The Dill Fam – A Brand-New Baby & Her Big Band of Brothers

She's going to be one tough little lady!

Ok – so if you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m just going to come out and say it – I love non-traditional family portraits! The photo of everyone looking at the camera and smiling is, to me, just that. Instead, give me the giggles, the drools, the kid face-down on the floor because he doesn’t want his picture taken – those are the real family moments that I want to help you preserve for a lifetime!

If one is looking for a “real” family to photograph, it’s hard to do better than the Dill fam. Take the momma-bear for starters – Mrs. Rachel (always Blinn to me) Dill. I’m known to be pretty forward, but I think Rachel might have me beat in that department. She has always been an incredibly powerful force of nature, including when she was 7 and I was 9 and she would make me cry when she would come over to play at our house (she and Halaina were best friends). Sure, I was the big sister, but Rachel was tough. She’s still tough, but she’s also full of love, and full of real, honest mommanity (the combination of being a mom and a human, a word you better understand after you’ve watched a mother of 4 straighten her hair and then breastfeed her infant standing up while keeping 3 other kids from lovingly smothering one another in a pig pile). Rachel has an undeniable fire in her, which I might add, burns brighter because she is a mom to the 4th power. God I love her!

If we’re continuing to talk real, look no further than the boys: Mason, Caleb and Patrick. I could go into detail, but it suffices to say that they are all 2 years apart and they know how to wrestle. Although, they do know better than to try any of that nonsense with their new baby sister. With Grace, they all turn into big softies, lining up to give her a kiss on the forehead or be the one to sit and hold her. Who knew that the best lion tamer you could get was a baby girl???

Despite being the littlest one in the pack, Grace seems to be quite at ease in the middle of all the hubbub that comes from living in a house with three older brothers. Her contentment is not unlike that of her dad, Ryan, who also seems right at home in all the excitement. Despite everything going on during the time I spent at the Dill house, I managed to catch a few quiet moments with just Ryan and Grace, which were so sweet. I believe that these quiet times together may become something that the two of them will treasure together more and more as the days go by (and as things get louder and louder 😉

Thank you Dills for inviting me into your home and sharing your chaotic little slice of heaven with me. You have no idea how at home I felt in the middle of it all. Boy will it be fun to see what Grace brings to the crew when she gets to start sharing her opinion with everyone! Lots of love!!!!