Katelyn Meets Uncle Mitchell and Hayley

Hi all! Our most recent visitors were Uncle Mitch and Hayley who made the trip last weekend from Chicago to meet Katelyn. She's having a lot of fun meeting all these new people (Michael and I are certainly enjoying the company too!) Katelyn truly does seem to take in each face of all the new people she's meeting - it's fun to watch her look at everyone. We all especially got a kick out of Katelyn's many facial expressions - Mitch was particularly fond of them! In addition to spending some quality time with Katelyn, we took Mitch and Hayley to our favorite Mexican restaurant, went shopping at a nearby outlet mall, went to Uptown to walk/rollerblade around Lake Calhoun, enjoyed homemade pizzas and salad, and colored Easter eggs. Mitch and Hayley brought Katelyn her first Easter basket which included adorable bunny ears - check out the photos below. We loved having them visit and are so happy that Katelyn finally got to meet Uncle Mitch and Hayley!

Two peas in a pod!!

At Lake Calhoun - downtown Minneapolis is in the background.

Uncle Mitch and Hayley must've been Katelyn's good luck charm: she slept through the night for the first time on Saturday (11 p.m. - 7 a.m.) and did it again last night. Way to go, Katelyn!!

The boys did a whiskey taste test between Makers Mark and Buffalo Trace. Hayley and I just tried to smell the difference and even that about knocked our socks off!

Have you ever seen such a cute bunny?!? Hop...Hop...Hop!

Being a bunny is tiring!

"Now, Katelyn, it's almost baseball season and just because you live in Minnesota doesn't mean you can't cheer for the Cubs..." Words of wisdom from Uncle Mitch :)

Up next: Grandma Debbie and Aunt Jennifer! They're flying in on Friday and will be here for the weekend. We look forward to celebrating Easter with them!

The First of Many Photo Shoots

We had quite the photo shoot recently in an effort to get some good shots for Katelyn's birth announcement. This was a Team Mlakar effort as Michael held her in a few shots and also helped come up with ideas. Here are some favorite images of our sweet little girl. I have to admit, of all the photos I've taken in my life, I've never planted so many smooches on a subject before :) Enjoy!

Apparently she only likes the hat when it has a flower on it :(

Katelyn Meets Uncle Ryan, Aunt Carly, and Cousin Jack

We enjoyed our first of four consecutive weekends of family visitors last weekend and boy, did we have fun! Katelyn got to meet her Uncle Ryan, Aunt Carly, and her one-and-only Cousin Jack. They flew in from Kansas City on Saturday morning and we had a great weekend of catching up, going on a walk, shopping at Mall of America, dining out, swimming at the hotel pool, and of course holding and cuddling with Katelyn. She seemed especially interested in the new faces and even flashed a few grins at her new friends. It was particularly cute to see Jack with her - he was so giddy about seeing her when they first arrived and couldn't stop giggling! Eventually he held her too - it was very sweet. We're so thankful they all made the trip to meet Katelyn. Enjoy the photos...

Katelyn's thinking, "It's about time I meet more of my family - these people are fun!"

Jack's first ever root beer float - yum!!

Lego Land at Mall of America - Jack LOVED this and scored some great loot!!

Jack enjoyed holding Katelyn's hand :)

The cousins!

Awww, how cute is this?!

We loved seeing the KC Ridnours for the weekend - it was so fun to see them meet Katelyn. Next up: Mitch and Hayley come to town this weekend!

On a different note, my friend Katie's birthday was on Friday, so several friends went out to dinner to celebrate. This was my first evening away from Katelyn since she was born (and it also marked my first adult beverage since June!) Michael stayed home with Katelyn and fed her a bottle - she took it very well and drank the whole thing (3 1/2 oz.) and even ended up sleeping from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.! I think it was great for all of us: gave me some girl time to celebrate Katie's birthday, and Michael and Katelyn enjoyed a daddy/daughter date at home. Here's a photo of us girls at dinner:

Our Lil Leprechaun is One Month Old!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

Katelyn is proud to wear green today in this special onesie given to her by our friends the Kensingers. 

And happy one-month birthday to Katelyn! 

A gift from my cousins Chris, Kristin, and their cute baby Campbell, the stickers shown below are great to track the growth of babies in their first year. The "0 month" photos were taken when Katelyn was a week old. The "1 month" shots were taken today. It's amazing to see how much she's filled out already and we especially notice how much longer she's getting (she no longer fits into newborn size outfits with feet unless her legs are bent). Michael used to be able to hold her on his forearm and palm of his hand, but her feet are dangling off by his elbow now! 

The time has gone by so fast and all of us have done a lot of learning in the last four weeks, so it's great to look back on all the progress we've made since those first few days. Katelyn is getting more alert by the day and she spends more time awake during the day now. She is also becoming more aware of things around her - for example, she has finally noticed the mobile hanging above her swing and will tilt her head up to stare at it for several minutes at a time. She also will track toys with her eyes and head when we move one slowly across her line of vision. In the last week, she has also started to smile at us (she's especially smiley in the mornings and on the changing table, which could mean she's smiling at getting her diaper changed and not actually smiling at us, but either way that grin is adorable). When she smiles it just melts our hearts! Here's one I captured yesterday:

Here are a few more photos taken recently...

Soooo big! She loves to stretch her hands in the air.