A feast in the land of no wine...

Cadiem was eating (not really) some red potato fries in the above pic--that he decided to smear all over his head rather than eat. I think they were a little too adult for him since they were flavored with parmesan and garlic... But Jeff and I ate them for lunch today and they were yummy!

We are having a feast tonight, which I just finished "prepping" :) Jeff isn't home yet, but usually I like to pre-prepare when we're having dinner this late. I actually used some recipes (kind of)--usually I just wing it! So, compliments of Bobby Flay, we're having pork chops marinated in Spanish paprika, orange and ginger... Which I tried making last year--but used the wrong paprika--and it wasn't that great. This time, I used the right one--and, I think I forgot to add salt last time (the recipe doesn't call for it) but it definitely needs it! Anyway--I think it's going to be pretty tasty, especially with my additions (mine is HOT!). I also stole Bobby's dill potato salad recipe... Although, mine has extra ingredients, less potatoes, and no smoked salmon (yuck!!), uh, or capers. Mainly the extra ingredients are due to my failing to cut them down according to how many potatoes I used... My 6 compared to his 20... Haha--oops! Wow, my run-on sentences are fantastic! I actually only decided to make it because I thought it just required boiling potatoes and throwing on the sour cream (or... greek yogurt ;) dill sauce... Nope... I also had to throw a bunch of stuff in with the potatoes: parsley, green onions, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, more dill... Pain in the ass! Well, not really, just more time than I wanted to invest. We're also having some lemon asparagus which I may or may not wrap in oh-so-healthy bacon. I've been pretty lazy with my cooking lately, making stuff that's really quick and easy. But something about the nearing warm weather puts me back in the mood :) I was a little sad though tonight, we're wine-less. I like to drink wine while I cook, but I had to settle for a Young's Chocolate Stout that's been in the fridge forever. Not a bad compromise :)

Anyway, tomorrow I will be cleaning ALL DAY LONG in preparation for my mom's visit :) She gets in Wednesday--and Jeff got the day off (YAY!) so we're going to tour around downtown Roanoke and check out the farmer's market and a couple places Nickie suggested.

This past Saturday was Eric's birthday. Happy 28th Eric!! :) A pretty large group of us went to Taaza in Roanoke and it was damn tasty. Unfortunately, I got pulled over on the way home (my lights weren't all the way on--ugh!) and my license happened to be suspended (go figure)... Which I'm guessing is due to an unpaid parking ticket--who knows! But the police officer was really nice and I was rescued by my friends. Thank-you Gene, Nickie, Eric and Nichole!!

Okay, I'm off to the shabath... (It's a bath... but it's a shower... all at the same time... ;)

Cadiem Walking!

Cadiem has been taking several steps at a time for the past few days--and I finally managed to get some video. He's pretty proud of himself, as you can see :) He has so much personality--it cracks me up! Today we were laying around on the floor playing and he was trying to attack me and jump on my stomach. Haha--he can't really jump so he was basically just falling on me. He is really into nesting is toys right now. And he's obsessed with the pots and pans. I keep finding his sippy cup "nested" in the pots. Haha. Grandpa Shultz was in for a short visit this weekend. He and Cadiem had fun playing together. Marty was pretty appalled at how dirty the baby is--hahaha. Jeff was off on Sunday, so he got to spend a little time with Marty as well. We made a big brunch on Sunday--it was tasty :) Hopefully when Marty comes back in a few weeks, we'll be able to squeeze in a hike.

Today I was perusing in Old Navy and ran into Nichole. I said to her, "What are you doing wearing that scarf?!" She said to me, "What are you doing wearing a tanktop!?" Hahaha. I'm so excited for the warm weather to get here--that I decided to ignore that it got chilly again in the last couple of days. So I went to class today in my "flippy-floppys" (i'm on a boat!! hahaha) and short sleeves. Haha.

Jeff is off again tomorrow--and then working through the weekend (bleh!). I'm hoping that the sun will come out long enough for us to get a walk in... Maybe it will be spontaneously warm and we can go hiking :) (i'm an optimist!)

My mom will be here in about a week and so far we're planning to hit up the farmer's market in Roanoke, a winery or two, and go hiking. (there's a lot of talk of hiking in this blog!)

I love spring!!

Today was a gorgeous spring day :) The sky was blue, the sun was out--and I think it got pretty close to 70 degrees! Cadiem, Ari and I walked downtown to share some Ben & Jerry's yogurt and enjoy the sunshine. Only to find that there was no ice cream to be had! Ben & Jerry's went out of business! We also lost our downtown Dairy Queen awhile ago, so we had to settle for some Starbucks. No, I didn't get coffee! Cadiem and I "shared" a banana-strawberry smoothie... I didn't get much of it... He is a pig! Anyway, Cadiem was worn out from our walk--and I finally got a picture of him sleeping :)

Yesterday I hung out with Mary for St. Patrick's day... Instead of scary green drinks we tried out some chocolate red wine--which was pretty tasty! Also had yet another cheese plate... I think I have a cheese problem!

