Anya Namoe Lynes

I don't know why these pictures always load backwards! Oh well! Here are all the kids - at home with Grandma Lynes! This story was one of the few moments when Anya actually stayed awake for something! She arrived Wednesday at 12:08 and weighed in at 7 lbs 14 oz and was 20 in long. All ready to go home!

Admiring our new little sister

We couldn't get one single picture of all of them together where they all looked normal!

Nicole: "Mom, let's pretend this is our hotel room!" Making themselves at home in my hospital room. . . I'm sure there is nothing more exciting than a room with a bed right in front of a TV where they bring you food!

Pretty tired!

Here she is! Brand new with three bows - they really deck them out in style over at AF Hospital!

Nicole examining her new little sister.

Matthew is going to be such a good big brother! He already "changed" her bum today with a little help! I wonder how long it will be before that is no longer cool!

Homeless

So about 2 weeks ago. . . or was it less?. . . some people came to look at the house. No big deal, it helps me keep it really REALLY clean - like I normally never would - not all at once, at least! I didn't think anything about it until Woodson texted me the next day that they had made an offer. Things have gone really fast and apparently we are set to close on the 30th of this month - assuming everything goes as planned. As some of you know, I am none too happy about this sudden change! I just barely made a nursery for the first time in my life for goodness sake! (see last post!) I am going to get to enjoy if for all of about a month! Grrrrr. Anyway, we are hoping to start building up the street as soon as the sale closes. Unfortunately, we will be homeless for about 6 months while building unless I can find us a place to rent in the meantime. So. . . help! If anyone knows of any nice places - preferably around here - please share! As I anticipate possible going into labor some time soon I would love the security of knowing we have a place to live when I bring our baby home! :)

Third time's a charm!

This post is for all those of you who know that our first two children spent their babyhoods (?) in a pack and play in the closet or the living room! You can now breath more easily! I am apparently turning over a new leaf now that we have a house and we moved the other two kids upstairs! I actually made a "nursery" for this baby! She is going to be so spoiled! Part of me wanted to just put her in the pack and play in my closet because it was good enough for the other kids! But I got sucked in to the possibilites! At first I was really scared about the color we painted the walls but it has grown on me and now I like it and as long as I don't go in too many more friends' houses and look at their babies' rooms, I am content with my first attempt at decorating a room! So here it is! Don't tell me if you don't like it. I am too proud of my efforts!

The First Lemonade Stand

On Monday I finally bought some lemonade to fulfill Matthew's life long wish of having a lemonade stand and making TONS OF MONEY! He was VERY excited and I have never seen him so motivated to get something done. Once he was set up he was quite the little entrepeneur too! I could hear him from inside the house hollering to everyone who happened to skateboard, jog, walk, or drive by: "You! Hey, You! Do you want to come over here and get some lemonade? Hey! You!) No shame whatsoever. Nicole, on the other hand, just sat at the stand angry that she couldn't drink the lemonade herself! She was in supposed to be in charge of collecting the money in the tupperware but she only lasted a few minutes.
I love his sign! He wanted to charge "5 bucks" but we told him that was a little steep for lemonade.

Looking out for customers.

Gotta check the other way too.

Some customers! Matthew did a great job pouring the lemonade all by himself and graciously letting people "keep the cup." I was glad that despite being so excited to earn money, he wasn't above giving some out to people who didn't have any money with them. It was great for him, too, when a man stopped by a few nights later to pay him for the lemonade that Matthew had given him and his kids!

Mud. . . friends. . . mostly mud.

I love when my children have fun. I love that most of their clothes this year are either old or from DI because I learned from last year. They may never look like those kids I see at the grocery store with the perfectly coordinated outfit, exquisitely coiffed hair and darling hair accessories, but at least I know they are having a good time!

No inhibitions. And just so you know, most of the stain actually did come out!

We love the Mabey's back yard! And the friends who love the mud as much as we do!

They could do this for hours. I'm not kidding. If nap time didn't interrupt, I would have a whole day to do whatever I wanted!

She must have needed a mud bath.

A little brother. . .

There are occasionally times when I feel bad that I am not having a boy. Although Matthew is great about me having a girl (he tells me he loves her already) I can sometimes tell he would DIE for a little brother. These times usually come when we get to have my little nephew Gabe over. Matthew adores and fawns over him. Usually he refuses to play with friends until Gabe leaves. The other day he had Gabe snuggle him on the couch to watch a movie but I thought this was the cutest - that he wanted to read him a story! And he took it so seriously! Matthew is always telling me (and Gabe's parents) that he is Gabe's favorite. If he keeps up like this, he may one day be!

Knights and Princesses

Once again, we LOVE our costume box. Here we have two Hawaiian-princesses and one hansome knight. You can tell by Matthew's facial expressions that he takes his role as the knight very seriously. I am glad he is developing some sense of chivalry! This is what I got when I said "Do something that knights and princesses do."