In early June of 2010 I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I was only 28 years old. Two weeks later I learned that I was pregnant with our first child.

The arthritis began years earlier, when I noticed tenderness and swelling in the lowest joint of my right index finger. At 22 I thought the swelling was a result of holding my cell phone too tightly while spending hours talking to Mr. B (a long distance relationship meant lots of phone time.) I taped the finger to the next one and bought a hands-free ear piece. After several weeks the swelling went away and in my mind the problem was solved. Over the next six years the swelling would recur several times. However with new cell phones every two years I always thought the pain was simply a result of overuse. I would buy an ear piece that worked with my current phone and try to use my finger less. By 2010 the swelling refused to go away. After months of religiously using an ear piece every time I was on the phone, I began to think that something else might be wrong.

It is that time of year- Spring flowers, fuzzy bunnies, and that plastic neon green grass that multiplies into every corner of the house. Our Easter is going to be decidedly low key this year, likely one of our last without Easter hoopla for a long while. As I write this the Easter Bunny would have to borrow Santa’s sleigh to make his rounds. That’s right it is snowing in the middle of April! I can’t believe it either.

To put myself in the spirit of Spring I thought I would dig through the archives and pull out my favorite special occasion Spring recipes. Beginning with the naturally dyed Easter eggs with botanical designs pictured above, here is a round up of ideas and inspiration that will bring daffodils to mind even if your grass is still white.

I used to be a morning person. Frequently bouncing out of bed before the alarm went off, I dove into my day with vigor. Sometimes when Mr. B was out of town I completely forgot to make coffee, only realizing my error when a wicked headache kicked in around 10:30am. Breakfast was most often hot- eggs on toast, oatmeal, and banana pancakes on the weekends. A box of cereal could languish in our pantry for months and a half gallon of milk spoiled in the fridge more times than I care to admit. I’m sure you can all guess what happened next.

This asparagus and Meyer lemon risotto is the last thing I cooked before Anna was born. I had been craving a taste of Spring along with a creamy risotto for several weeks and I thought it might be kind of hard to make risotto once the baby arrived. Hoo boy was that ever correct!

One month. It is hard to believe that four weeks have passed since Anna joined our family and my life changed completely. The month of March 2011 will forever be remembered as a blur of sleepless nights and constant feedings. I felt like a mommy zombie for many days- leaving the house only a handful of times during the month and counting myself lucky to grab something to eat between feedings.