Hi there blog. I have been thinking about you. Thinking about a post. An update. You know, to let people out there know that I am still alive. That Gabbie is blooming. That we're busy - you know, the typical ordinary stuff.

It's late at night, everyone's snoring (including the dogs) and I'm waiting on the oven. Story of my life these days, but I am not complaining by any means!
This time, however I'm waiting for muffins that I'm making for my mom to mom Bible study in the morning (have I mentioned enough how much I love my Tuesday morning Bible study?!).
But for the past few weeks, I've been up late waiting on the oven for cake. Two years ago when I started taking cake classes at Michael's, little did I know that my life would have changed as much as it has now. 1. I'm a stay at home mom. 2. Doing cakes for work has turned into doing cakes for money. crazy. Really.
Two weeks ago I was invited to participate in a Women's Wellness Conference, the week leading up to it was exhausting to say the least.
These pictures are from the actual conference - above is my table, complete with me wearing my new chef's jacket that Brent bought me for Valentine's Day. (COMPLETELY his idea - sweet wasn't it? I got SOOO many compliments on it.) But more importantly, check out all of our hard work! My sister did MORE than her fair share of decorating - I am so fortunate! Below are just some random pics I took of the other tables and people walking around during their breaks (when they weren't visiting with us, they were in sessions on women's wellness)

One of my "fellow" vendors: Moncrief Photography. So sheik, isn't she? She was invited to take pictures for the event and as always won everyone over with her charming personality. So fortunate to have her as my friend, especially during crazy memory-making times like this one...
I was so very fortunate that my sister was able to come up for the entire week and help me - I honestly just kept saying, "I have no idea how I would have done this without you." She would laugh, but I know inside she was thinking the same thing.
We tackled decorating four different cakes on top of making cake for 300 people. It was insane to say the least. We stayed up until 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday and Thursday - by the time the conference rolled around on Friday, we were. well. over it. Sad huh?
Jen - above working hard on one of her many creations. Below, she's eating up every minute with Gabbie.

We quickly got over those feelings once we started meeting some of the other vendors. Lisa Delaney - editor for Spry magazine. Teresa Epps - board member for Mercy Ministries. Sweetie Berry (not a vendor) but she was a fantastic contact hopefully a great connection to help get the business rolling. Holly Heath - personal chef who doesn't like to bake!
Then. Around the corner we see the Biggest Loser t-shirts. Tracy Yukich and Liz (sorry Liz, I don't know your last name) were at the conference!
Getting some great shots with the "celebs."
We would quickly come to realize that these ladies were so down to earth. We spent pretty much all day Saturday hanging out with these girls in between breaks. They were fantastic and we got to hear some really great stories about the show, their lives post-Biggest Loser, and just getting to know that they are just like you and me. Normal.
But back to business. As a result of all of our hard work, I have already completed three orders (you can become a fan of my page on Facebook - I update the pictures for all my cakes on there almost immediately upon completion AND I have a website: acakeboutique.com - shameless plug, what can I say?) from people who attended the conference and spoke with me about cakes. I have a potential wedding in May from a vendor who was at the show and man, I am floored! At the beginning of this year, when I posted about goals for 2010, I never imagined that three months into the year I would have the opportunities that I have to grow the business - especially the opportunities that have literally fallen in my lap.
Praise the Lord. That's really all I have say. I don't understand. It doesn't make sense in the flesh, but I know that God is always in control. He knows the plan for my life including this tiny little thing called A Cake Boutique.

Gabbie is doing fantastic. She is loving this beautiful weather we're having - we sat outside on our back porch after breakfast this morning and she loved every minute.

A few days ago, I had to run inside the mall for a quick errand and decided to put her in the stroller without using her car seat. I realized that since she can sit up by herself, it was definitely time, but man. I was a little sad. I realized she's not a fragile little newborn and she reminds me of that every day.
For example, last week when I was reaching to get something and she cleared all the cups on a counter at our friends house. Yep. She has curious little hands.
I love watching them explore all the exciting things in our world. If she can get it in her hands, she's more than likely going to make it to her mouth. As funny as that sounds, it's so neat to watch her explore with all of her senses - including her little tongue.
Brent put her down for bed the other night, he came out of her room laughing saying that she was up to his face and licked his cheek and giggled as it tickled her tongue. Then he laughed at her and she laughed at him. Such sweet little moments.
She's doing really well at sitting up all by herself without being so wobbly. I really think she might crawl just about any day - today I put her on her tummy and she was working her legs like she was swimming for her life. It was so funny.



She's doing really well at playing by herself in her pack 'n play in another room for about 15-20 minutes at a time. My BF did this with her little one and now at two years old, she plays in her room all by herself for moments at a time. It's great because it teaches Gabbie that she can entertain herself without my help. Gosh for the other 10 hours of the day, I'm right there with her. ha (and love it!)

Food is another fun subject. I started giving her cantaloupe this week and she loves it.
You can imagine if she enjoys exploring non-edible items with her tongue, how much more fun it is for her to actually put something that tastes good in her mouth. I've been giving her oatmeal three times a day now since she was 4 months old, but we have added a lot of other exciting foods to the mix: avocados, blueberries, raspberries, mangoes, pears, apples, kiwi, bananas, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, and broccoli. She has her days when she's ok with the green foods, then the next day she is not a fan (and I end up wearing a lot of it). I plan to persevere as I do not want a baby who just eats fruits and grilled cheese down the road. Any advice on this would be welcomed!
This one's kind of random, but oh so cute - Mya is quite the camera ham and LOVED Gabbie. Cute, huh?

I am also greatly appreciating her sleep patterns as I learn that a lot of babies her age and younger aren't sleeping through the night or consistently taking naps.

Brent's staying busy too - he has a new position at work and it has taken him to a four day class to get prepared to take his exam to get his insurance license. The first full hour of today's class was "How to take a test." Yep. That's right, then they dove right in: "Insurance 101" - literally, those were the titles. Wow. When he texted me today and told me, I just replied, "Thank you for working so hard so that I didn't have to return to an insurance company..." wow
So please be praying for him this week throughout the class as well as for the exam on Friday. As he put it, if he doesn't pass, his office will not let him live it down.


Here's a cute video of Gabbie girl playing with one of many toys she got at Christmas. She is talking a little bit at the end...