More progress on the house!

There has been great progress in the basement and while things are not exactly in their right place in the rest of the house - we are getting close and couldn't be more excited!

Patrick is working hard on painting the cabinets in the garage (don't worry, most of the ones in the picture below are for the garage - not the basement). No paint required on those!

John and his team are making amazing progress in the basement as well.

Check out the drywall with the texture! 

 Can't wait to see the paint color and finishing touches in a few days!

Then the cabinets, the doors, the sink, the furniture --- it is gonna be awesome!

We already picked up our recliner (it is currently living in the family room).

 Good thing it will be moving downstairs in just a few short weeks - it is super comfy and we both enjoy sitting in it, but we do not need another piece of furniture upstairs!

It will be perfect for football games this fall!

And lastly, here are the Ellestad IRONMAN t-shirts!

Jo-Jo did an awesome job and they look fabulous!

Can't wait to wear them and cheer Patrick and the others on... one week from Sunday!

Getting the house ready for baby E

With less than a month until baby E arrives, we are working hard to get the house ready. After our two lovely baby showers in Mt. Horeb and Mequon, the nursery is full stocked and ready to house and comfort a little one. Plus, Mom came and painted the closet so I could promptly fill it. Here are the latest photos!

John's team is also working hard to get the basement done... Here are some photos of their progress. I believe drywall is scheduled to go in this week!

And finally, we just got our buffet back from Leah (booth 121) for our family room. Patrick and I saw a similar piece at American for almost 3 times the price, so we asked Leah to replicate it and here is the finished piece. The fireplace we had previously will go in the basement this fall!

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Madison Mini- Marathon

Patrick and Joe ran the Madison Mini-Marathon on Saturday and did awesome! It was a perfect day for a race - sunny and sorta cool, at least for August. I saw the guys at about mile 4 and they were cruisin.

I made it back to the union for the finish just in time.

Both boys did great meeting their goals of 7 and 8 minute miles.

There were a few celebs at the finish line as well, Casey Fitzrandolph and the racing sausages! We also saw our friend Kevin and Derek and Connie at the race.

After the race we were joined by Jeff and Jen. The guys enjoyed some celebratory beers at the union and then went for brunch at Manna Cafe. I have been talking about this place for a few weeks and I am glad to report it lived up to the hype for the rest of the group too!

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Up north minus the husbands

This past weekend I went up north to hang out with mom, dad, Lisa, Thomas and Josiah. Patrick and Ed both had guy plans so it was just us and the little boys. We also got to celebrate Josiah's 1st birthday.

Thomas did a pretty good job of letting Jo-Jo have his day - but some of his toys were pretty cool!

The ladies and Jo-Jo also went to Princeton Saturday morning... I found this great alligator hat for $1.50!

Here is Josiah patiently waiting for his cake. Not sure he knew what he was waiting for, might have just been tired... But still cutest photo of the weekend!

Don't mind the cake... This is one of those great examples of the cake tasting good no matter how it looks and I am guessing Lisa did an awesome job on his actual birthday celebration in Michigan :)

Love those eyes!

Other cute photos from the weekend!

As always we had plenty of delicious food and ended the weekend with homemade pudding pops!

Looking forward to seeing these guys again in September for the Ironman!

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Date Night!

Tonight Patrick and I went out for a date night ... Realized during our appetizers that it was one month until our due date! We went to Fresco (rooftop of the Overture Center)! The atmosphere was great and the food was wonderful. We had BBQ shrimp and bacon fondue mussels for appetizers... Everything was so delicious I decided I better take some photos. If you weren't hungry before reading this, you might need a snack after!

I had a roasted beet salad - 3 colors of beets.... Yummmmm!

Patrick had a wedge salad.

Main course, I had ricotta gnocchi with asparagus, peas, mushrooms, etc. in a brown butter sauce.

Patrick had a halibut fillet over a carrot and pea risotto - plus they have delicious bread that just kept coming! Then for dessert we had strawberry creme brûlée and key lime pie! It was the biggest meal we had had in a while, but it was wonderful!

After dinner we took a walk around the Capitol and tested out our new B-cycle passes. It was a beautiful night for an easy cruise down state street!

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Baby E Shower in Mequon!

Last Thursday my mom's friends threw a ABC themed shower for baby E in Mequon.  It was fabulous! These ladies should really do this for a living (they have already done quite a few showers over the years!). Since our baby room has those awesome letters on the wall - they took that idea (and in some cases, that exact image) and ran with it.

You can see above that the banner hanging on the door has the actual letters from the room printed on it. This banner will most likely hang on the nursery door to welcome home baby E!

They used lots of blocks and letters throughout the evening - spelling out our names, beaded blocks as napkin ties, letters on name tags and party favors... even the wine/ water glass charms!

The meal kept with the theme too - you can see the menu card here. (same design as the banner out front) Each item helped to spell out Baby E (Beef tenderloin, Asparagus, Biscuits with cheddar and dill, Yellow squash and spinach salad and Eclaires for dessert! --- yummmmm!)

The games even incorporated the letter theme - check out this great diaper cake they created - stocked full of spoons, baby toys, books, diaper cream, etc.

The guests also got to take a guess at how big my belly is --- happily most guessed WAY to big - but  I am guessing these ladies were estimating with my feelings in mind and didn't want to guess too small!

Here I am taking the actual measurement to determine the winner!

Mom made a beautiful baby quilt for us - creating a softer place for the baby to lay and play in our family room. Isn't it beautiful?! I love the bright funky colors and the old school fabric design. Definitely kid friendly, but doesn't scream baby so it can be used for years to come!  

Here are the Swenson ladies - Lisa and the boys planned a visit so she could come to the shower as well. So happy they could make the trip!

And here are the ladies responsible for this lovely evening. These are Mom's friends from high school. The Grandma-to-be sits out of the planning for her child's shower so it is fun surprise for the whole family.

Thanks again ladies it was a wonderful evening - we are so blessed :)

Mt. Horeb shower for baby E

The Ellestad ladies threw us a co-Ed baby shower last weekend and it was awesome! This was the first boy/girl shower I have ever attended and I am a big fan! It was a great way to celebrate with family and friends and I was glad to have Patrick there to join in on the fun too :)

Since we don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl, the night was filled with pink AND blue. The decorations, the desserts and my personal favorite (though I couldn't partake) the vodka lemonade!

We enjoyed celebrating with lots of great friends and family.

We had great summertime food, delicious BBQ pork, homemade chicken salad, my favorite broccoli salad and lots more! Plus, did I mention the desserts? Lemon bars, eclaire cake, and Patrick's favorite... Whoopie pies - frosted pink and blue! It was all delicious!

We also played some fun games, including birthing plastic babies out of ice cubes! Everyone also got to guess the date, weight, sex and name of the baby. Patrick told the group if someone got the first 3 right, we would use their name for the baby. I am thinking that will be a no go... Sorry, but not planning to have a child named "Maximus Harry" or "Amadeus Amadeus" as much as our friends and neighbors would love it!

And here are the lovely ladies that threw this great party! I am so lucky to have such wonderful women in my life :) thank you so much for the fabulous party and to Jenny and Jeff for hosting this party in their new home!

Can't wait to introduce everyone to the newest Ellestad in just a few weeks!

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