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Dear Jane,
Annie and Kate are now in preschool. They love it. The girls are indentical but it's funny how different their styles are. Annie is the tomboy, she has long wavy hair usually worn in two braids. She likes to wear overalls or jeans most of the time with her red hightops. Eliza is the girly girl, with chin length blonde hair pulled to the side with a bow usually. She likes dresses and Mary-Janes. We just had our new baby, Eliza Genevieve. Eliza was born July 8th and weighed 8lbs 6 oz. She has big blue eyes and blonde fuzzy hair, but looks completely different from Annie and Kate. Farer skin and looks like she might get freckles across her nose. We've had to move into a new house because we didn't have enough room in the old cottage we used to live in. The new house is out on John's Island. It's actually an old plantation house that Ben is restoring for us. It's mostly done except for the attic which we plan on turning into a play room for the girls. We had to extensively restore everything, but it's absolutely beautiful and we got it for a steal. All of the rooms have fire places (even the bedrooms) Annie and Kate each have their own rooms which they are very happy about. Annie's room is painted a beautiful china blue color. The curtains are sheer and white, and the bedspread is white except for the embroidery along the edges which is the same china blue as the walls. Annie's initials are embroidered into her pillows in the same blue as well. Her bed is the big four poster that was in her nursery which now has a canopy of very light blue toile with a white background. On the walls are old fashioned children's posters in muted colors. Kate's room is painted a very quiet sage green. Her furniture is all whitewashed wood. She has two beautiful old daybeds on either side of her room covered in beautiful old pink children's quilts with lots of soft pink and green pillows. She has semi-sheer white roman shades on the windows. Eliza's nursery is my ultimate creation. The walls are painted a soft, buttery yellow with bright white trim. All of her furniture is white and the fabrics in her room are all shades of blue. The house is beautiful, white clapboard with raparound porches and black shutters. It's right on the marsh and we have our own dock and boat. Sometimes when I walk up on the house I feel like I've stepped back in time. I have a beautiful (If I do say so myself) garden outside which I've surrounded with a white picket fence. I'm very happy with the house, and especially happy with little Eliza.