Celebrate,Cities, Milwaukee

I'm excited to share that Paul finished with his Masters of Education in Educational Leadership through the University of Cinncinati on July 29! JSo proud of all his hard work and dedication!
We had a long weekend full of activities in celebration and one last big trip of the summer. We had Friday-Tues to travel. We started our vacation by spending Friday night with our dear friends Kevin, Farrah and their sweet daughter Cora. We had a relaxing evening of pizza, games and good conversation! Friends Mike and Jen also stopped by their house and joined the fun.




Saturday after lunch we made our way to our besties in Rosemount, the Pergolski's(Court and Aaron) We had a wonderful afternoon sitting on their porch, enjoying great weather and conversation!
Then we went our for dinner and Court and I went all out and had crab! So nummy! We ended the night at Rosemount Leprechaun Days! The boys enjoyed the beer garden while Court and I enjoyed mini donuts and cotton candy! We all enjoyed the fireworks, then called it a night!
Sunday morning we packed and left for our road trip to Milwaukee! The Pergolski's were awesome to watch Darpy while we took our trip! We traveled to Mequon (suburb outside of Milwaukee) where my brother in law Eddy has been assistant coach of the Lakeshore Chinooks this summer. A collegiate, wooden bat league comprised of D1 players. They play 70 games in 75 days and several players have been drafted to the major league. We watched the Chinooks play a home game on Sunday night; great game, crowd participation and they won 4-2!
















After the game we took a walk behind the field on Concordia WI campus and enjoyed the beautiful view of Lake Michigan!




We were fortunate enough to stay with Eddy's host family, Jeff and Cindy. We had a meal with them after the game, visited, and went to bed.
We had breakfast with Eddy Monday morning, then made our way to Milwaukee. We had lunch at Milwaukee Ale House,












Then walked walked around and stopped in some fun shops. We had some time before our next stop so we went to the Milwaukee Arts Museum! Saw the feature of Posters of Paris, a Georgia O'keefe tribute and other unique art pieces. Then we stopped at a kids store called Little Monsters, only to find out they were closed. So we went to Whole Foods grocery store and got a snack: sushi and blood orange Italian soda! Then made our way to the Brewers game! Eddy was able to get us tickets! We tailgated with our snacks




Then sat in some great seats! 16th row right behind the Brewers dugout!








We headed back to Jeff and Cindy's after the game and went right to bed as we had a travel day ahead of us! So Tuesday morning we had a quick breakfast with Eddy, said goodbye, and headed home.
On our way home, we made a stop to visit Brother Paul(Paul's former mentor, now successor as theater director) in Mazomanie, WI. It was a great visit! Then we picked up Darpy and made it home!
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18 weeks & anniversary weekend

We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary by taking a long weekend trip to Duluth. Thursday morning we dropped of Darpy at the Regel's and headed up to Duluth. We had a great lunch at Sir Ben's on the patio.



Then walked around the Rose Garden, beautiful flowers and they smelled so good! It was a awesome, sun shiny day!








Next, stopped at our hotel...the Comfort Suites(where Paul worked in college) to drop off our luggage. We had a room on the lake side with a gorgeous view! Then we went to the Dewitz Seitz building were the are a bunch of unique shops and a new favorite place called Northern Waters Smokehaus which has the best smoked salmon! We bought some salmon(one dill and one Cajun flavored), had to also get a cold Fanta in a bottle! (last time I had a Fanta in a bottle was in Africa!


So we took our cold beverage and sat on a bench in canal!


Showing off my amazing, gorgeous anniversary band Paul got me for our 5th anniversary gift! I'm so spoiled :0)


Then we freshened up at the hotel, stopped at my nephews baseball game to see him play and say hi to my sister and Piper. Then off to dinner at Blackwoods restaurant, great meal. And had to end he might at (a swanky bar with good appetizers, drinks and fondue!) So, Paul's dessert was a martini...


And mine was Lady Godiva fondue :0) I did end up sharing


Great end to the night and wonderful to wake up for the sun rise!


We spent the rest of the weekend at the Menard cabin and had a wonderful, relaxing time!

Then home after a awesome long weekend. And to end, a baby bump picture at 18 weeks!

16 week pic

I've been taking the bump picture on Sundays. So here is my 16 week picture!




Our first trip to Babies-R-Us and was thrilled to park in this spot!

