BabyCake: professional vs. "It had better taste good"

So, we're having a boy.  I think we know his name, but honestly we've changed the name ten-zillion times already, and we have another 20 1/2 weeks to go.  But this post isn't about the baby's name.  It's about how I am a terrible person to have do anything that is for a nice get-together.  Above are two cakes.  The one on the left was made by the amazing Jessica.

The ultrasound tech called her with our baby's gender, and then she brought us a cake with the interior frosting color coded: pink for girl, blue for boy. Originally, we were supposed to wait and bring Jessi's cake to Phil's family Easter get-together, so we'd find out as one big family.  Only, we couldn't wait.  (Okay, I couldn't wait--the only thing Phil doesn't like to wait for is me running 30 minutes late to get out the door.  Otherwise he's as patient as the grave.)

So, we found out boy, early, and that meant I had to make a cake myself for our very McMurray Easter.

Pictured right: my dreadful cake.  A carrot cake--per Phil's request, with cream cheese frosting--to die for.  And I smuggled in some raisins.  (Here's my thinking on raisins: they are delicious.  If you don't like them you have problems, because they are delicious.  They make any baked good better.  If you disagree with me, then that just means that there will be more of said baked good for my consumption.)  Bryce protested the raisins.  I said, "Daddy likes raisins".  This ended Bryce's complaint, but now he's not sure whether or not he himself likes raisins--wait with bated breath and I'll let you know.

So here's the dealio with my dreadful cake.  I made it too big (10") and got all ambitious when cutting the layers (4).  Jessi's cake had four layers; however, I lost sight of the fact that her cake was not fat an squat like mine . . .

I'll just hope my cake tastes good, even if only looks semi-ok due to the centerpiece--I stole the Jessica handmade cake-topper to try to salvage the cake.  I'm also too lazy to actually remove the platic wrap or even take my cake out of the fridge for a photo.

So take heart bakers! At least you're not me. 
Next up: lemon bars.  I think I can't ruin these.  However the fact that I'm planning to take some to Easter means I will probably do something innovative like try to fashion them into egg shapes . . . Laurens should not be ambitious.  Laurens should stick to the directions.