Cake Pops vs my belly popping

When you’re 40 1/2 weeks pregnant and no sign of your baby making an appearance what else should you do besides stand on your feet in the kitchen?  Ok, maybe there are a few other things I should have been doing like relaxing, getting a massage, researching how to make myself go into labor, etc.  But instead I decided to make some Chocolate Cake Pops!  Evan whipped up a nifty little board with holes in it for me to stick the pops in while they hardened which worked great.

Normally this time of year I love to make Hallween sugar cookies but that takes a little more effort than I was willing to exert.  So I sprinkled some of the cake pops with orange and black sugar so we’d at least have a festive treat around the house.  And since I’m in baby mode waiting on little Taryn to arrive I sprinkled the rest with pink and purple sugar.  I should keep count of how many I eat between now and the time she arrives!  Oh and trust me, that apron adds 20lbs!

Baby Countdown

Don’t worry, the enormous belly I’m sporting these days isn’t the result of eating one too many cupcakes!  Baby Taryn Faye Chavez is supposed to arrive on Oct 27th but we’re of course hoping for sooner.  Nonetheless, the countdown is on (and it has been for quite a while).  Only the Big Man upstairs really knows when our little princess will arrive so we’ll try to be patient until then.  Oh the anticipation…:)

Last week my co-workers threw a wonderful shower for Baby Taryn and I and they even threw in a surprise by having my cute hubby show up for the fun.  I’m truly blessed to work with some of the most wonderful, caring and truly genuine people.  Since it will be a while until they get any of my baked goods I thought they’d enjoy something sweet instead of thank you cards.  Keeping with the baby theme I made some homemade sugar cookies and decorated them for all my great collegues to enjoy!

The Weel Wedding

A few weekends ago I not only got the chance attend a great wedding but I also got to make my first wedding cake!  The wedding was held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas and it was quite the party.  I’ve known Lynette since I started working at AA over 5 years ago and she’s become wonderful friend.  Originally it was going to be a small wedding but as the guest list grew so did the size of the cake!  I had a lot of fun planning out the cake which was a white and chocolate layered cake with buttercream icing.  The wedding colors were red and black so I accented the layers with satin ribbon for a hint of color on this classic style wedding cake and topped it off with fresh roses.  Thanks Lynette and Jim for letting me have a part in your special day!  And a little plug for my wonderful husband who did the photography at the wedding…check him out http://www.evanchavez.com

Cupcakes

Here’s a look at the cupcakes I made for the “Cupcakes and Cocktails” 1st birthday party.  I made a combination of Double Chocolate and Fresh Strawberry and followed the hot pink and black theme.  I love cupcakes at any party because you just can’t resist them!

Smash Cake

There’s nothing more exciting than watching a little one tear into a cake on their 1st birthday!  I love how they’re always timid at first but with  a little coercing they slowly realize how fun it is to squish icing between their fingers.  Before you know it they’ve destroyed the cake and covered themselves in all the crumbs.  And usually a little bit makes it into their mouth!  I made this cute little ‘smash cake’ using buttercream icing topped with fondant polka dots and royal icing flowers.  It looked great alongside the matching cupcakes and I hope it was a fabulous 1st birthday for this little princess!