Several years ago, I was sorting through my coupons from the newspaper when I ran across a recipe for a peanut butter fudge pie.  The recipe was on a random coupon page advertising hot fudge and peanut butter.  I saved the recipe and eventually tried it out.  It is now a staple at family holiday meals; both Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I decided to share the recipe for other peanut butter pie lovers to enjoy.  For this pie you will need:

1 prepared chocolate cookie pie crust
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
8 oz. cream cheese (at room temperature)
4 1/2 cups (or 12 oz. container) of non-dairy whipped topping
1 jar (11.75 oz.) hot fudge topping

For Drizzle Topping:
2 tbs. of the hot fudge
2 tbs. of peanut butter

Combine in a medium bowl, the peanut butter, cream cheese, and sugar.  Gently fold in 3 cups of the whipped topping.

{Mixing the ingredients.  I used a mixer, but you can also mix these items by hand.}

Spoon mixture into the pie shell.  Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.  Reserve 2 tablespoons of hot fudge topping and peanut butter for drizzle topping.  Microwave the remaining hot fudge for 1 minute.  Stir.  Spread the hot fudge topping over pie to cover the peanut butter layer.  Refrigerate until serving time. 

{Filling pie crust and topping with hot fudge.}

Just before serving, spread the remaining whipped topping over the hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.  Place the 2 tbs. of hot fudge and peanut butter in separate plastic bags.  Cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bags and drizzle each over pie. 

{Finished pie.  Please excuse the uneven decorative lines.}

I'm 24 weeks this week.  Definitely starting to feel uncomfortable. 

{24 Weeks}

My parents (mainly my dad) asked me to recover their dining room chairs recently.  He actually asked me to do these back in the spring, but by the time I had one of the chairs to start on I found out I was pregnant.  Four months later, I finally started working on the first chair.  I'm now on the second chair.

I first had to take the old cover off and take out all of the ancient "padding" that had probably been there for decades.  After cleaning the chair extensively, I added new chair padding and new fabric.

{Chair before.} {Removing the old chair cover and padding.} {Stripped down chair.} {Adding new padding.} {Almost done.} {Recovering.} {Finished.}

Only four more chairs to go.....

Starting the boards up again this week.  This time with more accuracy.  I'm 23 weeks (again) this week and I feel like a "stuffed turkey."  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

{23 Weeks #2}

I've been spending a lot of time shopping for Baby D these days.  With the nursery cleaned out and ready to be painted, I'm currently looking for the perfect accessories for the room.  I did a little shopping this weekend at a few local shops.   Here are a few items I'm considering for the nursery:

{Owl hook for the wall.} {Dresser for baby clothes.} {Wall decor.} {Handmade pillows from The Foundrie.} {"Baby" hooks for the wall.} {Sign outside resale store Get The Word Out.}

We went to the doctor today to check on Baby D.  Last month, Baby D was measuring small based on her measurements at our ultrasound.  Today, we had another ultrasound and.....my doctor offically pushed my due date back to March 15.  Good news:  Baby D is right on track and healthy.  Bad news:  my chalkboards are 2 weeks off.  Bummer.  But as anyone who has ever had a baby knows, it never goes the way you think it's going to go.  I'll be caught back up with the boards in a couple of weeks so I'm not worried about it. 

Here is Baby D's first portrait:

{Baby D at 22 weeks.}

I hope everyone had a great Halloween.  Mine is always extra special because it's also my birthday.  This year Jason and I both took the day off from work and spent most of the day just being lazy.  We went out for lunch and did a little shopping before coming back home in time to have our usual Halloween chili dinner and Halloween movie watch "party," all while also handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. 

Jason must have been listening to my constant complaining over the past couple of weeks of being uncomfortable and having back pains, because he got me a prenatal massage for my birthday.  I'm so excited to have a massage.  I also got a massage certificate from my brother's girlfriend, Mandy.  I'll have a massage now and another  after the baby is born! 

{My "Juno" costume.} {Singing skeleton and Halloween candy.} {Front porch for Halloween.} {More of the front porch.}

With Halloween now over, I'm now in crazy holiday mode.  Along with preparing for the holidays, I'm also preparing for Baby Girl D's arrival (we still haven't decided on a name).  The nursery is completely cleaned out and waiting to be painted.  Our baby registry is almost complete.  I'm just ready for the actual baby!

{23 Weeks}