Wedding cake

I haven't blogged much recently about any of my adventures in cake baking but I have made quite a few cakes lately!  Last weekend I had the pleasure of making Chris' step-sister Macy's wedding cake and grooms cake.  I made Chris' other step-sister Jenna's wedding cake almost 2 years ago (remember this)?  Well, here's the finished product- a 4 tier classic white cake with vanilla buttercream.  She had a winter wonderland theme for her wedding.  Also, she wanted a groom's cake for her husband, Ryan.  She sent me a picture of his favorite Audi engine which she wanted made into a cake.  Can I let you in on a little secret?  I may have baked and iced the grooms cake by Chris actually decorated it!  My husband is pretty handy to have around the kitchen :)  Here's a few pictures!

 

Welcome baby Ella!!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of helping to host (along with Alison, Marie, and Ashley) a baby shower for my dear friend Stephanie who is due with a baby girl, Ella, on March 1st.  It turned out to be quite a success and it's clear that Ella is one loved little girl already!  Here's some pictures from the shower.

I can't take any credit for any of the decorations- that was all the work of my co-hosts!

Adorable center pieces made by Marie

the menu consisted of ice cream sundaes and cupcakes!

Stephanie with all the hostesses

29 weeks

It's hard to believe that in just 11 short weeks (give or take a few) we will meet our precious baby boy!  I still feel really great at 29 weeks.  My only complaint is that I have been having quite a bit of pelvic pain, but I'm told this is completely normal as ligaments are relaxing.  It's made it impossible to run, although Chris and I did attempt a little the other day (it was a big failure!).  I'm mainly just walking and doing the elliptical for cardio and doing as many squats and lunges as I can handle when I'm at the gym.  Overall, I really can't complain!  I am still enjoying pregnancy, especially when I finally get the chance to sit down and feel my baby squirm, roll, and kick.  I'll never get tired of that feeling!

Here's my growing belly at 29 weeks!

A special weekend

I spent last weekend in Massachusetts with my family and it was a really special trip for a lot of reasons.  We were able to celebrate some birthdays, my mom and Emily planned a great baby shower, but most of all, it was my last baby-free trip for a long long time!  On the airplane, I kept thinking how it might be a tad more difficult the next time I flew, with an infant in tow!

I arrived in Boston on Friday afternoon.  That evening we went to Flatbread Pizza (a family favorite) to celebrate my nephew Devon's 15th birthday.  Can somebody tell me how he is so old already?? 

 Was this picture not just taken like...yesterday??

 

Nope, now he won't pose for pictures...because he's 15, and too cool ;)

On Saturday my mom and Emily threw such a special baby shower for me with lots of family and friends.  I was overwhelmed by people's generosity- baby Wrights is so loved and spoiled already!  I really wish I had taken more pictures to capture the day but I guess I was just too busy having fun :)  But, here are a few pictures that I took!

One of the awesome hostesses, my mom!

My precious niece Ava Joy

The other awesome hostess!!

I received so many special gifts and appreciate and cherish every single one of them.  My mom's sister, Janet, is so very talented and crafty and made this incredible quilt to go with our nursery theme.  Chris and I both love it and are so excited for our baby boy to have it for many many years to come!

On Sunday morning we went to church.  My baby boy was especially active while my dad was preaching.  Dad, your grandson already loves you so much!

After church we spent the day relaxing and visiting one of my dear friends, Mallory.  We ended the day watching the Patriots game, which we'd all probably rather forget.  Apparently our littlest cheerleader didn't quite cheer loud enough!  But, she sure looked cute doing it :)

 

On Monday morning (which happened to be my dad's birthday..Happy Birthday Dad!) I said goodbye to my family and headed back to NC.  As always, it was hard to leave after such a wonderful weekend but it's exciting to know that the next time I head north, we'll have a new addition to our family! 

 

 

An unexpected blessing!

Yesterday Chris and I went to the doctor for my 26 week appointment.  We thought we were just going for my glucose tolerance test (which, by the way, is not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be!) and a regular check up.  But, we got a little surprise!  You see, back at our 18 week appointment, when they did baby boy's initial anatomy scan, my placenta was low which can cause problems in delivery if it doesn't correct itself.  So, they told me I would need another ultrasound around 28 weeks to re-check it.  However, because little man was so squirmy during that first anatomy scan, I ended up having another one 2 weeks later (at 20 weeks) and the tech told me that my placenta had already moved and looked fine.  But, much to our surprise yesterday, the physician's assistant that did my appointment decided that we should check it again, just to be sure.  So, we were able to see baby boy again and, my goodness, has he grown!  He is now 1 lb 14 oz which puts him in the 35th percentile.  He's a little peanut for now...I have a feeling he won't always be that way (I have been told a few times recently that the mother's height has a lot to do with the height of her children so we're bound to have tall kids)!

Anyways, everything looked great with baby and placenta, thank goodness.  We were grateful simply for the opportunity to see baby again one last time before he makes his grand entrance into this world.  But, we were even more grateful when the sweet ultrasound tech switched the ultrasound to 4D for just a minute for us to see!  We had decided not to schedule a 4D ultrasound because of the extra cost so this was such a sweet blessing!  Here are a few pictures of our little man.  It's pretty amazing what they can do these days!

Happy 30th Birthday Chris!!

Last Friday Chris turned the big 3-0!  He has been dreading this for a while, but we had a nice few days to celebrate.  The birthday week celebration actually started on Wednesday when I surprised him with tickets to the Duke basketball game that night.  He is a huge Duke fan so, needless to say, he was really excited about this gift.  My parents were still in town at that point so they graciously watched the boys for the evening for us to we could travel to Charlotte to watch Duke beat Davidson.  We had a really great time and hopefully it's a birthday gift that Chris will remember for a long time.

 

On Chris' actual birthday we had a small group of friends over for a game night, one of our favorite things to do.  As usual, Catch Phrase got a bit heated and gave us all some great laughs.

Chris has been telling me for a while that for his birthday he wanted chocolate cake with chocolate icing and Oreos on top.  Well, he got his wish...twice!  I made two cakes, one for Friday night and one for the lovely family dinner we had at Cities on Saturday.  So, if you are craving some chocolate cake, just come over to the Wrights household, we have plenty left!

 

 

 Chris, I am so thankful for you and for the past 5 birthdays that I have had the joy to celebrate with you.  I pray that we have many many more together!  I love you!

26 weeks

My sweet boy is growing and so is my baby bump!  According to my What to Expect App, baby boy is currently approximately 15 inches and 2.2 lbs.  We can't wait to meet him in another 14 or so weeks!