So Much To Be Thankful For

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and got your fill of turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole,  stuffing (my personal fave), and of course pumpkin pie! Michael and I enjoyed our very first Thanksgiving with just the two (make that three) of us since we're normally with one side of our families. We had a great day and were full of gratitude for all the blessings in our lives.

On Friday morning, we hit the road to visit Michael's brother Jason and his wife Cassie in Lake Carroll, IL. Michael's mom Debbie was also there visiting - it was so nice to see everyone!! Malone and Sunny (Jason and Cassie's pup) had a ball romping around and wearing each other out. Here's a photo of the dogs waiting for treats and then falling asleep gazing into each other's eyes and holding paws :)

On Saturday morning, we went to a local tree farm to help Cassie and Jason pick out their Christmas tree. It was a gorgeous fall day and fun to see all the different tree options. Here are a few photos from the quest (which, by the way, was a successful one!):

Saturday afternoon, Cassie and Jason hosted a baby shower for us, which was so gracious of them!! Cassie is an awesome hostess and she had every detail covered. The theme of the shower was "So much to be thankful for" with a fall/Thanksgiving focus. We had real turkey sandwiches, stuffed mushrooms, sweet potato biscuits, a mashed potato martini bar (so creative - see the pic below!) and some delicious cookies and pie for dessert. Here are some photos of the fun - special thanks to Cassie and Jason for a wonderful shower in honor of Baby Mlakar!

Place setting pumpkins

Mashed potato martinis!! (My kind of cocktail :)

The whole crew (minus Jason, who took the pic)

"Guess what's for Thanksgiving dinner" baby food tasting game. The plums weren't so bad, but I can't say the same for the green beans!

Michael getting acquainted with diapers :)

 Baby Mlakar will love her adorable pink Ugg boots from Uncle Jason and Aunt Cassie! All set for a Minne-snow-tahh winter!

Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt

Thanks for a wonderful weekend of family, friends, and fun! We're humbled and grateful for the generosity of everyone who was at the shower and who sent gifts from afar. Thank you!!

Then and Now: August 17 and November 17, 2009

Hi all!! I thought it would be fun to share a couple "then and now" pictures to show just how far this baby girl has come over the last 3 months. I'm wearing the same tank in both photos and trust me when I say, thank goodness it has some stretchy spandex in it :) The first picture is at 14 weeks on August 17 and the other photos are from nearly 27 weeks on November 17.

Whaddya think of Michael's fancy camera angles? He was feeling extra creative apparently! Our little girl has been quite an acrobat in there lately - I'm feeling her kick and wiggle around everyday, usually during my commute to work and at bedtime. It's fun for Michael to put his hands on my belly and get bumped by her too! She is about 14 inches long now and weighs about 2 pounds, so I hope she's enjoying the space while she has it! She'll be putting on the pounds exponentially for the next 11 weeks or so - something I've been able to relate to for the last 6 months! It's amazing to see and feel the countless changes my body is going through to prepare for her arrival. This week, my hips and pelvic bones have started to ache as they expand and widen - it's amazing and bizarre at the same time!

Sunday in Stillwater

Last Sunday, we made the drive (on the East side of the Cities about 40 minutes from our house) to Stillwater, MN, to celebrate our anniversary. We got engaged there at Water Street Inn bed and breakfast on February 26, 2005. We've talked about how it would be cool if the baby arrived a week late and made her debut on the 26th (actually, I say that now, but I'm sure I'll be more than ready when the 19th rolls around!) Anyway, it was a really nice day, so it turned out to be a great opportunity to take advantage of some warmer weather and enjoy some shopping along main street (they have all kinds of cute little shops - Michael especially likes all the antique stores, ha ha!!)

Here are two photos taken during our engagement weekend. The first is of the Stillwater Lift Bridge over the St. Croix River separating Minnesota and Wisconsin. The second is post-proposal (seriously, does the extremely white skin leave any doubt that it was February in Minnesota?!?)

Here are some photos from our Stillwater trip last weekend. There was also a land/water vehicle on display along the river (I'm sure there's a name for this thing-a-ma-jig but I don't know what it is!). It looked like a car inside and out, but had two propellers and a standard boat light on the hood. It was cool to see! We topped the day off with a delicious malt from Leo's Malt Shop,  a popular stop in Stillwater. Any day that ends with a giant malt is a great day in my book :)

Celebrating 11-05-2005!

It was 4 years ago today that Michael and I officially became Team Mlakar. What a wonderful day! Happy anniversary to my husband and best friend. Here's to many more happy, fun, and love-filled years on the road ahead! Check out these photos and take a walk down memory lane with us...

Here's a picture (of a picture) from our most memorable day: 11.05.05...

In 2006, we celebrated our one-year anniversary with a trip to Cancun...

Here's a picture taken around our anniversary date in 2007...

And here's a photo taken at our friends, Beth and Doug's wedding on 11.08.08...

We look forward to celebrating 4 years of marriage this weekend with a night out and a visit to Stillwater, MN, which is where we got engaged - I hope to post some photos next week. It's a thrill to think about next year's anniversary photo ... it will have three of us!