Catch up & Eddie

Wow, I've really gotten behind.  We last checked in before Thanksgiving.  We had a glorious long weekend full of family, food, football, shopping, and laughs.  I didn't take many pictures this year (Mom fail).  We spent time with all of Delaney's grandparents and great grandparents!  She loved all the spoiling!

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we came home.  Delaney slept the whole way!  I just wish she was a better sleeper when we traveled.  Actually, I just wish she was a better sleeper in general.

We came home and started getting ready for Christmas!  We set up Delaney's little tree first.  She is so excited by everything "Christmas" this year...it's already so much fun!

Craig channeled his inner Clark Griswold last Saturday and took care of the outside decorations! We've had a few messages from the neighbors...it does look a little a runway up our driveway! 

Then, Santa came a little early and brought Delaney her new big girl bed.  She has been rapidly outgrowing her toddler bed, so we took advantage of a Cyber Monday deal.  She loves her new bed, maybe a little too much!  She's been partying into the wee hours...

Her new big girl quilt came just a couple days ago, and it was as if she won the lottery! I think you could give this girl a box of rocks, and she'd be ecstatic!

We debated for a long time whether or not to start the Elf on the Shelf tradition this year, or wait another year.  At the last minute, we decided to give it a shot and Eddie the Elf showed up on our doorstep.  The first night, Eddie found a perch on the living room curtain rod, so he had a bird's eye view of all the happenings.  Delaney doesn't quite understand the "No Touching of the Elf" rule, so I think Eddie is going to have to stick with "higher" viewpoints!

Last night, the second night Eddie became "Super Eddie" and decided to "fly" from the living room ceiling fan with a little cape!  Delaney thought he was pretty silly when she found him this morning!

 

Craig also having a little "fun" with Eddie.  For more X-Rated Eddie the Elf shenanigans find Craig on Facebook!  You can also find Eddie--the nice version--on Instagram, you can follow me at cmencke4.  Until the next time...

Catch up via Pictures

Delaney was all smiles this night at dinner time.  We've been enjoying a little down time here lately before the hustle and bustle of the holidays kick in!

Delaney and Daddy snuggling up on a lazy Sunday.  You can't see it all that well, but she picked her own ensemble this day.  It was pretty "creative"! 

Then, we came down with a tummy bug.  She fought it off and on for about a week, but the worst was about 10 days ago!  Poor peanut wasn't herself at all!

We all did a lot of napping while Delaney was sick.  Izzy of course naps all day every day, so she was grateful to have company!

Luckily, she snapped out of it and was back to her crazy self before too long!

Which was perfect timing because cousin Chase was coming for a visit!  We only have a short time for it to be "OK" for them to bath together, so we try to take advantage of it while we can!

Jess & Nick went to the Husker game, so we got some quality Chase time in while they were gone!  I love that little munchkin!

Delaney's newest trick is trying to dress herself, and she usually asks me to take her picture after she gets the shirt over her head.  Here's last night's edition!

We will be heading north for the Thanksgiving Holiday/Weekend for some much needed family time!  We have so many amazing blessings to be thankful this year!  We wish all of our a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Recap

We had a great holiday weekend!  It was full of all my favorite things...family, food, and shopping!  Delaney was thoroughly spoiled by all of her grandparents & aunts & uncles.  We definitely had some reprogramming to do when we got home.  She had over her normal share of "time outs" on Sunday.  She was CRAZY!  Hilarious, but oh so naughty.  I didn't do the greatest job with pictures over the weekend, but here are a few to share! 

 We kicked off the long weekend right, and celebrated my baby brother Chip's 21st birthday.  His birthday was technically on Thanksgiving, so we took him to our hometown bar at 12:00A.M. Thursday morning. I'm getting too old for that, but it was a lot of fun to celebrate with him and see some old friends. 

 My baby sister had quite a bit of fun that night too.  Here she is with one of her long time friends, Abby!  Abby happens to be the little sister to my best friend Amanda!  It's so much fun when we can all get together like when we were kids.  I will apologize now for the hideous nostril self portrait...eww!)

 We did get so spend some quality time with our families over the weekend.  I promise we spent equal time with both sides, but I have no proof of the Menckes this weekend.  We had professional pictures take with them on Saturday. After pictures, I got schooled twice my our nieces Sydney & Jaiden in UNO.  I hadn't played in years, and it showed! 

