Looking forward to the weekend!

I have been feeling the love all around this week.  After Izzy's ordeal last weekend, I have had no less than 5 people offer to help us out with her this weekend while we are away.  After a lot of thought and advice from our vet, we have decided to take Uncle Brent & Aunt Buffye up on their offer to take care of Izzy for the weekend.  I think this is the only option that will allow me to relax and have any fun while we are in Kansas City.  I am beyond grateful for their offer!  I know she will be great hands.  I also hope the anti-anxiety meds the vet prescribed will help mellow her out while we are gone! 

I also celebrated my birthday this past Monday.  Talk about feeling the love!  I had over 50 FaceBook messages, lots of texts, and many phone calls from family & friends!  I was also treated to lunch by my work BFF, Kaitlyn at Red Robin!  I returned to find some beautiful flowers at the office from Craig!  He can be really sweet when he wants too!  Then, another co-worker surprised me with a delicious cupcake from Cupcakes & More.  It was a great day!   I am one that never really looks forward to my birthday.  I always feel like it's a hassle for everyone to stop and acknowledge it right in the middle of the hectic holiday season.  Don't get me wrong though, I love a little extra attention and spoiling once a year! 

Speaking of spoiling, Craig surprised me with a new camera for an early birthday/Christmas gift!  I haven't had much time to play with it yet, but I'm really hoping to this weekend!  Hopefully this means some great pictures for you coming soon!

Poor Izzy!

We were having a great weekend!  Delaney was off getting royally spoiled by her grandparents at the farm, and Craig & I were enjoying a long overdue date night.  We had purchased a night's stay at the Lincoln Embassy Suites last February, so we finally decided to use it last night.  We spent the afternoon at the Devaney Center watching our niece Sydney's (aka Syd-fishous) swim meet. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner out at JTK last night (thanks to a sweet Living Social deal!), then we attended an Ugly Sweater Christmas Party at the Ruwes before we settled down for some sleep after midnight. 

We were rudely awakened at 6:15a.m. this morning with a call from the PetsMart Pet Hotel.  We had boarded Izzy there for the night, as it is her favorite place to be boarded if she absolutely has to be.  It was a PetHotel manager telling me that Izzy had just suffered a seizure and that they were rushing her over to the emergency vet.  We were up, packed, and walked out of our suite within 5 minutes.  I got a call from the vet at the e-vet within about 15 minutes states that Izzy was ok and alert, but they recommended some further testing to figure out the cause of the seizure. 

We got down to the e-vet and discussed everything with the vet.  We weighed the options and decided to do some blood work to rule out infections of causes of that nature.  Well, her labs came back relatively normal for being right after a seizure.  They said that they were comfortable letting us take her home and just not leaving her for 24 hours.  Beagles are a breed of dog that is susceptible to epilepsy, and it is common for the first seizures to start at age 3 & up.  Izzy is about 3 1/2, so we are right in that window.   Given the labs came back relatively normal, this could mean we are looking at an epilepsy diagnosis down the road if she suffers from more seizures.  Let's hope that this was just a freak occurrence. 

After we left the e-vet we headed over to PetsMart to pick up Izzy's things and pay our bill.  I asked the girls there for a play by play of what went down.  Apparently Izzy had gotten up and eaten fine this morning.  They were just going for their morning walk/exercise in one of their play rooms.  She was awake and alert, but within 15 seconds of walking into the room it started.  Her head started shaking, and then she fell over and started convulsing.  I'm confident that the two girls working at the time handled her far better than we would have at home.  They said that it lasted about 30-40 seconds and she "came to" relatively quickly afterwards.  They were very concerned about Izzy and told me to expect a call from them to check on her within the next couple days. 

She has been resting since we got home.  She seems pretty normal just tired, which is always the case after we leave her.  She suffers from some serious separation anxiety from Craig.  So, now I have to fret all week because we have to leave her again this coming weekend for our big trip down to Kansas City for the Packers vs. Chiefs game.  I have a spot reserved for her at Wilderness Kennels where she stayed when we went to Okoboji last July.  She got along fine there last summer and the people there are super nice, but now I'm really torn on what we should do.  PetsMart is our favorite, but they are pretty pricey for a longer stay!  Oh, decisions, decisions.  Any volunteers to dog sit?

