Christmas 2013

Eric, Kim, Ensley, Jim and Joanne all joined us for Christmas this year.  Santa came, the grandkids were spoiled and it was wonderful to see all the cousins together!  Between nursing baby allergies and Joanne's health issues, we had a variety of dietary restrictions, but I enjoyed the challenge of creating holiday dishes that we could all enjoy together.  I don't know if I was always successful, but it was an interesting puzzle.



We got together and booked a photographer to take family pictures as a gift to Jim and Joanne the day after Christmas while we were all together.  That was a circus! But we did get some really cute pictures. We had a nice Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.

Ed wins the Lenovo Consulting Competition

Ed went to Chapel Hill for his December school immersion.  He and his friend, Andy are on a consulting team with the STAR program starting in January, and they competed in a consulting competition in December, and won!

The client was Lenovo.  They won this tablet for their suggestion that Lenovo buy a cell phone company.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

CHRISTMAS!

Late Thanksgiving left me both chomping at the bit and a bit unprepared for Christmas season activities.  But, we plow headfirst into my favorite season, solidifying old traditions and trying out new activities.

The baby has her "First Christmas" PJs, courtesy of Great Aunt Mona and Great Uncle Joe (and I hear her cousin and 2nd cousin have matching pairs!)

To mark our first Christmas celebration in our new home, we got a real tree this year.  We have put our fake tree outside, but we'll talk more about why we would do that on another day.

Fancy dresses have come out and we "dress" for our tea parties (and have gingerbread men or other pretend Christmas confections, of course!)

The big girls are talking up Christmas at school.  This week they made ornaments, clove studded oranges and gingerbread men as well as reading the gingerbread man stories.  I thought it might be fun to make a gingerbread house at home, but I wanted something less expensive than a kit and sturdier (and less work) than baking the walls myself, so we constructed a "gingerbread" log cabin out of pretzel rods!

First, we used a serrated knife to cut the rods approximately to size and glued the structure together with a hot glue gun.  (Yes, I glued it.  You shouldn't eat the walls anyway, that kind of thing just gets you kidnapped by witches!)

Then, I piped some frosting in as "mortar" and to fill in gaps while Evelyn spread "snow" on the baking sheet we used as a base.

Then the girls went to town decorating with sprinkles and gum drops and pretzels and marshmallows

It was a great way to spend quiet time.  They even made little marshmallow snow men, a gum drop path and a pretzel fence!  They were so proud of their work and we will have it on display until Christmas, as long as they don't eat it.

Princess Post

I have been trying to encourage Matilda to practice her writing by sending mail.  However, she thinks of so many things to say she gets discouraged and tired before she finishes writing them all and I don't always have time to spell out every word one letter at a time for her, so we tried something new with her latest letter--she dictated, I transcribed, and I left blanks for her to fill in.  She enjoyed it and got some practice and seems more eager to write letters again, so I think we'll do this for a while, slowly leaving more and more blanks.

I found an article that claims that if you mail a letter to a Disney Princess at this address you will recieve a Princess postcard in return.  Checked it out and it seems legit.  I haven't told her about the return mail yet, that will be a nice surprise in a few weeks.

Her letter says:
Dear Rapunzel,
I saw your stage show.  I have a toy tower just like your tower.  Maybe you could visit my house.  I would like to show you my fairies.  I drew you a map.
Love,
Matilda

Sewing

I have been sewing some dresses this summer and between that and Barbie Fashion Fairytale Matilda has become very interested in sewing and designing clothes.  I gave her a big bag of scrap fabric and scissors and tape and glue, but she REALLY wants to sew with a needle and thread.  So, we sat down and gave that a try the other day!  She was very excited to try out sewing and made a little jacket for her barbie, although she says what she really wants to do is make a human size ball gown for Rapunzel to wear.  She insists she is ready and I am holding her back.

Her finished product

Sewing

Showing off what she made, for Daddy.

