sweet pregnancy

Obviously, I haven't been very good about keeping my blog updated with tales of baking and pictures of delicious treats. Since July I've been occupied with other things, primarily with being pregnant! That's right, I'm expecting my first child... due March 20, 2012! Brett and I are incredibly excited, and can't wait until the arrival of our sweet baby girl! It's hard to believe that I'm already 27 weeks pregnant, almost 7 months! It's just nuts, the past few months have flown by. When we first found out back on July 6th, it felt like March was a million months away - now it's just three short months away! I keep thinking about how this will be our last Christmas as a family of two. Next year will be incredibly different!

I feel incredibly blessed to have had an easy pregnancy thus far. No morning sickness, nausea or food aversions. My sense of smell is definitely heightened, and I have cravings for all things sweet (especially Sour Patch Kids). I had an onslaught of headaches in the first 4 months, which were a pain considering the only medicine I can take is Tylenol. Other that that, no complaints! Now that my belly is getting bigger, my back hurts a lot, most often during the day while I'm sitting at my desk. No matter what I do, I just can't get comfortable. Luckily my sleep hasn't suffered (yet). I'm still the same old Erin with narcoleptic tendencies.

I think being incredibly busy with Holiday Mart helped the first five months fly by. The height of Holiday Mart planning and work was August-October, so I stayed super busy! The Mart was a huge success, and I feel so proud to have been a part of it.

So, with my work, Holiday Mart responsibilities and pregnancy, I haven't done much baking in the last few months.

I did manage to make some yummy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars for a work event...

They were amazing! I got the recipe from Bake at 350 - I highly recommend them!

Now that we're in the midst of the Christmas season, I've made a few holiday treats... red velvet cake balls, chocolate chip cookies and reindeer crunch. This weekend I plan on making French Toast Casserole for Christmas Eve breakfast, and Hot Beef Dip for the Lambert family Christmas Eve dinner.

I LOVE the holiday's - the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I love being with family and friends, the traditions, memories of year's past, the sounds, smells, nonstop Christmas music... everything! Being pregnant during the holiday's has been fun (except for not being able to wear the cute holiday dresses). I've been trying to savor every moment and not rush things. While I can't wait for baby girl L. to arrive, I'm trying to enjoy the moments that Brett and I have together now... being able to have our Christmas date night, going to see the Nutcracker together, Christmas shopping without a little one in tow, etc. We're both ready for the next phase of our lives, but it's nice to enjoy our last Christmas as a family of two.

Here are a few pictures to get you up to speed on my pregnancy...

My first "bump" picture - 5 weeks pregnant!

How we told my Mom and Dad

How we told Brett's parents

Week 8

Week 9

Week 11

Week 19

Week 20 - halfway there!

Week 21 - Photo Shoot for our Christmas Card

Week 23 - Thanksgiving day!

Week 25 - Brett's Work Christmas Party

Week 27 - December 21

On October 20 (week 18), we had our first sonogram and found out Baby L.'s gender! To announce the gender to our families, we had a "Gender Reveal Party." I made a sweet treat to help with the announcement - more on that and pictures in my next post!

Merry Christmas!

christmas treats

As usual I spent part of my Christmas break baking delicious Christmas goodies. I love turning up the Christmas music while baking away -- it reminds me of when I was little and would decorate sugar cookies with my mom while listening to Randy Travis sing "Old Time Christmas."

As gifts to my co-workers, as well as Brett's, I made Christmas tree sugar cookies. I used my favorite lemon cut-out cookie recipe with royal icing. They were delicious!





I recently discovered Cake Balls, so I made a couple of batches over the holiday season. Both batches were red velvet dipped in milk chocolate. YUM! I took a batch to work one day and put them out in the breakroom when I arrived in the morning. About an hour later they were all gone! Since they were popular, I made a batch for Christmas Eve dinner at my in-laws. They weren't quite as popular that night considering the ridiculous amounts of sweets and appetizers that were available for munching...





Brett noticed that I was becoming a big fan of Cake Balls, so he got me a Cake Pop cookbook for Christmas (Cake Pops - same as Cake Balls, only on a stick!* He also got me a lovely watch, and a cheese grater (practical, right?).



I haven't tried any of the Cake Pop recipes yet, but they look delicious! I'll be sure to post when I try out the cookbook.

By the way, Happy New Year to all of my readers! I'm looking forward to making many more delicious treats in 2011! Check back for pictures of Giant Cupcakes and Cookie Monster Cupcakes... I'm making lots of delicious Cookie Monster inspired treats for my friend's son who just turned one!

*Don't let your mind wander, I'm only referring to baking!