There's no place like home . . .

We made it to Connecticut LATE Monday night (really Tuesday morning). My Nana's wake and funeral were very nostalgic, but she would have been so proud of her family all being together, and if there's a silver lining in death, it is definitely that--having family all together again. I just wish everyone had gotten to be together longer (and under better circumstances!)

I had a doctor's appointment before I left. Baby is progressing well--he/she has a good, strong heartbeat (150 beats per minute!) I am convinced it's a boy, but still like the possibility of knowing it could also be a girl. For the record, I have absolutely no preference, but there is something kind of fun in not knowing which is in there right now. Speaking of that, we have our next ultrasound on May 21st. I think we should be able to find out the sex then, as I will be 22 weeks by then, and we have decided to wait until we are faced with the decision to make it (meaning, not sure yet if we want to know the sex, but we'll see!) My pants are just starting to get tighter (at least the ones that sit higher up), but I am desperately trying to hold out until school is over before transitioning into "maternity wear". I'll let you know how it goes :)!

Hit the Nana, Win a Prize

Last Saturday, on April 18th, my Nana, Mary Frances (Berry) Dwyer, passed away. Those of you who know my family know how close we all are-5 Dwyer children, 16 grandchildren, 7 great-grandchildren (and two on the way!) Holidays are always somewhat of a grand spectacle--and no occassion is complete without laughter. To say this great woman will be missed is a bit of an understatement. I know there will be quite a few tears for her death, but I also know there will be much laughter as we celebrate her life.

I think my grandparents have the most amazing love story, and they have clearly set the bar for the rest of us. My grandparents met during WWII, in a letter. It seems so strange to us, because we don't write very many letters anymore, unless you include e-mail, but there really is nothing quite so thrilling as opening the mail and finding a letter. You see, my grandparents had mutual friends who had tried to get them together on a number of occassions, but it never worked out. And, as fate would have it, my grandfather (William Francis Dwyer) had just left Connecticut for Air Force training in Texas. So, when my Nana was at their mutual friends' house, they convinced her to add a post-script (also known as p.s.) to one of the letters they were sending to my grandad. He wrote back! And so began a long correspondence. They met once, for a few hours in NY, when my granddad was on leave (my Nana was a Navy Nurse stationed in Long Island at the time). Nothing dramatic occurred at that meeting, but when he returned to Texas, he realized how he felt about her. They began to express their love for each other, and to talk about their future together. When he returned from his tour of duty in the Southern Pacific, they got married . . . right after Thanksgiving in 1944. They had spent very little time together, yet they just knew how they felt about each other. They raised 5 kids--four boys (including my dad) and one girl. I know many people feel this way about their parents, but my dad is just about the greatest man in the world (comparative only to Philip), and I have my Nana and Granddad to thank for that. My Granddad passed away from colon cancer 35 years ago, and my Nana never remarried. In fact, two years ago, when I was telling my Nana how happy Philip made me, and how he is my very best friend, she told me she felt the same way about my Granddad, and that she still talked to him every night . . . how strong her love was, and how strong her faith must have been, that he was waiting for her in heaven, listening to everything she told him.

And so, even though the loss of this great woman is hard to bear, I take great comfort in knowing she and my granddad are together again with Uncle Jack, Aunt Floss, and all who have left before us, and that they are there, talking and laughing, and watching us all. My mom says that for every death, there is new life . . . and I believe this is true. It will take two babies to fill part of the hole left by Mary Frances Berry Dwyer, and I know they come into a family full of love, life and laughter. How lucky we are all to be a part of it . . . how lucky these two babies will be. (Just a note, we are not having twins although we would be doubly blessed . . . my cousin Eileen is pregnant with her 2nd child and due in June.)

"God Bless us Everyone . . ."

I heart basil.

I'm sure everyone has their favorite herb. For me, there is nothing like the taste of fresh basil. I think it makes pretty much anything taste better. Case and point? Dinner tonight. Baby Lehr is quite demanding already, and I find myself quickly going from a little hungry to absolutely starving. Tonight was no exception. I wanted to eat dinner, and so had to make it quickly. I decided on an easy TBLT (that's turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato) with avocado. But, since my early elementary days, where I ate cheese and Miracle Whip sandwiches every day, I have really not been a fan of mayonnaise. But, standard BLT sandwiches have mayo on them (I don't think they would taste very good with mustard). So, I spiced up some reduced-fat hellman's with a clove of garlic, some freshly chopped basil and a little bit of lemon juice to thin it out. I also baked the sourdough rolls on my pizza stone for a couple of minutes, which made a huge difference over toasting. The rolls turned out crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. SO good. Dinner was done in less than 20 minutes, and was delicious. Definitely let the mayo sit to combine all of the flavors for at least an hour--I didn't, and the garlic taste was still pretty strong. However, I do think the mayo was what made the sandwiches so good. If I weren't so full, I would already be craving another one . . .

Nesting . . .

I've already been delinquent in my regular postings. I have no real excuse, but it does seem like time flies by at ridiculous speeds. We have a lot going on in the next few weeks, so I am trying to save up my energy for it all. I thought my energy would return after my first trimester ended, but I've found I'm still pretty exhausted. Hopefully I'll get some bursts soon. Other than that, I have been feeling pretty well. To my relief, both my appetite and my penchant for cooking has returned. For a while, the idea of cooking anything was pretty unappealing. And as many of you know, I LOVE to cook. I love to try new recipes, and I find that cooking is a good outlet, along with running, for keeping me sane. I was lucky enough to be raised in a household of good cooks. My dad is exceptionally creative, and loves to see how things work together in a pan. He rarely replicates a dish exactly as before, because he doesn't follow too many recipes, and he cooks by smell and feel. It is always delicious. My mom is hands down the most excellent baker I have ever met. Her cookies are always perfect looking and heavenly tasting. She makes delectable pies, amazing pizza dough, and some of the best spaghetti sauce I have ever tasted. Though I did not get the best of my mother (I rarely bake--it requires far too much measuring for someone who likes to not measure anything), I aspire to the adventuresome nature of both of my parents and am constantly looking for new recipes to add to my repertoire. Thankfully, Philip is an honest and willing guinea pig.

