Former Fridays: A Happy Birthday Post!

I know, I have been absolutely awful about keeping up with these.  Blame it on a mobile baby :).  However, I had to make sure to wish my sister (the oldest, she keeps us in line) a happy birthday.  Every time I see this picture I marvel at how huge that cake is!  She deserves that and more!  Love you, Millie!

Happy Easter!

Hope you all are having a sweet and blessed Easter Sunday!

Hot Cross Buns

 

Hot cross buns!

This recipe is (minutely) adapted from: Breaking Bread with Father Dominic.

Hot cross buns!
One ha' penny, two ha' penny,
Hot cross buns!
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons
One ha' penny,
Two ha' penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

My sister started our family in following the tradition of eating hot cross buns on Good Friday a few years ago, and luckily she passed her recipe on so I could make them despite being away from the family.  They're a simple bun, but with enough hearty sustenance to get you through the fast.  

 

Needed: 

4 to 4 1/2 cups flour, divided

1/2 cup whole wheat (graham) flour (I've never been able to find it, so I just use whole wheat)

1 package Active Dry Yeast

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs, beaten

3/4 cups craisins soaked in 2 tspoons water

Combine 2 cups of the bread flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl; stir until thoroughly blended.  

Combine milk and butter in saucepan.  Warm over low heat, stirring occasionally until butter melts.  Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.  Stir in eggs.

Add milk mixture to flour mixture, beat for 200 strokes (here's where my husband ended up helping, my arm got tired!  Ignore the strange things I use to beat... we make do :)). 

Stir in craisins.  Ad 2 cups bread flour, mix until flour is incorporated.  Turn dough out on a floured surface.  Knead lightly, adding enogh of the remaining flour to make a soft dough that doesn't stick.  

Knead about 5 min., or until dough is smooth and elastic.  Lightly rub surface of dough with oil or butter; place in rinsed bowl.  Cover and let rise in a warm draft-free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until it rises to two times it's original size.

Punch down dough and transfer to a floured surface.  Knead lightly to remove air bubbles.  Divide dough into 12 pieces.  Form pieces into balls.  Place balls on a lightly greased baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between balls.  Cover with a clean towel and let rise 45-60 minutes or until doubled.  

Use a sharp knife or razor blade (I use scissors) to cut a deep cross in top of each ball.  (Cut deeper than you initially think, it takes a deep cut to show up in the finished bun!)

While dough is rising, preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake buns 15-20 minutes or until golden.  Remove from baking sheet and place on wire rack.  Let cool 15 minutes.  Happy Triduum!

To see more great Lenten ideas on Catholic Icing, click here.

Anni's 1st Year...

Click here to view this photo book larger

It's done and ordered (thank goodness for mother's day coupons), she can now officially turn a year old!

We love...

I saw this on lovely Katie's blog and decided to join, simply because I need to count my blessings and not my grumpiness today :).  Join in the fun by clicking on the above image.


So, what I'm loving on this lovely Wednesday is:

... that my husband and I celebrated four years since we started dating on the 17th.  Here we are all young and nervous :).  I love him so!

... thrift stores!  I found this dress for Nugget in one last night.  After clipping off a frayed collar and torn up flower, it's perfect for some pictures I'm planning.

...Big City Burrito - I met up with my love and several of his co-workers for a lovely lunch burrito yesterday.  So yummy!

...my baby's one year book.  Here's a little teaser as I get it finished up:

...that we got rid of our TV (it was big and we're trying to cut down on what we have to move... especially since we never used it.)

And, last, but certainly not least, that it's almost Easter!  I'll be sharing my recipe for Hot Crossed buns tomorrow in case you want to make them for Holy Friday :).

Tucking things away

I've been thinking about this post for a long time.  I didn't think it would make me cry.  I thought it was going to just be about the fact that I was done pumping after 11 months, but visiting the NICU to return the pump today... I realized it's more than that.  (Not that that wasn't both a victory and difficult at the same time.  Our lack of a breastfeeding relationship will always be difficult for me.  However, the fact that she received breast milk for so long is something I am proud of.)  Returning that pump and making possibly our last trip to that NICU ever, made me realize that it's time to tuck some things away.  It's time that our life begin to be just a little more separated from the beginning.  That maybe I go a day or two and not think about your little body caving in which each breath and sobbing because the nurses couldn't get your IV in and you were screaming in your teeny, tiny quiet voice and I couldn't do anything about it.  So, these last few weeks before you turn one, I'm going to get it out of my system.  I'm going to cry for all the times I was scared and couldn't cry, for every time I saw a friend have a normal birth and take their babies home like normal parents when I couldn't, because I was so happy for them, but also, jealous.  Or every time I saw a friend have their own complications, maybe different from ours, and knew the mixed bittersweet feeling of such a birth. 

When we went to the NICU, we found out our favorite nurse had moved on, and that life there had moved on without us.  I don't know why it made me cry, I don't want to go back to you being in the NICU and being worried and scared on top of being exhausted all of the time... but I think that place has been such a big part of our identity as parents, that it was hard to see that they didn't need us to go on.  As happy as they were to see us and see how big and beautiful our baby has grown, I knew we would be off their mind quickly, because there were new babies being born that needed their attention and their reassuring words.  And we don't need them anymore.  Not that we don't need help, because we always will.  I don't think we'll ever stop praying or calling our parents and sisters in the middle of the night because we simply don't know what we're doing.

