Stephen Edward Carl Mustard was born to David B. and Elizabeth J. Mustard at 11:45 pm on Sunday 22 December 2002, eight days prior to his due date. He weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces and was 20.5 inches long; 3 oz lighter and the same height as his brother, David Andrew. He is an older brother to his sister, Mary.
    Before Stephen's birth, Elizabeth and I thought we would name him Caleb, Daniel, or James. However, once he was born, none of these names seemed to fit. Shortly after birth, his face was completely serene and calm, which reminded us of Acts 6:15--"All ... looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." In Acts Stephen, who is described as "full of faith and of the Holy Spirit," was chosen to oversee the distribution of food to the needy. "Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people." Although opponents "argued with Stephen, they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke." Although we had never discussed the name of Stephen for either of our boys, we talked about it for about 5 minutes and knew that it was the perfect fit.
    Edward is a variation of my grandfather's first name (Edwin C.) and my father's first name (Edwin D.) and is the first name of our brother-in-law, Ed Zogg. Carl is the first name of Elizabeth's father and my uncle, and the middle name of my other grandfather, Martin, and my uncle Paul. We later discovered that Stephen Edward is the name of Ned Spurgeon's (Elizabeth's employer and mentor) younger son!

    Pictures from 1 week old
    Brothers-Pictures from summer and fall 2003
    Brothers-Pictures from summer and fall 2004