Four Months

Four months is a wonderful time of baby-hood, and I'm soaking up every rolly-polly minute with this sweet girl. Caroline has been busy checking off her milestones, as she now laughs, rolls from front to back and back to front, has found her toes, and just cut her first tooth! She's such a mellow, happy baby and it's hard to believe that she was actually our fussiest baby for her first few months. I'm amazed on a daily basis how calm she is despite the chaos around her! I just love, love, love this baby girl and wish this time weren't so fleeting. What a wonderful blessing she is to all of us!

3 month VIDEO!

Here's a special treat for Caroline's 3-month milestone... a video! Please excuse my sappy commentary, as it's impossible not to coo over such cuteness. :)

Caroline at 3 months

Deja Vu

I realize of course that each of my girls is her own person with her own unique personality, interests, etc. That being said, sometimes it's impossible to ignore the physical similarities of my "first set" and "second set" of daughters. Check it out:

Siena and Libby, September 2010

Caroline and Margaret, September 2014

Two Months!

It's "quiet time" at the Sustar house at the moment -- the little ones are sleeping, Libby is in her room playing, and I have some precious free moments to finally eat some lunch and sit down. There are a million things I should be working on right now, but I've neglected this blog for too long... sorry! I realize that going for 6 weeks without posting any photos of growing Caroline is unacceptable. And when I say growing, I mean it! I feel like she changed overnight from a tiny newborn to a rolly-poly infant who has already grown into 3-6 month clothes. Her doctor's appointment yesterday confirmed my suspicions, as she is already 13 lbs (85th percentile for weight) and 23.5 inches long (88th percentile for height). Her head is measuring in the 97th percentile! That makes her our biggest baby at this point, and I'm predicting that she'll be our tallest girl when all is said and done. Joe's tall genes had to show themselves at some point!

As for her temperament, Caroline is getting mellower and smilier by the day. Aren't baby smiles just the BEST?? She can also be a bit temperamental at times and definitely needs to eat and sleep regularly (sounds like a couple of other little girls I know around here...). Her sisters continue to be obsessed with her and still haven't quite grasped the meaning of the word "gentle." Oh well -- little Caroline is developing a thick skin very quickly. Okay, here is a long-awaited "photo dump" of our little Squishy. Enjoy!

At one month old

Some first smiles!

She has such pretty almond-shaped eyes and curled eyelashes

Love those cheeks, too!

Happy girl!

Four girls under the jungle gym

Smiles with Daddy

Sweetie pie

I love my big sisters (most of the time!)

Caroline with her biggest fan

Two months now!  So big!

Happy Birthday, Margaret Rose

Well, our little Margaret is TWO!  And wow, has she embraced this fun age with gusto.  I keep telling myself that there's a reason God made two-year-olds so adorable. :)  Margaret has certainly become her own little independent spirit this summer and has grown up so much.  She is now playing right alongside her sisters and participating in all of the pretend play you might imagine (usually centered around Fisher Price Little People).  She's also reached that incredible phase of development where her words are just spilling out more every day into longer and longer sentences.  It's so cool to witness.  Margaret is definitely a "pistol" as my mom says and is full of energy, fun, and determination.  She continues to love physical activity and will jump, climb, balance, and swing on anything available.  She is starting to really love to sing but does NOT like Mommy to sing along with her.  She continues to prefer water over any other drink (especially milk).  Her curly hair is out of control and adorable, and I finally cut off the long strand that hung down her back (but saved it for the baby book, of course!).  She goes down for naps and bedtime far more easily than her sisters did at this age.  She loves books, alphabet letters, and counting.  Her favorite color, by a landslide, is green.  She is not one to be left out, and is often heard shouting "me too!" when we're focusing on something older-sister related ("Libby, you have your first day of school tomorrow!" Margaret: "Me too!".  Or, "Siena, you get to have music class today."  Margaret: "me too!").  Her favorite characters continue to be Disney Princesses, specifically Ariel ("Ay-yo!") and Snow White ("No-yiyee!").  It both pains and amuses me that some of her first words were Anna and Elsa.  :)  And to think I once thought it'd be possible to downplay the Disney Princess world for our daughters...  Oh well!  She loves little Caroline but unfortunately has learned how to be "gentle" from her not-so-gentle big sister Libby.  It's amazing what these kiddos learn from each other...

Happy 2nd birthday, Margaret Rose!!  We are SO proud of you and the amazing little person you're becoming.  We love you!

I don't think I've seen her hair this straight since the photo was taken.  Definitely bed head.  And drippy popsicle.  The girl is impossible to keep clean.

