Door County Christmas Day 1

We are back from Door County. We had a lovely Christmas with Jim and Joanne and Kim and Eric.
We got off to a bit of a rocky start--we planned to head out Friday night but the bad weather postponed our trip and we didn't get to leave until Saturday morning. We were nervous that Matilda would be a beast in the car but we left at nap time and she was wonderful (for a baby). She slept all the way to Milwaukee and we stopped at a Culver's in Mequon to eat and feed and change her and play for a little while. After that she was awake until Sheboygan, but mostly just played quietly and then slept from Sheboygan all the way to Fish Creek! We stopped to feed her one more time and when we got up to the house she was happy and excited!
Kim and Eric were also supposed to arrive Saturday afternoon but the bad weather on Friday had delayed a lot of flights and it affected Saturday travel as well. After a series of delays they eventually arrived in Appleton instead of Green Bay and didn't make it to the house until 2am! Their luggage didn't make it until Christmas Eve though!
When we arrived the house smelled wonderful, Joanne had made a tasty turkey dinner for us with all the trimmings. It was nice, especially since she and Jim missed Thanksgiving with us, and we appreciated all that effort to make us feel welcomed. We were sad that Kim and Eric couldn't join us, but the five us enjoyed dinner before Jim had to drive to Appleton.
So, with the slow start, our first full day in Door County was Sunday the 21st. Everyone (except Ed, Matilda and I) slept in. They were all up by the time Matilda was done with her morning nap though, and everyone was ready to play!
Here's Matilda with Aunt Kim and Uncle Eric and Daddy, she had so much fun!

All Wrapped Up

After-Christmas Glow

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and that you're having fun trying out all your new stuff--Matilda sure is!

Merry Christmas!

We are enjoying our first family Christmas with our little girl, and we hope you are all having a happy holiday.
In case you were wondering what Matilda got for Christmas--she got many lovely things, but we're most excited that she cut her first tooth on Christmas Eve!
You can only see a tiny sliver, but you can feel it in there. It's her bottom front right tooth. She's growing so quickly!

Destruction

We've had a leak. Yesterday we got a call that a pipe had burst and was spraying water all over my office. We haven't seen the pictures yet, but it ruined the carpet in two rooms, all the drywall on that side of the house, my desk, computer, modem, book shelves, all of our law books, all of my tax and other financial paperwork, our wedding albums, artwork we were waiting to frame and hang, and saddest of all--all of our pre-digital age pictures, including all of the pictures of me from babyhood on all of the pictures from our first three years together (and most of law school) and all of Ed's Europe pictures. It got into the basement too.
We were lucky to have Adella there to find out that there was a problem, and our neighbor has been handling the situation for us for now so we don't have to go back in the snow and try to live in a wet house with a baby.
The dryers arrived by Tuesday night and got straight to work, but they said it would take at least 3 days to dry it out and we're going to have to rip out all the drywall and carpet and ceilings and such. The plumber came today and said that the pipe froze in the cold weather (even though we left the heat on) because our builder didn't put any insulation above the garage (although we did pay them to insulate the whole garage, but that will be a separate and undoubtedly long issue to deal with) The lack of insulation also explains why Matilda's room is so cold all the time.
Needless to say this has been an unpleasant Christmas surprise. I am so sad about losing all the pictures and I am not looking forward to sifting through the debris, but I know we are very lucky to have the help that we do in getting this done. Keep me in your thoughts over the next few weeks while I sift through the destruction and try to manage Matilda during the reconstruction.

Reindeer Games

Gifts from A-far

We opened presents the other night at home. Matilda recieved many thoughtful gifts from the family (Ed and I did too!).

Mona didn't just send the box we let her play in (see yesterday's post), she also sent an adorable outfit and Matilda's First Christmas ornament--Matilda was impressed.


Sally sent an outfit for Matilda too, and as lovely as the outfit was, Matilda really loved the paper it came in!


My grandparents sent Matilda a "CD player" toy and she loves pressing the buttons and seeing what will happen. They also got her a book about colors and the very first page is her favorite--Yellow!



Matilda recieved such an embarassment of riches that she ran out of paitience before we were done and we didn't get a chance to take pictures of her opening all of her gifts, but my mom sent books and a cute onesie and Natalie, Chase and Boston sent pants, cups, bowls and spoons. We won't be starting on foods until March, but she does love to practice with the spoons. The sippy cups confound her though.

Thank you to everyone for sending such thoughtful things to our little girl!

Send her to Abu Dhabi!

What is going on here?


Oh, I'm going somewhere? Fun!


Wheeee!

First Snow

It's amazing she can even bend enough to sit in her little snow suit!



Does it count as a "first snow" experience if you don't actually touch the snow?



Snow Angel

MWAH!

Matilda has learned how to smack her lips and make a kissy noise--it's pretty cute and you can tell she's impressed with herself!

