Weeks 17-20

I have absolutely loved the last month of pregnancy. While I know my first trimester could have been much worse (I'm grateful that I had very few symptoms other than insomnia and a general "bleh" feeling much of the time), I totally feel more normal now. More energy (much needed now that school has started) and I'm really trying to rock the pregnancy belly which is way more apparent!

[16 weeks] This was an amazing weekend we got to spend in Des Moines going to the Iowa State Fair, I got to hang out with Liz and Carla and their boys one morning, we got to celebrate Dan and Rebecca's wedding once more, and we said "bon voyage" to my sister as she headed off to Brussels for the next 9 months. Here's my dad and his two daughters in my parents' fabulous back yard.

Around week 16 I was starting to feel some movement, and it definitely became more prominent as I noticed it more and more-but still not every day or on a regular basis. This picture is after the big dinner our campus hosts for all faculty and staff at the end of Opening Week-the start of the new school year! Thanks to Carla for letting me borrow this dress, along with many of the clothes you will see on me-mixed in with some of Liz's maternity wardrobe as well :)

This was a fun week. Jon felt a baby kick/punch/fist bump (who knows what's actually going on in there?) for the first time-and it's still the first one he's ever felt. Every time I feel action and tell him to put his hand on my belly, all movements cease :) We also got to celebrate Evan's 1st birthday and spend some good time with friends at his party! This picture was taken at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln-a beautiful, free, outdoor garden that is just breathtaking! Another thing we love about living in Lincoln.

Sorry about the creepy close up (blame the photographer I guess...just kidding! Love you Jon!). Also, I'm obviously tired-Wednesdays are LONG days for me. Nothing in particular sticks out about this week-just getting into the swing of things with fall schedules.

20 weeks! I can't believe we're halfway there (I know, everyone says this...) but seriously! It seems like so long ago we found out that we're pregnant, but at the same time I feel like I've just blinked and the weeks flew by. This was a hard week in our lives-as you can probably tell by the even MORE tired look on my face. This picture was taken at the end of a long day-I led a memorial service on campus for a student who died in a car accident two weeks prior. We also found out this week that a college friend's dad had passed away, a good clergy friend's dad had fallen off a roof and was in a medical coma with brain bleeding and many fractures, and a dear family friend from home lost a battle with cancer.

But it was also a momentous week in our pregnancy-the reminder of life in the midst of death and suffering was so overwhelming as I was able to see my belly move with baby kicks (Jon, of course, still hasn't seen it yet...same situation as when he tries to feel the kicks!). While my heart has been so heavy for friends and family suffering this week, to have the ability to look down and see and feel the life growing inside me is such a poignant reminder of what a gift life is, and how grateful I am to be experiencing this part of the circle of life right now. More on that later...

We have a very exciting week ahead-our 20 week appointment is tomorrow, and while the sex of our baby will be revealed, it won't be revealed to us! Our friend Carla is baking a cake for a reveal party at my parent's house on Friday, so we have to wait ALL WEEK to find out what we're having when we cut into the cake! Place your bets now-boy or girl?? Jon and I both think girl-though I've been thinking boy a lot more lately, too! So stay tuned...a post about the party will be posted soon :)

Love, love, love to you all!

The past 16 weeks

The past 16 weeks I've been really busy. I finished my first year at my full-time ministry placement in campus ministry, and Jon and I did some fun traveling over the summer-Chicago, Colorado, Reno, and Texas! We moved to a new house, so I don't commute anymore *yippie!*.

Oh, yeah, I guess the last 16 weeks have also been busy with the small detail of growing another human being. NBD.

Ok, maybe a bit of a big deal! We are ECSTATIC to be expecting Baby Bailey, due January 25th!

Here's some shots to catch you up on our growing family over the last few months!


Our first belly shot-not really a belly but we thought it would be fun to remember where we were when...for our 5th anniversary Jon surprised me with a long weekend trip near Denver, CO-which included my first visit to Red Rocks park-BEAUTIFUL!


A little more belly...could also be in part from the huge amounts of fake sushi I ate for dinner before this picture was taken :) Also, don't mind the whatever is happening on my chin...there was a spot on the lens of our camera :)


Oops, missed week 11. Don't worry, you didn't miss much. This was a fun week-got to officiate at the wedding of some great friends in Reno!


Hello belly! Probably mostly due to the insane amounts of great food we ate with our friends in Texas (I think this picture was taken on rib night, even...that would explain a lot!)


