Christmas Fun

Our Christmas vacation is not over, but we thought we would fill you in on what we have done so far...

Ali's Uncle Nate came to visit, and we had a great time with him. We went to Knott's Berry Farm and I enjoyed my first roller coaster ride in a very long time. It was wonderful! Jed's parents joined the fun and we visited the Getty Museum and looked at icons and went to the beach on Christmas Day....we are in California, it just seemed right.

Abiding Savior had a live Nativity, and we were Mary, Jospeh, and Jesus. We had an interesting time pondering the theological implications of Ali playing Jesus...we finally decided that God probably didn't really mind because no smiting took place.

Ali was very excited about her presents. She didn't know which one to chew on first! Next year will be even more fun, we know.

Here are a few pictures for everyone. We leave tomorrow for Texas to see Kari and watch Zach and Melody get married! Yippee! Flying with an infant...we'll let you all know how it goes when we return!

The months fly by

Okay, we understand. We have pictures. Our camera is still MIA, but we used the video camera to catch a few shots. They are not as clear, but they will do. Thanks Angie for the cute red outfit! Ali's new skills include drooling, sucking on her fist, blowing bubbles, cooing, and contemplating crawling...she is watching her friends and trying to figure it all out. Yeah, she's got skills.

Yes, Ali is three months old. Time does fly.

Life is busy. I'm trying to finish my online class (just for all of you to know, master's and new baby are an interesting combination) and trying to get report cards out as well. Soon Christmas will come, and I will relax...a little!

Jed is doing well at Holy Cross. He enjoys being a pastor and likes life. That is a good thing.

That is us...hope all of you are doing well. We hope to get Christmas pictues soon. We'll let you know!

Mommy and Daddy let me write this one

Hey everyone!

Mom and Dad said I could write an update for you all this time. I'm enjoying my life right now. I've finally figured out who Mommy and Daddy are. They love it when I smile at them. They kept trying to take pictures of me when I smile, but I didn't like the flash. I finally smiled for the camera so they would stop taking pictures.

I started to go to school with Mommy this week. She really liked being with her big kids, but I missed her lots. Melanie and Deanna take care of me. They say I have the loudest scream of all the kids. I'm kind of proud of that. I'm glad that Mommy can come visit me everyday at lunch. Maybe someday I'll start crying less when I'm there. My friends Patrick, Troy and Cassidy try to help me. They are good friends.

Daddy likes his job at church. Mommy and I went with him one Sunday and met everyone there. It was fun but made me very tired. Mommy says we will go back again soon.

Mommy, Daddy and I watch the Cards win the World Series last night. Mommy was very happy about that. She says I will become a big fan someday. We'll see...Daddy says the Packers are the best team ever, and I was so excited I spit up on his Packers sweatshirt.

So, there is my life. Mom and Dad still think they are in charge, but I'll teach them the truth soon enough. I have to go to my friend Audrey's birthday party now. Life is busy when you are seven weeks old! Mommy and Daddy wanted to show a few pictures of me. I'll try to talk to you again soon!

Love, Ali (with a little help from Mom and Dad)

Time flies

It's hard to believe that one month has passed since Ali entered the world. It doesn't seem like it has been that long! Things are going well. In general, she will sleep for five hours at night, and has moments where she is awake and not crying. She is still as cute as ever, as the pictures show.

Jed and I are starting to figure out how to be a parent. It's a slow process, but we continue to learn. In other news, Jed has a job that doesn't involve hanging up large signs at Target! As of October 1st, he is the vacancy pastor at Holy Cross in Cypress. This is a great thing, and we are very happy about it. I am two weeks away from returning to work. Ali will come to work with me, and be in day care on campus, so I will still see her every day at lunch. I'm looking forward to seeing my students, but not looking forward to getting up in the morning!

There are our lives in a nutshell. Here are some new pictures of Ali. Enjoy!

She's so Cuteiful

We had a wonderful weekend with our families celebrating Ali's baptism. My family arrived on Thursday and Jed's parents came on Saturday. The boys thought Ali was "so soft and little" and Jonas kept telling us that Ali was so "Cuteiful".

Ali slept through her baptism...no screams at all. She wore Jed's baptimal gown, and we even kept it clean! Jed did the baptism, and both of us managed not to cry...barely. It was just a beautiful, amazing thing!

We also got to take everyone to the beach on Monday. Carrie was the only one in my family who had been to California before, so the ocean was a big hit. Tannim liked to pretend to surf, Jonas liked throwing sand back into the ocean, and Beckett just liked eating the sand! Ali seemed to enjoy her time at the beach as well.

