Baby #4 25 weeks

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We had another ultrasound yesterday to check baby's growth.  She's doing great!  1lb 12oz is the estimate, putting her in the 45th-50th percentile for gestational age.
She is by FAR my wiggliest baby.  The nurse often has to chase her around my belly with the doppler just to try to catch her heart rate.  Matilda and Evelyn have felt her move now from the outside.  Matilda loves it, Evelyn thinks that both the kicking and the ultrasounds are "kinda creepy" but is very much looking forward to the day that baby "pops out!"

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18 Months

Adelaide had her 18 month check up yesterday.  She is 26lbs and 32.5 inches.  She barely cried after getting her shots and I am relieved to know those are the last boosters until she starts kindergarten!

Her vocabulary is developing, but she is still a baby of few words.  She definitely can get her point across though, and with 4 people jumping to guess what she needs before she verbalizes it, she doesn't have much use for conversation just yet.  She can say mama, daddy, juice, cookie, Caillou, Peppa, hat, no, bye bye, ni-nite, shhhh, shoes, and yum.

She loves to climb and can frequently be found somewhere she shouldn't be--on the counter, the table, half way up the trellis, etc.

She enjoys riding toys from her rocking horse to the Dora tricycle; but her favorite is having Evelyn push her around in her cozy coupe.

Speaking of Evelyn, she and Adelaide have really bonded since Adelaide started walking.  Daily they can be found doing puzzles, building towers, playing Little People, wrestling, playing dress up, coloring, snacking or just running through the house holding hands and squealing.  Evelyn looks out for her and Adelaide obviously looks up to Evelyn.

She's learning to color with crayons and doesn't always eat them anymore.

She knows how to use a fork and a spoon.  She will eat a variety of dried and fresh fruits, vegetables and cereals.  She hates eggs and most meat but loves hot dogs and will occasionally eat fish.  She's getting a little pickier though.

She typically sleeps well at night but can be difficult about her nap sometimes.

All her teeth except her 2 year molars have come in.

She is really strong and dexterous.

She HATES being left out of things the big kids can do.  But she does love to snuggle and give kisses and be rocked like a baby.

After her shower, the hair on the back of her head forms adorable curls.  The rest of the time it's a bit of a tangled mess.

She likes to make funny faces that are absolutely adorable, and is starting to "cheese" for the camera.

Family Tree

It is amazing how much can change in 8 short years.  While organizing our digital photos, I realized we have visited the same spot and taken nearly the same picture with the same funky tree 3 times at three very different stages in our lives.  This tree is in Colonial Williamsburg.  The first picture was taken in December 2004, right after Ed returned from New Zealand and right before we got engaged.  The second was a visit to the 'burg with baby Matilda in the spring of 2009 while I was just a few months pregnant with Evelyn.  The third was this past Christmas and New Year with Matilda, Evelyn AND Adelaide, while I was just a few weeks pregnant with our fourth girl!  It's wonderful how much our family has grown, and pretty impressive that hollow tree appears to still be growing as well!

December, 2004

 April, 2009

December 2012 

Gustafson GIRLS!

Our ultrasound showed a healthy, strong, wiggly baby GIRL growing well!  So excited to add a fourth sister to the crew!

Ensley Sage

Our BEAUTIFUL pixie of a first niece was born on February 24th at 11:16am.   Ensley Sage was named in honor of Kim's grandmother, Evelyn, and Eric (and Ed's) grandmother, Shirley, using the initials for the tribute.  She is a healthy, tiny little girl born at 4lbs14oz and 19 inches tall!

The whole family is doing well.  It sounds like Ensley is a great eater, gaining weight quickly and mom and dad are doing a great job!  She is also exceptionally alert!  Kim and Eric were kind enough to make time for Ensley to Skype with the girls over the weekend and I was so impressed with how awake (and darling!) little Ensley is!  We can't wait to get out there to meet her!

A Lovely Tribute

We don't spend enough time here talking about how wonderful Ed's aunt Mona is.  She really has always been so generous and loving and warm to us.  She never forgets an occasion to check on or send a sweet gift to the girls, and she's always so positive and an absolute delight to spend time with.  She knows so many interesting people and has done so many interesting things.  Combining that with her sunny attitude and easy laugh and you're guaranteed a good time!

