Scared out of my wits...

I need to admit this at some point in time to myself, so why not on my blog for the world (or the few people who read this) to see.

I am absolutely freaked out about giving birth. It is more of this fear of the unknown that is getting to me. If I knew beforehand that everything is going to go smoothly and I won't have to have an emergency c-section, and that the birthing experience will be great, then I think I'd be fine with it. Now, don't get me wrong, I know what lies before me. As a friend Tammy put it, "It fucking hurts...and yes, I have to use that word", so I know it is not going to be a walk in the park. However, it is just the closer and closer that the due date comes (next Thursday...AHHHHH!!!) the more and more that I am thinking about the actual logistics of getting this little bugger out of me. It can only happen one of two ways, yes. But which way will it actually happen. I'm totally hoping for natural (with the help of modern medicine in the form of an epidural), so please keep your fingers crossed or thumbs pressed or both that that is the way that it will happen.

If it has to come down to a c-section, then I'm cool with that too...as long as little girl is healthy. But that is also major surgery, and I've only been under the knife once and it was an out-patient procedure.

On a side note, little girl is the most active she's been in days...she's a movin' and a groovin'. Could this be a sign that she's wanting out. I'm already wanting to give her the eviction notice, but I don't think that she's quite ready...plus Markus is in Berlin, so I hope that she waits until Friday. (He can always come home early, but he's at a pretty cool conference where he can rub elbows with some pretty interesting people, so I want him to enjoy that and get as many contacts as possible...)

On another side note, my birthday is on Saturday and Markus is getting me a pedicure...I'm so freaking excited about that!

Markus' 30th birthday...Round 1

I had to call this post "Round 1" because we haven't had his real party yet. We'll be having that on June 6. However, here in good ol' Deutschland, it is basically a must for you, the birthday boy/girl to bring a cake (or 2 or 5) to work with you to share with your coworkers. So, like the good little housewife I am, I looked at this as a challenge. I decided to make some that I've never made before and some old favorites. I did end up with 5 different types of cake/muffins/pie.

First off, we have a Rasperry Buttermilk Cake thanks to SmittenKitchen (one of my favorite sites!). I used a bit more raspberries than she did since Markus looked at the picture on her site and was like "You're going to use more raspberries right?". So, what birthday boy wants, birthday boy gets. It did make the bottom of the cake really, really moist (a bit too moist in my opinion) but Markus loved it, so that is really all that matters. As it was baking, the batter kind of "gobbled" up the raspberries, so that is why I'm putting a before and after picture in here.

The next cake was a Banana Bread. Markus calls this cake, but no, it is a bread, hence the name. Sarah, Cliff, Markus and I had a long discussion about this and Markus claimed that here in Germany there are no sweet breads. Luckily for the Americans in this conversation, Sarah and Cliff just made a trip to the store (oh, and I might add that it is Easter time) and bought an Osterbrot, and Easter bread, which is a sweet bread. Hah! Score one for the Amis!

I also made some blueberry muffins since those are Markus' favorite. I got the recipe from RecipeZaar, which has just about every recipe known to man. The recipe I used was especially yummy. I liked the hint of lemon in it...but Markus told me later, he'd prefer it without it. Well, the baker gets to decide this one, and the hint of lemon stays! It compliments the blueberry so well!

Also on the list was a chocolate cupcake with a cream cheese frosting. The cream cheese frosting wasn't anything to write home about. It was a bit on the runny side, so I'm still searching for a good cream cheese frosting recipe, but the chocolate cupcakes! Oh man, were they good. This is also a recipe that came from RecipeZaar, but from one of my favorite posters on there Kittencal. She really has some awesome recipes.

The last thing I made was my Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. I posted on this earlier. And really, if you leave it be for a day, it will not be runny! I tested it out this time and it really worked. Or, if you make it in the morning and let it cool completely and then enjoy it after dinner, it isn't runny. The picture of it is above (with the cupcakes). Since I have loads of pictures of it in another post, I figured I didn't need another one here.

So, Markus took all of these to work with him. They were all a big hit and they were basically gone that day. There was just a bit of the banana bread left, but Markus left that in the fridge and the next day it was gone. So, success!