Cadiem has started refusing food unless it is not intended for him... And then he wants it. Today I made him a grilled cheese--which he knew was for him--and then refused to eat it. I managed to shove a piece in his mouth when he was turned the other direction. After spitting it out and trying it a few more times, he decided he loved it--and wolfed down the rest of it :) He tried sweet potato fries yesterday and pasta with marinara sauce--both of which he loves as well. Every time I get the cheese out of the fridge--he gets a riled up--he LOVES cheese. He'll even eat my super sharp Vermont cheddar.

Jeff has been working quite a bit in the last few days, but he's off tomorrow afternoon so we're going to walk downtown and have lunch. I love nice weather!

Oh Eddie Vedder...

Photo by Timothy Norris

I am IN LOVE with the new Pearl Jam song... I am about to download it so I can play it over and over ALL DAY LONG :) It's such a pretty song--and a love song at that! I'm a sucker for music with strings or piano--it can bring on the waterworks (it's the strings in this one). I've always been a fan of Pearl Jam, ever since "Jeremy", one of my all time favorites. "Jeremy" always reminds me of freshman tennis in high school, and riding to games in our crappy school van... Ahhh, memories. But going back to Pearl Jam--I also really did like Vitology. And Pearl Jam is responsible (and you thought it was my bad driving! okay, maybe) for my two-toned del sol. Yup. I was on my way to their concert in Phoenix, in the rain, and rear ended someone on the freeway. Oddly, the person I hit took off and my car was forever maimed. James, if you're reading this, you probably remember wanting to call the cops! Whatever! :)

No scratching, no hitting, no biting!!

Most mornings, Cadiem drinks his whole milk in our bed while we try to catch a few more Zs... Lately, that hasn't really been working out since he's started torturing us! This kid can scratch! And he pinches at the same time. He's getting two more teeth on the bottom (that will make a total of 6 teeth!) and has been testing them out on my arms and legs. Haha. So, this morning it was a lot of "Don't hit Mommy!", "Don't pinch Daddy!", "Nice touches!". Haha--and he knows very well what "no" means, but doesn't listen very well! Go Figure! He also understands "Let's go change your diaper" because he takes off and makes you catch him. Cadiem has taken more steps in the last few days. Today he held my hand and walked several steps :) He's really excited about it--he grins like a little fiend while he's walking.

Jeff had the day off yesterday (weird!), but we didn't do much. Cadiem didn't sleep much--which means neither did we... So we spent half the day catching up on sleep. We did make it to the wine tasting at Vintage Cellar--which was tasty :) We (or... me) also made a feast for dinner, including a gigantic cheese plate with some bread... One of the cheeses we had was marbled with porter--it was pretty good!

Friday, (CHILD BITING MY LEG RIGHT NOW!!) Ian and I went to the beer tasting (yes, they know us at Vintage Cellar) and then met up with everyone else at the Cellar for dinner. Cadiem had a good time flirting with Sam and throwing his food everywhere.

Grandpa Shultz is coming to visit next weekend since he'll be in DC on business. Cadiem is excited :) My mom will also be visiting over Easter. YAY! We love visitors :)

We've got steps people!! :)

Cadiem took three unassisted steps on Tuesday, he was pretty proud of himself--he had a really big grin on his face. I haven't seen him do it since then--but he's constantly standing, so I think he'll probably be walking in the next couple of days!

As you probably know, Cadiem turned one year old last Thursday, March 4th :) We had a party for him the following Saturday--and he had a great time. Cadiem got some awesome birthday presents, thank you everyone! We tried to duplicate Anita's (stepmom) shredded beef/pork for the party--and it actually came out pretty good! Although, I forgot to get spicy V8 to throw in, but used some bloody mary mix that we had--which was probably about the same. And I just realized today that I forgot to make the rice that's also Anita's recipe... Crap! I was a total spaz the day of the party. We were so lucky that Jenni could come up from Charlotte for the party--she really helped us out! I had every intention of creating a perfectly decorated cake and cupcake... But, I couldn't really think with all of the people around in the kitchen--and ended up passing the duty to Mike Speer. Haha--but he did a good job. However, I did make some ugly green icing and a monster-like cupcake... Which I think threw the baby off when we gave it to him. He didn't want any part of his cupcake! But after we helped him tear it apart and he saw Jeff and I eating it--he liked it :) We've been eating the leftovers together for the last week. Cadiem is a cake hog! He barely lets me eat any.

Last night we finally got to hang out with Wally and Hypes. The guys actually went out to the Mill to try a limited release Rogue beer--while Wally & I stayed back with some wine and cheese :)

Cadiem had his year check-up yesterday, and he is 25.5 pounds and 31 inches long. He's now slightly above the 50th percentile (whatever!). Cadiem has started to scratch and hit us when he's tired... And I think he's inherited my glare! But normally, he's happy and babbling :) Since we got our new awesome Britax car seat (thanks mom & marty!), Cadiem has been riding in the cart at the grocery rather than his infant seat. He's been gaining fans at Kroger, now that he's better able to flirt with all of the old ladies! Hahaha.

Well, I guess that's it for now! Sorry if this post is a little incoherent--I'm VERY tired... bedtime!