Est. 12.16.06

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary last night. It was our cotton anniversary. Ed got me some beautiful pyjamas and I got him a plush robe--we're still hopeful that some day we'll be able to lounge or sleep! Ed's parents even sent us some very cozy flannel sheets. We celebrated by going out to a nice dinner at the Herrington Inn. The food was delicious and it was so beautiful looking out at the trees and the river and the Christmas lights while the snow was falling.
It's amazing to think how much has changed in such a short time. Two years ago we were dancing the night away at our wedding reception in Indiana. We would shortly go back to our jobs as attorneys and our house in Elkhart. Now, I'm loving being a stay-at-home mom, Ed has a new career, we have a home in Geneva and, of course, we have Matilda.
I can't imagine what the next few years could bring, but I know whatever it is we'll be doing it together.

All Clean

Matila likes to scooch over sideways now and hang her feet out of the tub at bath time--too funny. She can be such a ham!

Santa, Baby

We took Matilda to visit Santa this morning at a Brunch with Santa in our neighborhood.


She was so good for Santa...
First she checked him out:


Then she decided everything was ok. No smiles, but no tears--we count it as a win (especially considering how badly our previous photo attempts have gone)


She did get a little antsy while we were eating, but daddy took care of it!

She can sit!

This is probably the single most helpful development (to me) that she's had so far, but Matilda has mastered unsupported sitting! She sits by herself and plays, she sits and looks at her reflection in the mirror and talks to it, she can sit in the hall while I do laundry, and my little tough girl doesn't even cry when she falls over!

Jingle Bells

Bye bye, Blago!

I seriously thought about not posting this. But this blog isn't just about Matilda, and this story is huge.
In fact, I'm sure you have all already heard the story, but Governor Rod Blagojevich has been arrested on federal charges of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, and soliciting bribes. He has been under federal investigation for 6 years and FBI wire-taps caught him allegedly trying to sell President-Elect Obama's senate seat. He also is accused of threatening the Chicago Tribune with withholding state aid and stopping the sale of the Cubs unless they would fire members of their editorial staff that were unfriendly to the Blagojevich administration.
The transcripts of his conversations are ridiculous. He talks like a mafia Don and his delusions of grandeur are outrageous. They said it best on the news when they proclaimed that Blagojevich is "not only incredibly corrupt, but incredibly stupid."
Scary thing is, even after all this, he still is Governor (for now) and he still has the power to appoint anyone he wants (including himself) to the open Senate seat. Blago has been encouraged to resign, but it is unlikely that he would. So of course calls for impeachment (and in a hurry!) have risen.
I am pleased that this man has been stopped in what has been called his "political crime spree," he was terrible for this city and state. But I do feel bad for his young daughters, especially at this time of year. Perhaps he will be big enough to step down in an effort to make things easier on his girls. Perhaps.
It is sad how corrupt the Chicago (and Illinois) political machine is and has been. Let's hope that this will be wide-sweeping enough to clean things up. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Chi-town corruption was just ancient history to our kids? We can hope anyway.
Well, if you haven't had a chance to read about it, Blagojevich's arrest is all over the Trib and the Sun Times (who even go so far as to suggest that an insanity defense might not be so crazy) and MSM in general.

O Christmas Tree...

We decorated our tree together. The only part Matilda was interested in was the Santa that goes on the top:




It was a lot of work though, we had to take a nap.



and yes, I know those are not the best pictures I've ever taken... but it's our first Christmas, I'm going to keep 'em!

Silent Night

Tonight I made one of those small warm and fuzzy Christmas memories that will stick with me forever.
The snow has been falling, our lights and garlands outside look oh-so-Christmasy. We've spent the evening playing with Matilda and making Christmas candies. And I took Matilda to the piano and she sat in my lap all curled up in her footie pyjamas and fell asleep quietly while I played Christmas carols by the light of the Christmas tree.
For me, that was a magical moment--my beautiful daughter peacefully sleeping in my lap while I'm playing my favorite songs at my favorite time of year on a night that encapsulates all of the lovely feelings that come with the season.

Are you enjoying the Christmas Season?

We are!

Look what I can do!

It's been a big week for Matilda!
She's 13 pounds 9 ounces now. And we've worked through our feeding issues.

This week she has started holding her own bottles:


She is trying to sit, unsupported:


And she's getting stronger and stronger with standing:

Hanging out with Romper

He's much more exciting than sick mommy and sick daddy!

Hiatus

Things have been a little rough at Casa Gustafson for the last few days. Matilda has been having nursing issues and Ed and I both got the stomach flu so bad we had to go to the emergency room.
So, when I'm feeling better I'll put up more posts and pictures from Thanksgiving. Until then, please bear with me.
I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving and are as excited as I am to start decorating for Christmas--just 24 more days!

What a doll

Matilda got her first baby doll and she already had the matching jammies!

Hello!

I didn't know what to post today so I decided to just grab the camera and show you what Matilda was doing right at that moment (10:30 am) which happened to be waking up from her morning nap.



Yes, I dropped the camera. No, not on her!

Little Turkey

Friday Feature

Matilda continues to learn and grow. She's still nursing a lot during the night, and I still hope she grows out of that soon.
She's "talking" more and more and she likes to feel everything.
She pats me, and daddy and her toys and the dogs and likes to feel new textures.
She loves her exersaucer and has gotten really good at supporting herself in it.
Her teeth don't seem to be bothering her so much this week, which is nice.
She's interested in the other babies when we meet with our play groups.
She just moved up to size 2 diapers.
She's doing great at supported sitting and even giving it a try without support.
She has also become interested in everything I do. Whenever I take a drink she tries to grab the cup, whenever I talk on the phone she wants to eat it. It's adorable!
And, Boston is coming for Thanksgiving! We can't wait to see the cousins together again!

