Indoor S'mores - Hold the Fire...

A few weeks ago, while grocery shopping, I totally caved to an impulse buy and bought all the fixin's to make s'mores.  I came out with marshmallows (NOT the jumbo s'more ones since we have found those to be WAY too big), graham crackers, chocolate bars, and even sticks to roast the marshmallows and Reese's Cups to make peanutbutter s'mores. 

I had visions of rockin' the fire pit in the back yard and enjoying a cool summer evening with friends and s'mores.  And the weather that week was PERFECT for a fire!  Each night was in the 60s, but we kept putting off the s'more making thinking the weather would stay about the same...

...BOY WERE WE WRONG!  This week we have been enduring the WORST HEAT WAVE EVER!  I had absolutely know intention of having a bonfire on an 80 degree, muggy, humid night.  But still the desire for s'mores remained in my mind... in fact, since I'm pregnant, we could probably call it a "craving."  We tried doing a microwave s'more, but it just doesn't have the same smokey, roasted flavor. 

And then I happened upon a recipe for indoor s'mores.  Now before I share it, I must give a few disclaimers.  First, the recipe I made is based upon this Food Network recipe.  I simply tweaked it to be more what I wanted.  Second, my version is totally a "semi-homemade" version.  So for any traditional foodies out their, you may not like it... but I find that in the real world, it's significantly easier to use boxed mixes for some things.

So here you go... try it out... and ENJOY!  They are seriously delicious!

Indoor S'more Brownies

Crust:
1 sleeve of graham crackers, very finely crushed
7 TBS salted butter (it was all I had)
2 TBS sugar

Brownie Layer:
1 boxed mix (I used a Betty Crocker Supreme Fudge)

Top Layer:
15 large marshmallows, cut in half long ways

Preheat the oven to 325.  Mix the butter, sugar, and graham crackers.  Press into a greased 9x13 baking pan (I lined mine with tin foil and sprayed with baking spray).  Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven's power.

Mix the brownie mix as directed on the box.  Once crust has baked, pour the prepared mix over it and bake for the time alotted on the box. 

When the brownies are done baking, press the marshmallows into them side by side making 5 rows of 3.  Leave space in between each pair of marshmallows so that you can cut between them. 

Set the oven to broil (I used low broil).  Place the pan back in the oven for approximately 1-2 minutes.  The marshmallows will start to puff and brown.  WATCH THEM CAREFULLY so they don't burn (mine only took a little over a minute to brown). 

Allow the brownies to cool IN THE PAN because I found the crust to be too crumbly when they were hot.  They fell apart on me!  I cut them before they were fully cooled, but if you're marhsmallows don't run into each other, you should have no problem cutting them. 

...Now, in the future I may not cut my marshmallows, and just place one uncut marshmallow in for each square, but I thought they might puff too much so that is why I cut them in half.  What I loved about these was that you really got a true s'more taste, and the crust had a really good salty/sweet thing going on.  Todd absolutely LOVED THEM.  I ended up giving some to our neighbors, so I had to promise to make him another batch.  His words were, "Mmmm...these are good.  I mean, really good."  And I couldn't agree more...

Have a SUPER SWEET SUNDAY and stay cool! :)

Fitness During Pregnancy

I have always been a mildly active person.  During my adult years, I have gone through many spurts where I have really pushed myself and exercised regularly.  But even when I haven't been working out regularly, I've still considered myself a fairly "in shape" person. 

In fact, the best shape I have ever been in was (like many women) right before I got married and then also right before I got pregnant.  Before pregnancy, I was "shredding" with Jillian, and while she was regularly kicking my butt, I could tell I was getting better and better everyday...

...and then I got pregnant!  Which was amazing and wonderful and I couldn't be more excited!  BUT, for my first trimester I had about zero energy and walking the dog a couple days a week was the extent of my exercise routine. 

Once Todd finished baseball season (in late May) and I stopped feeling completely exhausted ALL THE TIME, we started walking the dog two times a day at least 5 days/week.  And I'm not going to lie, it was hard for me at first.  I had been away from exercise for almost 3 months, and was carrying around more weight than ever!  I had days when just walking about a quarter mile could get me breathing heavier than I care to admit. 

But after about 2 months of this, I was getting pretty used to walking and am now at a much faster pace (on most days, not all).  So this week I decided to start incorporating some more working out into my routine.  Because of my severe back pain, I thought yoga would be a good idea.  So I found a Yoga Mama DVD on netflix and tried it out.  It was nice and did help with stretching and eleviating pain.  Then, on Thursday, I found a pregnancy fitness DVD.  It has a workout for each trimester and then a postnatal boot camp.  As I huffed and puffed my way through it for the first time I felt very frustrated.  Something that I SO EASILY could have done before pregnancy now has me huffing, puffing, and needing water breaks quite regularly! 

