Baby fever???

We spent this past weekend babysitting for my Aunt's children. Georgie is the oldest and will be 4 in July and Cassidy turned 1 in September. Doug and I went into it thinking that it would be some serious birth control for us. We arrived on Friday night after they had already had dinner. It was a GORGEOUS night out so we played outside for a while and then it was time for bed. I couldn't believe how easy bedtime was! Cassidy went down first and their rituals were pretty similar. Cup of milk, 2 bedtime stories and off to bed. I expected them to fuss or be upset that they had to go to bed but they were not! They were so easy and had their ritual down perfectly.

The only hairy part was how early they woke up!!!! Actually, it was really just Georgie that woke up early. On Saturday morning, he was up at 6:30. Early, but, not too awful. Sunday morning he was up at 5:30!!!! TORTURE! Cassidy was so easy and slept surprisingly long! She woke up at 7 and took a bottle. After playing in her crib for an hour and drinking her milk, we got her up. Piece of cake! It was really fun playing with the kids. Georgie has quite the vocabulary and it was hilarious hearing some of the things he was saying. It was so warm on Saturday, so we decided to wash Dougie's car. The kids put their bathing suits on and had a blast squirting the car with the hose and using sponges to wash it! I was beyond exhausted by the time Saturday night came around. Sunday we took the kids to Chuckie Cheese. It was really fun to see them running around and playing.

The weekend was great and it was really neat to see how Doug interacted with the kids. It's fun to think about what he will be like as a Daddy. I'm definitely excited to have kids; however, we are both in agreement that we need to get a few things figured out with finances before we start seriously thinking about kids. Plus, we both want to travel a bit. So, no baby fever quite just yet....but, it's definitely in the future for us! :)

Bernadette's baby shower

Today we threw a baby shower for my girlfriend at work, Bernadette. This was a very special baby shower because she and her husband, Jack, have been trying to get pregnant for 3 years now. They have gone through IVF 3 times before it finally took. We are all so incredibly excited for them both and have loved watching her belly grow! I think she is one of the very few people I know that still looks absolutely amazing pregnant! She is ALL BELLY!!! When you see her walking from behind, you can't even tell that she is pregnant.

Anyways, she is due on May 24 (I think) and she is getting very close! We threw her a "short and sweet" baby shower today and it went great! We had a collection in the office and were able to get her a pack-and-play as well as her baby video monitor. There were a ton of other little gifts that people purchased on their own and I think we were able to really surprise her with all of the gifts!

Spring has sprung

Spring has FINALLY sprung around here! These past two weeks have been absolutely GORGEOUS which makes it even harder to stay focused and concentrate on anything other than the flowers and buds. I jumped on here the other day and realized that I have not posted a blog since March! OOPS!
All is well in the Shade household. We were struggling with colds and sickness for several weeks in March. But, thank goodness, we are healthy now. I think there is something about spring that seems to make everything so much better!
The apartment is really coming along. I have been trying to buy something off of our never-ending wish list with each pay. Last week Doug and I found the most ADORABLE accent table! I also got curtains for the windows above the accent table. I really need to get some pictures on here. I keep thinking, I'll just wait until I can buy______ and then I'll take pictures. And...this just keeps repeating. Eventually I will have it picture-ready.
Doug and I have been starting to talk about plans for this summer. Lots of wedding showers, baby showers, wedding ceremonies and, new babies arriving. It always seems like our summer fills up long before it has even arrived.
So far, we have a road trip to Nashville (Doug's cousin's wedding) planned for the end of May and a week vacation in OCNJ in July. I think I am going to surprise Doug with a little mini-trip one weekend during the summer. ;)
I will work on posting more frequently and getting some additional pictures as well.
HAPPY SPRING, everyone!!!!

Professional wedding photos

We just received a few professional wedding photos from our photographer and I just HAD to post them. They did such an amazing job of capturing all of our different emotions that day!

Here are just a few of our favorites and a few that we chose for our wedding album....