Here a few pictures of all of us. Ali is looking more and more like her Dad. She is still doing well. Jed and I are doing pretty well too!

Introducing Alaethea!

As many of you already know, Alaethea Ruth was born on September 8th at 6:40 am. She weighed in at 9 pounds, 13 ounces (much to the surprise of all in the room) and is 21 inches long. We spent Friday and Saturday in the hospital, and arrived home as our family of three this afternoon. I was able to make it through my 13 hours of labor with no drugs, much to the amazement of the hospital staff. The hospital I was at has a 90% epidural rate, so I was the "odd girl out." But, hey, being different is a good thing!

Jed and I are both still in the "wow, there is a baby in our apartment" stage, but we are also so happy to have her in the world and to really look at her. I have to admit, having her in the world and not in me is an okay thing! Life is hard enough without someone kicking you from the inside.

Here are a few pictures because we are proud parents. Her baptism will be on September 24th. If you are in the area, let us know; we would love to have you come!

40 weeks!

Today is the official due date for Ali...and she is not here yet. But, we know that she will be born in the next week. If she doesn't come by Thursday, the 14th, I will be induced. There is a very good chance that she will come sooner, so we will have to see. Here is a picture for all of you--what I look like at 40 weeks.

On a lighter note, you should all check out this site: It is the LA County Fair commercials. Jed and I both get quite a kick out of them. We hope you enjoy them too!

Be on the lookout for a family picture in the next week!

20, 19, 18, 17...

For everyone's enjoyment, here is a new picture of me. Yes, we only have 20 days until the due date. My doctor says that I can start wishing for Ali to be born tomorrow. She would consider us full term then. As ready as I am, if I could wait until at least the 29th, that would be better. That is when all the before school meetings will be done. Talking to some teachers today, they think it would be "great entertainment" if I went into labor AT the meetings... we will see!

We are almost ready for Ali. Her clothes are washed, our bag is packed, and we have successfully completed 2 out of the 3 childbirth classes. We have also toured the hospital. This is important becuase now we know where to go. That seems to be a good thing.

In other news, Jed is currently working as a "signing specialist" at Target. It is a job and we get discounts at Target, so I like it. I start meetings next week. My nephew, Tannim, started school today, and when asked what he wanted to learn, told his teacher, "I think I pretty much know everything I need to". Ahhh, to be five and understand the world.

There you go...all you wanted to know about us, but were afraid to ask. Hopefully, the next post will be of the three of us!

It has come to my attention...

...that something sinister has happened to me. Something inexplicable. Something terrible.

I'm losing my mind.

Somehow, in the midst of all my revelry and cross-state-border traveling last month, I forgot to mention in my blog that I had an absolutely wonderful time with my nephews and in-laws in Kansas! I don't know what it was...maybe a good old-fashioned Texas brainwashing? (They do that, you know, with the steaks.)

So in penance, here are some pictures of "the in-laws." I beg you not to consider me an outlaw now.

"You don't get to take seven million pictures of me..."

"...because I'm seven months pregnant..." Anna said, while trying to give me "the look" she gives all her middle school kids. Such are the joys of pregnancy.

In addition, I get to learn lots of other things. Also on the "not recommended" list is going up to her and saying "Boy you look HUUUUUUUGE." She gets enough of that at from the old ladies at church. But we love them anyway!

We've had lots of fun lately. Anna got back from Nebraska without incident, barring all the usual things to do like eating strangely named foods from strangely named small towns and baby shower which attacked her without warning. She also went to class in between all the frivolities and got a great start on her master's degree.

I had lots of fun in Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, including getting to go on an aircraft carrier! The wedding was also a blast, where we visited a church that has the largest LCMS cross EVER, in Lexington, Missouri.

A week later I was visiting another Lexington, although this one did not have a huge cross. It managed to make up for it with a short runway, as it was the aircraft carrier the USS Lexington. There were lots of cool planes on it, and so I frolicked around and cavorted among the fighter jets and close quarters of this spectacular feat of engineering. I also preached at Zach's church, Fishers of Family, and you can even hear my sermon on the website. I have to admit, though, that Zach did a great job of using audio magic to make me sound much better than I really am in person, kind of like Avril Lavigne's voice.

We made it back in time for the July festivities, such as July 1st (Dominion Day for Canadians, or the greatest day in the world) for the birthday gang who celebrated at the beach in Corona Del Mar, July 3rd, for those who were lucky enough to get married on such a great day, and July 4th, for our blessed country. We were lucky enough to have our friend Art Eichhorn visiting from the Lou, and we thought "What better way to celebrate our nation's independence than watching colorful explosions in the sky in the Happiest Place on Earth (R)," Disneyland. The fireworks show was spectacular, we have to admit.

