on being overly pregnant and stubborn.

a few months ago, my husband and i debated on whether we'd continue our tradition of hosting an oktoberfest-themed party for family and friends.  john's vote was a resounding "no;" he thought it was too close to the baby's arrival date, and too much for us to worry about.  he promised fuegerfest would be back at some point, but that this year, it was a definite no-go.  at first, i agreed with him.  it did seem like a lot to tackle in the last trimester, and husband is usually a tad more reasonable about these kinds of things.

but the more i thought about it, the more stubborn i became.  we needed to have this party.  i needed to prove to myself that no matter how pregnant i was, how miserable i felt, i was still the same person who enjoys planning/organizing/hosting creatively themed shin-digs for family and friends.  and so the me vs. john battle lines were drawn... and (you can see where this is going), i won.  at nine months pregnant, we hosted fuegerfest II.

while preparing for the event, i seriously thought i was going to cut my right hand off out of frustration.  really.  (but there's no need to rehash the carpal tunnel issues at this point.)  in fact, in one moment of desperation (after chopping apples for a good long while), i thought to myself, "curse you and your stupid pride!  why can't you ever listen to john and be reasonable!  you deserve every second of this numbing pain in your hand!" 

but a nice warm glass of apple cider and a short stroll around the block reminded me that i was not, in fact, going insane.  the smell of delicious baked goods permeated the house, and i remembered why i love fall, and why we ever thought of hosting this party anyway. 

it was a lovely day, and it was a great to spend time with wonderful family & friends.  i must admit, i was a little jealous about not getting to partake in the sampling of the delicious german brews, but i think i ate enough dessert to make up for it (calories wise).  my favorite dessert of the party was apfelstrudel kasekuchen (apple strudel cheesecake).  you can find the recipe here; it was aaaammmmaaazing.

my little nephew, michael paul, was the tiniest german (minus my little bean, in utero) in attendance, and he also happened to be the most popular guest.  what. a. doll.

another big hit was the arrival of some family friends... in traditional german lederhosen!  john joked that reinhardt and mary earned the honor of naming our firstborn as a result!

anyway, now that the food's been eaten...

and the biers drank, it's OFFICIALLY about time for my tiny (1/2) german bean to arrive.  c'mon little man!  we're oh so ready to meet you!