The Baby Gate Disaster

I have a story to share that I hope gives you all a chuckle and brightens you day because this event created serious havoc in the Mencke household last night. It was just an ordinary evening. We had just given Delaney an emergency bath due to a poop explosion, and I was getting her all lotioned up and into her pj's. Craig decides that this would be the optimum time to install the baby gate we've had for the last 3 months. So, I continue about my routine, and then give Delaney a little more floor time before bed while I check my email. Delaney starts getting sleepy, so I make her a bedtime bottle and take her into her room to feed her. Just as I'm laying her in her crib asleep, Craig starts yelling for me--saying he needs my help.

I come out to help him, and he's cussing at the wall and missing the drill bit for his drill. I put on my coat and venture out into the cold garage to look for it. I squeeze myself in front of his truck towards his tool bag. As I'm out there, I can hear various obscenities coming from the house and see a scared little puppy sneaking up behind me in the garage. Somehow, I miraculously find the missing drill bit in the bottom of the dark tool bag. I reload all the tools into the bag, and head back inside to discover that things have taken a serious turn towards chaos.

Apparently, the screws (sent with the gate) had decided to start stripping and get stuck. This lit an already sparking fuse in Craig. He couldn't get the screws out with the "reverse" setting on the drill, so he decided prying them out with a hammer would be a logical solution. Of course, he was completely infuriated by this point so as he's prying the screws out of the wall, he leaves a nice dent/crack in the wall along with a big hole from the screw he just took out. Then, I stand back and watch as my 27-year-old 6'5" husband morphs into a screaming, three-year-old throwing a massive temper tantrum. Looking back now, I should have grabbed the video camera and recorded this scene as it was entertaining to say the least. I haven't seen him lose it like that in years.

Next thing I know, there is drywall and and dust flying everywhere and you'd think Craig was Rocky or something the way he was wailing away at our wall. I swear I heard a little "Eye of the Tiger" in my head. I finally got him to stop punching the wall after about five swings. He then turns around and kicks the box from the gate clear across our living room into the kitchen. He continues to kick it while I'm screaming at him to calm down and the dog disappears downstairs. Then, he goes back and takes a couple more whacks at the wall in case there was any doubt about how he felt at that moment.

He managed to break open one of his knuckles which started bleeding pretty good, so I had some pretty sweet blood smear on my wall. This was about when I discovered the dog was no where to be found. I checked all over the upstairs--under our bed, in Delaney's room, under the kitchen table, she's not there. For all I know, she got hit by some debris and is bleeding somewhere with a chunk of drywall in her eye! I call for her, and call her for her and nothing happens. I decide she must be downstairs, and head down to find her shaking like a leaf hiding behind one of our tables. She will not go back upstairs after several minutes of petting and coaxing from me. I physically have to carry her upstairs and sit with her on the couch for a long time before she'll even look at Craig. He terrified her--not hurt, poor thing!

So, Craig then cut a huge square whole around his damage to "even it out". He cleaned up his mess, and then cleaned up his hand. The only good thing was that Delaney remained sound asleep throughout this entire ordeal, but I was fuming. We have a guy Craig knows from work coming tomorrow to start the patch process. He was going to have his brother help him, but that might be a few weeks since they are moving into their house this weekend. I think the huge whole of embarrassment and failure is eating at Craig. He doesn't want to wait, so we're going to get it fixed by a professional. Then, I have to pick out paint colors...I'm pushing for repainting the entire room because in all honesty it needs it, but we'll see what's in the budget.

Lots of Changes

Yikes, I didn't realize that I hadn't posted for such a long time! Whoops! We have been keeping ourselves busy lately with the usual things...work, yard work, cleaning, LAUNDRY. We did break down this week and replaced our BlackBerrys that haven't been working 100% for quite some time. We have both entered the DROID world, but with different models. I'm still trying to get used to this thing. I've only managed to delete all my contacts once! I think I'll really like it once I get the hang of it. I have figured out the basics.