16 weeks

Tuesday, July 3. Our 16 week OB appt! We met with our doctor and relayed things continue to be going well. We asked him several questions about healthy eating, sleep, things to avoid, and the birth plan. Our doctor answered every question in detail and reassured us things are going well. Then we got to hear the baby's heart beat which was 150! Hearing the heart beat continues to be amazing! Love hearing that sound! Then that evening, we went to celebrate the 4th of July with some wonderful friends!

14 weeks

My first baby bump picture!

12 weeks

Thursday, June 7. Our 12 week appt.  We went to the appt, anxiously awaiting to meet our new doctor and to hear the baby's heart beat. Everything went smooth with the check in process and then we waited only a short time before our new doctor walked in to our room. We reviewed our history and events that led up to my pregnancy. We discussed how things have been going: I've been feeling great, taking naps, had no nausea, just need to eat when I'm hungry. We discussed ways to keep myself and baby healthy. Then, the doctor got the doppler out and we got to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time! Heartbeat of 160! Ah, it was amazing to hear that sound! I was watching Paul as the doctor had the doppler on my stomach and Paul's face lit up when he heard the heart beat! The doctor said everything looked good and told us we'd see him again in 4 weeks. We left feeling reassured our baby was growing healthy!

We also had a first trimester screen at a perinatal clinic which includes a few lab draws to check for genetic abnormalities and an ultrasound. We were very excited for the ultrasound of course! We went in to the clinic, had my labs drawn and then...the ultrasound! I laid down on the table, Paul sitting next to me holding my hand. The tech told us to look at the screen ahead of us and within a few seconds, we saw our baby on the screen! It was amazing! So incredibly fantastic to see our baby! The baby was moving around, hands were above the head and legs were crossed. The tech had a hard time getting the image she needed because of how much the baby was moving! She finally got the image and sent us home with several pictures of our baby! We again felt reassured that our baby was growing healthy! The image of our baby is in a frame on our fridge so we can look at it everyday! We are so blessed and thankful every day for our little miracle! 

Mother's Day weekend

Saturday/Sunday (May 12+13)

Paul and I decided to tell our family on Mother's day weekend, as I was 8 weeks and we knew we would be seeing both families that weekend. We thought about several different ways to tell our families, but decided on a Christmas theme, since our baby is due December 21. We were shopping at Kohl's (at the end of April mind you) and happened to find some Christmas stuff that was on sale! For the Menards, we picked out a small stocking that said Grandma and for the Tischers we picked out a snowman picture frame. We made an insert for the stocking, as you pulled out the insert, the message said, BEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER...Baby Menard due December 21, 2011. We placed the same message in the picture frame.

On Saturday we went to the cities for my father-in-law's graduation from Concordia-St. Paul.  After the graduation ceremony, Margie, Pierre, Renee, Isaac, Aidan, Millard, Paul and I went out to eat at Cossetta's. We had a nice meal, then began to celebrate Mother's Day. Margie opened a few gifts and I made sure to keep our present for last. I had Paul sit next to Margie and I sat across the table and was taking some pictures. My hands were shaking in anticipation as I waited for Margie to open the last gift. She opened the stocking, pulled out the insert and immediately was smiling and couldn't believe it. She started crying, and Renee and I were crying. Aidan and Isaac didn't know what was going on, so here a 6 and 9 year old are seeing all of us crying in the middle of the restaurant and Isaac said, "This is so embarrasing." We then of course I told the boys they would be getting another cousin. We surprised them and it was a wonderful reaction! They were all so happy for us!

On Sunday we met Jessica, Eddy, Isaac, Piper and my parents at a park in Hinckley. The sun was shining and we placed ourselves at a picnic table. We visited, played with the kids, then sat down for a nice picnic lunch. After lunch we moved on to celebrating Mother's Day. I was again shaking in anticipation of my mom opening her gift. My sister of course knew of our secret and that we were sharing our news, so she was ready with the camera for pictures and to record their reaction on video. I sat next to my mom as she opened her last gift. My mom pulled out the snowman picture frame with shock and awe on her face and showed my dad. They both were immediately smiling and couldn't believe the news! We totally surprised them too! And they were thrilled with our news! We then told Isaac and Piper they were going to have a cousin and Isaac stands up, looks at my stomach and said, "It doesn't look that big!" :0) The day was awesome and my family was also so happy for us

Our families have been an amazing source of support, love, and encouragement on our journey. We feel very blessed.