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!

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!

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!