Delaney is getting to be such a big girl. I swear I look at her at least once everyday and think "where did my little baby girl go?". She even looks big when Craig holds her now. It makes me sad--don't worry we aren't even thinking about number two yet! Ha! She is developing quite the personality. She definitely has a temper and a feisty side. Her newest trick is to yank off her hairbow and chew on it! She also loves to remove her socks and throw her toys. When she really gets to moving and shaking, she can do some damage! She has some serious strength in that little body. She has also taken a liking to grabbing and pulling at Izzy. So far, Izzy has tolerated it all perfectly, thank goodness!

She has been eating so much better for the last week or so. She is now eating cereal every evening like a champ. She is also really enjoying most of her veggies and fruit. So far, I think she likes pears best. She has now tasted all the varieties of the "1st foods". We got a feeding guide from our pediatrician, and apparently we have been starving our child. She is "supposed" to be eating so much more that she was, so we are slowly trying to work our way up to the guidelines. At least I've figured out why she has been waking up every night for the past few weeks starving...poor girl was just hungry! I think we're getting close to being good enough with the big girl food, so that she can have another "meal" while she's at Holly's for daycare.

We will be transitioning to formula within the next week or so. Up until this point I have been exclusively pumping and feeding her, but nature has stepped in and ended that era for us. My goal was to make it 6 months, and we achieved that. We have burned through the enormous freezer stash we had, so we will have to go with formula until her birthday. I'm definitely a little sad about it, but I know she will be fine. Babies thrive on formula every day. She's done so well with gaining and maintaining weight, I just hope that it continues with all the new foods.

Delaney will also be transitioning to her big girl carseat here very soon. We did a trial run last weekend in a shopping cart at HyVee. She sat in the car fairly well. Luckily, Auntie Jess had gotten us one of those shopping card/high chair covers, so it padded the sides a little big when Delaney would lose her balance and lean too far over. She got pretty fussy by the end of the shopping trip, but that could have been any combination of things. She did look funny sitting up like such a big girl in the big shopping card. Her little face made it just over the handle. It was pretty cute!

Oh, Izzy seems to be doing better. She doesn't seem to be having to go as often at least what we've noticed. She really seems to be enjoying this prescription food. She is eating it like it's going out of style. We think she's even put on a little weight, which is good because she was looking pretty scrawny. She's also gotten some of her spunk back. She goes back to the vet next Tuesday for a full day of observation, so hopefully we're close to having this all taken care of.

6 Months

Today is Delaney's half birthday! It doesn't even seem possible that it's already here! Time just keeps flying by! Delaney has been so fun lately! She smiles ALL the time and is starting to laugh on a regular basis, which is so fun for us! We will do just about anything to get her going. Of course, the little stinker stops as soon as we get the video camera out! She is also sooo close to mastering sitting up. She is a pro at propping herself up on her knuckles, which is pretty cute! Her favorite thing to do these days is stand up (of course while holding our hands). She would rather stand all day than try to sit. She loves to stand and look around. She locks her knees and just grins! She looks like such a big girl! At this rate, she'll take after me and walk at 10 months! Yikes!She is growing like a weed. We go to the doctor on Wednesday for the official measurements, but for fun I put her on the scale today and she weighed in at 18.4 pounds. Yikes! She has officially passed Parker and tied with Reed. She's a little chunky monkey. I'm kind of worried about what's going to happen when she starts eating big girl food. This is still a struggle for us right now. We've been slowly trying different things for a month now, and I don't think we're any better at it then we were a month ago. She is not a fan! She's a milkaholic! She is on the verge of outgrowing all her 6 months clothes. I think we'll be moving on to the 9 month wardrobe very soon, in fact I plan to get it all washed and ready this week. She has graduated to size 3 diapers in the last couple weeks. A few short months ago a Size 3 diaper would have completely clothed her. It makes me a little sad to see her outgrowing all these things!
She is still a rockstar sleeper. We are working on an earlier bedtime, but that's not going all that great. She does so well right now, I'm very hesitant to rock the boat. She sleeps from about 11pm to 7am every day. She cat naps in the morning, takes a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon, and then naps on and off in the evenings. I really don't think she's short on sleep! We are so blessed to have such a good sleeper! We really couldn't ask for anything more!
She's really starting to enjoy her baths--not that she didn't before, but now she like to splash and kick. It's pretty cute! The diva in her takes over when she gets splashed in the face, and she freaks out! That's also pretty cute, even though she's mad! She is still working on those darn teeth. She has about 3 that are soooo close to popping through. They seem to be dealing her fits tonight. Poor baby, I just wish she'd get some relief soon!
She has also started taking more of an interest in her puppy! She likes to grab at Izzy's ears. So far, Izzy has been so good with Delaney. She pretty much just sits there while Delaney does what she wants. Izzy likes to share Delaney's blankets and toys, so we're working on that. All in all, they get along very well! I'm sure they'll be best friends soon!
Happy 1/2 Birthday, Peanut! We love you so much! Slow down a little bit with these next 6 months...ok?

