Layla's baptism

Layla was baptized at just 2 months old on Mother's Day! Forgive the pictures... these were the best we got. Our camera was not happy that day!

Pastor John and Pastor Dena and little Miss Layla.


Our family.

And our little (BIG!) family! Emma was having a rough day. Layla was a dream however during the baptism and the service. We are so blessed to have 3 precious little girls to fill our lives with!

Easter 2011

We had a lot of firsts this Easter. Our first Holiday as a family of 5. Layla's first Easter. Our first road trip with 3 kids. And lots of first smiles.

Our Easter festivities started the weekend before this year. Our neighborhood hosts a fun Easter event each year. This year the Easter bunny was there, bounce houses, face painting (see Grace's face), egg hunting, and even a petting zoo (those poor animals being chased by a lot of kids!).

Layla even got to get out... she slept the entire time! She loves her ERGO and so do I!

The girls also had Easter parties and egg hunts at their preschool but getting there was good enough of me. Having my camera would have been by pure miracle!

For Easter weekend we headed to East Texas to spend the weekend with Adam's family. It's always so nice and quiet and relaxing there. No quick trips to Target or anything like that since nothing is really close by. But its a great excuse to stay in your cozy clothes all day and watch movies and enjoy family. And thankfully the drive wasn't bad. Layla slept the whole way both there and back... fitting every thing we needed for the weekend in car was another story :)

The Easter bunny came...

Layla and her basket...

The girls with their baskets.... Emma and Grace had a lot of questions. Emma wanted to know how the bunny was going to get there - by walking or driving... he hopped of course! And Grace wanted to know how he knew where we were since we weren't home... God tells him where we are at!

Pop pop and Layla were tired from all the action...

And a little egg dying too place.

But most of all Layla really started smiling at 5-6 weeks old! I LOVE when babies can start interacting more. What a sweet smile from our littlest sis!
And I don't have a picture of the girls in their Easter dresses... we actually didn't make it to church! Had every intention it just didn't happen. Thankfully the bluebonnet pics below they were wearing their dresses. :)

Happy late Easter to your family!!

1st day to church

Layla enjoyed her first Sunday at church a couple weeks ago. She did fabulously making it through both Sunday School and church service.

Each of my girls have worn the same dress for their first Sunday at church. It was just a dress that someone gave to Grace. Nothing terrible special but somehow has turned into a dress we will keep. I dug through some old pics and found a picture of each girl in the dress on their first Sunday to church... all around a month old. And as you can see they definitly all look alike... but different too!

Layla

Emma

Grace

Not sure what happened to the tights. I loved those!

bluebonnets 2011

This is probably my favorite time of the year. It's so beautiful with all the flowers and trees blooming. It is also a perfect time for a newborn... not too hot and not too cold. We ventured out to a nearby bluebonnet field and snapped a few pics.

My 3 girls! Grace is such a pro with Layla.

Me and all my girls!!

Daddy and his littlest girl Until next year...

Layla is 1 month!

Layla is 1 month old today!

Honestly I'm not really sure how the weeks have gone so quickly. But here I am sitting down for a monthly shot into Layla's new short life.

We haven't done or gone many places this month but we have done a lot of this... sleeping. At least Layla that is. I've only managed to get a handful of naps. Naps are sort of non-existent for mommies that have other children. Layla had her first bath. She wasn't too happy about it.

We had lots of visitors this past month but one of the most special visits was from Layla's great grand mother. :)

The big sisters are always constantly asking to hold Layla. They LOVE her... sometimes a little too much.

While I do think Layla loves her sisters, she does sleep best when she is out of their reach. And to no surprise she sleeps wherever - the car seat, the swing, or the last place I set her down. Although she does love to snuggle. I spend almost every night once the big girls go to sleep just holding Layla. I can't manage to put her down. We have also posed for a lot of pictures.

And made new friends. (Lila is only 2 weeks older than Layla)

Oh and Layla loves her pacifier!

Layla also took her first bottle. And has had several since.

And is already out growing many of her itty bitty clothes... here she is in her "little sister" onesie that is already too small!!

And did I mention how much her big sisters adore her.

And finally she got to enjoy a real bath, which Layla loved! (the little fish washcloth on her body is the coolest thing!... perfect for her little body to keep warm!)

Happy ONE month Layla-bug!

Layla's 1 month stats:

Weight - 10 pounds 13 ounces (89%)

Length - 22 inches (81%)

Layla is right where she should be. She has grown over 2 pounds in the last month. The pediatrician joked that I must make chocolate milk.

