Wednesday, November 28, 2012

newborn pics and some rambling

I knew that after I had Hays I would be too tired and sore and hormonal to get my act together to do my own newborn shoot. Emily graciously offered to come over and do the shoot for me. She is an amazingly talented lady and got some great shots of my little guy. Here are a few of my favorites...







Love, love, love them. Thank you Emily.

And now for a little mind dump about the last month and a half being a mom of three...

I'm so tired. I thought I was busy before but now...yowza. At the same time, tasks that seemed utterly impossible 3 weeks ago are every day normal now so I guess that means I am slowly getting a hang of this thing.

Hays is a really calm and happy baby. Praise the Lord for that! He is starting to coo and smile a little bit. His cheeks are getting rounder. He is pretty darn cute.

You'd think that the third time around I would have this job down...not so. I find myself pulling out the same old parenting books and asking the same questions I asked the last time around.

Having a baby in the winter is rough. We've all been battling colds and Marlie had the stomach flu over the weekend. I wish I could put Hays in a bubble and keep him safe from all the germs. But alas, I have no bubble and there are a lot of boogers around here. Its going to be a long winter.

Tate is so sweet with Hays. I kind of thought he'd be trying to sit on him and poking him in the eyes. Sure, that might come later, but so far he is adorably sweet and gentle with Hays. He gives him kisses on the feet and cheeks without being prompted, he gets worried when he cries. The whole thing is just too cute.

Marlie is wonderful with Hays. Its amazing what a difference 18 months makes. She is much more helpful this time around. She loves her little brothers and is such a little mother hen with them.

And finally, I'm so thankful for my family and friends. Without Shane picking me up pulling me along I would not be able to do this motherhood gig. Without my mom and mother in law helping me with the kids I would have lost my mind by now. Without the countless friends that have made us dinners over the last few weeks I would have had many more evening melt downs.

And now I must feed Hays one more time and get to bed. This last feeding before bed is wearing me out. I'm trying to relish these newborn days, but lets be honest, I look forward to sleeping through the night sometime in the future!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Hays Morgan

Hays Morgan Duggin made his entrance a month ago tomorrow and I've been trying ever since to find the time to write this post :). The weeks leading up to his birth were some of the hardest in my life so far due to kidney stones. We were so ready for this little guy to come! Without going in to too much detail, it turns out that those kidney stones probably saved Hays' and my life. They kept me off of my feet, kept me from picking up Tate, kept me from going about my normal life. At the time that seemed horrible, but the Lord knew I needed that rest to keep Hays and me safe. I never thought I would say this, but I'm so thankful for those kidney stones. My friend Emily came to the hospital shortly after Hays was born to snap a few priceless photos for us.
Hays has lots of dark hair, dark eyes and looks a lot like Marlie did when she was a newborn with a dash of what Tate looked like.
Marlie and Tate are adjusting pretty well to having this new little guy around. Its busy around here, and loud, and messy, but wonderful. We love you Hays.