Happy late Birthday Craig!

Happy Late Birthday honey! I was too busy planning your surprise birthday dinner out with all your friends to get this posted yesterday! Izzy, Delaney, and I hope you had a great day! We love you so much! Thank you for all you do for us! You're a great daddy & husband, we are so lucky to have you!

Even though I'm a day late, I thought it might be fun to take a stroll down memory lane with some of my favorite pictures of Craig in honor of his 27th birthday! Considering I had over 9 years of material to pick from, it was really hard to narrow it down to these! Enjoy!

Here is Craig the night he "discovered" beer! He had just finished shot gunning a beer racing Kelley and had to make a trip to worship the porcelain gods before this picture. And, yes, that is a Menards vest!
Here is Craig and baby Sydney the summer after she was born. He was so smitten with his new niece. The night she was born, I literally had to pull him away from the nursery window and promise to return the next day.
This is Craig crammed into a tiny Dodge Neon on our first trip to Vegas. We had 7 people in this tiny little car, and I snapped this picture by holding my arm out of the window! All to save a few bucks and not get a cab.
Here is Craig & Jaiden a few summers ago. Those two have had a very special bond since she was born. Craig actually saw and held her before Brent did!
Here is Slash, aka Craig at an '80s party. He had a lot of fun as he absolutely is an '80s rock fan.
This is the two of us at Amanda & Scott's wedding. This is one of my favorite pictures of us! We had such a great time that night...it's hard to believe it's already been 3 years since then! We love you guys!
Craig thinking he's pretty cool on his birthday a few years ago! We had seen the Simpsons movie (as Craig requested, of course) and then decided to hang out at Woody's afterward. Craig enjoyed a few beers...
Here's Uncle Craig being a bad influence on his nephew Tyler. He introduced him to pop at a very young age. Auntie Buffye is already threatening to return the favor with Delaney!
Here us on our wedding day with all of our favorite people! I look at this picture all the time as all the facial expressions are priceless!
This was the night Craig decided to be Tom Cruise from Risky Business for Halloween! Yes, he actually left the house and went out in public without pants on...he did have to drink about 12 beers before doing so!
This was Craig last summer playing with Greyson, our favorite little neighbor dude! Craig and I love this little kid!
In an effort to top his Risky Business performance, last Halloween Craig teams up with his usual partner in crime and went as Ace & Gary the Ambiguously Gay Duo. Head to toe spandex...Craig decided to welcome Nick to the Bryant clan with a sloppy wet kiss! He also had a heart to heart with Nick later that night side-by-side at the urinals at a gas station on the way to the hotel!
This picture could be taken about 5 times a week. Here's Craig & Izzy cuddling. Izzy is a daddy's girl through and through!
Here's the last picture of Craig before he became a dad. As you can tell, he was just a little bit excited to meet his beautiful baby girl (or boy as we still didn't know at this point!)
Here's Craig & Delaney (clones) a couple months ago after a trip to the zoo. She looks so much like him, it's scary sometimes! She loves her daddy, and he adores her!
This was taken Father's Day weekend. I just love the way they are gazing into each other's eyes...which happen to be the same gorgeous blue eyes!

So, I hope you enjoyed these! Thanks for so many wonderful memories, Craig! I hope year 27 is the best yet! Love you!

Happy Birthday Izzy!

I thought I had this "scheduled" to post on Izzy's actual birthday, but apparently not! She turned 2 on July 17th!