 Papa was getting a little too cozy with cousin Chase, so Delaney strategically placed herself between Chase and "HER" Papa.  It was pretty cute.  Luckily, Chase didn't seem to mind sharing...

 Delaney is pretty cute with her baby cousin.  She was pretty infatuated with him,and has been talking about him nonstop since we got home.  It's going to be so fun watching these two grow up together.

 Isn't he adorable?!?  I swear this kid is always smiling.  Even when he's having a rough day, and not feeling the best he's still smiling!  I wish I could see him more often!

He had to model the new hat his Momma got for his upcoming 6 month pictures.  Isn't he cute!  I had my first little "miss the baby stage, let's have another one moment" after I fed Chase his bedtime bottle.  He finished in and nuzzled into my shoulder to cuddle.  I miss that soo much!  We won't be having another baby soon, but for the first time I missed having a little, little one.  Within the next year, we 'll talk about it!

Time to Give Thanks!

Time seems to be flying by these days.  I thought I'd take a moment today to stop and be thankful for the many blessing in my life!  The rest of the week is full of family and fun, so I probably won't be back to post until after the holiday! 

My little peanut seems to be growing up so fast these days!  Every day means new words and more personality!  It's hard to keep up sometimes!  Obviously, she is the most wonderful blessing in my life!  She can have me at my wits end, pulling my hair out, and then give me one look and I melt!  (She gets that from her dad!)  She's one of a kind, and I wouldn't trade her for anything!  My world has not been the same since that little, tiny baby entered our world...and I wouldn't give it up for a second! 

After 10 years you'd think you'd get tired of one person, but I can't imagine my world with out my man.  We often drive each other nuts, but there is no one I'd rather fight the good fight with.  He's my best friend and my partner.  I couldn't have chosen a better father for my kids or a better companion for my journey!  I'm sure I take him for granted far more than I should.  I really should work on that more...love you honey!

Obviously, my puppy has taken a bit of back seat over the last 20 months, but I wouldn't give Izzy back for the world!  Aside from her crazy anxiety and shedding, she's pretty much the perfect dog!  She loves to play, but will snuggle like nobody's business!  She tolerates her little sister better than we could have hoped for, and for that I am truly grateful!  She was our first "fur"-baby, and I love that little dog like there's no tomorrow! 

Our home is something I'm grateful for every day!  It keeps everything I love safe and warm.  I can't wait to go home at the end of the day and be at peace!  (This is far easier no that the railroads, "Quiet Zone" has gone into effect!)  Of course we have a list a mile long of upgrades/changes we'd like to make to that house, but we love it!  I'll be very sad to leave it whenever the time comes down the road! 

We have two vehicles sitting in our garage right now that are completely functional and PAID OFF!  This is a huge blessing, and I am so thankful for!  They both get us safely from point A to point B without any trouble!  The miles are racking up on them, but I'm hopeful they'll last a little while longer! 

We are both gainfully employed in a horrible economy!  Although our bills aren't going anywhere, we are surviving!  This is far better than the alternative!  Craig even managed to find a new, better job this year, so that is truly a blessing! 

We have so many wonderful family and friends that love us and our kid like nobody's business!  We are so lucky to have so many amazing people in our lives!  We don't say it enough, but thanks for being you!  I hope everyone takes a little time this week to remind themselves of all the good things in their lives, we have so many blessings in ours! 

The Ups and Downs of Delaney's First Thanksgiving

Ok, so I've had this post written for 3 days, just waiting to upload some pictures and that still hasn't happened. So here's our Thanksgiving! I hardly took any pictures that day because everything was so crazy, but I did a little photo-shoot the other night when Delaney was in being cute! I hope to have those up here very soon!

We traveled up north to Tekamah on Wednesday night. We got up there to celebrate Uncle Chip's 20th birthday with a feast of lasagna. It was so yummy! Delaney slept the whole way up and was in great spirits when we got there. She didn't even have much "stranger danger" that I was a little worried about. We hung out most of the evening, and she got to bed at roughly her normal time. She decided that she should wake up at about 12:30 that night, and stayed awake until almost 2a.m...in the process waking up virtually everybody in the house.