Layla is a champ at breastfeeding. And thankfully she also takes the bottle with no issues (remember Emma never took a bottle!!)

She loves tummy time. In fact she normally falls asleep during it.

We just love her to pieces!!

Layla Kate Dugan arrived!!

Okay so it only took me 3 weeks and 4 days to sit down to write this post. Pathetic. Really the transition hasn't been all that bad, but sitting at the computer just doesn't happen. I really wish I had all the fabulous pictures I've taken on my phone because my phone is about the only thing I've been playing on these days. Amen for the iphone so I can get some stuff done while nursing. Anyway, so back to our third precious edition!!

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Layla Kate Dugan was born on March 10, 2010 just 5 days before her due date. I had been contracting every 10 minutes for about a day so I called my OB and asked what I needed to do to move things along. She told me to head into her office and she would see how far along I was. I had just been there 2 days prior and was 3 centimeters (for the 3rd week). I went and fully expected to be sent back home, but I wasn't! She said I was nearly 5 centimeters and in early labor! YAY! It couldn't have been a more perfect day too. Both girls were at preschool and Adam was working from home. So Adam and I made arrangements for the girls and packed up and headed to the hospital.

They started me on a low dose of pitocin (to get my contractions closer together) around 1pm. My OB broke my water at 2:30. I tried to go natural but by 4pm I was in a lot of pain and was still just a 5! SO I asked for the epidural... so much for being superwoman :) After I go the epidural I felt good for about 4o minutes and then I was in terrible pain. Pain I had never had with any of my girls. I thought my epidural wasn't working. It was actually that I was ready to push. Wow that was fast! They told me not to sneeze or laugh (they weren't kidding) because they needed to get the doctor there. Once everything was set and she was there I pushed through one contraction and Layla was here! I could hardly believe it... fast just like Emma. She was born at 5:10pm just 4 hours after they started things at the hospital.

My last pregnant picture EVER! :)

Layla weighted in at 8 pounds and 7.5 ounces and was 21.5 inches long. No wonder I was so uncomfortable...I had a small giraffe in my tummy!!

Her first close up... her very short hair looks sort of curly?!

Finally in mom's arms. I can't believe I'm posting this because I look so puffy from all that fluid they were pumping in me!!

The girls cam while I was still in the delivery room (after Layla was born) and they got to snuggle her and even got to see her first bath. That was so fun. I didn't get to see Grace or Emma's first bath.

Such proud girls.

Emma's turn, but big sister Grace helping as always.

They unwrap her and notice her belly button... they weren't too sure about it!

The newest family of 5!

Emma isn't the baby anymore :)

Adam and his third baby girl!

The proud big sisters!!

Snug as a bug in a rug. She loves to the swaddled!

My long and lean girl!

Snuggle time!

Ready to go home! Let the fun begin :)

Layla Kate

My third precious baby girl was born on March 10th and already 5 days after her birth she has stollen our hearts forever. I hope to post some pictures and her birth story soon but just wanted to tell you she is here. ;)

Emma's THREE!!

Whenever I sit down to reflect on another year gone by, it just simply amazes me how quickly children really do grow.

My sweet Emma turns 3 today. How in the world is that even possible? I can still remember the day she was born so well. I remember what a sweet and calm and good baby she was.

At three Emma is a busy bee. She always wants to do, have, be whatever her sister does, has or is. :) She also knows how to stand her ground when she doesn't get her way. Emma loves loves loves school. She is pretty sad on the 1 day that Grace goes to school and she doesn't. She loves to do anything hands-on from painting and coloring to digging in the dirt.

Emma is also more of my girly girl... she loves to have her finger and toe nails painted and definitely has an opinion about what she wears each day (and night for that matter). She is sometimes even more particular about her panties :)

She is by far my social butterfly. She is always amazing me with the words she says and the things she knows that I had no clue she did. She counted to 20 the other day and I was shocked. No clue she could do that!

This may sound silly but I really feel like she was meant to be a middle sister. I see her as always finding ways to stand out as her own person... and not just the sister squeezed between her older and younger sister. We'll see if I'm right.

Here is my sweet Emmy year by year. (Take note of her shirt... it was Grace's shirt when she was 3... and I'm pretty sure you will see the 1 year one next year on Layla!)

1 week old

One

Two

Three

Third year stats:

weight - 32 lbs

height - 37 inches

Happy 3rd Birthday baby girl!!