She has served the Senate for 34 years and is retiring this week.  She was feted in style last night at the United States Capitol and all three of her senators were, of course, in attendance.  We wish we had been, too!

Her current Senator, Mr. Corker, delivered this touching tribute to Mona and her service on the Senate floor last night.  It was aired on C-SPAN and I wanted to share it with everyone because I know every glowing word he said was true!  If you click the "more info" link at the top right of the video, it will link you to C-SPAN where there is a transcript.

Congratulations on your retirement, Mona!  Thank you for your service and best of luck in your next adventure!

Photo Album Updates

The site that used to host our family albums has closed, we have moved all our albums to Shutterfly.  The picture at the top right will direct you to the family albums, but it is password protected, if you would like access to the family albums to see the pictures we don't share here or order your own prints, please email me and I will get you in.

Happy Valentine's Day!

What we did in December Part II

The girls made these hand-print Santa's for Daddy for Christmas.  They decorated a "treasure box" and filled it with pictures from 2012, daddy's favorite candy and these keepsakes.  He loved it.

They couldn't fit on Santa's sleigh, so they had to fly out the next day--Grandma and Grandpa surprised the girls by visiting the 26th-30th.

We took the girls to Winter Lights exhibit at the Elizabethan Gardens to bring thank you notes to Santa.  Matilda signed her own note and Evelyn gave Santa a shell she carefully chose from her collection to say thank you for all the lovely gifts he sent.

The Winter Lights exhibit was great!  Tons and tons and tons of light displays all throughout the gardens, a fire for roasting marshmallows, cheery Christmas music playing, temperate weather and hot chocolate!  We really loved it!

The girls exploring the exhibits.  I'm tickled that they call Christmas lights "Fairy Lights."  They're so British sometimes.

We did make sure to walk the beach and look for shells often, especially since it was right outside our door!

While we were driving from Chapel Hill to the Outer Banks, Evelyn started announcing that she NEEDED to get her feet in the ocean.  So, we let her, as soon as we got to the house, before we even unpacked the car, we shuffle them all out to the beach.  Baby was unsure about walking in the sand, but determined, also, determined to eat everything on the beach so she didn't get to stay in that sand for long.  Evelyn tried out the water and quickly discovered it was COLD!  We made Matilda try it.  She was scared, but did eventually get her feet wet. Once.  She prefers hot tubbing.

At the beginning and end of the trip there were lots and lots of shells to collect.  The big girls each had a bucket and filled them with nearly every beach walk.

We bid the beach adieu on the 30th and headed to Williamsburg for New Year's Eve.  We ate at the pubs, visited the sights, and did a fair amount of walking and shopping.

The baby was quite satisfied with the colonial fare.  This is her demolishing her 3rd applesauce.

I can't find it right now, but I have a picture somewhere of Ed standing in this tree (alone) in December 2004, before we were engaged.  How things have changed in 8 years!

Matilda and Evelyn weren't nearly as interested in the colonial dinner fare, so, one night after a full day of walking and a later than usual dinner, we did bribe them with ice cream for supper in exchange for good behavior.

Adelaide was content to continue sucking down little pewter cups of apple sauce.

The girls loved our rainy day.  They got to carry an umbrella and jump in every muddy puddle on D.O.G. Street.

We visited another of Daddy's schools--William and Mary.

And we visited President Jefferson again.  We first introduced these two nearly 4 years ago and Matilda was SO scared.  She's not frightened anymore!

Neither was Evelyn.

In fact, they were rather curious.

Daddy gave a stern lecture at the Presbyterian meeting house.

 And, according to the girls, the highlight of the Williamsburg trip was visiting all the farm animals.  No day was complete without visiting a horse or sheep.  These wooly guys lived right by our little house.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

The girls are ready to celebrate!  They sang "Happy Birthday" to Daddy first thing this morning, they've been using static electricity to decorate with balloons and they prepared this lovely tablescape and birthday feast of onions and lemons for him.  I'm going to attempt a blueberry sour cream pie for dessert and he's making a fancy pork roast.