Back to School

Today the big girls went back to school!  They had a great time, as we assumed they would.  Construction continues, so the teachers have set up an adorable space in the great hall that will function well as their classroom until construction is complete.  There are a few new children in the class this year, and Evelyn is one of them!  They enjoyed circle time and meeting new friends.  Their teacher said that the girls barely spent any time together, they were so interested in different things and different people.  It will be really interesting to see how they develop throughout the year.
Adelaide, on the other hand, was not at all happy about her sisters going back to school.  You'll note her sulking in the background of some of the back to school pictures.  Once the girls left, she threw herself on the floor screaming and crying for at least 5 minutes.   After a little time alone, she calmed down and then started to realize that being able to play with ALL the toys and having Mommy mostly to herself might be alright after all!
After school, we picked up the big girls and took everyone out to lunch to celebrate--they chose Tom and Eddies and we had a nice time!
Also, today was the day we updated their measurements on the pocket door--they have all grown so much!
Matilda is 45 7/8 inches, she grew 3 inches in the last year.
Evelyn is 42 1/2 inches, she grew 3 3/8 inches.
Adelaide is 34 1/4 inches, she grew 4 3/4 inches.
Cecily takes the prize at 22 inches, having grown 22 inches in the last year!

Cecily is Still Cute

Cecily had her first doctor's visit on Monday August 19 (her due date!) Appropriately, she was back up to her birth weight of 7lbs 11oz.  The doctor declared her healthy and perfect and, in his professional opinion, exceptionally cute.
She loves to be held, and eats quite often.  She seems to be settling into a routine of waking 3 times at night to eat, but is very unpredictable about how long she'll be up.  Sometimes she'll eat and go back down within 35 minutes, more often an hour, and some nights, like last night, she'll just never really go back down (we were up for the day at 2:30!)
She is becoming more alert, opening her eyes more often.  They are VERY dark blue right now, I think they may already be starting to turn brown.  And her dark hair gets so fluffy every time I wash it.
She has a loud cry.  She laughs and smiles in her sleep sometimes, she sneezes when light gets in her eyes (just like Matilda), and she gets hiccups several times a day.
She's soft and dark and smells so sweet and new and is just a perfect, beautiful baby.  There is something about her that makes me want to dress her in nothing but vintage linens and surround her in antiques--like she came straight out of a Jane Austen novel.
We all adore her!

No More Monkeys Jumping on The Bed!

Evelyn had her second trip to the ER on Tuesday night (the first trip was for croup last winter, if anyone is keeping score).  She was jumping on the bed and fell and hit the foot board.  She got a good cut on her brow bone, so we had to take her in.

She was in high spirits, jaunting off to the ER as her sisters were being put to bed.

Luckily, she didn't need any stitches, just glue.  Ed reports that the doctor put her in a restraining jacket to try to keep her hands clear as he applied the surgical glue, but, Evelyn being Mighty Evelyn still managed to give him the business (she said the glue burned.)

Day after she's a bit bruised but not much worse for the wear and we're already having to remind them, again, not to jump on the furniture. She just has to stay out of the sun and the shower for 4-5 days and hopefully there won't be a noticeable scar.  It doesn't seem to be bothering her at all.

Cecily Elizabeth

Our fourth daughter has arrived!  This is her story.

10 days before Cecily was born

I have been pregnant for 1,069 days.  Nearly 3 full years.  Over 152 weeks.  We are so lucky to have 4 healthy perfect babies.  This pregnancy was by far the easiest for me, physically. Although, unfortunately, having my gallbladder removed still didn't end up giving us a complication-free pregnancy.  As was the case with all my girls, I had some really terrible morning sickness for the first 3-4 months, but everything seemed to be trucking along just fine.  At the beginning of April (20 weeks) we went to the obstetrician for our routine anatomy scan.  We were delighted to discover we were having our fourth girl!  But, the next day we got a call that an abnormality had been found in the ultrasound and we were referred to the high risk specialists to figure out what it was.  