Photo Shoot

Well, our professional photo shoot didn't go well so we decided to do a little photo shoot of our own at home. Here are some of our best shots:

What to do...?

With so many cool toys, how do you chose?

Nice Offer

Snapfish is offering a free 20-page photo book. If you're new to Snapfish you will also get 20 free prints when you make an account (and the account is free). The photo books are nice--they are hard-bound books, not picture albums. The pages print flat and glossy and you choose your own layout for each page and can add up to 9 pictures per page and create your own captions.

The catch? You have to follow the link today before midnight and you have to order the album before midnight Sunday.

EDITED TO ADD: Offer has been extended to November 22!

Friday Feature

Matilda is learning and growing so much!

She had her 4 month doctor visit this week. She is 12 pounds 3 ounces and 25 1/4 inches long!

She is grabbing at everything in sight--especially my glasses, the phone, and her connecting ring toys.

She is on a pretty predictable nap schedule--in her crib--but is not sleeping through the night anymore (she's hungry all the time!)

She is rolling from front to back and from back to front.

She can sit when supported.

She is getting very chatty and starting to make occasional "B" "L" and "G" sounds.

She smiles all the time and puts everything in her mouth.

Matilda's First Pair of Jeans

Grabby Girl!

Recently, Matilda has discovered that my glasses can come off my face and she can't quit grabbing at them!
But, like a dog who chases a car, she didn't really know what to do with them once she got them!

MMMMMMonday!

Is that all for me?



We made a Chicago-style deep dish pizza this weekend and it tasted like the real thing! The crust is golden and crisp with just the right amount of weight and chewiness--it really is delicious, it is easy (and not too time consuming) and it will be showing up on our table again and again!Here's the recipe:

Chicago-style Deep Dish Pizza
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
3/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 c. pizza sauce
1 lb. shredded mozzarella
other topings of your choice

In a mixer bowl dissolve the sugar in the warm water.

Add the yeast and allow it to bloom for 5 minutes

Add 2 1/4 c. flour, cornmeal, salt and olive oil

Mix thoroughly with the hook attachment of the mixer

Add 1/4 c. flour and "knead" the dough with the hook attachment for 5 minutes (if you aren't using a stand mixer, turn out the dough and knead by hand)

Generously oil a deep bowl, put the ball of dough in, turn so it is greased, cover with saran wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees

pour 1/4 c. vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet (we used a 14 inch skillet). It will seem like a lot of oil but it is the secret to the perfect crust!
Place the dough in the pan and use your hands to press it into the pan. Don't be alarmed it it slips down the sides.

Let it rise for 15 minutes more.

Spread 1/2 your cheese, 1/2 your topings and 1/2 your sauce (in that order) on the crust, make sure the walls of dough are still up as they should be--the toppings will help hold them up. Then, layer in the next half. Make sure to spread the sauce out as evenly as you can on top of the pizza.

Place in the 500 degree oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn down the heat to 400 and cook for 10 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and use a spatula to lift up the pizza and check the bottom to make sure it is done.

Once it is done, remove it from the pan and onto a cutting board. Let rest at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

Getting Bigger!

Matilda had her 4 month well-baby visit today. She is 25 1/4 inches long and 12 pounds 3 ounces. She is still long and lean. She handled her shots well and the doctor said that she is extremely healthy and remarkably strong.

Dear Santa,

We've had several people ask what Matilda might like for Christmas, so if she could write a Christmas Wish List, here is what would be on it:

Books--particularly Baby Faces, books by Sandra Boynton (we already have the Birthday Monsters and the Belly Button Book), Little Golden Books, Flip-a-Face SAMi books, I'll Love You Forever, board books, and anything colorful that can be read in 10 minutes or less.

Battery-operated crib mobile (her room is green and pink)

Toys--anything with music, lights, and/or mirrors will get her attention! Here is a good article about what toys are developmentally appropriate for a 6-12 month old baby.

Stacking cups or rings

Gift certificates for a Gymboree Class

CD of kids songs featuring her name

Bare Naked Ladies kids' songs Snack Time

They Might Be Giants kids' songs (No!, Bed Bed Bed, Here Come the ABCs, Here Come the 123s)

Justin Roberts kids' songs (Great Big Sun, Pop Fly, Melt Down, Way Out, Not Naptime, Yellow Bus)

Car seat blanket

Footie pyjamas 6-9 month and 9-12 month

Short and long sleeved white Spa Silk onesies 6-9 months (available online only)

Pants 6-9 months

Gift Certificates for clothing at Children's Place, Gymboree, Carters, or Baby Gap

Long bibs for when she starts on baby food in January

Baby spoons

Baby bowls that are dishwasher and microwave safe and have lids

Silicone containers for freezing baby food

University of Wisconsin umbrella stroller