Blake Lively Cradles Baby Bump in New Preserve Photos

Blake Lively Cradles Baby Bump at Intimate, Fun-Filled Fete (PHOTOS)

The celebration comes before "experiencing the joy of 3am screams," she writes on her lifestyle site, Preserve

Updated on January 25, 2022 02:18PM EST

It’s official: Blake Lively has that mom-to-be glow.

The actress, 27, was all smiles in sweet photos from her recent baby-to-be celebration, which she shared on her lifestyle website, Preserve, on Friday.

Lively announced her pregnancy Monday on Preserve, and gave fans the first peek at her growing baby bump.

“With a new baby on the way there is so much to do!” Lively wrote on Preserve alongside Friday’s photos. “But before experiencing the joy of 3am screams, seemingly impossible amounts of poop and having a favorite shirt covered in reflux … there are presents to open, onesies to dye, there is cake to serve, advice to be shared and all around celebration to be had. And that we did.”

The photos reveal an outdoor celebration that seems to make the most of autumn’s bounty: A sumptuous table shows acorn squash doubling as soup bowls, along with apples and an assortment of fall vegetables.

The expectant star, who will welcome her first child with husband Ryan Reynolds, looked especially pleased as she held on to a three-tier cake as her guests surrounded her – that is, when she wasn’t snuggling with kids or giggling with pals.

Earlier in the week, Kelly Rutherford – who played Lively’s onscreen mom on Gossip Girl for six seasons – told PEOPLE the actress always seemed like a natural mother.

“I think she’ll be an amazing mom,” Rutherford told PEOPLE Thursday at Aflac’s Duck Does Yoga campaign launch in N.Y.C.

RELATED: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively Expecting First Child

“She’s such a family person, [and] she always used to offer to babysit my kids,” Rutherford said. “She comes from such a beautiful family.”

Lively and Reynolds, 37, wed in September 2012, and starting a family has always been their plan. In August, the actress told Marie Claire she’d like to “spit out a litter of kids.”

While Rutherford says she hasn’t spoken to Lively about the pregnancy yet, she did send the “beautiful, smart and innovative” mom-to-be a congratulatory text.