I feel a little funny pouring all of this out.  I didn't realize I had that much left inside about it.  I know we are fortunate, that our NICU experience was nearly as trauma free as they come.  Still, it was our experience, and I'm going to own it.  And then I'm going to move on.  I'll never forget it, because it did shape who we are as parents, but it's time to let new experiences take it's place in the forefront of my memories.

Zana's Ninis

I told you it was coming :).  My sister, Katie, has officially opened up an etsy shop and is selling some of her lovely handmade hats.  Anni owns several (you will see them popping up quite often in the blog, I'm sure), and I love them!  Not only are they well-made, but you don't have to worry about pets or smoking and even if you don't see the color you want in the style you want, she's wonderfully flexible!   I have to say, I love that her hats work well for boys and girls.  And, as an added bonus, her lovely little creations are quite reasonably priced!  So, scroll on down and check out her shop, or email her and have her make something lovely for the little one in your life :).

I also have to add, because I'm so in awe of her talent, that she doesn't just make hats and flowers.  She is also a supremely awesome quilter.  You can see what she's working on at her blog, listed below.  If have an idea for a quilt, but not the craftiness to put it together, get in contact with her :).

etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/zanasninis
blog: http://www.zanasninis.blogspot.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZanasNinis

11 months.

My little Antonia Grace.  She's 11 months old today.  Which means she's only a month away from being a year old.  I can hardly believe it, except she is growing and learning and changing right before my eyes and I can't deny that.  No longer the helpless newborn, Miss Anni is into everything recently.  We've begun to realize the extent of her flexibility, and while it may slow down her learning curve on walking, she's learned to use it to her advantage to fit into tiny spaces where she's not allowed.  She is a waving fiend recently and delights in showing off that skill.  She also claps and I'm pretty sure my heart is going to melt with the cuteness every time she does it.  She likes to work on pulling herself up, and although her legs shake when we hold her hands to stand, the look on her face says, "See?  I can do this!  I'm awesome!"  Oh, I love her!  She has also begun a love affair with books.  When we finish reading one and lie it on the floor, she plucks it back up and holds it out to be reread.  Who would dare deny such a request?  This little girl has a smile that can light up the room.  I cannot say I love her too many times.  I love her! 

Her birthday party has been in the works for a little while now, but now I have to actually get things done for it.  I know she may not remember it, but this party is also a celebration for Daniel and I.  We made it a full year.  A full year from that scary and beautiful first.  It's going to be a good party.

  

Unexpected

This weekend, my little family joined my parents, siblings and their babies in Nebraska to say good-bye to a dear friend of our family.  His name was Joe Bauer and he was my sister, Katie's, godfather.  I'm borrowing what my other sister, Millie, wrote the day he died. 

Joe Bauer died this evening at 5:30 p.m. May his soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace. Joe loved Notre Dame football, shortwave radio, and Czech and Latin jokes (like, semper ubi sububi). He and my dad were instrumental in moving St. Wenceslaus parish across Omaha in the 1970s so it could thrive. He insisted on eating with a real napkin and real silverware, and his four sisters lovingly took care of that for him every day. Take a moment to pray for your godparents.  


While the trip to Nebraska was unexpected, it brought us a lot of beautiful things.  We had been planning a trip there for late April, but it went almost without question that we would go to the funeral (we were lucky enough not to have anything else pressing this week).

So we combined our planned trip with this unexpected one.  Much of my family was able to come, and it was wonderful to be together.  My siblings are amazing aunts and uncles and even better parents.  So, there was my joy, right smack in the middle of a sad time.

I was able to finally introduce Miss Anni to her great-grandmother, as well as my godparents (my godmother happens to be Joe's sister).  I cherish family (and the Bauers have always been family to us) and I want my babies to know their family as much as possible.

Nugget also celebrated a rite of passage of sorts when we went to the Bohemian Cafe in Omaha.  We've been going there since as long as I can remember and every few years, at least a couple of us make it back.  One of my sister's classmates even works there, so we always get to catch up as we delve into delicious Czech meals (if you ever go, the boiled beef is to. die. for.)  Now, they may never let us back in after the mess Anni left, but at least she made it once.

While we were there, we stayed with some friends, and Anni and this adorable little boy became best friends (which is good, because his mother and I started planning their wedding when she found out she was having a boy).

And Nugget displayed some new tricks and quirks.

The wave: done especially well in her backseat mirror when she could see Daddy reflected from the rear-view mirror. 

And, when she gets lifted in the air, she now does hilarious kicks with those crazy flexible legs.

 And, last but not least, we got to celebrate lots of new life.  This family has been connected to us in numerous ways (Sarah was my RD at one point, Jeff was Daniel's and they are my nephew's godparents) and they've added two beautiful babies since we last were able to see them.  Pizza and catching up with an amazing family?  Amazing.   

As I said, it really was a crazy, unexpected whirlwind of a trip.  Despite a lot of sadness, there was a lot of joy to be found in our family, friends and the anticipation of a new soul in heaven.