Yes, I look like crap in this picture...it was taken after a long day. And, I can't remember when this picture was taken...but I can tell you it was sometime in weeks 14-15 :)


Bam! 16 weeks. Definite belly.

So far, things have gone very smoothly! I don't want to say I had an easy first trimester, because nothing about pregnancy is easy-but let's just say I know it could have been much worse. We will find out what we're having in September, so stay tuned for that, and more updates to come!
I have started to feel some movement (I am 18 weeks tomorrow) and am looking forward to the days when the movements are more pronounced, and definitely when Jon can start to feel them from the outside! We have yet to agree on an in-utero name-Jon calls him/her Sunshine (cause he used to sing me the "You Are My Sunshine" song, and plans on singing it to our child as well!) and I've taken to calling him/her Pipsqueak or Pip. I think we're both just bull-headed enough not to give up on the name we came up with, and compromise on the other-so we'll see how that develops!

Until the next update...much love to you all!
Mara

Tiramisu Cupcakes

I am hoping to post more of my favorite recipes on this blog, another goal to add to the "why I should blog more" pile...but really, recipes are so easy to share and I love hearing what other people enjoy and then trying it out for myself! I think it's only appropriate that the first recipe I share is for my one true love (in the food world, at least!)-cupcakes.

So, here is my recipe for Tiramisu cupcakes, created by the musical director of "Annie Get Your Gun" which was performed last spring in the community theater in Beatrice-I played in the pit orchestra and got paid in yummy wares. I use a different vanilla cake recipe than she did, but you could use whatever white cake or vanilla cake recipe you prefer.

I have discovered that the recipe for vanilla cupcakes from the famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC is one of the tastiest around-however, they can be a little dry, which makes them perfect for this recipe. Check out the link for their vanilla buttercream recipe, as well.

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

1 ½ cups self-rising flour; 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Liquid Coffee Mixture:

1/3 c + 1Tablespoon Strong brewed coffee
1 oz Kahlua
¼ c sugar (*note-this all mixes together better if the coffee is still warm)

Marscapone Frosting
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz marscapone cheese
½ c powdered sugar
1-2 Tablespoons Kahlua

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two (capacity 12) muffin tins with liners. In a small bowl, combine flours; set aside. With electric mixer (yeah KitchenAid!) cream butter until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Spoon batter into liners, filling 3/4 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean (tops will be golden yellow). Let cool 10-15 minutes.

While the cupcakes are still in the pans, use a fork to poke holes in each cupcake.

Spoon or brush coffee mixture liberally onto each cupcake (I have found that using a pastry brush first works well, and then pouring the remaining mixture on really soaks into the cupcake better than just brushing alone).

Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. In separate bowl, blend together mascarpone, powdered sugar, and Kahlua. Fold this into the whipped cream. Pipe on to cupcakes and top with sprinkling of cocoa, chocolate shavings, a chocolate covered coffee bean-whatever you like!

Did I mention these are really fun to make with friends?

And, just for fun, the other version of cupcakes we made that weekend...chocolate cake with mocha buttercream...they were DELICIOUSLY amazing.

Happy baking, my friends!

Yay! Friends and babies!

This post is dedicated to two wonderful boys who came to visit me and dragged their mamas along (so what if the visit was 4 months ago...).

Evan and Eric, best friends!

The second day they were in town happened to be the day our new camera arrived in the mail, so we had fun taking lots of pictures of these two happy (most of the time) subjects. And, the moms and Mara (now mom to be...more on that later!) had great times catching up, baking, and playing baby swap.

I won't say much more, because I think these adorable pictures say enough!!

Carla and Evan check out the fishes

Don't worry-Liz has a great handle on him :)

There were happy times...

There were not so happy times...

Carla and Evan, having fun

Liz and Eric, having fun!

And now, for my favorite series of photos. We start with a harmless attempt at posing..."come on boys, hold hands! that would be so cute!"

"See? We love each other!"

"I am so done with this."

And finally, one last photo of cuteness for your viewing pleasure (as if these two adorable boys weren't enough...!), Jon's newest hobby: teaching babies how to do pushups.

That's all folks! And big thanks to Liz and Carla for taking some time to bring their babies down to Beatrice so that Aunt Mara could dote...

New York City, 4 months later...

So, I am finally getting around to all of these posts. Maybe I shouldn't curse myself-maybe I should just say, I am finally getting around to the NYC post...there. Less pressure. Ahhh...

Anyhow, the first day started off with a beautiful view of the city at night.

