Chocolate-Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies

I made these cookies last night and they are QUITE delightful so I thought that I had better share the love with all of you. Give them a try they are DEFINITELY worth the time they take to make!

Ingredients:
1 12-oz. pkg. miniature semisweet chocolate pieces
2 Tbsp. milk
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Filling recipie (step 3 below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Set aside 1/4 cup chocolate pieces to sprinkle on cookies. In microwave-safe bowl combine 1 cup of the chocolate pieces and 2 tablespoons milk. Microwave on 50 percent power (medium) 1 minute or until melted; stir once. Set aside.

2. In bowl beat butter and peanut butter with electric mixer until combine. Add sugar, soda, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; beat to combine. Add eggs, 1/2 cup milk, vanilla, and melted chocolate; beat until combined. Beat in cocoa powder and flour until combined. Stir in remaining chocolate pieces. Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Sprinkle with reserved chocolate. Bake 9 minutes or until tops are set. Cool on sheets 1 minute. Transfer to wire racks; cool completely. To assemble, spread flat sides of half the cookies with Filling; top with remaining cookies.

3. Filling: In bowl beat 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup creamy peanut butter, 1 cup marshmallow creme, and 2 cups powdered sugar with electric mixer until combined. If needed, beat in 2 tablespoons milk until spreading consistency. Makes 30 servings.

35 weeks

Really?! This belly keeps growing and growing and despite my expanding circumference I am afraid our little guy is running out of room in there. The last couple of weeks he has taken quite a liking to jabbing me in the ribs whenever I sit for too long and it seems like I can feel every single wiggle (no matter how big or small) throughout the day...but I am still not complaining :)


In the last couple of weeks, I am being asked more and more if I am tired of being pregnant yet...and I can honestly say that although I am SO ecstatic to meet our son and to have my thinner figure back and to be able to go for runs in this beautiful spring weather...I can't honestly say that I am not completely tired of being pregnant yet. I love that I am so close to our baby all of the time. I love that I can feel his movement and that I get to hear his heartbeat at the doctor every couple of weeks.

Last week at our doctor's appointment everything was still right on track...my BP was good, baby's HR was in the normal range , and he was measuring right at 34 weeks. Next week we start the "fun" appointments of checking to see if I am progressing towards labor at all...I guess this really is going to happen!

Atwood Baby Shower

Last weekend my mother in law and sisters in law threw me a baby shower with Travis' side of the family. They truly went all out to make it a special event just for me! We had a....

...custom made diaper cake complete with teddy bear topper...

...a drink fountain with floating rubber duckies...

...a spread of delicious food...

...and a DARLING way of displaying some of my gifts!

Heidi A (brother in law's wife) , little Kyla, Me, Heidi L (Travis' sister), little Derek, Shallon (mother in law)

I was showered with LOTS of fun things to get me ready for our little man's arrival including baby outfits, diapers and wipes, homemade burp clothes, receiving blankets, and hooded towels, and a beautiful homemade quilt from Grandma Atwood (my mother in law). Thank you to all of Travis' aunts and cousins who traveled to Heber for the party and thank you to my two favorite Heidi's and Shallon for a GREAT shower...you ladies are fabulous! :)

A little taste...

Many of our family and friends have been anxiously awaiting pictures of our nursery/guest bedroom progress. Although I am not ready for the FINAL reveal just yet, I thought that I might let everyone in on a piece of the bedroom...the wall decor! I finished ordering everything over the weekend. Originally I didn't want to do anything to "matchy" but I fell in love with and ordered the prints off of my new favorite website, ETSY.COM. I love this artist's style and the colors will go great with what we have going in our room. The frames for all those prints are on the way from kohls.com (7 frames (all 8x10 or 11x14 size) for $80 bucks!) Lastly, the vinyl tree is a custom ordered piece also from etsy.com. We will be hanging that on our dark brown wall behind the baby's crib. I can't wait to get all my pieces so I can continue putting the puzzle together! :)

(you should be able to click on each picture to see it larger)