So, for the fourth time, we found our selves at the high risk clinic, full of questions and trepidation.  The abnormality was a 5cm chorioangioma--a tumor on the placenta--right where the umbilical cord attached.  For the next two months we went in every 7-10 days for another scan to make sure the baby wasn't developing hydrops.  The high risk specialist repeatedly emphasized the importance of carrying the pregnancy to 28 weeks to increase her chances.  It was an incredibly stressful and scary time for us.  Thankfully, we made it to 28 weeks without developing hydrops.  At that point, we only had to see the high risk specialists every 3 weeks to make sure that the tumor wasn't squeezing the cord, there was adequate blood flow and baby was gaining weight normally.  It often felt like every scan was a mix of good news and bad news, but, ultimately, she continued to grow well and the mass did not end up affecting her at all--praise God!  At 33 weeks, baby dropped down really low starting some preterm labor.  I spent a night at CDH and was administered steroid shots to help her lungs develop, as well as being told to be on bedrest through the whole month of July. 

The preterm labor was kept at bay and we were released from high risk care at 36 weeks, with instructions for weekly hour-long non-stress tests until delivery.

It really is labor!

After knowing the last two pregnancies would require a 37 week induction because of cholestasis, it was strange not knowing when this baby would arrive.  And by strange I am euphemistically referring to my growing insanity at wondering IF she would ever come out.  Those last 3 weeks of pregnancy drag by like intensely uncomfortable months and we were all so eager to meet this girl!
I had been experiencing frequent contractions for over a month, but never increasing in intensity and often just going away with rest and water.  On Tuesday August 6, while I was making dinner, Ed and I were talking about how Wednesday August 7 would be about the most inconvenient day for me to go into labor.  Of course, right at that moment, I started having painful contractions and some other signs of labor.  That night, the contractions became more intense and soon were easily timed at 3-5 minutes apart for several hours.  I started to think it was the real thing and I was wondering if I'd even be able to wait until the next morning to go in as the pains became more intense.  Then, after about 4 hours, it all just stopped.  Part of me was relieved to not worry about middle of the night child care or delivering on Wednesday when I knew it was slated to be a busy day for Ed, but another part of me was intensely frustrated to have gone through that pain for hours with no result and also made me doubt whether or not I would even recognize real labor--I was getting emotional.  Wednesday evening, the same thing happened, 4 hours of painful contractions, increasing in intensity and duration, and then nothing.  I was beyond frustrated.
But, Thursday August 8, the contractions were back in the morning.  And they kept getting closer together and stronger all day.  But I was also still able to walk around, do housework, and take care of the kids (although perhaps with a bit of a short fuse.)  By this point, I was convinced they would just go away again, like they had the previous 2 nights.  But, when we found out that our sitter's brother was getting married on Friday, we decided to go ahead and call my dad to come up Thursday just in case.  Thankfully, he was happy to help out and headed right up.
But, it's a bit of a drive from Indianapolis all the way up here, and I asked Ed to come home at 4:00 because I was feeling so crummy.  We decided it was time to stop by the hospital to get checked out, but I was fully expecting them to tell me it was too soon and to send me back home.
What a surprise to find out that I was already at 5 cm!!  It was definitely labor and I was quickly admitted to the hospital.  About an hour after I was admitted, my dad arrived at the house and took over making dinner for the girls and Ed headed over the the hospital to join me.  He arrived just as I was getting my epidural.
The labor progressed quickly, without too much pain.  I stalled for just over an hour at 8cm but was still feeling really good and barely noticing the contractions.
Then 9cm came.  And that was awful.  I closed my eyes and tried to tune out all the noises, I could feel everything and couldn't handle any more stimuli.  I was numb from about the bottom of my ribs to the top of my hips, but it wasn't enough anymore.
Ed was perfect, he knew me well enough to not pester me with chatter, to just sit and hold my hand and be there for me.  As things progressed, baby started having some alarming decelerations in her heart rate.  I knew she needed to be delivered, and the quicker the better.  But the little stinker decided to turn face up for delivery, just like Matilda.  Matilda took me 2 1/2 hours to push out, but the epidural actually WORKED with her.  Cecily was in distress, but was stuck.  I have never worked so hard in my life, but, with a vacuum assist she was delivered in under 15 minutes of pushing.  And yelling.  It was by far my loudest and most painful delivery.  I have never felt pain like that and I know Ed was scared.

