Our family is growing...

Yes! That's right, the Mencke family is getting a new addition this spring! We are expecting our first little one around April 15th! We are so excited and feel truly blessed!

We are 10 weeks along, and so far so good! Craig says I'm crabby (and I know I am sometimes), but that's all part of it! So far, my chief complaints are that I am SOOOOO tired all the time and I have been having migraines again! I had mono in high school, and this is about 100 times worse. It doesn't matter if I sleep for 12 hours at night, I am still a zombie by mid-afternoon! I have also had more migraines again. Luckily the really bad ones have hit on the weekends, but I have some sort of a headache every couple days. My doctor says that this should get better in a few weeks...we are crossing our fingers! I feel a little queasy once in a while...typically in the evenings, but so far the "morning" sickness hasn't been too bad!

We went to our first doctor's appointment on Monday this week, and that was pretty cool! After all the poking & prodding, we got to hear the baby's heartbeat! It was very cool! It made it all a little more "real" for us! My doctor was pleased with everything, and we will go back in 4 weeks!

Both of our families have been great! Everyone is so supportive & excited! I'm getting the most amusement thus far out of my siblings, who have been dying with this secret for 3 weeks! Our family isn't good with lying or secrets, so this has been tough on them! One of the many things I'm looking forward to is to see how everybody interacts with this baby! It should be quite entertaining!

I think Izzy knows too! Some say dogs can sense it, and I totally agree! She has been very cuddly and sweet with me. I can't wait to see what she does with the little one! I'm sure she will be the baby's protector, and absolutely adore her new sibling! Izzy was our way of telling our immediate family & friends! We ordered a doggie t-shirt for her online that said "I'm not supposed to say anything, but...Mommy's having a baby!" It's pretty cute, and whenever we put it on her it's almost like she knows she's wearing big news! She gets all crazy & excited!

So enough rambling for now, but check back often because we have lots to share these days!

Oh, and we won't be fining out the gender, so name suggestions (both ways) will be appreciated & considered!

Oh again, my two best girlfriends are also expecting their first babies (both in February), and I couldn't be more excited to share this crazy experience with them! I know I will appreciate them more and more the further into this I get!

After a month off

Wow! I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted anything! It's flown by! We just got back from the last of our vacations for the year! We spent last weekend out in Vegas with some of our best friends! We had a good time, and I survived four flights. If you know me at all...I HATE TO FLY, so this is a huge accomplishment! We stayed at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino this time, and it was so nice...aside form the AC not being very cool in our room! Overall, it was better than our run at the Luxor last time!

One of the best parts of the trip was going to the Las Vegasan's for Nebraska bar and watching the Husker season opener! It felt like we were in downtown Lincoln even though we were a few blocks off the Las Vegas strip! I got a pretty cool T-shirt that I'm excited to wear to the game on Saturday if the weather cooperates! I'm excited we get to go this week! I absolutely love going to the games! Craig's parents won tickets to the game, so we are all going to go together. They haven't been to a game since they were in college, so I'm excited to show them the ropes of the new millennium! We are also going in two weeks with my sister, her fiance, and his sister & brother-in-law. It should be a fun weekend! That game is the 300 consecutive sellout & homecoming, so it should be tons of fun!

Go Big Red!

One Year Ago Today

It was our big day! It was so perfect...I wouldn't have changed a thing. The weather was so great, we couldn't have asked for a better day in August (especially compared to the 100 degree weather today). We certainly lucked out. Everyone we wanted to be there was there to celebrate with us.

We are off to dinner!

Another one bites the dust...

vacation that is! We got back from Okoboji last Saturday evening! The week was full of fun, sun, food, drinks, & one trip to the ER! The weather couldn't have been any better for me...it was perfect boating weather! It was warm enough to be out & about in a swimming suit, but cool enough that I didn't melt or overheat on the boat all day! We have never been for 7 days, so it was a new experience for all of us! I think it was the perfect amount of time...long enough that it didn't go by so fast, but not too long! Oh, and the house we picked out online was absolutely wonderful! It was huge and beautiful! I think there is a good chance we'll be booking the same place for next summer! Yay!