I am trying to not get annoyed because I know that this is normal.  I am carrying around extra weight (as the instructor likes to remind me REGULARLY) and so exercise should be a little more complicated.  Yet, it's hard  not to get down on myself.  Only a few short months ago I was working out with Jillian...

...and don't even get me started on what it will be like to try to get this weight off after Baby Boy Narcross arrives...

... so that's my rant for the day.   On a much sweeter and funnier note, while doing yoga I was in a stretch laying in on my side and then bending and stretching my arm in the opposite direction I was facing.  Frosty was laying under a table right where my hand was resting, and she kept putting her paw into my open hand.  It was as if she was giving me "high fives" to keep me going! :)

So in honor of her motivational spirit, here's a cute Frosty picture!  Happy Weekend!

I personally like this one because it looks like she's smoking a cigar!  And with her ears pinned back, she just looks kinda funny!

Sweet Sunday Recipe

A few weeks ago, I went into a very major baking frenzy.  I was in the middle of reading a Hannah Swensen novel by Joanna Fluke.  This is a series of novels about a baker who also solves crimes.  Totally cheesy, but fun!  One of the best parts of the books, though, is that they contain delicious recipes. 

So on this particular day, I decided to try out a few before I had to return the book to the library (yes, I am totally a library geek).  I made chocolate chip shortbread cookies, molasses raisin cookies, and butterscotch bars.  But it was actually a recipe that I pulled off the back of the sugar bag that I am going to share today, because they ended up being my favorite!  So here it is, a sweet Sunday treat recipe...

Peanut Butter Swirl Bars

1/2 c. peanut butter

1/3 c. light brown sugar

3/4 c. white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 pkg chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) and spread into a greased 9x13 pan.  Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and use a knife to "marbleize" the melted chocolate chips.  Return to the oven and bake another 25 minutes.

Now, my only suggestion would be to use a bit more peanut butter, because I didn't find that these were super peanut buttery... but they were still delicious.  And with the marbleized chocolate chips on top, they really are attractive!  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture, so I can't share that with you!

Todd and I really enjoyed these, and they went faster than most of my other treats from that day.  Hope you enjoy and have a sweet Sunday!

23 Week Update

As of yesterday, I am officially 23 weeks pregnant.  While I feel like my belly is still big, it doesn't seem to be getting much bigger.  It seems it really "popped" quickly, and is slowing down a bit now.



Basically I wear the same yoga pants EVERYDAY!



I am now feeling TONS of baby movement!  It's so fun!  Almost two weeks ago we felt the first movement that was noticable from the outside.  Todd was right there, so I was able to pull his hand over so he could feel it!  So cute.  Now, Baby Boy Narcross seems to move a lot!  I was wondering why he was kicking so much, but when I googled it, I learned that at this point it could be just him moving around or that he has hiccups!  How cute is that?  Today he may have had hiccups because the tv remote was laying on my belly, and I could actually see it shake every once in a while when I felt a thump!  I told Todd it's kinda feels like I am popping popcorn in my belly!  HAHA!

As for the belly, I have noticed it seems to get in the way more.  Yesterday I was making cookies and managed to have cookie mix (dry) all over my belly when I was done!  I mean, I sometimes get flour on me when I am baking... but not this much!  Also yesterday I realized how hard it is for me to pull up to the table to eat... I have to sit back pretty far (granted, I also sit with a pillow in my table chair, so that makes me come forward more than normal)...  Which brings me to...

Back pain!  Ugh... that is my most prominent symptom at this point.  I have to sit with a pillow behind my back most of the time.  Luckily, I found a pretty good sized pillow at Pier One which is comfortable, though SERIOUSLY UGLY.  I mean really, world's ugliest pillow...

Is anyone really surprised that this pillow was on super clearance??

...but Frosty LOVES it.  She keeps looking at it longingly.  I think she loves the little nubs on it... she probably thinks they would be SUPER fun to chew on!  But she's not going to have a chance... hopefully.  I keep it covered with a pillow case most of the time so that she doesn't have to be tempted by it! :)

Other than the back pain my only other complaint is the heat.  Despite other people thinking it's not too hot this summer, I seem to be REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hot ALL THE TIME!  But Todd and I have been keeping up with our morning and evening walks (sometimes NIGHT, not evening to avoid any remaining heat) so that has been wonderful. 