The point to this long description is that I am happy to have regained my sense of curiosity in the kitchen. In the spirit of that, I thought, in addition to posting updates and pictures of baby #1, I would also share some recipes I have tried and liked. There are a couple of reasons for this--one is to talk about food :), and the other is to share recipes. Though I could spend hours sifting through sites for the best recipes, realistically, I don't have time for that, so I cook what I know, and that gets BORING!

So far this week, I've tried three recipes that have been successful, but don't worry, I'll only share one at a time. Most of my recipes come from the BEST website --Epicurious.com. What I love most about this site is that people like me rate and review the recipes and make suggestions on how to improve the recipe. I spend hours on the website reading recipes and their reviews, and I have never been disappointed in what I've tried. But, the first recipe I will share is one I actually found on the Food Network, and it goes against my nature, because it is for cupcakes! The recipe is courtesy of Giada DeLaurentis, and is divine. These Raspberry Cream Cupcakes are light and fluffy thanks to the egg whites beat into the cake mix. The frosting (which is always my favorite part) is also so light and fluffy, comprised of only powdered sugar, whipping cream and fresh mashed raspberries (YUM!) Philip licked the frosting bowl, and as of yet, has had three cupcakes, so you know they were a hit. Here is the link to the recipe. I HIGHLY recommend it. Not only delicious, but also pretty light and figure friendly (always a plus with cupcakes!) Just a cook's note--I only used one pint of raspberries (they weren't on sale at the grocery store today) which was plenty for the frosting. I also just spread the frosting on top (easier to eat), and I found that it made MORE than enough frosting to amply frost 18 cupcakes. Next time, I will do the same, but buy extra raspberries for the top of the cupcakes (for presentation).

Happy Eating!

The Luck o' the Irish

Happy St. Patrick's Day (a little belated)! I love St. Patrick's Day, though it was a little different this year not being able to toast my heritage with a beer :). Nonetheless, it was a very exciting day, as we had our second ultrasound, and another doctor's appointment, and baby Lehr is growing rapidly. During our little session, we saw him/her flip over, dance around quite a bit, and it even looked like the baby was sucking its thumb! Pretty exciting stuff, considering I still can't feel a thing!!

Spring is my favorite time in Austin . . . it finally gets a little green, the weather is spectacular (low 80's with no humidity), and the end of school is in sight! We took advantage of the amazing weather yesterday and celebrated St. Patrick's Day with some of our favorite people--Jon, Sarah and Peter and our neighbors, Eston and Brenda. I love to entertain--something about being surrounded by your favorite people, eating, drinking (water for me), and laughing. I always like an excuse to cook for a crowd too. It is much more fun than just cooking for Philip and I (although Philip is a great guinea pig--he loves just about every food).

This weekend Philip and I are off to San Antonio to see Billy Joel and Elton John. I cannot wait. Not only have I never been to San Antonio, Billy Joel is pretty much my favorite musician of all time. Add that to spending time with my favorite person, and it is bound to be a memorable weekend. I. Can't. Wait.

Here are the latest ultrasound pics of baby #1. It is insane how much he/she has changed in the last three weeks, and I know it will be even more changes in the coming weeks and months! Almost done with the 1st trimester--thank goodness! Though I still have avoided nausea, I am literally exhausted 98% of the time. I look forward to getting some energy back (I know Philip looks forward to this too--I think he is sick of losing me to bed at 7:45 each night :)!

And so it begins . . .

I cannot say I entirely understand the complete fascination with blogs . . . me, I have enough trouble remembering to do the little things each day, let alone remembering to keep up with a blog. I was terrible at keeping a diary, and worse at keeping a journal, until I did so for Philip when he was gone on his six month deployment to the Western Pacific. Then, I remembered to write every night. So in keeping with that idea, we have decided to start a blog to keep our friends and family who are far away, up to date on Baby Lehr #1 (coming September 2009). I figure since I am keeping it for other people (technically), I might remember to post more often. In addition, quite a few friends of ours have blogs, and I find reading them incredibly interesting and amusing. I'm not sure my life is quite as interesting, but we'll see how it goes.

So far pregnancy really has not been too difficult. I have avoided the dreaded "morning" sickness pretty much altogether, though there have been a few nauseous days. I do feel tired all the time, but really, there's not a big difference between what is happening now and my normal life. I really like to sleep and find very few excuses to stay up late.

The most thrilling day so far was the day I saw the baby (Cletus the fetus as Philip calls him/her) on the ultrasound. He/She is definitely extremely active, and it is totally surreal to see this baby moving around like crazy, and not being able to feel a thing. I know that is because the baby is really quite small still, and it won't be long before I feel the movement. But, I've had such few extreme pregnancy symptoms, that sometimes I worry about how everything is going. So to see such an active baby in there was completely blissful. Still quite a bit of time to go (I am almost 12 weeks), and I can't wait to experience all that lies ahead. Stay tuned . . .

Here is our first "picture" of baby Lehr. He/she is tiny but already adorable!