The trip to the ER was for me! Yep, I'm a klutz! On Thursday morning, I was walking through our house up there and kicked a chair on the way by. Long story short, I fractured a small bone in my foot! Now, I have the pleasure of wearing a very stylish Velcro shoe until tennis shoes don't hurt...SWEET! Oh well, at least I did it at the end of the week!

This week we are trying to get back in the swing of things with work, home, etc. Last night we had a huge storm roll through Lincoln. We actually lost a small limb off our birch tree in the front yard. That's a new experience with being homeowners. We never had to worry about that sort of thing with the apartments...it wasn't our problem.

Oh, and we are gearing up for the big one year anniversary on Saturday! I can't believe it's been a whole year already...wow time flies! So many exciting things have happened! We don't have any extravagant plans for Saturday, probably just dinner out someplace yummy! I do have our wedding cake top tier thawing out in our fridge. I really hope it doesn't taste too bad...I really loved our cake and have been craving it lately! Our trip to Las Vegas over Labor Day will be our anniversary celebration/gift to each other! I'm really looking forward to it, assuming my foot feels better by then!

Birthdays, Burgers, & Babies

Well, it's been a while! It's be a crazy couple of weeks. I'll try to hit the high points! We celebrated Izzy's first birthday last Friday! She has survived a whole year in this great big world, and 10 months with us! I can't believe how much she's changed!
Here she is on the day we got her, she was 10 weeks old!

















Here are a few pictures from Friday, her birthday! We spoiled her with her own burger, Cheetos, & chips! It was all gone in a matter of seconds! I think this is a good tradition we started!

Going!













Going!














Gone!













She really enjoyed her treat!

Saturday, Brent, Buffye, & the kids came to spend the night at our place on their way back home to Colorado Springs! We had a full house, but it was a lot of fun! We went to the Morrill Hall museum on Saturday afternoon. Considering I have lived in Lincoln for seven years and never been, it was good to go and see it! The kids had a pretty good time too! We came home, the kids napped, and then we grilled out. We ended the evening with s'mores from our fire pit! It was a great time!

They left Sunday morning, and we were spent! We decided to see the new Harry Potter flick on Sunday afternoon. I thought it was really good! I love all those books and the movies are just as good!

Monday night we went out with all our friends for and early birthday celebration for Craig. He chose Shogun's. It was a great time, and our chef got a kick out of picking on Craig! His really birthday is the 28th, so we'll be celebrating in Okoboji! YAY!

It the midst of dinner, a couple of friends had a big announcement...they're having a baby! They are due Febuary 8th and our other really good friends are due Febuary 1st. This means I am now throwing a double baby shower! I'm super excited for all of them!

Our Okoboji vacation is next week, less than 3 days and we'll be there! I'm beyond excited! I can't wait for some R&R and fun in the sun! It's been a while...like since our honeymoon!

1 Down, 2 To Go!

Well, we survived the trip to Colorado Springs over the 4th! It was a lot of fun, we got to hang out with the kids, go to a movie (Ice Age 3...funny!), go on a hike in the mountains (BEAUTIFUL!), eat yummy food, and go boating on a gorgeous lake! That's not too shabby for a four day trip! The trip didn't not help my "baby itch". I got to be reminded how great Craig is with kids...he's going to be a great Daddy whenever the time comes. We also got to see how Izzy handles kids. She did sooo good! They hugged her, pulled her tail, messed with her ears, screamed at her, etc...and she didn't growl, nip, or hardly react at all! She LOVES kids, so I'm sure she'll be excited whenever the time comes!