Hi Izzy,
Even though we are far apart, we are still thinking of you and missing you on your second Birthday! We hope you're having fun at Doggie Daycare today, and enjoying all the other puppies on your birthday! We will be home soon, and plan to celebrate your birthday along with Daddy's. You will still have your birthday cheeseburger, it will just be a few days late!
We love you!
Love, Mommy, Daddy, and your baby

Here's a little walk down memory lane through the last 2 years with Izzy!
This is my favorite puppy picture of Izzy! We took this the day we got Izzy, September 26, 2008! My how she's changed, but boy was she a cute little puppy!
This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Izzy! It's hard to remember she was small enough for this little ensemble, but she sure made one cute little Underdog! Now, the costume is way too small for her since she's all grown up!
This is a classic picture of Izzy! We get this look a lot from her. It's crazy how brown her face and ears have gotten compared to her puppy pictures!
Here's Izzy last Christmas in her pretty sweater! Izzy is not a fan of the snow & cold, so with this past crazy winter, we got her this little sweater. She loved it! She would go get it and bring it to us to put on her when she was cold! Here's Izzy helping us get Delaney's room ready. She loved hanging out in there with us while we were getting it all ready. She still likes to hang out in there when we're in there with Delaney!
Here's the biggest shock to Izzy's world...Delaney. Izzy has been a great big sister to D, and Delaney is starting to notice Izzy more and more every day! They will be great friends!

All is Well

I had my 6 week follow-up check up today, and the good news is...all is well! My blood pressure is perfect...116/65! I was really worried about this, so I am very relieved tonight! I really didn't want to start taking blood pressure medication! Everything else checked out great as well. I'm healing perfectly, and virtually back to normal.

Delaney is doing well, she is sleeping longer and longer stretches at night. Last night she slept from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and then again until 8:30 a.m. Mommy is definitely appreciating the longer stretches, but I'm still fairly tired most of the time. I'm wondering if she's going through a growth spurt as her eating has been a little crazy the past couple days. She's been growing so much so fast, I think it might be hard to identify the actual growth spurts.

Well, we are in the middle of a thunderstorm right now, so I have a terrified puppy to console. Izzy absolutely hates thunderstorms. She shakes like a leaf at the first sound of thunder, and buries herself under the covers or the nearest blanket. Poor, puppy!

32 Weeks

We hit another milestone tomorrow at 32 weeks...8 months! Where has the time gone? It seems like it was just yesterday that it was a sauna out and we were adjusting to the fact that we were going to become parents. Crazy! My how time flies!

We are feeling pretty good these days! I'm having more and more swelling and back pain, but all of this is "normal" as per my doctor and to be expected. Craig says I'm huge on a regular basis, so I guess that means I'm also growing daily. He also says that I'm fidgety, and I say that's because I'm very rarely comfortable these days.

Daddy Craig is getting very impatient with the waiting game. We have a little under 2 months to go, and he's ready to meet this little one now! The nursery has become his "baby", so he spends a lot of time in there trying to make sure everything is just so! As you can see, it's coming together nicely! Izzy is also enjoying the nursery and getting used to all these baby things that are suddenly appearing in the house. I even found her napping in the nursery all by herself last week. It was very cute! I have a feeling she will be involved in all the nighttime feedings, and may even make that room part hers!

We met with a pediatrician tonight after work! She was really nice, and I am confident she will be good for us and the baby! Another big "check" off our list!

Nursery Progress

Well, I finally took pictures of our nursery progress thus far. We have made some serious strides in the last couple weeks. I'm loving how it is turning out. I cannot wait to see it when it's all finished, which won't be until after the baby is here as we have some gender and name specific elements planned.

So, let's start the tour...

Our super cool clock, so we know exactly what time those nighttime feedings are happening!

Our paper lantern mobile-ish decoration. I think the baby will be entertained by it from both the crib & the changing table. So far, these are my favorite part!

A glimpse of the changing table and the crib.

Our new Lay-Z-Boy recliner/rocker with our curtains and valance. Grandma Les made our valance for us out of some extra fabric that matches the bedding Kaitlyn & her mom are making for us.

A better picture of the crib & changing table.

So there it is in all it's green glory! Like I said I'm really loving it so far. Just a few finishing touches left! Craig has worked really hard with putting everything together and hanging everything up. He's been really patient with me throughout this process. I think he's done a great job!

We did a little photo shoot the other day with Izzy because we wanted a special picture of her to hang in the nursery. These were our favorites...

She looks more puppy like in this one...probably why I liked it so much!

