Happy Anniversary!

Shane and I have been together for 13 years! That is so crazy! This year our anniversary fell on a Monday and Shane worked the whole weekend before so our actual anniversary was pretty low key. Shane brought me home some beautiful roses, I made his favorite dinner...meatloaf and mashed potatoes and I made him an apple pie for dessert. With all the desserts I love to make I have never made a pie. I've never actually like pie either. But my friend Sarah came over and showed me how to make pie crust from scratch and I have to say...it was amazing! I loved it. Shane was pretty excited about it too. :)

 On Friday, Shane took the day off and we headed to Atlanta. My brother gave us a list of good places to eat and we pretty much tried to eat as much amazing food as possible while we were there. It was awesome!! We got to Atlanta and went to Flip Burger for lunch. It's Richard Blais' restaurant from Top Chef and it is soo good. Gourmet burgers and my favorite milk shake ever. We were so stuffed!! 

 French fries, Sweet potato tots and onion rings and amazing dipping sauces. 

 I got the Oaxaca burger. Beef, avocado, cilantro-lime mayo, queso fresco and pico. I would never think to put those on a burger but holy cow it was amazing! 

 Okay so this is their Nutella milk shake. They add roasted marshmallows to the top and you have to wait for it to stop smoking before you can drink any. It's soo good!

From there we went to Ikea to walk around. We got a few things but really, I just love to look at all the room ideas they have. We also went to the Lenox Mall to look around. They had a Sprinkles Cupcakes! I was so excited. Too stuffed to actually eat one but I had to get some. I mean...it's Sprinkles! I got 4 and ate them at home the next day. So I realized that if you are going to spend that much money on a cupcake, you should eat it when it's fresh! I actually feel the need to go back and try again. :)

For dinner we went to Eclipse Di Luna. It's a Spanish tapas restaurant.  This was probably my favorite part of the whole weekend. The atmosphere is so fun and it was really packed when we got there with a latin band playing music. We got drinks from the bar and sat outside while we waited for a table. It was a beautiful night and we just had fun hanging out while we waited. Then they took us to our table and it was this quiet little room in the back. You could still hear the great music but it was still quiet enough to have good conversation. We were still pretty stuffed from lunch so we just ordered one small plate at a time. The food was incredible and we had fun taking our time, sharing a small plate and then finding something else on the menu that looked good. We ended up having a capresi salad, fried calamari and empanadas. 

 On our way to dinner

Such a fun place to eat! Next time I'm going when I'm super hungry!

Then next morning, we got up early and went to Sublime Donuts. Another gourmet place...not just your average donut shop! These donuts were insane. We got a bunch so we could bring some home for my family to taste but ended up eating them all. We got the Nutella, Fresh Strawberries and Cream, Butter Toffee, Honey Glaze Cinnamon, Orange Dream Star, and the Cream Cheese Danish. I realize I'm talking about food a ton here but a. I'm pregnant and b. If you ever go to Atlanta you'll have great places to try and you'll know what to expect! :)

Shane wanted proof that I got up to see the sunrise. :) Didn't get any pictures of the donuts cause we ate them all!

So after breakfast we went golfing. Well, Shane went golfing and I drove around the cart. It was a beautiful day but they were fixing up the course so that was pretty bad. We still had fun and worked up an appetite for lunch. :) We went to Antico Pizza. We have wanted to try this place for probably 3 years but every time we drove by it there was a huge line. Well this time we had plenty of time to spare so we tried it out. When we got there, there was already a huge line. The owner came out and said they had to wait for the pizza ovens to reach 1000 degrees before they could start serving pizza but they brought out some pizza for us to try while we waited. So good!! We couldn't really tell what kind of pizza we were ordering because it was in Italian. They have about 12 options and that's what you get...you don't pick your own toppings. Also, the seating is family style so we sat with a family from Virginia. They brought us our pizza and it was huge. We were going to bring some of that home for my family too and I think they got one slice! We got the Margherita pizza with pepperoni. The ingredients were so fresh and the dough was so light that we weren't even that full when we were finished. 

 They weren't even open yet and this was the line to get in.

 Let's just say the pizza was good! :)

Yum! Holy cow...just looking at this picture is making me hungry again!

So that was our trip to Atlanta. I told Shane that this year for our anniversary I just wanted to eat really good food. I think we met that goal! We both said that this weekend was probably the best food we have ever eaten! I love that we were able to get in one more little getaway before our little baby gets here. I loved the time we got to spend together and that we got to eat such amazing food! :) 

Snow Day

Sometimes I really love living in Georgia. Yesterday everyone was freaking out because snow was coming. The girls both got out of school early. They even sent Shane home from work early! We stayed home and waited and waited and waited. The snow was 100% supposed to be here by noon but it didn't start snowing till 9! We were also supposed to get 3-4 inches and we got maybe 2. But today...everything was shut down. The girls woke up to everything being white and beautiful and they were so excited. Shane made us pancakes for breakfast and we tried to bundle up the girls as much as possible. One downside to living here...you never have the right stuff when snow actually shows up. The last time it snowed, which was three years ago, I went out and bought winter gear for the girls so that if it snowed again we would be ready. Three years later and nothing fits! Oh well...we did our best!