Just born

But then she was here!  And that moment is indescribably beautiful.  She had her cord all wrapped around her arm and body, that was causing the heart rate decelerations.  But she had arrived and she was safe and gorgeous and healthy and perfect and, just like the first three times, we were instantly in love.  I held her and Ed cut the cord before she was taken away to be weighed and measured.  She was born at 9:13PM on August 8, 2013 (just about 4 hours after I was admitted to the hospital.)  She weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 20 inches long with a 35cm head circumference.  She was loud!  She yelled for nearly the first 2 hours of her life, before she got tired, took a good nap and has been pretty easy to please since.  

After her first bath--look at all that fluffy hair!

Her head full of downy soft fluffy black hair is so pretty and will make it easy to tell her newborn pictures apart from her sisters.  She's a good eater, only lost 9 ounces at the hospital, and is getting stronger and more alert every day.  And oh goodness does this baby love to snuggle and be held!

The day after she was born (about 14 hours old) the Bella Baby photographer came to do her portraits.  She is such a beautiful baby and this is always one of my favorite parts of the hospital stay because I so cherish these images and know how difficult it is to find the energy and time to set up quality shoots at home while she's still a newborn.

She posed with us and with the white blanket I knit for her while on bedrest in July.  I'm so glad I learned to do that.  Knitting for a baby I am carrying is so satisfying and calming and I feel like the texture is really beautiful in the pictures and love that my baby has something special, made with love, just for her.

Daddy, of course, was smitten from the start!  He spent the first night with us and came back to visit on Friday.  The hospital gave us a pair of special desserts--deep dish apple pie and chocolate cake to share to celebrate her birth.  And Ed made sure to pick up some champagne to toast with when we got home!

We named her Cecily Elizabeth.  I'd had the name Cecily in my head from very early on in the pregnancy.  Matilda actually picked her middle name.  Once we found out baby was a girl, Matilda and Evelyn were eager to suggest names.  While Evelyn's suggestions frequently changed and included such gems as "Keena" "Snack" and "Fork" Matilda consistently suggested Elizabeth.  She was so infatuated with the name and it paired beautifully with Cecily so we gave her the honor of helping name her youngest sister.  When Ed went home and told her the name, she was so excited!  She was shouting, "I knew it! I knew it!" and, indeed, she did know that it was very special that she was able to pick out that name; I hope it's something they'll bond over as they grow up!  Evelyn was still not sure.  She thought perhaps "Flower" would be a better name than Cecily, but once we actually introduced them, she's fully embraced Cecily Elizabeth and I often overhear Matilda and Evelyn talking about baby's name.

I prefer not to have visitors at the hospital, I'm so often woken up or "pestered" by a nurse or insurance administrator or, this time, even the hospital chef coming by with a survey, that I'd rather take the rest of my short time there to sleep, nurse and just get used to my baby (We were discharged 37 hours after she was born!) But, it's our tradition to have the older sisters come along to pick me up when it's time to come home so they will be the first to meet the baby.  The car was SO full with 4 carseats!  And the girls were so excited to meet their baby sister.  They remarked on her tiny size and her dark hair and how soft her hair and skin were and unanimously declared that she was very pretty and the best baby ever.

It was a treat to introduce her to my dad when we got home, this is by far the youngest he's met any of our girls, I think the others were all at least a month old.  And I'm so grateful for his help and willingness to come up with virtually no notice.  The girls had a great time and were very well cared for while I was away.

Since we've been home, Ed has been busy--he still has to meet the demands of school, check in at work and attend meetings every so often and has been taking the big girls out to burn off some energy and give Cecily and I some quiet time to rest.