Here she is getting ready to pounce!

And, this is her all cute and cuddly!

We had our latest check-up with the doctor today. Everything is still looking really good! I'm measuring right on schedule at 31 weeks and all of my labs are within my normal ranges. I'm also finally gaining a little weight, which is good since I hadn't much up until this point. Now, let's hope I don't balloon too much over the next 9ish weeks! Here's a picture from today, as you can see I'm definitely growing. The color got a little funky with this one...not sure why!

Coming along nicely...

It's been a while...sorry, this post of rambling may be a long one! We finished our baby class last week. I think all-in-all it will be very helpful for us. If nothing else, it will take some of the bad "surprises" out of the birthing process. I kind of like to have an idea of what something is before it's happening to me. We are trying to take an open mind to the whole process. I'm trying really hard to not set myself up for disappointment. I hear a lot of stories about moms that have these set birth plans, no drugs, no c-sections; and then, something happens that forces them to deviate from their plan. They end up feeling disappointed and almost like a failure. I think the moms that can do it all without any drugs, are courageous and strong...I would love to be one of them, but I'm trying to be realistic and do what's best for me and our baby. I think trying to go with the flow as much as we can will be our plan, whatever happens happens and all that matters is a healthy baby in the end. The baby class also made it all the more real for both of us, which I think is a good thing! Right now, I think it was worth the time, ask me again in a few months!

We have made significant progress on the nursery over the last few days. On Saturday, Craig & Grandpa Steve put together our changing table (courtesy of Grandpa Steve & Grandma Jaccie), as well as our bassinet (courtesy of Grandpa Gordy & Grandma Les). Baby Mencke is already getting spoiled by his/her grandparents! It's still weird for me to see all this baby stuff in the house, just waiting for the new arrival. We also got our travel system yesterday, so Craig assembled that while I was getting a prenatal massage. This is also courtesy of the Bryant grandparents. I'm not going to lie, it's pretty cool. Our baby is going to be riding in style! Even Daddy Craig thinks it's cool!

It's fun to watch Izzy react to the new additions to the room. She thoroughly "inspects" every item and gets pretty playful with some of it. We had fun with the stroller last night...it got her fired up! Speaking of Izzy, I am totally convinced she knows something is going on. Aside from her behavior changing throughout the last few months. Most recently, she has started getting up multiple times a night to have a bathroom break or to eat. This is not like her at all...she has been sleeping through the night since she was a tiny puppy. It's like she knows I need to get ready for these nighttime feedings. I'm thinking...I need to be sleeping when I can now, and she's not helping! It probably doesn't help that I'm tired all the time again now!

I've been feeling all right. Not quite as good as I felt a month ago, but not horrible either. I'm really tired again and my back has been hurting more and more. It's harder for me to get comfortable every day. I've also been having more headaches again. I'm still able to get through the day and accomplish most of what I want to do, so I shouldn't complain. It will all be worth it in the end. I just have my moments when I'm feeling extra whiny! I also feel like I'm getting bigger on a daily basis, which is good because I haven't felt like I've grown a whole lot up until now!

We have our next doctor's appointment a week from today. I'm looking forward to it because I think the appointments from here on out will be more "involved". Up to this point, it's "how are you feeling?" "any questions?" "well, everything looks and sounds good, we'll see you in 4 weeks!". After this one, we'll start going every 2 weeks...another sign the end is near!

One of my goals for the week is to take and post some pictures of the nursery progress, and I may even throw one in of my growing waistline! Stay tuned...

Oh, and we're still struggling with the name game--girls specifically, so any suggestions are welcome!

23 Weeks!

Technically, we hit 23 weeks tomorrow, but I decided I'd post tonight. We had our monthly check-up today. Everything is still looking good! Baby's heartbeat was in the 140 range and I'm measuring right on target at 23. Next appointment, I have the dreaded glucose screening to check for gestational diabetes. I have a bottle of glucola chilling in my fridge for the next month. Let's hope I pass...I've heard horror stories about the 3 hour version! For all of you that don't see me regularly, I thought you might like a visual of the baby bump. It seems to get getting bigger and bigger every day!



