Meet Myla.

Meet Myla. She is our third child and our youngest daughter. She is happy, crazy, wild and carefree. She loves to laugh, she loves to be tickled and she is nuts about music. Her favorite song is Call Me Maybe and she could listen to it over and over. When music comes on, she clears the coffee table and dances for all to watch. She is a mama's girl and loves to sleep with us at night... we don't let that happen often. :) If she had to pick between a stuffed animal or baby doll, she will always go with the animal. Snoopy is her favorite and minnie is a close second. Her birthday is August 28 and she is now a 3 year old.

3 years ago my brother was killed in Afghanistan and she was born 9 days later. It was not easy. While I was giving birth to my sweet little girl, my family sat at the Ft. Eustis Chapel hearing the roll call for the soldiers memorial. Not an easy thing to experience and I hope that none of you reading this ever have to. After the memorial there, my family came to see their new niece and granddaughter. She was the single joy in a time of utter despair. And then after her birth, 4 days later on Sept. 1 (today) we drove to Arlington National Cemetery where we laid my brother to rest. I had just had a c-section but I was not missing his funeral for the world. Looking back, I have NO idea how we made it. I truly believe God graces us with emotions to just go on by putting one foot in front of the other because there is no explanation.

Afterwards, we were each given something that belonged to Paul. I was given his baby blanket and it was then that I decided I wanted to capture Myla every year on her birthday with his blanket. It's a piece of him that will continue to grow as Myla does every year. She carries his name as her middle and she has many of the same personality traits as him. She is funny and cracks us up a continuous basis and she is just as ornery as they come. I like to think that before she was born to us, she was blessed to have met him in heaven.

Here are the past 4 images of her from newborn to 3 years old... growing but never forgetting.