She refused, and I mean refused to nap on Thanksgiving day. I think she was interrupted by a curious little cousin, Kayla, a few times too! She would fall asleep for about 15 minutes, and wake up ready to party. Considering how tired she was getting, she was in great spirits. She got passed around and passed around, and just smiled and laughed the whole time. We managed to get her to bed before 8 that night, and the rest of us followed shortly. At about 3 a.m. it was party time! She woke up happy, alert, and ready to play. This also woke up the whole house!

Mom and I decided that since we were already up, we would begin our Black Friday shopping adventures a little earlier than planned. We set D up with all of her toys, while we got dressed and ready to go. She sat up and played for over 45 minutes at 4a.m.! Then, she started whimpering, so Mom rocked her and got her back to sleep. I put her back to bed with Craig, and we took off for Omaha! We pulled into the Target parking lot at 5:35 a.m.! We scored some seriously great deals, while Delaney & Craig headed to the farm. She took a few short naps out there, and went to bed early that night again.

After another night of more "wake-ups", we were completely exhausted by Saturday morning. So we made the responsible parent decision that we had to pack up and head home for some rest. We had to get Delaney home to her normal routine or she was going to lose it at some point. We said our early good-byes with much regret, and headed home. She slept the entire way, and was in bed before 8 that night. She slept for over 12 hours for the first time ever! Craig and I were asleep in bed by 9:30p.m.! She napped all day on Sunday and slept great that night. We all managed to get some much needed rest!

So, through all of that, we are thankful for family, food, and sleep! Happy Thanksgiving!

One Week Later

We are sitting here tonight thinking..."wow, we were already home for Thanksgiving a week ago tonight!" Now, we're exhausted and back home in the middle of another work week. Last weekend was long, fast, and exhausting. We had a great time catching up with family we hardly ever see, and enjoying lots and lots of good food! Izzy had a great time playing with the kids and running all over the farm. She is finally starting to act like herself again...she was one absolutely worn out pup!

This week we are focusing on the next big things approaching in the coming weeks! We headed home early Sunday so we could get the Christmas lights up before the Chiefs game. They are up and shining bright. I hope we're not annoying our neighbors...these new LED lights are pretty serious! I do think it looks good! Craig had to climb clear up on the roof to hang some of them. I was also able to get the Christmas tree up and decorated on Sunday. I think it looks good...now it just needs a few packages under it!

Tonight, we selected and purchased paint for the nursery. Apple 5 Laura Ashley Home by Valspar from Lowes to be exact. This is the 3rd option of green we have looked at. Craig plans to paint the room this weekend while I am home in Tekamah throwing Jessica's Bachelorette Party. I'm excited to see how it all turns out! Isn't it nice of him to offer to do this "chore" while I'm out of town at a party?!? Obviously, I will post pictures of the progress next week...unless the color turns out totally awful!

Well, that's all for now folks! Oh...exciting this week I am feeling the little one kick me more and more often. At least once a day for the last week! It's pretty exciting. I hope Craig will be able to feel it soon!

Thanksgiving

Well, here we are a few short hours from kicking off the big Thanksgiving weekend! We are all packed and ready to roll after work tonight. We are heading north up to the farm. Craig's brother and family are scheduled to arrive later this evening. We're pretty excited about this, as we haven't seen them since July (pre-pregnancy). Izzy is also excited because she loves playing with the kiddos.

The weekend will be busy, but lots of fun I'm sure. We will have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with my family in Tekamah. I'm so looking forward to that meal. I have been seriously craving comfort foods lately, and what's more comforting than Thanksgiving dinner!

I think my mom and I may venture to Omaha for some Black Friday shopping! I'm hoping we can score some sweet deals! I'm also hoping we may stumble upon some baby specials! My goal is to have all my holiday shopping done by my birthday...that's only about 2 weeks away!

Sometime over the weekend we are celebrating the Mencke family Christmas, since Brent & Buffye will not be back for Christmas. This means that half of my holiday shopping is done, wrapped, and packed! I think this is completely crazy as I don't even have a Christmas tree up yet! I'm hoping that we'll be back early enough on Sunday to maybe tackle that!

Oh, and today is my baby brother's 19th birthday! Happy Birthday Uncle Chip! I can't believe that he is 19 already...where has the time gone. I still remember the day he was born. Wow, this makes me feel old! We will be celebrating his birthday on Thanksgiving, which will just add to the fun festivities!

We want to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! Obviously, we have so much to be thankful for this year! This time of year is a perfect opportunity to count our blessings, and we are just that...blessed!