You may notice the green walls behind me...yes, this is the nursery in progress! The painting is done! I really love the color. Here's a few more pictures:







As you can see, we have our crib. We have yet to put it together. It may not be assembled until after the holidays/wedding. That's all right, we have plenty of time! Speaking of the holidays and wedding, can you believe that Christmas is next week already and the wedding in 2. Yikes! It's going to be a crazy couple of weeks around here. I'm looking forward to it, it should be lots of fun!

Oh, and just for fun! Here's a picture of Izzy and I . She loves to be in the middle of things. She also is very interested in the new green room! I seriously think she knows something "BIG" is going on. I'm so excited to see her and her new sibling interact. It should be quite entertaining!



Well, now that you've all "seen" me, we can start taking bets on the gender of the little one. Any guesses? Leave us a comment if you feel up to the challenge!

BLIZZARD!!!

Well, ready or not, winter is here! We are all but snowed in, and personally I'm kinda enjoying it. It sounds like tomorrow may be even worse as 40mph winds are supposed to kick in soon! Yikes! I'm really not looking forward to getting out and about into it. Because of this wonderful snow storm we are having, Craig decided to breakdown and get a snow blower. After 4 stops, his latest "homeowner toy" was his. I really think he had fun dealing with the snow tonight. He even asked if I thought he'd have to do it again tonight. I thought that was pretty funny! Honestly, he probably will!

Izzy isn't enjoying the snow much. We had to clear a path from the deck to the backyard, so she could have an easier time with bathroom breaks! Craig tried to get her to play a little in the snow tonight...poor thing, the snow comes up to her belly, so she had serious trouble running! She looks like a deer leaping and bounding through the snow. It works better than running right now. She was shivering when they came in! I'm thinking it's time for a puppy parka!

Me and baby are trying to stay in and warm as much as we can. The little munchkin has been kicking me a lot these past few days. I'm hoping Craig will get to feel it soon! I spent the afternoon at home cleaning the house, doing laundry, and baking my birthday cake! I'm looking forward to enjoying a piece later.

Craig is putting the final coat on the nursery walls as I type, so pictures to come soon! Apple 5 looks great...very green! I think we can officially call it a success after so many color failures. It's getting more and more real around here every day!

The Latest

Well, tomorrow is our big ultrasound! We are both really excited about it. No...we are still not finding out if it's a boy or a girl. Both of us are still thinking we're on "team pink", but we'll find out for sure in April. I'm still feeling pretty good other than some headaches. This is becoming a daily occurrence it seems. I plan to mention it to the MD tomorrow just to be sure it's ok, as most things say headaches are more common in the 1st and 3rd trimesters. I am also scheduled for an H1N1 vaccine on Thursday, so that will make the grandparents feel better!

We have selected the fabric for our baby bedding! What do you think?

The first two will be either sides of the bumper, the third will be the sheet, the stripes will be the skirt, and the orange will be the piping and ties.

Now, we're trying to figure out what color to paint. We have white furniture and the room itself gets a lot of sunlight. I'm having a hard time finding something i like. The actual fabric colors are a little more dark (not as bright) as the pictures show. I'm starting to lean toward a two color combo with a chair rail or painted stripe as a divider. Any suggestions would be most appreciated!

In other news, Izzy has her yearly shots last week. Craig said she handled them like a champ, but she was sure worn out that evening. I'm glad she won't have to get any more for a while. She is up to 23.3 pounds...hard to believe when she started at about 7lbs when we got her. Funny story from a few nights ago...I dozed off watching some TV in bed before bedtime and woke up to Izzy scratching my belly--which was hanging out. It didn't hurt, just startled me. I'm not sure if she was trying to communicated with her future sibling or what, but it made me laugh!

We have an exciting next week or so planned. Obviously, the first big thing is the ultrasound/doctor's appointment tomorrow. This weekend we are headed down to KC for the Chiefs game. Craig works with a company down there that has offered us two tickets. It will be nice to get away for a day. Izzy will be spoiled here as Uncle Chip is coming to hang out with her! After than we're back to work for two days and then home for the Thanksgiving holiday. Craig's brother and family have decided to head east for Thanksgiving this year and stay home for Christmas, so we will also be celebrating the Christmas holiday with them while they are back. This will most likely be the only time we see them throughout the pregnancy, so I'm really looking forward to it. Oh, and we really miss those kids so we are always excited to see them...so is Izzy!