Our friends Jared and Alina started a new habit for Jon...pictures of him licking my forehead (if I can find the original, I'll post it here sometime). So of course, this happened several times on the trip *sigh*

Have I mentioned how much I love my job? This trip was just one more of the great perks of what I happen to get paid to do...escort this lovely group of people around for a week.

We did lots of sight seeing, including a brief visit to Times Square...too many people for my tastes but I'm glad I got to experience it!

Jon and I, being the Metho-dorks that we are, did lots of old-church sightseeing too. I could probably create 5 posts with all the pictures I took in the churches and cathedrals, but I'll save you all that pain...here's just one of my favorite shots from Trinity Cathedral.

On Friday, our free day, much of the group did the Liberty Island/Ellis Island tours. Jon and I joined in but for the sake of time, we didn't get off the ferry at Liberty Island-so I have a picture of Lady Liberty's backside.

Let's just say that visiting the Statue and Ellis island is something that apparently every tourist wants to do, especially on a Friday, so Jon was a little ready to be done standing in line...here's the best shot I have from Ellis Island :)

After our dutiful patriotic tours, we moved into the city for some real fun, including F.A.O Schwartz (yes, I'm still kicking myself for NOT playing on the BIG piano...)-this one's for you, Jared.

We spent some time wandering around outside (and inside) Rockefeller Center/Plaza, and I won't lie-the whole time I was on the lookout for Tina Fey. I also expected to see Will Ferrell, thanks to the movie Elf...no such luck.

The day ended where else-on the subway. A very late night before a very early morning, including quite the eventful travel time to the airport-but that's a story for another day.

Well played, New York...well played.

I'm baaaaaaack

Well. Yes. It's been awhile. Several reasons:

1) Uhm, full time ministry is busy. And exhausting. Fun and exciting and fulfilling and all that-but good Lord there is no time for anything else. I'm working on more balance, I swear.

2) my laptop broke early fall, which means I have to fight for time on Jon's. Added with the above exhaustion, unfortunately blogging our life has not been at the top of my list.

3) I don't know what to write about. I already posted about the transitions over the past year...but really, our lives aren't that exciting. Unless you want to see pictures of our cats...there's lots of those.

4) our camera broke in August. I hate posts without pictures. But guess what...

We got a new camera!!

That, with the addition of summer, means I plan on puttin' stuff up here a whole lot more. Brace yo selves...

A taste of posts to come:

We went to NYC for the first time!

Two of my favorite babies came to visit! (it was fun having their mommas around, too...)

I learned some new baking skillz from aforementioned mammas. And, I'm super stoked to combine my love of baking with my love for this new camera...which is seriously awesome if I didn't mention that yet. Between baking and babies, I may or may not have taken a gross number of pictures this past weekend...

Anywho, that's all for now!

Vacations are amazing

But what isn't amazing, is when your camera is busted (which you don't learn until the day you arrive at your destination). So, I can tell you all about it, but I can't SHOW you all about it...to do that, you'll have to check out my friend Skye's totally awesome blog.

The first week of August we joined three other couples (friends from seminary) and headed to Possum Kingdom Lake, in Texas. It was an amazing week of great food, great company, and a beautiful setting!

We played fun games at night (Skip-Bo and Mexican Train!).
We spent a lot of time on the boat-swimming in the middle of the lake, tubing, and just cruising.
We made beer can chicken (a first for me, and I think many there...)
And guess who lost his glasses at the bottom of the lake on the first day? Yes, my husband.

So...we also got to spend some quality time at the Wal-Mart vision center! The good news is that he's in contacts again, for the first time in several years...and handsome as ever!

We watched the sun set one night-it was gorgeous.

We got a little sunburned (ok, as of two days ago I was still peeling...gross!)

All in all, it was a fabulous week! Relaxing and filled with good friend time, which I desperately needed.

And, I finished reading a REALLY GOOD BOOK that I recommend to EVERYONE!
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs. HILARIOUS! He's a great writer.

So now, it's back to the real world...which is getting quite exciting. New students moved in today at Nebraska Wesleyan University...which means I'm about to get my first dose of "are you sure you know what you got into"-so if I talk to you on a regular basis, be prepared for the semi-frequent freaking out phone calls. But it's all good. I know God brought me here, and for some inexplicable reason thinks I'm capable of leading college-age persons through this phase in their life. Hopefully I have something decent to offer them in the process!

That's all for now. Next time, hopefully something with pictures!