Then a few days later, Karen Sohn came to visit us for Tom Kosche's wedding to Ruth Truitt, and much more fun was had. We wish Karen the best for her wedding this weekend (although Anna still thinks Karen is insane for traveling a week before she gets married.)

So after all that, we're back to our normal, mundane, leisurely summer lives...at least until around Sept. 6th! We'll keep you updated if anything exciting happens!

Ali Update (And Jed and Anna)

Ok, so when Will (Anna's brother) starts complaining that we don't update our blog enough because he actually has to call us and talk to us in order to know what's going on in our lives, well, that's up there with a sign from God, so here's the update so the rest of you don't have to call us! God forbid!

So what's going on in our lives? First of all, Ali is healthy and growing and still inside Anna where she should be. I tell her to stay there for a few more months, and then she can come out and play. Anna's health remains alright aside from the usual pregnancy soreness. School is almost done for her, only about a week to go!

As for me, I finished teaching a few weeks ago and decided not to come back to Lutheran High next year. I pretty much figured out teaching wasn't for me, so now I'm looking at actually becoming a pastor. I'd like to find a position where I'd be involved in emerging worship and do some counseling. I think something like that would make good use of my talents...so if you have any ideas, let me know!

For our summer plans, we're splitting up for a couple weeks. I'd like to call it a trial separation, but Anna won't let me because that has other connotations. I'm running away to Missouri and Kansas for Paul Kyle's wedding, to visit my nephews and Anna's sister and her husband in Hiawatha. After the midwest visit, I go down to Texas to preach at Zach McIntosh's church in Portland and hang out with my dear friend Andy Bates (aka "the deacon").

Anna will be flying to Nebraska then a few days later to start on her Masters degree at God's gift to humanity, Concordia University Nebraska in Seward. There she will be supported by everyone but her husband as friends from the four corners of the globe will converge to visit her during her two weeks of intense study. Nine credits later she will emerge from her cornhusker cocoon and return to the relative sanity of California. I said "relative." Speaking of relative, Anna's birthday is June 27th, and hopefully she will be spending some quality time with some relatives and friends on that important day!

Anna gets back on July 1, (Jed's birthday, hint hint), and hopefully I will remember to pick her up amidst all the raucous partying I will be doing on the beach with Pastor Greg (Strand) and Miss (Cari) Chittick, who share that awesome birthday. After that we have some guests coming, and then the rest of the summer will hopefully bring a little time to rest and relax before the advent of school and Ali's due date, September 6th.

Josiah William or Alaethea Ruth?

Yes, We did have our 20 week ultrasound last Wednesday. For those keeping track, that is actually week 21, but who is really keeping track, besides us? From the pictures, baby is doing great! I had a doctor visit that day as well, and I am also doing just fine. The due date has not changed, so the baby should come on or around September 6th.

We did find out the sex of our "peanut". Before we tell you, we need to give you a bit of background. There has not been a girl born with the last name Maschke in a very long time...about three generations, to be exact. Both Jed and I were pretty sure we were having a boy. However, we were wrong...it is a girl! We questioned the "it's a girl" statement several times and every time was told that is a girl. So, Alaethea Ruth it is (you can call her "Ali", like an Alley, not like Muhammed.)

In other news, school is slowly winding down. Jed has 21 days of school left. I have a few more than that, but I haven't counted. Next week I will take the great adventure with my students to Catalina Island. For you readers, Catalina is part of the Channel Islands, where Island of the Blue Dolphins takes place. We are going to do "science stuff". That is about all I know right now. I'm sure I'll have stories when I get back.

Here are the lastest pictures of Ali and I. We chose the nicest picture of her. She wasn't a big fan of having her picture taken, and the other shot we got looks a bit like Munch's "The Scream".

A very brief update

So, we have also entered the land of "very few updates". We will try to remedy that in the near future with lots of pictures of various events; including:

1. Our visit from Kari and Nina
2. Our trip to the mountains with our bible study group
3. Information about the sex of "peanut", as we currently call him/her (April 26th is the day for that information)
4. Any other random events we are forgetting, but have pictures for.

To keep everyone entertained, here are two pictures of my ever expanding stomach. The first is from March 16th, and the second is today (April 12). You can see for youself that I am indeed growing.

Jed wishes to insert that his track team this year is "darn good", but the "darn good" team causes him to be gone lots. I would agree. But, the season will someday end and we will see each other again.

If you haven't heard through the random grapevine, I (Anna) am starting my Masters this summer. I'll be back at Seward for two weeks. The plan right now is to be done in two years. We will see how that goes.

So, there is the very brief update. More news to come soon!!!!

