Hello there! Yes, I know...I've been gone for a while. However, dealing with a rough pregnancy, complications, and ultimately having the baby - I've been REALLY preoccupied lately. In case you misseed it, we welcomed our new baby girl on December 21st, right before Christmas. Cayla Renee was born at 38 weeks weighting 7lbs 4oz, and was 19 1/2 inches long.

My water broke at home and after getting to the hospital my labor went really fast and was relatively easy. Easy compared to the 13 hour long pushfest with my first! I only pushed 4 times and out she came! She was ready to meet her family. :)

For those of you who have followed my pregnancy journey, you will remember we had a second trimester miscarriage last fall which you can read about in this post for Chicken Jalapeno Rice Soup: A Letter To Our Baby. After much soul searching, and given the nature of how hard pregnancy is for me (we're talking home health care, 24 hour IV's, and bed rest), we decided that our family was complete with just our son, and we wouldn't try anymore.

Well, never say NEVER...right? I had an EXTREMELY surprise positive pregnancy test 6 months after our pregnancy loss, and after getting over the shock - we were happy to tell Cade he was finally going to be a big brother. I was scared that my Hyperemesis would be so severe again, and I began to prepare for the inevitable. I have to say - we were giving a blessing and it was not as hard this time around. Don't get me wrong, it was still miserable - but I avoided having a nurse come to my house every other day to redo my IV because my veins were shot. I avoided vomiting over 20 times a day (No, I'm not exaggerating). Most of all, I avoided having to inject a catheter into my abdomen every day for the Zofram pump.

This pregnancy had it's share of worries - but we made it to the end and the result was SO worth it.

Luscious lemon sugar cookies with a creamy lemon buttercream frosting.

I don't know about you, but when it's summertime I have to have a few staples on hand. Homemade lemonade, ice cold sweet tea, and the fixings for some ooey, gooey s'mores of course. These Peanut Butter S'more Cookie Bars are a great variation to your typical gooey graham cracker sandwich.

We had a pretty eventful weekend after finding out that the alien baby taking my body hostage is going to be...drumroll...

A girl!

It looks like our playroom will have to make way for tea sets and babydolls; a weird idea to get used to for me. I'm used to army men with missing limbs and wiping the toilet seat every time I go to the bathroom. I get boys.

Girls are a species completely foreign to me, and I'm pretty sure my husband feels the same, judging by his dazed look and mumblings of, "what am I going to do with a girl?"

But we're all excited for the new change, especially Cade. He can't wait for his baby sister to arrive. So to celebrate I whipped up these Peanut Butter S'more Cookie Bars. Peanut butter, chocolate and marshmallows trapped between a graham cracker base and crumbly topping make these puppies really addicting. Enjoy!


Peanut Butter S'mores Cookie Bars
Yield: 16 bars      Printable Recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup peanut butter
3 cups miniature marshmallows

Heat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until well blended. Add egg and vanilla, beat well. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing until well combined. Press half of the dough in the prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes.

3. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked layer, drop peanut butter by spoonfulls over the chocolate chips, using a toothpick to swirl everything around so the bottom cookie layer is evenly covered.  Sprinkle with marshmallows and scatter the remaining dough over the marshmallows, forming the top layer. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or just until lightly browned. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

It's time for my next post over at Culinary Covers, and today I'm bringing you a delicious drink straight from the cover of one of my favorite magazines - Real Simple.

I love this magazine. That about says it all.

I went with the Strawberry Thyme Lemonade and sure was glad I did!

It's sweet, tart, and has just a touch of something extra that'll get your lips smacking. Want the recipe? Head on over to Culinary Covers to see my full post and grab the printable recipe while you're at it

                                                           

I know my posts have been lacking lately, but I've had a good reason - promise. A few months ago we had a very unexpected surprise and found out that I'm pregnant again, and should have a new arrival at the end of the year! Some of you may remember that we lost a pregnancy last winter after a very complicated pregnancy.

I suffer with Hyperemesis Gravidarum when pregnant, which last time required me to be put on home health care. You can read more about my HG story here, and our second trimester miscarriage here.

Well, after a lot of deliberating we had decided that we weren't going to try again, but you know how you're never supposed to say NEVER - right?

Yeah.

I'm not gonna lie. I was scared. Anyone who has experience with HG can probably understand the thoughts going through my head. Being hooked up to daily IV's until my veins were completely shot, stabbing myself in the stomach every day with a medication pump that lets me at least keep water down, and being confined to bed 24/7 is not something to enter lightly.

I had a lot of people praying for me this time around, hoping that maybe, just maybe I might not get the short end of the stick. My doctor had my protocol already set up and I started on it from day 1. Early intervention has the best success of keeping it at bay. I'm SOOO relieved to be able to say that this time around is much better. I've avoided the IV's and medication pump so far. Yay!

I've actually been able to be in the kitchen a little bit when I feel well enough, and whipped up these tasty Banana Bread Muffins the other day. I threw some white chocolate chips on top to change it up a bit. These were really good.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with HG, please read my post on it. HG is NOT morning sickness and does not respond to any traditional remedies. It is dangerous for both the mother and baby.

Banana Bread Muffins

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended.

Divide the batter among your muffin tin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. about 25 minutes. Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

Notes: I added some white chocolate chips to the tops of half of my muffins to switch it up a bit. You could milk chocolate chips too, or even add some crunchy pecans. I didn't have enough muffin pans for the batter, so I used 4 mini tartlet pans for the remaining batter, which turned into little muffin tops that were so good!

Source: Recipe loosely adapted from Food Network

I've got another contributing post for the new site Culinary Covers. What's on the menu today? How about Cherries Jubilee Ice Cream Pie!

A delicious brandy infused cherry topping on top of a creamy, swirly, frozen pie. Don't forget the graham cracker crust. Yum!

For the recipe head on over to Culinary Covers and grab it. Stop and say hi while you're at it too!