Delaney Jo-4 years old!

Today our tiny little peanut is a beautiful little (big) girl that's 4 years-old today.  Time has really flown as it seems like just yesterday we were carefully cradling our scrawny little baby that arrived a month earlier than planned.  You were beautiful and strong, and well that hasn't changed.  However, you didn't stay little long...

Delaney-newborn

Today, you are a bright, loud, happy, independent, stubborn, funny, smart, sweet girl that keeps us on our toes and exhausts our patience!  You are a big girl for your age, and we have a doctor's appointment in a couple days to see just how big you are.  You are outgrowing your Big Girl size 6 clothes, so I know you're still "off the charts". Like your parents, you love to eat, and naturally demand a treat after every meal.  You favorite foods are spaghetti, bow-tie pasta, berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, pretzels, and goldfish.  You also love ice cream, but you have to have sprinkles with it!  Lemonade is a treat, and you have developed quite the taste for orange juice.  Brownies are a favorite treat! 

Delaney-1 Year

Your life has been turned up-side-down since we welcomed your little brother home.  You wanted a little sister so bad, and you were very disappointed that you got a brother instead.  You have come a long ways in the last 3 months, and you now love your little brother and have said we can keep him.  You are very sweet with him, and you are very helpful to Mommy when you want to be.  You have "acted-out" since Cooper was born, which is understandable.  I think you might be on the verge of turning the corner, so I'm cautiously optimistic we have calmer days ahead.  We've had a lot of rough patches lately.

Delaney-2 years

You have learned so many new things this year.  You are working on writing your name, and you can identify most letters & numbers.  You have your father's memory, so you have masted the art of memorization...this works for books, TV, movies, and music...among so many other things!  You have recently started your first dance class, and have your first recital coming up next month.  You have graduated from a tricycle to a big girl bike with training wheels.  I'm sure you'll be a pro by June!  You love to learn new things...last summer you took regular batting practice with Mom pitching since we didn't have a tee--you made contact many times.  You have also mastered the iPad, you're better than Mommy on that thing!  You love you watch movies and TV shows on Amazon Prime Instant Video & Netflix.  You have discovered several oldies...He-Man, She-Ra, Wonder Woman, Batman, Barbie, Rugrats, just to name a few. 

Delaney-3 years

This year you got to be in your first wedding, and you had the time of your life!  You danced ALL NIGHT LONG, and cried when we pulled you off the dance floor to go home to bed.  You are so excited for Uncle Chip & Aunt Lauren's wedding in May!  You went to many a Daddy & D date night movies this year...your favorites were...Frozen, The Croods, and Despicable Me 2.  You have become quite the little fashionista.  You have an opinion on whatever you're wearing, and you LOVE your accessories.  However, you are a bit of a tom-boy too.  You love to wrestle & rough house, and you're not afraid to get dirty.  We joke that you're our little linebacker in a tutu!  You are very particular about a so many things...how your blankets are folded, what food is on what spot on your plate, who turns off the bedroom light at bedtime...these are the things that become battles sometimes! 

Delaney-4 years

Life is far from boring when you're around, Delaney.  You are such a character.  You're naughty and sweet, hot and cold, silly and sassy, and too smart for your own good.  You are stubborn, independent, and quite bossy.  You lack patience, and never forget any promises we make.  You're the life of the party and hilarious.  You're so much like your Daddy it's not even funny.  We wouldn't change you for the world!  We love you to the moon & back little girl!  Happy Birthday Delaney Jo! 

Cooper-3 months

Cooper turned three months old on Monday, and it just doesn't seem possible that we're at that milestone yet!  Honestly, we are very blessed with such a sweet baby.  He was completely backwards on days & nights for the first 8 weeks of his life, but he finally straightened out just in time for me to return to work.  I'm so grateful for that!  4 hours of total sleep a night is NOT anywhere close to enough for me.  I'm still barely surviving on about 6! 

He is growing & eating well.  At his 2 month check up last month, he weighed in at 11 lbs 6 oz, so I'm guessing we are in the 12.5 lbs range.  We'll have to hop on the scale one of these days to see.  So far he's in about the 25th percentile for height & weight, but the boy has a big noggin.  I think that was in about the 90th percentile at 2 months.  Let's hope he grows into his head.  He does have great neck strength for a 3 month old.  He's not much of a bobblehead, which is impressive!  We are filling out our 3 month clothes right now, but I think he'll swim in the 6 month stuff.  He's still comfortably in the size 1 diapers. 