A doting big sister!

Who doesn't love a sink bath?

And slides...  she LOVES slides.

B-day Party #1: green theme

B-day Parth #2 on the beach: Ariel theme

Such a fun kiddo!

The Summer of Mr. Jim

With a new baby and three very busy young kiddos to keep track of, we have definitely entered into survival mode around here.  This has certainly not been the summer to get out and about (though we have managed to fit in an outing here and there), and we haven't visited the pool once!!  Rather, we've been making our own fun here at home while adjusting to a family of six.  Thankfully, the kids haven't discovered the word "bored" yet and have been as happy as ever just playing with each other around home.  Their main props of play this summer have been the Fisher Price little people, whose population has multiplied by ten thanks to an early summer rummage sale combined with Libby's birthday.  The girls can't get enough, Margaret especially.  So funny and cute.  The main little people character is named "Mr. Jim," whom Libby named after the maintenance man at her preschool.  There's also "Freddy" (guy with frog), "Clean" (woman innkeeper from Christmas playset), and "Bean" (man innkeeper from Christmas playset), along with a multitude of Disney princesses.  It doesn't take much to keep these girls occupied...  Gotta love it.

Mommy Snow White and Baby Snow White enjoy a lunch of giant toast

Mr. Jim: the man, the myth, the legend

Happy 50th Anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa Yak!

The only unfortunate thing about the timing of Caroline's birth was that it happened to fall less than a week before John and Veronica Sustar (aka Grandma and Grandpa Yak)'s 50th wedding anniversary bash up in Wisconsin. We figured that unless the baby arrived early (or at the latest, on her due date), she and I would be unable to attend. This ended up being the case of course, and so the day after we returned home from the hospital, Joe loaded up the three older girls and set off for the 7-hour drive to Wisconsin by himself. Is that amazing or what? My husband is way braver than I. The drive went smoothly (so he reports -- only 2 stops the entire way!) and the girls had a blast with all of the Sustar clan. It turned out to be a win-win situation for all of us, as Caroline and I had four days of rest, relaxation, and recovery from childbirth in an empty house with Winnie providing meals. Happy, happy 50th anniversary, John and Veronica! We were so sorry to miss the festivities but are thrilled for the amazing milestone you have reached. You are an inspiration to us all... Lots of love to you, and here's to many more happy years ahead.

Sisterly Love

Although the majority of Caroline's day is still spent sleeping and eating, on those occasions when she isn't doing either of those things you will likely find at least one sister less than 6 inches from her face. Case in point:

Who does she look like?

It's fun when you have multiple children to see family traits start to repeat themselves. Up to this point I think our girls have each looked fairly unique, with a few common features of course. With Caroline, however, it was pretty evident as soon as she arrived that she looks a LOT like big sister Libby as a baby, at least in the nose, mouth, and chin. Her eyes are different and her eyebrows, hair, and olive complexion remind me a lot of Siena, though. She'll have her own look of course (and is already changing a lot), but there's no denying that she's one of ours!

Caroline

Libby

Siena

Two Weeks

It's hard to believe our little Caroline is two weeks old already! She's already growing and changing so much... We're having a ball with her and are overjoyed by our new addition.

Gain a Sister, Lose a Tooth... and Other Milestones

It's been quite the week for Siena, who not only became a big sister for the 3rd time but also lost her first (and second!) tooth!  Her bottom middle teeth had been wiggly for a couple of weeks, and the first one finally popped out in the car ride up to Wisconsin with Daddy.  Siena had very specific plans for her tooth, and opted to keep her first one and give her second to the tooth fairy.  I couldn't help but get a bit nostalgic seeing those teeth come out -- it doesn't seem like very long ago (or maybe it does!) that we noticed those same teeth for the first time on Easter morning in Colorado in 2009.  These kiddos just keep growing up...

Another huge milestone for Siena has been learning to ride her bike without training wheels!  Joe has been a great coach and it only took a couple of brief sessions around the track near our house.  I still have yet to capture her riding on video, but she's already a pro.  Fun rides around the neighborhood (and beyond!) in store!

Meeting the Fam

Needless to say, Caroline's birth has been a highly anticipated event around here! Her sisters could not WAIT to meet her, and aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great-grandparents have had to be patient as well thanks to my post-date baby! Caroline is so lucky to have such a loving family to welcome her into the world.

First family photo: the Sustar SIX!

My four blessings

Winnie's fifth granddaughter!

Aunt Lindsay with her new niece

Elaine has a new cousin!  How fun!

Daddio meets his eighth great-granddaughter.  Wow!  Girls rule. :)