Friday, August 28, 2009

The best gifts...


I love being able to register for gifts, and those lists are essential for getting what we needed for Milo. But on the other hand, some of my very favorite things we've received since Milo's been born have been made just for him.

This gorgeous, plus educational ABCs and counting, quilt was made by the award-winning quilter, pharmacy mentor, and dear friend Marcia Millonig, with help from her sister. The second picture is the patch they made for the
back, complete with one of our first family
pictures. The fabrics are amazing, the back of the quilt is this soft, fuzzy green fabric, and the patch just puts this work of art over the top. It will be one of those pieces I will treasure forever!

This great onsie some of you might recognize; it was on Kate's Etsy site for a little bit before she graciously gifted it to our little guy. It says "trick or treat" on the owl, is made out of an old t-shirt, and will be the perfect size for Halloween this year. Not that Milo will be going out on October 31st, but we might have to go visit a few people ;)
This one is so great, and was one of those things I was completely not expecting, and then this envelope came in the mail from Sarah and Kim Knuth up in Duluth. There was also this great hat that looks like the top of an eggplant and another onsie, a red one with a tie stitched on the front, that I much have put in a different box 'cuz it's bigger. I love this one; Sarah and Kim have very similar tastes as me, and the fabric of the "MS" and the striped onsie are so perfect; I'll probably start putting him in this before it fits him and will keep packing his little body in it even when he starts to be a little stuffed-sausage in it!
Milo will never be cold. I love blankets, all kinds, anything snuggly, and the moms and grandmas know it. The orange quilt is from my mom and my dad picked out the fruit fabric on the back, the blue blanket is from my Grandma Sue, soft and silky and delicious, and the light pink, green, and blue one is from Steph, made of some magical yarn that is both fuzzy and soft and yummy all at the same time.
This adorable little work is drawn by one of Mike's pharmacy friends, Adele. She was Mike's predecessor regent for Kappa Psi, and she and her husband Tom are the easiest people to hang out with. Both of them are great people, lots in common with me and Mike, and we always enjoy them, but again, this was one of those things we just weren't at all expecting, so when it came in the mail, my heart just melted. The girl's got talent :)
And these delicious little bits of sweetness! One of my moms-on-call-when-I-have-no-idea-what-to-do, Kayla, came bearing boxes of goodies! Cheesy potato soup for me and Mike, rice cereal for the next few months for Milo, hand-me-downs from her cutie, Conner, and these little works of art! These beautiful cookies are cookie-pops (on sticks!) and each one has something else about Milo, his length, weight, birthday, and birth time. I can't believe the time and energy she put in, especially as a mom of two!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Milo's first wedding...

Mike's cousin Lindsey got married this weekend. We did the flowers, and I say we because many hands made far too much work very reasonable. Thanks to Steph and Larry, Karen and Bill, Kristi and Jason, Aunt Carol and Uncle Larry, Aunt Laura and Uncle Craig, and Mike, Lindsey's wedding was quite literally covered in flowers. We put things together that I've never done before, mostly because the flower shop I worked for never even offered them; they're fairly time intensive and not very cost-effective. Larry and Craig say they are going to teach me how to price things appropriately, but really with family, that's next to impossible. What's the good in having a florist in the family if they don't give you a great deal on your wedding flowers?

Milo was terribly handsome. He inherited some great seersucker pants from either one of the Rohl boys or Jake, I don't know from whom exactly. Mike and I found this button-down shirt on a clearance rack at Macy's, and I rummaged up a remnant tie out of the tie-bag days, cut it short, and stitched it up. I'm afraid to say he might have stolen the show, at
least in my eyes, but don't tell Lindsey. He is my first kid though, and I am a little biased, so hopefully she'd understand.
We also got to spend some great family time with the Schroeder gang. Kristi and Jason flew out from VA, and Karen's new beau, Bill, came up from Iowa to take on meeting the entire extended family, bless his heart. We all crashed at Larry and Steph's, filling all beds and floor space. And it was a blast! Lots of bossing nice people around with flower stuff, and plenty of loving by experienced and capable hands for the little man, so mom could neglect him for orchids, hydrangeas, and kermit poms. Good thing I have 3 weeks left of leave to stay at home and stare at him :)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Not much to say...

Not much to report on these days, so I figure pictures will satiate the blog-fiends :) I think Milo is almost laughing though, not quite, but almost. These are a few of the pictures our friend Ryan Torma took when Milo was about 10 days old. Click here to see the rest of them...

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Monday, August 03, 2009

The whole McGrail family, minus one Scott...

Kate, James, Finn, Henry, Milo, and I roadtripped to Indiana last week to hang with the McGrail crew. Mike, Mandy, and Jake flew in on Friday night to join all of us, Mom, Dad, and Heather. Only missing Mandy's Scott :( We were reminiscing that this is the first time the four of us girls have been all together in two and a half years, pre-Jake, pre-Henry, and obviously pre-Milo. And then Saturday afternoon, Grandma Sue, Grandpa Gary, and Aunt Barb and Marv came over from Iowa. A little crowded, but loads of laughs, love, card-playing, mess-making, food, and most importantly, family.

We decided to commemorate the event and take some family pictures. And I think they came
out pretty good, some definitely frame-worthy. When Kate and James and the boys were here, we all went to a Saints baseball game. And though Kate and I look ridiculously alike, people wondered whether it was Mike and James that were brothers. I don't know, I think all us girls look too much like family for there to be a mistake!