I'll post more after tomorrow's appointment, so that's it for now!

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!

Our Escape Artist

Well, she's done it again! Izzy broke out of kennel yet again. This is the third escape and second kennel. She does fine during the day, but if we come home from work and then leave again shortly thereafter...she gets really mad. About a month ago, she was enjoying being "free" in a restricted area of the house while we were at work. She did really well for about 3 weeks! Then, we came home one day to find one of our lamp cords and our stereo cord chewed through. Obviously, that was the end of her freedom. We "altered" her existing kennel to prevent future breakouts and started kenneling her during the day again. We were golden for about 3 weeks, and then Tuesday evening she found a way out and broke the kennel in the process. She is now spending her days in yet another new kennel, we'll see how long this one lasts!

In other news, Craig got himself a new mower yesterday. He was such a nerd about it and super excited! I had to go check it out...he even made me push it across the front yard. I'm not arguing that we needed on (we have been using my Dad's old mover from 1976 and every time it runs a bit worse), but seriously why do guys get so excited about things like mowers? I'll never understand it!

Tomorrow starts the beginning of the two-week whirlwind of my siblings' graduations. Jess's is this weekend up in Wayne with a party following in Tekamah, and Chip's is next weekend in Tekamah. Both should be lots of fun!

Time for a Change

So, I decided to change things up a bit with the blog layout. I'm still really new to this, so it was just a matter of adding pictures & changing some colors. I like how it looks now, and it fits us better! I also changed the name of the blog...since we are within a month of our 8 year mark I thought we needed something different.

In other news, my Uncle Jack is still struggling. We found out this week that his doctors don't think the chemo helped at all and his leukemia is as bad s it was (or worse) a month ago. His doctor says he has all the signs of the "end" except an infection. Whenever he gets an infection, it will kill him. His doctor is recommending hospice care (no more blood transfusions, antibiotics, blood test...just pain management). Jack has been really agitated all week, so everyone has been talking to him and trying to explain things to him. It is apparent that he knows what's happening. He has asked his nurses to give him as much pain medication as he can have as often as he can have it. He's pretty much slept since Tuesday night. The whole situation is taking a toll on everyone...especially my parents. There is nothing anyone can do at this point, but wait. As bad as it sounds, I think everyone is kinda hoping that he'll just fall asleep one of these nights (sooner rather and later) and not wake up.

Also, it's Chip's (my brother's) senior prom tomorrow. He's really excited. He picked out this super cool tux and some of his classmates and him rented a limo. Part of me really wants to go up and see him all dressed up, but the other part knows that I'll drive 3 hours roundtrip and only get to see him for a few minutes. It's times like these that I hate how far away Lincoln is from home...even though it could be a lot worse.

We planted our first tree this week...correction, Craig planted our first tree this week. We got a Dr. Merrill Magnolia tree...actually, it's more like a big shrub, but they call it a tree. I'm really hoping it will bloom soon and that the transplant didn't ruin the buds. I'm excited to see it in full bloom some day! We are also anxiously waiting for the City of Lincoln to give us back the rest of our back yard. We are supposed to be getting sod any day now, but I think they may have messed up (again) and thought we wanted seed. Either way, we are ready for it to be done and move on with our plans. We have 3 other trees picked out to go back there, assuming we are compensated for the 4 trees they tore down. Also, we have seedlings growing in our basement for the garden we want to plant in the backyard. All of this is waiting on the city's progress. Awesome! I have a bad feeling we'll be growing tomato plants in the basement for a while.

Izzy had fun "helping" Craig dig the hole for the tree. She was a mess...covered in mud & water. She loves to play outside with him! It's quite entertainig to watch from the deck! I'm really looking forward to summer nights spent in the backyard grilling and hanging out!

Graduation is only a couple weeks away! Yikes, I've got some shopping to do, it's going to be here before we know it! Those two weekends should be a lot of fun. It's too bad that Craig will miss Jessica's graduation because his cousin Collin is also graduating that day out in Hays Center, NE! We're going with the whole "divide & conquer" system for that weekend in order to cover all our bases!

Ok...I'll stop, totally random I know. I think that's the point of blogs though. You can be as random as you want!