Ultrasounds

Here are the pics from the ultrasound! The little squirt was wiggling all around and playing peek-a-boo the whole time, with the little hands covering the face most of the time. We did manage to get a few good pictures!

Here's a profile picture of the face!



Here a picture looking down at both arms, flailing about!



Here's a picture of the head and body! She estimated the little one weighs about 9oz right now!




Here's a shot of the spinal cord!



Finally, this is the feet, well at least one of them! Look at the cute little toes!



So, it's been a pretty exciting day here for the Mencke family! Baby and Mom both checked out fine, so we're good to go for another 4 weeks! Oh, and Dad's pretty smitten with the baby pics...he's scanned them, printed them, uploaded them, and text them to everyone! It's pretty cute! Oh, and Uncle Chip has already been over to see the pictures in person! It's getting more and more real everyday!

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!

Preparing for the Holiday Season

Well, the craziness of the holiday season is already upon us! We kick off about 10 week straight of various functions this weekend with a couples shower for Jess and Nick. Their wedding is only around 50 days away! Yikes! I'm really looking forward it!

Thanksgiving is only two weeks away with Christmas right around the corner. I have been lucky enough to get a recent jump on my holiday shopping! My goal is to have it all done by my birthday, so we'll see!

We have our first daycare interview tomorrow evening. I'm pretty nervous about it. It's such a big deal, I'm afraid we'll miss something or forget to ask something. I'm hoping we just "know" in our guts and our hearts, so that we can make the best decision. The lady tomorrow sounds very promising, but I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up!

Also on the baby front, we have (I have) picked the fabric out for our crib bedding. My super awesome co-worker/seamstress extraordinaire Kaitlyn has generously volunteered (along with her equally as awesome mother, Peg) to make our crib bedding for us. I'm so excited about it and grateful! So, now that we have selected the fabric, we are hunting for just the right paint color. So far, I'm not really loving our options, so we'll just have to keep looking! Good thing we have a few months!

We had some house guests last weekend! My parents decided to make a road trip down to Lincoln to stay with us on Saturday. It was nice to have them here. They were dog-sitting for Jess, so Cruzan also made the trip down. Izzy liked having her cousin come for a visit. The two of them enjoyed some backyard time while the weather was nice!

Well, that's about it for now! Wish us luck tomorrow as the hunt for daycare begins!

First Big Purchase

Well, we made our first big baby purchase today! We ordered our crib! We hadn't planned on doing this quite so soon, but it was on sale this week so we got a great deal! Now, we have more motivation to get to work cleaning out the closet in the nursery. We really need to quit stalling with that chore. So, this is it...this is the crib! We decided to go with white since we already have a bookshelf & dresser in white that we can use in the nursery! I think it will look great with green walls, don't you?!? My goal is to have the room painted by Christmas...we'll see! I'll post before & after photos of the nursery process.

The Latest

It's been a while since I've posted. I'm not really sure why, but all is good here! We are now 15 1/2 weeks along with the baby. We get more and more excited about everything each day! It's good that time is flying by. It also helps that there are plenty of things going on these days to keep us busy!

We have had 2 doctors appointments now. We heard the little one's heartbeat at both appointments. According to the doctor it was around 160-170 bpm. I'm still feeling really good. I'm starting to get a little energy back, and I have more of an appetite. My doctor says I have actually lost a few pounds. I think that's a little funny considering I haven't been sick thus far in the pregnancy, but I have definitely been eating less. Mostly, because nothing sounds good!

We did have a bit of a set back last week. I got the flu, or something just like it. I actually spent 3+ days in bed. I only got up to shower (every other day), go to the bathroom, or get something to drink. It was ridiculous. I never remember being sick like that before. I definitely think I had the flu of some kind. I did have the seasonal flu shot in early September, so I suppose it could have been the dreaded H1N1 as I haven't gotten that vaccine yet. Izzy took care of me those days while Craig was at work! She's a great snuggle buddy!

We have scheduled our next doctor's appointment for November 18th. We are really looking
forward to that one as we will get to see the little one that day on an ultrasound! We are still going to have a surprise as far as gender goes, and wait until he or she is born to find out. I'm still thinking it's a girl, but time will tell!

Jessica & Nick's wedding events kicked off today. We had the Hassler Family Pampered Chef Shower. It was nice to see the family! It was also nice since I was the PC rep, so I made a little something! Their next shower is back home in a few weeks! That one will be fun I'm sure! After that the holidays start with the bachelor & bachelorette parties thrown in the middle for fun! I'm really looking forward to the wedding!

Well, yesterday was an exciting day for me. I made my first official baby purchase. It wasn't anything big, just a few little outfits. Jill & I hit up a local consignment sale full of baby things. We only bought clothes, but it was still a lot of fun. I hadn't bought anything specifically for the baby yet, so I think it's sort of a big deal.

I also spent my first night alone in our house since we've lived here. It wasn't the best night's sleep, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. I didn't get all freaked out or anything, so I'm kinda proud of myself. However, I won't be doing it again for a while I hope. Oh, and having Izzy here with me definitely helped!

I think that both Craig and I are really starting to get excited about this next chapter in our lives. Not that we weren't excited before, but it's getting more real. I have about 1 more week in the first trimester, so I'm looking forward to that. We have started researching the big ticket baby things...travel systems, cribs, etc. It's unbelievable how much stuff babies "need". Yikes!

Babies, Babies, & More Babies

Well, I mentioned in my last post that two of my very best friends (Amanda & Jill) are also expecting their first babies! They are both due in early February. I also have a cousin and his wife (Scott & Sara) who are expecting their second the same week! The first week of February is going to be crazy! I'm just guessing they will all deliver very close to each other (time wise)whenever a February snow storm blows through Lincoln & Omaha! The hardest part for me will be deciding who to visit & spoil first! I may just have to flip a coin!

We also just found out this week that Craig's cousin and her husband are expecting their first baby a couple weeks before us! We are soooo excited for them! They have been trying for quite some time and dealing with various issues, so this is a true blessing! I'm not sure what "method" finally worked for the, but I am so glad it did! Congrats Amie & Jeff!

The best part about all of this of course is our little one already has a handful of friends his/her age! I can't wait to see all of them together...it's going to be a fun spring!

Oh, my husband is becoming obsessed with baby names. I think it's totally adorable, of course, but our lists just keep getting longer & longer. At what point do we stop, and start narrowing the lists down? Oh, and he asked when we can start painting the nursery the other night...I think Daddy's starting to get excited! I couldn't be happier! Now, figuring out how we're going to pay for all this...

I'm still feeling the same...TTTTIIIIIRRRREEEDDD! All the time! But, I don't feel any more queasy, so I'm thankful for that. I had a pretty bad headache on Saturday. Luckily, I didn't have anything planned, so Izzy & I hung out on the coach and watched the horrible Husker game! I also feel like my belly is huge, and I really don't think it should be at this point. I know I wasn't stick-skinny at all before all this, but seriously it's kinda out there! I feel like I'm "bigger" than my friends who are 2 months further along than me...WTF? They could tell from hearing the heartbeat if there were two in there, couldn't they?!? Yikes!

Oh, and Craig's other cousin Mark will be back to the US from Iraq in 2 weeks! He's been over there since April, so everybody is excited for him to come home safely! He graduated with my sister and grew up across the street from us, so I've known him for a long time! I wonder if he knows his family has expanded by 2 little ones while he was gone!

Nick's (my sister's fiance) brother, Brandon, will be back in December. He's been in Afganistan since May. He'll make it home just in time for their wedding...everybody is anxiously waiting for that! Oh, and the wedding is only about 3 months away! Yay!