Visitors and heartbeats

The last month has been busy with the arrival of many guests. President's Day weekend was spent with Erin and Angie. It was, of course, raining (only the fifth time it has rained in the six months we have lived here) but we still had fun. We visited the Aquarium of the Pacific; a very cool place. We learned that you can give a shark an ultrasound. Who knew? Erin and Angie also took me shopping for maternity clothes, and we spent the one nice day at the beach, playing in tide pools and watching the sun set after enjoying wonderful peanut butter shakes. We also managed to get in quite a bit of Gilmore Girl watching. At those moments, Jed found something else to do!

Angie and Erin left Tuesday morning, and Wednesday evening, Jed's parents arrived. We also had fun with them. They cleaned our kitchen for us (a very exciting treat!) and spent time helping us do some organizing around the house. Jed and his parents had thier first IKEA experience (I think they are hooked) and we then had fun building our new IKEA purchases. We also had the sunset experience with his parents, and well as the peanut butter shake experience.

Both visits also included trips to In N Out and Rubios. Both are high quality eating establishments.

In baby news; all is well. Between visits I had my 12 week check up and I was able to hear the baby's heartbeat. All is going well for me and baby. Only two more months until we find out the sex.

Wednesday marks the official end to my first trimester. Thanks for all the prayers. Everyone tells me the second trimester is the most enjoyable. We will see...

Our Little Teddy Graham

We had an ultrasound on Friday to check and make sure everything was on track with baby Maschke. We were very happy to learn that the baby looks great. We saw the heart beat and it is growing just as he or she should. Here is the first official picture of the little one. One person I work with commented on how it looks just like a Teddy Graham, which made us laugh quite a bit.

In other news, life is good. We are both busy teaching. We are also looking forward to the many visitors that will be coming in the next months.

The first day of school

My principal was not overly excited when I told her that our baby should be born on the first day of school. I guess the first six weeks are not my choice to miss either, but for a little one it will be worth it.

Yes, you all read that correctly. Jed and I are going to be parents. Watch out world, here we come. The little Maschke should arrive on or around September 7th. My family is pushing for the 8th since it was Grandpa Hohl's birthday, but since we all know how little choice you actually get in a due date, we will be happy whenever he or she decides to join the world.

We will keep you all updated on the progress, and I am sure you will get to see some pictures of me and my big belly!

Roses and Sprouting Beans

Jed and I had the awesome chance to go help decorate the Lutheran Hour Float for the Rose Parade this year. Our friend Jen is in charge of it, and our friend Cari came along also.

For those of you unaware, this is a huge task. Every square inch of the float must be covered in natural materials. No colors can be altered. Every little flower, leaf, and bean is glued on using either industrial strength rubber cement, which is very sticky, or white glue. Jen let us climb things, which was fun. We glued on lots of white mums (especially on the ribbon), and I stuck in all the pink roses that you can see.

The rain caused a few problems to our float. All the beans sprouted, and a few flowers fell off. But it still looked beautiful.

After seven hours of work, we were exhausted, but already planning to come and help again next year. If anyone else would like to help, we can hook you up!

Wisconsin, Kansas, and California, Oh My!

This Christmas Break was a very busy one! We started our adventuresome trek in the great state of California, when our wonderful friend Greg took us to LAX at 4:30 in the morning. We now know that we can get to LAX in 40 minutes...during the dead of the night when there is no traffic. We boarded the plane and headed to Wisconsin: The Land of Snow! Snow is a great thing when you never see any. We had no problems on our flight and arrived safely in this great, snowy, state.

In Wisconsin, we saw lots friends and family. I even got to throw a snowball at Jed! The big event was Uncle Jon's wedding to Pam on the 23rd (Congrats to them!) but we also got to see friends David Stevens and Craig and Leah Toerpe (surprising Leah for her birthday!). After a wonderful wedding, we hopped on the plane for another early flight to Kansas.

Kansas was not snowy, but still fun. We spent lots of time playing with Tannim and Jonas, watching movies, and spending time with my family. Special vistors included Granny, Uncle John and Aunt Patty, and Angie, who made a special trip from St. Louis to see us. Jed likes to point out that while he and Aunt Anna brought many special gifts for the boys, Uncle Jed left with the special gifts of a sore throat and a 101 degree fever. He and Anna were very thankful for their other presents too.

Finally, we came home, to the cold, wintry 60 degree California. I know, it's tough. It was a whirlwind trip, but very fun. We are so glad we saw all of our family...and look forward to hosting many when they come to see us. Let us know when the Maschke B and B is needed by you! Jed will even grill for you, on his new Christmas grill (or barbeque, as the native Californians say)!