38.5 weeks- only a few more to go!

Hello all,

As of today, I am 39 weeks!  This is getting really exciting!

Our weekends now amount to precious moments of attempting to cram as much as we can into a short amount of time, and take advantage of the opportunity to get as much done as we can (while also building in time for naps and cuddling of course!).  This weekend was particularly special.

Our major art project of the weekend was making a plaster belly cast.  At first, I started putting on the plaster strips myself, with Osei simultaneously a bit fascinated and grossed out.  However, half way through he got his hands dirty and had a blast finishing the rest.  We learned a lot for next time- mainly that Osei will take over from the beginning-  I couldn't exactly see what I was doing on my own belly! 

Osei also fixed our sewing machine!  We'd bought an old Singer 457 (metal machine, from the 1960's), and the timing became out of sync, causing a gear to break.  The estimate to repair the machine was 5 times what we even paid for the machine, so my saavy and industrious husband did research, ordered a part, watched multiple youtube videos and figured out how to fix it himself!  I'm incredibly impressed, and this means that our next project of sewing a cover for the diaper changing pad is ready to begin.

Finally this weekend, we also went apple picking.  Osei and I had gone apple picking on our 3rd date, so the entire event was incredibly sentimental for me.  Though we went to a different orchard, we did manage to recreate some pictures, as well as our enjoyment of fresh apple cider donuts.  We picked over 20 pounds of apples and promptly baked 3 apple-cranberry pies, which in my opinion, far surpassed the deliciousness of the pies we made after our first apple-picking adventure.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my last day of working in the office, and then I'll work from home until the baby is born.  My commute to work has gotten progressively longer in the past month, as my walking speed has slowed to turtle-like pace.  I won't miss fighting for a seat on the crowded subway and am very thankful for the flexibility to work from home!

Please continue to pray and send healing thoughts for my mother, Nancy.  After surgery last month for breast cancer, she begins chemotherapy on Friday, and we are all prayerfully optimistic that her cancer will never return.

Love and blessings to all,

Amy, Osei, and soon-to-be-welcomed-to-the-world, Omee 

Getting ready for football season!

Actually, I made these this year for a Superbowl party. They're super easy. Cookies were store bought, and I made white icing for the piping. It took a while to get the icing thick enough to where it didn't drip though. I think I squeezed it out of a regular zip-lock baggie. On a scale of 1-10, it was about a 7 on the messiness factor though.

Vanilla cupcakes. These also came from a box. In retrospect, it helps to not overfill the tins, because you want the top to remain flush after baked to support the "football."

Finally, I adhered the cookies football tops to the cupcakes with more frosting-glue. Once it dried, they stuck like rocks. These were a huge hit!

The finished Cupcakes

The pink frosting kept oozing out of the top of the bag.  My hands were covered.  Total mess.  

The yellow bag sort of burst mid-swirl (with the tiny 6-point start).  Luckily the blob of frosting plopped down on the cutting board.  We quickly moved to Plan-B, a lovely yellow glob in the center of each cupcake.  The pink decorating looked the best... the green didn't seem to set very well.

But all in all, they definitely look both homemade and edible.  I baked them for a birthday party Serge and I are going to tomorrow evening.  

Icing on the cake

 This is the recipe for Magnolia's buttercream frosting, and wow is it sweet.  I actually had to run back to the grocery store to get another box of powdered sugar.   

I think I got a sugar contact high just mixing the 6 cups (that is nearly 2 full boxes) of powdered sugar.  

The easy part was mixing.  Just slightly more challenging was deciding which 3 color combinations to make based on the options on the back of the food coloring box.  All three colors were adapted anyway.  

I started by spreading a layer of icing on each cupcake.  Then onto the fun part- the decorating. Inspired by my new Martha Stewart icing set, I filled bag one with pink frosting and the leaf-tip fixture, envisioning delicate daisies and intricate designs.  The frosting oozed out the top of the bag.  For the yellow and teal, I sliced off a corner of a zip-lock instead, put the tip in the bag, and spooned in the frosting.

The results were not exactly Martha-Stewart pretty.  

Cupcakes a' bakin'

Vanilla cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery cookbook.  I found the recipe on the internet and even bought self-risking flower.  The batter is full of all sorts of healthy things, like organic butter and eggs, and sugar.

However, I make them the old fashioned way...mixing everything by hand.  This makes the finished cupcakes exponentially more healthy (for me, at least) once you factor in the manuel labor.  My arms are both sore.

I kind of made a mess, but I love how this picture shows my ipod speakers where I listen and repeat Russian vocabulary, my CFA calculator, and a running log/my water bottles.  My entire life is basically represented in my kitchen mess.

I would like to brag that I had zero spillage when pouring the batter.  Must of have been the perfect consistency. 

They looked nice when I took them out of the oven, which I'm still not convinced cooks evenly.  Note the guy in the back row got a little squished when I banged him on the top of the oven rack.  I burned my hand a little too, but those were our only causalities from the baking part of the adventure.