Adelaide runs to Cecily's crib first thing every morning looking for baby and says "baby" clear as day.  She's also surprisingly gentle when she touches or holds baby, but can be predictably rough and wild when she's not paying attention to where baby is, so we have to watch out for that.
Evelyn can't get enough of our new baby, every time she gurgles or whines Evelyn wants to look and see what she's up to and asks to hold her dozens of times a day.  While she holds her she always asks the same questions "Why is her __ so tiny?" (because she's little) "Is she looking at me?" (yes) "Why is she smiling at me?" (because she loves you) "Oh! I love her, too!"
Matilda likes to sing her lullabies.  She's been surprised about the spit up and the umbilical stump (which fell off 2 nights ago, already! Just 8 days old!) and she's eager for baby to be ready to play with toys and likes to talk to her about all the things she can teach her to do when she's older.  She's also been a super star helper, brining me clean diapers, rocking the cradle and throwing away soiled diapers for me without a single complaint.

It feels wonderful to have Cecily at home with the family.  We are so blessed and so grateful!

Matilda is 5!

New

Matilda was born at 5:58PM on Friday July 4, 2008.  I labored at home for about 14 hours before checking into the hospital for the last 10.  She was face up and I had to push for 2 hours, but every second was unquestionably worth it once I saw her squishy little self.  I was instantly in love.  She was a great baby.  Had a little trouble with dairy and with establishing nursing but nursed exclusively for 7 months and didn't take any formula until she was 9 months old.  She rolled and sat early, and started talking at 9 months old.  I delighted in her every milestone.  Actually, I did my best to just drink her in completely.  I was barely able to sleep the first week--not because she didn't, but because I couldn't stop looking at her!  She made me a mommy and has taught me new things about what that means every day for the last five years.

One

When Matilda turned one, she was in her short-lived chubby phase, not yet walking and content to sit with you and her toys and talk and talk and talk. She had the biggest smiles and cutest cherubic little laugh and loved watermelon more than any other food. She had trouble digesting milk so I carefully made her a dairy free strawberry cake with dairy free frosting, which she steadfastly refused to even try and, instead, smeared it on Daddy. This was her only birthday as an only child, Evelyn was born 3 1/2 months later.

Two

 When Matilda turned 2, she was a big sister to 8 month old Evelyn, who she adored! She was obsessed with flowers and singing, just starting to get interested in princesses and loved to paint. She was also able to finally have dairy and couldn't wait to dive into the chocolate frosting on her birthday cake!

Three

Matilda requested a pink princess cake for her 3rd birthday, so I decorated it with pink roses and gold sparkles. At 3 years old she suddenly seemed like such a big kid! Going to preschool, watching movies, completely wrapped up in pretend play, helping out with her little sister and eagerly awaiting Adelaide's arrival a few months later!

Four

As sweet as the newborn days were, and as exciting as it has been to see her reach all the milestones and make new discoveries over the last 5 years, I think 4 years old might be my favorite age so far! She's so clever and helpful and imaginative. We're able to sit and have conversations now and she remembers everything. She makes up songs, dances, and plays and I love to watch her performances. She is making friends and social connections, practicing her manners, increasing stamina and so much fun to do "girly" things with. She is a superlative big sister and can't wait for the newest little sister to arrive so she can help. I'm so so lucky to have this girl in my life.

And now, my baby is 5.  Once she fell asleep last night, we decorated the dining room with red white and blue, wrapped her presents and put some balloons and a new birthday outfit in her bedroom to surprise her when she woke up.  We didn't get a chance to wake her up with "Happy Birthday" this year--she was already too excited, standing at the side of my bed telling me it's her birthday and all about the balloons as the sun was just coming up.

We kept things simple this year, I'm on bedrest for the next 4 weeks, so I couldn't do a fancy cake and things like that.  But, I did make her exactly what she wanted for lunch--watermelon on a stick, chips and star shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Grandma and Grandpa Gustafson came over for lunch and cake and presents.  We surprised her with a strawberry ice cream cake decorated as a flag with glittery star sprinkles.  She has loved everything.  She has said "thank you" a million times today--before she even opened a single present.  She's appreciated every little detail and it has been such a joy to celebrate her!  We'll have a nice dinner and more presents and cake tonight with Grandma and Grandpa Greene, and next week she'll have more visitors.  She keeps telling me about all the big kid stuff she can do now that she is 5.  It's adorable.

Happy birthday, Matilda!  I hope it really is the best one yet! (until next year!)