And just for kicks and giggles, here is a Funny Frosty Photo (or Foto, if you prefer)... When I came down from bed yesterday morning this was how she was laying in her crate.

I mean really, can that possibly be comfrotable??

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE!

Frosty's New Nemesis

This evening, Todd and I were cleaning out some things in the basement, and he came up with a box that contained the bank I had as a child, ready to take it out to the trash.  He had no idea the bank was special to me, so he nonchalantly asked if I needed to keep it.  I of course replied with shock that YES I NEEDED TO KEEP IT.  I then explained that it was my childhood bank.  So he put it on the kitchen table and we went along with our evening.

A while later, we were sitting in the family room and Frosty was in the kitchen just yapping her head of and growling.  After trying to ignore her, Todd went to see what was causing all the ruckus.  Well, she was sitting their growling and barking at the bear bank.  So Todd brought it in and laid it on the floor. 

To say that Frosty is skiddish is a total understatement.  She is scared of EVERYTHING.  Usually things that move, but tonight proved that even completely still items can cause her to FREAK OUT.

So enjoy this video of Frosty's protest agains a plastic bear bank entering our home.

Finally, after many minutes of trying to ignore it, freaking out about it, and circling it in fear, Frosty FINALLY had to courage to approach it, knock it down with her paw and then proceed to drag it around by its ear.  At which point, we had to take it away from her.

And yes... i will admit I get a lot of enjoyment from watching my crazy dog freak out ever so slightly (or not so slightly in this case). :)



Baby Furniture

Todd and I ordered nursery furniture from JCPenny.  We ordered a standard crib, changing table/cubby, and bookshelf.  The changing table and bookshelf were shipped right to our home, but the crib had to be shipped to a store for pick up.  Yesterday, the changing table and bookshelf arrived; however, the crib has yet to arrive. :(

The two pieces that came to our house arrived early in the morning.  In fact, we were out walking and saw the UPS man and so I got giddy hoping he'd be stopping at our house.  And he did!  So after breakfast, we started to put together the changing table.  It was a little more complicated that I expected and took a little more time than either of us expected, but in the end it looks beautiful... although, I must say, it's a little tall.  I might have to stand on my tippy toes in order to change diapers... or, of course, I could just have Todd do it since he is much taller! :)

The walls are "cabbage green" and the elephant cube, hamper, and bag are from 31.

After completing the changing table, we decided we needed a break.  So we had a nice lunch out at Friday's and ran some errands.  We picked up a changing table pad as well as a crib mattress and sheet. 

Once we returned home, we got back to work on the bookshelf.  It proved to be much easier to assemble (thank goodness) and we had it together in no time. 

Just some things I've picked up here and there.  And the Bumbo seat thanks to Elizabeth.

A SUPER CUTE frame I found at Goodwill with our latest ultrasound pictures!

Now we just have to wait for the crib... and of course buy other accessories to make the room all come together. 

... oh, and hopefully find a dresser and glider to complete the furniture ensemble.


And just because I can't forget about our other baby, Frosty... here is a hilarious picture of her licking out a yogurt container (one of her favorite breakfast treats) with her ENTIRE snout in the cup!

Isn't she precious??

Happy Fourth of July weekend everyone!

So They Say Black is Slimming...

How's it workin' for me?  :) 

Looking "slim," huh? 

Really love this skirt... very summery!

Here are some week 21 photos.  Not too much different from last week.  This week I have been sleeping a little later... it's nice to not be getting up between 7-7:30 everyday.  I'm usually averaging 8:15 which allows Todd and me to take Frosty for a walk before it gets too hot, which we have all been loving!

I'm starting to feel what I think might be baby movement.  They say it's a "fluttering" feeling... but sometimes I'm not sure if I am feeling baby movement or just normal belly feelings that I had before I was pregnant but now just seem more noticeable.  Last Saturday I was convinced I felt a slight kick, but since I haven't really felt any more, I'm not as convinced.

I'm still wearing a combo of maternity clothes and some non-maternity tops/dresses.  I only wear elastic waistbands now... which I must say, are SUPER comfortable! :)  I can still squeeze my belly into some "baby doll" type non-maternity shirts, but mostly I'm in maternity.

I have not experienced many cravings this week.  However, unfortunately, I have been experiencing some acid reflux/heartburn.  Mine is mostly just a burning in the back of my throat which water doesn't really alleviate.  But it's been minor... so I'm not complaining too much.

Today Baby Boy Narcross' changing table and bookshelf came in.  Todd and I spent most of the day putting the furniture together and running some baby related (and not baby related) errands. 

Photos of what is becoming to nursery to come soon!