep I'll post some more pictures.

camera one camera two camera one camera two

I'm redoing the girl's bedroom since the swapping of rooms for baby, and I want to put up several big pictures of the girlies. Here's a set that I snapped randomly one day as the sun was going down. Lee and I can't agree/ decide on which are our favorites. There will be several more on the wall, so its not life or death, but which do you like best (just for another opinion. because I value outside opinions.. especially with photography)

delia in #1 #2 #3 or #4 and Eden #1 #2 #3 #4

ps.. did you know I don't like capital Ds so I only write delia's name with all lowercase? I know I'm weird... do you think they'll make an exception for her in kindergarden?