We are staying in today, an ice storm is in the forecast so we will be cozy, relaxed and snuggling in our happy home.

Happy birthday, sweetie!

What we did in December, Part I

We did SO MANY fun things in December!  It's time for a photo-dump to tell you about our activities and travels.  I couldn't fit it all in one post, so stay tuned--I'll have more vacation pictures to share soon!

We went to Indianapolis in December.  Ed and his brother watched Wisconsin win the Big Ten championship football game and we went to the Children's Museum with Natalie and Boston and Eric (Mr. Miles and Chase stayed home so the young Master could get his nap.)  The kids LOVED it, as usual.

Jolly Days was going on.  The kids slid down a huge slide on potato sacks, "ice skated" in socks and played in the snow castle.

In the Science center, the kids learned about nutrition, water, caves, ponds, weather, gravity, and played in a construction site--Eric helped them peddle around in a little bull dozer and here's Ed and Matilda up in the crane tower.

The big kids all rode the carousel.   Evelyn rode a jumping deer, Boston rode a still giraffe and Matilda made poor Eric sit on a bench with her.  The most boring seat on the merry-go-round.  They enjoyed it.  After the ride, they played a bit more, had lunch, got fro-yo from a robot and visited dinosaurs.  They were WORN OUT that night!

Next up, Ed had to go to North Carolina to participate in an immersion program for his MBA at UNC.  He drove down and a few days later the girls and I flew out to join him.  The baby HATED being forced to sit on my lap during the flight, but the big girls were SO good.  I was really proud of them, but would prefer to never again fly with a "lap child." 

We took the kids on a walk through the arboretum. 

Then, a drink at the iconic bubbler.

We learned that Civil War monument soldiers in the South face North.

We posed by the old well and the baby desperately wanted to get out and go stumbling through the wet grass and leaves.

After checking out the campus we drove out to the Outer Banks to our rental house on the beach in Southern Shores.  We stayed for two weeks, enjoying time on the beach, celebrating Christmas, checking out some sites, and even joined the aquarium because the kids' loved it!

Matilda and Evelyn being attacked by "Sandy Claws"

Visiting the sharks in the largest shark collection in NC.

Evelyn's favorite part of the aquarium--the fake alligator.

Adelaide liked him too.  Actually, the aquarium was a perfect place to take Adelaide--just small enough and never crowded so she could toddle around like she owned the place!

Babies love to be outside.

See?  Love it.

Those black spots out in the ocean are our dolphins.  They visited several times and would leap all over fishing.  There were TONS of them!

Matilda was NOT scared of the sharks.

Still having fun at the aquarium.

We also visited the settlement at Roanoke.

They enjoyed trekking through the woods finding all the Indian stuff and then the settlement as a surprise at the end of the trail.

They met Henry.  The friendliest Scottish mercenary you could ever hope to meet!

Matilda played dress up.

Evelyn played dress up (the sword really suited her viking nature)

Daddy played dress up.

In the museum at the Roanoke Festival Park the kids loved exploring all the hands-on exhibits.  Matilda spent a good portion of her time playing pirate.

Adelaide was the first to crawl up into the dug-out canoe.  The big girls remembered seeing the canoe being made in the woods by burning the log and chipping away the burnt wood with shells.

Adelaide played dress up.  A Civil War Soldier.  And a very cute one.

And they played tag outside.  They were good and tired that night, too!

Santa came.

He left a thank you note and ate the cookies!

And he brought presents.

He really CAME!!!

The kids tore through the gifts with wild abandon.  Matilda and Evelyn really seemed to enjoy handing out the gifts for the first time.

After Christmas, Grandma and Grandpa came to visit.  Matilda started playing "Hair doctor" and set up a salon for Grandma.

Evelyn really helped her relax, too.  

Did I mention that we got a REAL tree and we all worked together to make the decorations?  It was days and days of fun getting it ready!

There was a hot tub on the 3rd story deck over-looking the beach

Evelyn did NOT like to hot-tub, but she did love flying her kite off the deck!

And we all watched the moon come up over the waves.  It was beautiful!

Stay tuned for more pictures from NC and VA!