10 Year Dateaversary & Brad's Birthday Weekend

As things seem to happen in the summer time, we've gotten a bit busy in the past few weeks.  Weddings of close friends and family, work, and all those little things in between.

This past weekend is a blog-worthy kind of weekend.  We celebrated Brad's birthday, and it's only fitting that we post about the awesome food we ate.

As a pre-celebration to Brad's birthday, we went out for "drinks" at Butch's to celebrate our 10 Year Dateaversary (10 years from when we first began dating).  Butch's has a great selection of wines, beer, and - my current favorite - mixed drinks.  This is what's call The Preggers; a non-alcoholic blend of fruit juices to make you feel like you have a grown-up drink, without the lasting affects it could have on an unborn child.  It was delicious.

Skipping ahead to Saturday night,

we celebrated Brad's Birthday Eve with dinner at Salt of the Earth.  If you love incredible dishes that only use fresh, local ingredients, then this is your new favorite restaurant. Brad had a scrumptious roasted half chicken and a glass of local Pinot Grigio out of Leelanau Peninsula:

I had the pierogies.  And not to diss my dad's home-cooked pierogies (Papa - the squash ones are still number one on my Pierogi List), these were the most amazing pierogies I have ever eaten.  Simply delightful.

We polished off the meal with a latte (Brad) and a decaf cappuccino (me), and it couldn't have been a better meal.

Sunday after church, we decided to head to the beach before summer faded away.  Ice cream and hanging out in the sun for a bit was just the ticket.  Despite it being Brad's birthday, I still had him do a little bit of father-to-be help.  It seems when you are pregnant, there is a large growing mass in your abdomen that prevents you from laying on your stomach.  Problem solved, thanks to a great idea from a friend!  Brad dug a hole in the sand, spread my towel on top, and viola!  It's as if there were no belly at all...

 But, on second glance it still seems to be there, getting bigger by the week:

Happy 10 years to the love of my life, and happy happy birthday!  Here's to the next 10 years, and the adventures they will bring!

~M

51% of you were totally wrong

And... we're having a boy!!

We're absolutely thrilled!! Even more importantly, the baby looks very healthy - literally every single measurement taken was smack-dab on the 50th percentile for our due date.

Woohoo!!

It turns out that there is a human boy in Maggie's belly!

Week 20: Your belly is now the size of a major landmark?

We took a road trip down to Springfield, IL (the home of Abraham Lincoln, as we became acutely aware) last weekend for my cousin's wedding reception. It was great to see extended family that lives out of state and we rarely have the opportunity to see. We are so happy for my cousin and his new bride, wishing them the best in their new life together!

At our hotel (creatively named the Abraham Lincoln Hotel), they had a chair appropriate for ol' Abe himself.

I imagine that the authority I need as a father will come easily if I routinely sit in a chair such as this

Early Sunday morning we made the spontaneous decision to head south rather than the assumed north. I hadn't ever seen "The Gateway to the West" in St. Louis, so I figured why not?

Maggie and I have been frequently discussing the "fruit size" that our baby is each week, but this trip got me thinking: why don't people mark the progression of their pregnancies by what national landmark they resemble in shape?

Week 20: St. Louis Arch-Belly

We had a great time in St. Louis.

Excuse the sweatiness - it was nearly 100deg

Only 1 day left to vote on the boy-girl topic. Make your voice heard! We'll let you know the winner in a couple days...