We have been exclusively breastfeeding so far.  We exclusively pumped and bottle fed Delaney, so this has been a whole new ballgame.  The first two months were HELL...extremely painful & frustrating, but now I love it.  I already know I'll miss our nursing time when it's over.  He has transitioned well to a bottle at Holly's, which I'm so grateful for!  He tends to take mealtime very seriously...just like Daddy! 

He already has quite the little personality!  He loves the ladies and is a major flirt!  He's a smiling guy that likes to talk.  Thankfully, his fussy times are few & far between, and can usually be explained by gas or tiredness.  He gets very proud of himself when he fills his diaper & he enjoys having his nose cleaned out.  He thinks both of these things are very funny...typical boy!  He likes his baths as long as he doesn't swallow any water, then he gets MAD!  He's a little snuggler, much more than I remember his sister to be.  He loves to be held & snuggled.  Considering he's very likely our last little one, I'm trying to savor all these little moments.

Cooper loves to play and be talked too!  He likes to be sung too, and doesn't really care if it's a sweet lullaby or one of Delaney's nonsensical tunes.  He has enjoyed the limited time we've been able to spend outside so far.  I think it will be a fun summer outside for him.  He hasn't taken much interest in his puppy, Izzy, yet.  He tolerates Delaney for the most party, but when she's especially loud or crazy he's not a fan.  She can get a smile out of him pretty easily with her silliness!  He is just starting to giggle!  It's so cute, I'm trying so hard to catch it on video, but he's a smartypants and has already figured out what that little black box does!

Cooper has fit into our little family perfectly, and we can't imagine life without him!  He's the little boy we always hoped for!  (I just hope he stays little for a while!!)

Whirlwind Recap

Hello, there, internet fans!  Obviously, we have been M.I.A. on this little blog here for quite some time (ALMOST A YEAR)!  Failure!  To say we've been through a lot since my last post is a fairly big understatement.  In fact, I could write for days.  The main reason for our hiatus was that things were tough around here.  This time last year, I had just lost my grandmother, we were trying (not super successfully) to get pregnant, and Craig HATED his job.  We were stressed to the max and fighting to keep our sanity.  I didn't want to broadcast all of it on the internet, so I simply stopped posting because I was consumed with all the stress all the time. 

Well, here we are a year later, and everything is so much better!  First of all, we found out in early April 2013 that we were expecting our second little bundle of joy.  We were due on my mom's birthday, December 16th.  I was very fortunate to have a very "easy" pregnancy this time.  I did not have any of the high blood pressure issues I had with Delaney, and I felt great most of the time.  I was 9 months pregnant here...

Cooper Bryant Mencke was born on Tuesday, December 10, 2014 via a planned c-section.  He was born at 7:49a.m.  He weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 19.5" long.  He had (and still has) a full head of dark hair.  He is a really happy baby and is eating and (finally) sleeping well.  He started stretching out the nights about 10 days before I went back to work.  He is full of smiles and is starting to giggle.  He's a clone of his daddy & his sister, and so far seems to have quite the personality.  Delaney has come to grips that he's a boy and not a sister baby, and actually dotes on him pretty well.  (We are still working on calm & gentle though.)

On June 26th, we incorporated our business...CM Project Solutions, Inc.  On July 31st, Craig left his previous employer to work for himself!  This was a big change for all of us, but it the best thing for him.  He has finally gotten back to his oldself.  The business is doing well, and we are much happier!  He is working back in Lincoln now, and beats me and the kids home from work almost every night.  Craig also enjoyed a great Chiefs football season, and is counting down to next year!  

Delaney has been busy too!  Aside from becoming a big sister, she has been in her first wedding, started dance class, and become very proficient with the iPad (among so many other things).  She is about two weeks from her 4th birthday, and still towers over other kids her age.  She has had a tough transition with Cooper, and we are still struggling with some behavior issues.  I'm hoping time will work those out!  We NEED Spring to come ASAP, so we can get outside...I think that will help tremendously!  She is smart, funny, stubborn, and very independent...much like her Dad! 

I returned to work two weeks ago.  So far, the transition has been easier than with Delaney.  I am so grateful we have Holly!  Cooper is doing well over there, and I think he's just as spoiled as Delaney was.  I miss him terribly, but I don't worry about him over there!  Work is good, I have some good opportunities there this year, so I'm hoping to make the most of them.  Now, if I could just figure out how to get out of the house with two kiddos every morning on time, I'd be set! 

So, that's us in a small nutshell!  I hope to be more frequent with my posting again as this year is shaping up to be pretty fun...adjusting to life as a family of four, new baby cousin, Uncle Chip's wedding, vacations, etc...  Thanks for sticking with us if you're still here!  (Drop me a note and say "Hi"!)