We had an engagement party for Jess & Nick this past Saturday! It was so much fun! The weather couldn't have been better, and we spent the night on the patio drinking, singing, and laughing with friends & family! Brent & Buffye are back in Nebraska this week, so they came to the party...it was a great opportunity to kick back and have fun with them too! Craig got volunteered to bartend for the party...yikes! Over the course of the evening, he thought it would be a good idea to experiment with Scotch. He also smoked about 8 cigars...gross! I was sure he'd be getting sick by the end of the night, but somehow he maintained and actually felt better than I did yesterday (I only had 3 drinks and woke up with a headache!) This was the official kick off to the next 5ish months of wedding festivities! It's going to be a crazy, fun ride! I can't wait!

We are t-minus 12 days to Okoboji! We are all so excited about this trip. I'm not sure why this trip is different from any other we've taken up there, but we are all super excited. I don't remember all of us looking forward to it like this! It's probably because we had to skip last year! The only thing I'm sad about it leaving Izzy behind at the Kennel for 7 nights...that makes me sad!

Speaking of Izzy, she turns the big #1 this Friday! I can't believe she's already a year old! We are going to celebrate, but making a trip to the pet store to let her pick out a new toy and some treats! We are also going to get her a harness to make walks a little more pleasureable for all of us! She's a tugger! We are also planning to grill her a special "Izzy size" hamburger to mark the occassion!

Sometime later this week, Brent, Buffye, & the kids are going to come stay at our place on their way back to Colorado! It should be a lot of fun to have them all at our house (and not have to share them with anyone else!) That means we have some serious cleaning, yard work, organizing, and grocery shopping to do! It should be crazy, fun, busy week!

Dog Park, Road Trips, & More!

Yikes, it's been a while! Let's see, what's happened since my last post. Well, I guess the biggest news is that Jess & Nick have picked New Year's Eve 2009 as their wedding date! It wasn't their first choice because of all our December birthdays, but due to some conflicts with Nick's family next summer it was the next best option. It should be a lot of fun, and one hell of a way to end 2009! We went dress shopping last Friday, and she picked the first dress she tried on! (Of course, she tried on many others, but nothing topped that first one!) It is absolutely gorgeous on her! We also got lucky and found bridesmaid's dresses for us (She asked me to be her Maid of Honor...I'm so excited!). The dresses for us are tea length & black! I love them!

We spend the rest of the weekend hanging with friends we don't see too often. We got the chance to go to the Melting Pot in Omaha to celebrate Amanda & Scott's anniversary with them. OMG, that restaurant is sooooo good but man is it expensive! I will definitely go back, but it's going to have to be a special occasion! After dinner, we headed over to Travis's house for a backyard concert. It was pretty fun, the music was good, the friends were good, but the drive home after midnight kinda sucked!

Sunday was a lazy day up until we decided to take Izzy to the Dog Park for the first time! She was a little overwhelmed by the big dogs that ran up to her to say "Hi!", but overall I think she had a good time! Here are some pics of the experience!






Here she is just warming up to the place! Notice her tail is down...not typical!










Craig wanted to see what she would do in the water...of course, she was too scared to go in on her own, so he threw her in! Awesome! She didn't like that too much, and found her way to land as quick as she could!





Sunday evening, the Community Church had a children's carnival and fireworks. We walked up with our neighbors to watch the show. I must admit I was impressed by the fireworks display! It lasted quite a while and the fireworks were pretty cool! It definitely pumped me up for this weekend!

Monday, we had our usual grill night with our friends. As normal, the food was great and the conversation better! Last night, we exposed our favorite neighbors, Tim & Alli (and their 4-year-old Greyson) to our favorite Chinese take-out Zhangs! It was so yummy, and we had a great time hanging out with him. Izzy & Greyson wore each other out, so that was entertaining to watch!

Now, we trying to get organized for our trip out to Colorado Springs. We are leaving tomorrow afternoon as soon as we can get out of work. I have the house cleaned, and I'm working on the laundry. I hope to be packed by 9! I better get moving!

Wow! This was long, and I have pictures in my post...I'm getting better at this blog thing I think. Now, if only people would read it! Ha!

Well, if any of you are reading this, I hope you have a great 4th of July! It is definitely my favorite holiday!