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!

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.

family of 4

Baby #3 will be here soon. We are waiting. I'm waddling around. The last few weeks have been interesting. I was surprised by a kidney stone attack and haven't been feeling well ever since. Three kids, three kidney stones. I'm nothing if not consistent. They can't do anything more about the stone until the baby is born so until then we are taking it one day at a time. I'm relying on friends and family to help with Marlie and Tate and people have been amazing. I'm learning to accept all the help and let go of my pride. It hasn't been easy. Shane has proven once again that I have the best husband in the world. He's doing everything I used to do and more to keep things running around here and taking care of me too.

I set up the old tripod and got these shots just before everything got really complicated and I'm so glad that I did. They are part of a longer series that I'll share later. My sweet little family of 4 before we become 5. I sure do love these people and I can't wait to meet the newest addition.

Marlie, my big kindergartner

Last week my Marlie started kindergarten. Unbelievable. What happened? It's so true what they say about mothering small children, the days are long but the years are short.

She loves school. She is still getting used to the fact that it is every day this year. Each morning she comes bouncing in to my bedroom asking "What are we doing today?" Too cute.

Mr. Weston started pre-k 4 at Marlie's school this year. This is the first picture I have of these two together...

and just look at them now....

Ah! I can't believe it!

baby Auggie

Last week my sweet friends Matt and Katie brought over their latest family addition, Auggie, for his first photo shoot. Big sister Sophie came along too and she could not have been cuter. I love these sibling shots...

Little Auggie took a short nap and then he just wanted to look around at everyone. We didn't mind because I mean look at that little face. Those eyes! What a handsome guy.

Congratulations guys! Such a cute family!

Noelle & Rick

While I'm not officially shooting weddings anymore, every once in a while I get the opportunity to be the wedding photographer for close friends. A few weekends ago Shane and I headed to Iowa for Rick and Noelle's wedding. It was an amazing wedding to photograph with so many beautiful details and it was wonderful to see these two sweet friends tie the knot. Click here to see a slideshow of their big day.

blue cookies

Last week we got some blue cookies to tell Marlie that she is going to be big sister to another little brother! Two little boys! I kind of can't believe it. Life is an adventure :).