They always love each other ...

...and sometimes they even like each other.

First Bath at Home

One word. Content.

OK, two. Beautiful.

Want to compare her to her siblings? Check out this post.

It's a Girl!

Anne Kinslee made her entrance into the world yesterday, July 15th, at 4:45pm. She came in at 8 pounds 1 ounce and 19.5 inches long. What a chunk, huh? We are so in love with her, as if that is any surprise.

With such kissable cheeks tempting me all day, it looks like catching up on my blog posts is going to be a bit more challenging.

Yep, a Complete Sucker ...

... for "Reading with Grandma" pictures. This was this past weekend. I have one more post about California, a post or two about the Fourth of July, and perhaps some posts of random pictures of my adorable children. All before the baby comes? We'll see. Right now, instead of doing that I am going to go get ready for my hot date tonight.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend

I'll be honest, the 4th of July (or technically, the 3rd) for me was mostly just a stepping stone, it meant we were one day closer to the baby's due date. The patriot in me couldn't let it go completely ignored, however, so we planned a low key celebration --- attend the nearby pancake breakfast and parade.

Thanks to Grandma P. for the 4th of July attire. It was perfect for a hot day!

After the parade we packed up for a picnic at the park.

And the evening had the perfect ending with a delicious fried chicken dinner, water time in the backyard for the kids, driveway fireworks show, and a yummy patriotic cake for dessert. Thanks for the invite, Jill!

The Belly: 36 weeks

Yes, I am interrupting the California travelogue once again with a real time blog update.

Doesn't look too humongous here, does it?

Until you part those curtains. Yikes! You'd think I have a 6 (ish) pound baby in there or something. And as for William, well, how can you not love that face? That is pretty much the look that I get from a handful of people every time I go out in public.

My favorite picture from the mirror photo shoot. Completely impromptu involvement from the kiddos. This is going to be one well loved little bambino.

A few of my millions of thoughts at 36 weeks:

• How can I feel so done when I still have 4 weeks left? Wait. Four weeks? Hold on, baby. My to-do list isn't quite finished. Just cook for a bit longer, would ya?
  
• We made it! With all my pre-term contractions I am so relieved to finally be at the point where they aren't considered pre-term anymore. Time to start doing everything I had to avoid before. Anybody up for a 10-mile hike tomorrow? ;)
• I am down to about three outfits that fit me comfortably. My favorite piece of apparel? Maternity leggings from a favorite friend. I would wear those everyday if I could. Oh wait, I pretty much do.
• I hate the unknown. You know that. Not knowing the baby's gender doesn't really bother me though, probably because it was totally my choice not to find out.
  
• Not knowing when this baby is going to be born? A bit frustrating, particularly on the more uncomfortable days. Yesterday was one of those days, today (mercifully) wasn't.
  
• Baby weighed in at 5 pounds 9 ounces last week. This week the Squirt's stats jumped to 6 pounds 7 ounces. Beginning to question the accuracy of the measurements ...
  
• I am at a 2 and 80%. I try to tell myself that that doesn't mean anything, but myself doesn't seem to want to believe me.