So first they just wanted to eat the snow. Then they wanted to build a snowman but the snow was so soft it wouldn't stick. Then they wanted to sled so we got Shane's old boogie board out of the garage and let them sled down the super tiny hill in our front yard. They loved it. :) My friend texted me and said they were sledding at the park so we went out to meet them there. So much fun!! I got to use my fancy new lens that Shane bought me for Christmas. I really wanted to sled but I figured that probably wasn't a good idea being 6 months pregnant. :) The kids raced each other down the hill, the dads raced the kids down the hill and they all went by themselves. We pretty much melted all the snow on that hill! They found a bigger, better, faster hill and it was awesome. I had pulled the car around because Natalie was over being cold. Her hands and feet were frozen so we sat in the warm car for awhile. After she warmed up, Heidi got cold and they switched. I sat in the van watching them fly down the hill. I did get a few shots of the fast hill but not many. I saw Heidi fly down and she was going so fast that she flew off at the bottom. Shane did a running head start on his turn and he went pretty fast too. It was just a really fun morning. It doesn't happen very often so we usually make the best of it when we can!

Merry Christmas!

Such a fun day. Shane and I both woke up around 6:30. We kept listening for the kids and didn't hear them. Finally Shane ran down the hall and opened the door to their room and then ran back really quick. Poor Natalie...she is such a silly girl. She started yelling from her room, "Who opened my door? Who opened my door?" She was not happy. Then she came in to our room repeating the same thing over and over. Shane and I are pretending to be asleep so she can "wake us up on Christmas morning" and she is just obsessed with the fact that someone opened her door. Finally Heidi yelled from down the hall that maybe Santa opened the door. Then it clicked and Natalie got really excited. Both girls jumped on our bed and asked if we could go downstairs. This year Shane and I both went downstairs to get everything ready and we made the girls wait at the top of the stairs. While we were turning on Christmas lights and making coffee, they were singing Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. So cute! After we said they could come down they both came running into the family room. Heidi was so excited about her doll house that Santa left. Natalie didn't understand why Santa left her a doll house when she specifically asked him for a rainbow loom! We did stockings and then exchanged gifts. When Natalie opened the rainbow loom from Shane and I she was so happy. That must've been why Santa didn't get it for her then! 

After finishing our gifts, I threw together some Nutella Cinnamon Rolls and then we headed to my parents.  Dad read the three page Santa letter, we tossed snowballs into a pot to see who would open gifts first each round and had an amazing spread of food. Cookies, cinnamon rolls, muffins, cheesecake, egg casserole and coffee cake. That's how we roll at the Mellecker house! :) After finishing with gifts we headed back home. The girls played with their toys and I took a nap. Then we headed back over for Christmas dinner. Nan's amazing lasagna, lots of picture taking and playing with new toys. It was a really great day. 

   

 Everything before the kids came down

 Heidi is super fast. Always. Seriously...she doesn't walk, she only runs!

 Natalie looking for the rainbow loom that she asked for. Crazy girl!

 Shane reading the letter Santa left the girls

  Natalie practicing her golf swing with the new club Shane got her.

 Dad reading his 3 page letter from Santa...complete with Scottish accent. Our Santa was always Scottish while we were growing up. :)

  We got Dad a jersey for Christmas. Natalie is a professional photo bomber and she completely took over the picture. 

 Dad is covering her face so she can't photo bomb ALL the pictures being taken on Christmas morning. :)

 Heidi and Luke had so much fun after the gifts were done. It started with him throwing her in the trash can. 

Then it turned into an all out "snowball" fight. Mom has these little stuffed snowballs. Heidi and Luke were going at it and she was serious! The would throw the ball and then duck behind the trash. Then she would throw it again while diving behind the couch. This kid has skills! And her aim was right on! It was really funny to watch.

 Shane bought me a new lens for my camera so we were all trying it out a bit. 

 I love this shot of my dad

 Colie and Gracie

 Almost 22 weeks

 Heidi and Gracie

 Colie and Jon

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas with Shane's family on Christmas Eve this year. It changes every year with his family because of everyone's work schedules. That morning, Shane did his annual Guy's Shopping Day with my Dad, Brent, Luke and Matthew which consists of a few hours of shopping and then lunch and beers and golf arcade for a few hours more! Then in the afternoon everyone came over to my house to do Christmas. Shane and I made taco's for everyone. I love having something way non-traditional on Christmas Eve. That's my tradition. :) Anyway...my parents make the best tacos ever and we wanted to share that with Shane's family. We had all the yummy toppings on the table and then Shane fried up the corn tortillas to make shells. So good! After dinner we opened gifts. Christy and the kids were in North Carolina visiting her family so Justin represented for them. The kids were so excited about gifts...they were bouncing off the walls! They loved everything they got and were even really good watching everyone else open gifts. Cookie decorating came next. I just wasn't feeling the cookie baking this year like I usually am so I bought some sugar cookies from Publix instead of making my own. They were amazing by the way. :) I did whip up some frosting and set out a ton of decorations so all the kids could make cookies for Santa. We all had a lot of fun and it ended up being a later night than I had planned. When everyone left, the girls threw their reindeer food out on the front lawn, put their cookies and milk out for Santa and we got them ready for bed. Shane and I got the stockings and gifts ready and then crashed ourselves. I really love being the parent at Christmas time. It's so fun making everything magical for your kids!

 So many gifts!

  The cousins

 So easy to buy for...he LOVES Angry Birds! :)

 Totally don't get minecraft but Jayden loved the gift we got him

 Seriously my favorite pic!

 Sabrina and Colby

 The cookie decorating

 So happy this actually turned out

 Natalie and Heidi wrote their own letters to Santa. Heidi also drew a picture...that is Santa after he comes down the chimney because he is so dirty. :) She wrote her letter all by herself too.

I love this letter from my adorable first grader. So sweet! We watched all the Santa Clause movies before Christmas this year and it really changed how she viewed Santa. We looked up how old Santa is for her too...1,743 years old. :)