Christmas Walk

We went to our town's annual Christmas Walk on Friday night. It's a wonderful event they've been doing over 50 years. We missed it last year (too cold!) and 2007 was my first time--I was pregnant with Matilda then, at the very end of my first trimester.

In 2007 when Ed took me to my first Christmas Walk, the Ellen Degeneres Show was filming a "wish you were here" segment about Geneva during the walk. The video is a pretty great representation of what goes on at the Christmas Walk:


So Friday we bundled the girls up and took them out to see the Santa Lucia procession where one lucky young girl dresses as Santa Lucia and wears a wreath with candles on her head and proceeds into the town with her attendants handing out good luck pepparkakor, listen to the carolers, watch the Mayor receive the first candy cane of the season from our wonderful local confectioner--Grahams, see the town tree get lit up, and welcome Santa Claus!

The whole street was decorated, there were folks handing out free hot chocolate, roasting chestnuts and making s'mores, there was a living nativity, and even an ice sculpture being made. We also had some of the first snow flurries of the season. Evelyn stayed nice and warm in her baby carrier, Matilda refused to wear her gloves or mittens or keep her hands covered though, so we couldn't stay long before she got pretty chilly.

Here are a few pictures from our night:

Me and the girls (Evelyn is tucked snugly into her carrier!) counting down to the lighting of the Christmas tree:


The tree is lit:


Delicious free hot chocolate:


Artist making an ice sculpture:

5 Weeks Old

Evelyn is 5 weeks old today and cuter every day.


This week we decorated for Christmas:


And tried to take some "nice" pictures of the girls:

Evelyn's First Thanksgiving

While we did miss our relatives and look forward to seeing everyone next year, we had a really lovely Thanksgiving with just our family. We had tons of food, a relaxing afternoon, we showed Matilda the Charlie Brown and Garfield Thanksgiving movies, we had 2 pies, tasty food and good wine, and we ate off the wedding china while wearing our pyjamas.

Tradition:
Ed had oysters for lunch on Thanksgiving day. Most years I cook them for all our guests, but this year he enjoyed them raw.


Relaxation:
Evelyn was unfazed by the hustle and bustle in the kitchen.


Tons of food:
This was our 22 pound bird... for the 4 of us. We will be enjoying leftovers for quite a while!


The Show:
Ed masterfully carved the bird.


Wonderful company:
Although their table manners leave something to be desired, it takes nothing more than a glance at my girls to instantly know what we're thankful for.





Sweet Ending:
I made my very first pumpkin pie and it was great! I also made a butterscotch pudding pie in a gingersnap cookie crust and Ed has asked to see that again for Christmas. Both were served with freshly whipped cream, of course.

Big girl!

Evelyn is 4 weeks old today (it's hard to believe she was only due 9 days ago!). She had her 1 month check up this morning and she is growing like a weed!
She has gained 2 pounds 6 ounces in the last three weeks. She is now 10 pounds 8 ounces (90th percentile) and has grown 1 1/2 inches in the last 3 weeks as well and is now 22 1/2 inches long (also 90th percentile).

She typically only wakes up to eat 2-3 times a night and is a great eater. She's beginning to smile and seems to get stronger every day. She loves to be held and is very snugly and generally very content.

She is healthy, happy, beautiful and perfect. No shots until after Christmas.

She is the same length as Matilda was at 1 month, but more than a pound heavier.

Thankful

Abundance


Bounty


Love

Sweet Girls

Here's a clip of Matilda and Evelyn. Matilda keeps trying to get a high-five from Evelyn, and even though Evelyn left her hanging, Matilda still gave her a kiss!

Shhhh

Actually, quiet is not necessary. Both the girls napped today while the dogs were barking, the piano was being tuned and the vacuum was running. Oh, and did I mention they're building a house behind us too? Thankfully, they are oblivious to the noise.



Little angel.

Random

Here are some random thoughts from my day.

1. I love seeing Matilda interested in Evelyn. She's a wonderful big sister. But next to a newborn she looks so big!


2. Macaroni and cheese provides excellent hold for avant garde hair styles


3. Even though she looks big next to Evelyn, she's still not too big for a sink bath. And she loves it!

Outside

Matilda loves to be outside, even when it's cold. She'll stand by the door and get all excited and start saying "Wanna go outside! Wanna go outside!" over and over and over--it's nearly impossible to say no. So here she is, all bundled up in her long underwear and new hat and mittens ready to go outside and walk around.

Giddy up!

First Bath

Evelyn had her first bath on Saturday November 14. As is usual for her, she didn't cry.





All clean!

The Gustafson Girls

Evelyn is 2 weeks old and Matilda is a great big sister. Every morning when she wakes up Matilda wants to "see baby?" And hurries to the crib, stands on tiptoes and says "I see baby! Hi baby!!!" She shares her "treasures" with Evelyn--cups, pacifiers, mommy's glasses; she tries to help give Evelyn her pacifier or her hat; and when Evelyn cries Matilda is ready to say "Shhh, it's ok baby."
They are so sweet!

Better late than never!

We had family and maternity portraits taken on October 14. Then Evelyn came before we even got a chance to get the pictures back. Well, now we have the pictures, and although it seems a bit strange to share maternity portraits when the baby is 12 days old, the pictures turned out really nice, so enjoy a few belly shots.

Now that Matilda has got the hang of walking, she and daddy have been walking to the park together, and Matilda loves it. Doesn't she look adorable?! Such a tiny thing toddling down the sidewalk. Awwwww!