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!

10.1.5... I'm a mom???

Can you see Cadiem's spikes?? Haha. We went out to a friend's house the other night--and Cadiem wanted to "cool" it up... uh huh. Cadiem is ALL OVER the place. I wish I would have already babyproofed the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen. They're under attack! I think he'll be walking pretty soon. He had a check-up on Wednesday--and our doctor agrees--he's a chunk!! Not in a bad way :) But his growth chart has been vertical for the past few months--haha. He's also 29" long, which is almost half my height. Jeff finds that pretty funny... ;)

We had a great time in Arizona--we were busy busy busy!! We saw all of the family and Jeff and I got to go out on our second date (yup!). Our goal was to go out dancing--which we managed to do, and even hit up my favorite wine bar afterward :)

*Do not ever sit down on the couch pre-dinner with a box of Thin-Crisp Triscuits!!*

Cadiem got a lot of great presents--which really helps us out--thank you family!! It was also great to see my cousin Tara--I think it had been at least two years--and lots of quality time with the gg's, parents plus Bri and Nate :)

*Just got the Triscuits today and there's about 1/3 box left...*

Cadiem's first birthday is coming up quick!! We're planning to have a party for him in combination with a house warming--which we haven't had the opportunity to have yet. (jenni & garrett--come visit!!) After that, I think we're going to have a few visitors... Mom, Marty, Bri and Nate--yay!! And we actually have a place for them to sleep!

Jeff has been working like crazy... What else is new!? He should be getting home at a semi-decent hour tonight though--so at least we'll get to see each other for a bit :) I think that's about it for current news... Seems a little short for a month or more of not blogging!! oh well... I will try to be better!! There are also a few new pics on the pic link... :)

ahhhhh... I almost forgot to explain my title!! "I'm a mom"...

Sometimes, it's shocking to me that I'm a mother! WOW!

Search and destroy...

Nothing is safe from this kid! Cadiem has now figured out that the coffee table is full of goodies... Yesterday I was distracted by homework, and he managed to pull a box of tissues off and was pulling them out and trying to eat them when I noticed. Haha. My cell phone is especially at risk! He seriously dives for it when he sees it. He's already ruined one, and now Jeff's is being funky--we think from drool. This morning he was saying "da-da" and looking at Jeff. We have got to get it on video! Last night our heat went out around midnight--and it dropped twenty degrees into the fifties by morning... Brrrr! But they came over right after we called them this morning to fix it. It took most of the day to get the house back to a normal temperature. I'm so glad it's fixed!!

We were all bundled up this morning trying to stay warm. Jeff is off tomorrow and Wednesday--yay! Unfortunately I have to spend most of that time catching up on more homework... almost done, almost done! Our new mattress (thank-you mattress fairy!) is coming in a few days, we are SO excited. Our current bed is buckling--and is probably 20 years or more old. I found an excellent deal online--we even got a free mattress pad and a $100 Best Buy gift certificate. Yay! I'm so excited to wake up without a backache!

I'm also very excited to go home for Christmas :) I'm out on the 17th! Woohoo! I wish Jeff could fly at the same time as us, he can't leave until after the weekend, but at least we'll be on the same flight home. I love Christmas! We've been trying to get our Christmas music adjusted on Pandora... Jeff put in Run DMC, holiday... It came up with some weird station called "hollis" something or other... But he's decided to call it, "Christmas in the holler" (or hollas). Hahaha. It's actually not a bad station--it plays Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5 and Otis Redding... Haha. I tried to make a Wham-"Last Christmas" station, in hopes that it would play some modern stuff--but it's like it's stuck on Perry Como and Dean Martin. Sigh. I still haven't heard Wham! Well, the crappy covers. And my Waitresses "Christmas Wrapping", that one either. I love that song! Bri says it's not a real Christmas song--whatever biz! But my all time favorite will always be "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". Love it! And I don't care what version it is--although, I like the instrumentals from Mannheim Steamroller and Trans Siberian Orchestra. Pandora has also played some scary country version--and there's the exception. No country permitted in my Christmas music!! UGH! Not sure where that Christmas music rant came from... But it's time to sleep!

9 months old!! (well, tomorrow :)

Hola! Cadiem is 9 months old tomorrow! He's crawling like a fiend--and has started pulling himself up. He hasn't figured out how to get back down (from standing), which is pretty interesting to watch. Haha. His babbling has some added variety :) We both have also heard him say "mom". I swear! He crawls after me and says "mmmoom". I need to try and get it on video!

We had a great Thanksgiving. We went over to Jeff's boss's (Leslie) house and took part in their feast. It was very tasty--even the turkey, which I usually don't care for :) Cadiem had one of his gourmet baby food dinners--turkey & sweet pea--yum! We took his bouncer over there so he could bounce while we ate--but he wasn't having it. He ended up sitting in Jeff's lap and then of course he wanted to take part in the Thanksgiving dinner. So we let him have some sweet potato casserole and some mashed potatoes :)

Jeff went to DC this past weekend to visit Jeffery, and I spent the weekend trying to catch up on homework... We put up our tree the day before Thanksgiving, since Jeff was off. We got some retro-style LED lights that we're pretty proud of :) This is one thirsty tree. I can't remember the last time we had a real tree at my mom's--but I wasn't ever in charge of watering it anyway. Haha. I think it drinks about two quarts/day. Crazy!

Grandma Shultz just sent Cadiem a Leap Frog music table--which he really likes. He also likes using it to pull himself up :) It plays music and teaches colors, numbers, etc. Apparently she got it on some crazy lighting sale on Amazon. Haha--what's up with cyber Monday? When did this start?

Jenni and her boyfriend Garrett were here visiting us the week before Thanksgiving--we had a great time of course :) We got to go to a VT game too.

I made some stroganoff the other day--to prepare for the stroganoff-off... SNEAK ATTACK! I think it's almost perfected... I might have to up the anty and use steak instead of hamburger... Jeff has another idea--but it's a secret... ;)

Jeff has tomorrow off--which is weird, but awesome :) This is really old news--but while we were in Florida--we got a pretty funny video with pooh & tigger--can't remember if I already blogged about it or not. But it's on my pic site--It's pretty funny. Tigger is making fun of Jeff's dreads the whole time. Haha.

I am so excited to go home for Christmas. Two more weeks! YAY!!