Now this is an Easter recipe and I fully intended to share it before Easter but the small matter of a little man being born scuppered those plans. I actually photographed the fudge the morning I went into labour but at the time I thought I was just having Braxton Hicks. I even baked an Easter Marble Cake but I only got as far as baking it, not decorating it so I can't share that one on here unfortunately as I never got to finish it.

What's great about this recipe is you can use up your leftover eggs or you can get creative with all those reduced Mini Eggs that the supermarkets are full of this week. I don't know about you but I can't resist them and it's really not helping with my need to shift this baby weight.

The original recipe is from the Carnation website but I decided to "Easter-ise" it (is that even a word?) with an abundance of mini eggs and creme eggs yum yum! The fudge came in very useful after we were discharged from hospital and needed endless sugar to get us through the first few days. 

If you want you can adapt this recipe to have nuts or other chocolate or sweets, it's very flexible.

Easter Fudge

400g milk chocolate (or use leftover Easter eggs)

1 x can condensed milk

25g butter

100g icing sugar sifted

Easter chocolates of your choice - mini eggs/creme eggs etc

• Line a 20cm square cake tin with cling film
• Melt the chocolate, milk and butter in a pan over a low heat
• Once melted whisk in the icing sugar
• Fold in half of the Easter chocolates
• Pour into the prepared tin
• Scatter the remaining chocolates over the top
• Place in the fridge for a few hours to firm up (preferably overnight) 
• Once firm cut into small pieces and enjoy!

Be warned... it is very very easy to eat far too much of this fudge!

After being in labour for almost 2 days Ethan Thomas Longley was born on Monday 7th March, 2:51am weighing 8lb 14oz.

We are completely and utterly besotted with our little man hence the blog absence these past 2 weeks.

I'm hoping to get back on the blogging bandwagon soon but for now I'm going to embrace these newborn cuddles (and get some sleep!)

People are right when they say the last bit of pregnancy is the worst. I'm fed up of feeling fat, seeing more stretch marks every day, not sleeping, struggling to get comfortable, having a limited wardrobe and constantly worrying every day if I have felt the baby move or not. We actually ended up at the hospital for monitoring last Sunday as baby's movements seemed to have slowed down but thankfully he was just having a lazy day and all was fine - phew!

It's been a long 9 months and I'm so grateful that my body has grown and kept our little man safe when so many babies are born premature but emotionally I feel like I've reached that point where I just want him to be born and begin our life as a family of 3. 

Last week we were convinced something was happening as I was getting lots of Braxton Hicks and back ache but as I'm still pregnant you can see they turned out to be nothing. It really is so unfair - people like to tell you "oh it's a good sign, it means your body is getting ready" but in reality it's just your body being a big tease. You think baby is coming within the next few days but then one week later and you're still pregnant.

And speaking of other people - what is the deal with the endless text messages asking if you have had any contractions yet, are you in labour or has the baby been born? Honestly it's like tact goes out the window and they just don't think before they speak! It's hardly like we would have a baby and not tell anyone. Gosh, reading back over that I sound like a right moaner! I should be grateful that I have people asking after me and care about me but I'm just at that point now where I'm tired, fed up and feeling like a broken record.

I've moped about far too much this week when I should have been more productive with my time. I could have been baking and scheduling blog posts for after the birth but apart from a cake date with the NCT girls on Wednesday and a Midwife appointment today I've barely left the house.

At the Midwife appointment today she tried to do a stretch and sweep but my cervix was posterior and too far back so she couldn't do it. All the pain and no gain haha! She did tell me though that a "night of passion" (her words!) might get things moving. I didn't know what to say when she told me that, talk about an awkward silence! One plus that did come out of the appointment though was that I've been booked in for an induction for next week. I don't want to reveal the date as these things can take a while and there is no guarantee they will take me in on that day, it may get pushed back a bit. I really hope baby comes before then but at least I know whatever happens he will be here by the end of next week.

Rant over, time to give myself a good shake and embrace this next week as a couple as whatever happens, next weekend we will no longer be a 2 but a 3!

If you stayed with me to the end of this post and put up with my ranting, thank-you!

Time to get back in the kitchen and do something fun, maybe a spot of Easter baking...