Foodscapes

Take a close look at this dusk scene...the pebbles and rocks are potatoes and soda bread, while the red sky at night and sea are entirely formed of strips of salmon.

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A winter landscape...Parma ham and breadsticks are fashioned into a sled which is pulled across a snow-covered road made from a selection of cold meats.

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This Italian inspired rural scene includes a lasagna cart, fields of pasta, a pine nut wall, mozzarella clouds, trees of peppers and chilies and a parmesan village.

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A forest of greens -- the road is paved with cumin, peas hang from broccoli trees and cauliflower clouds adorn the sky with bread for mountains. Broccoli Forest was one Warner's first creations while experimenting with still life shots.

Today I was shown the most amazing slideshow of images from a British based photographer name Carl Warner. His work captures all forms of food in a series of still life's. And, the coolest part about it is that everything he uses is edible!!! I was completely intrigued with what I saw and did some reading up on him and how he creates these shots. These series apparently require numerous shots. He starts by sketching out a traditional landscape scene. After the scene is completely sketched to his liking, he then introduces the food. He has to capture each scene is separate layers to prevent the food from wilting (since everything he uses is edible and fresh). After all of the scenes are captured, he uses computer technology to combine all of the scene layers into one final print. In order to capture a realistic feeling, each still life is composed on an 8x4 ft table with a foreground that is actually only about 2 ft across! Amazing!!

In his photos, Warner creates a broccoli forest, bread mountains, a cheese village, and smoked salmon seas. The success of the project has motivated Warner to plan for the images to be released in an educational book to encourage kids to eat healthier. His 'foodscapes' were partially inspired by a healthy eating campaign....I must admit...some of those pictures definitely make me hungry for veggies! :)

I have attached some of my favorite pictures above, along with descriptions that I found on the internet of the foods used in each picture. Visit his website for more information and additional photos at http://www.carlwarner.com/

The shadey blues

The Shade household (which consists of only Doug and I so far) has been feeling blue lately. I'm assuming it's the weather and the time of year that is playing a big role in our emotions. But, do you ever just feel like everything that can go wrong, will?! This past month has sent us a lot of big hurdles to jump over and has really tested our strength and love as husband and wife. We have had to deal with broken relationships, financial burdens, family issues, health concerns, work dilemmas...the list just goes on. It's sometimes hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you have so many things that just seem to pile on top of one another. Doug and I both rely very heavily on our faith and let me just tell you...that has been tested this past month too! Through it all, I have learned some very important things...
1. My faith is REALLY the only thing that I can count on that will never change or let me down, regardless of the situations that life throws our way.
2. No matter what crap we go through in life (and there will be more), Doug and I made a vow before God for better or for worse! We take that vow very seriously and I have learned that when two people are on the same page and vow to stick it out...overcoming negative circumstances can actually make you stronger rather than tear you apart!
3. I do not have it all together. I am not perfect. I will never be perfect, regardless of how badly I would like to be in life. I am not as smart as I would like to believe. I make mistakes. Often!

I keep reminding myself that I only get one shot at life. I only get one chance to live each hour! Instead of letting the crappy stuff get me down, I should be looking forward to and enjoying the good things! And...I do have a lot! I have the BEST husband anyone could ever ask for! He is strong and loving and I know that we have a bond that some people are not able to ever experience.
My 'wise beyond her years' Mother recently told me to stay positive; Spring is on it's way and it brings the hope of new life and fresh starts.
Spring can not come quickly enough!

Our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

You have to celebrate the small things in life, right? Well, Valentine's Day for us is just another excuse to have fun and celebrate our love. I know a lot of people hate this day, but, we love it! We celebrate everything else in life...why not celebrate our love?!

This Valentine's Day was very special for us. Last year we celebrated our first (and only) V-Day being Engaged and this year we are celebrating being married (way better!) :)

In the years past, we have always gone out to a fancy restaurant and splurged. This year, we decided not to go out. I think this was the first Valentine's Day in 7 years that we did not go out to dinner. We have really been trying to save money where we can and we both figured that we should enjoy the one thing that we have waited so long for...living together!

I decided I would cook up a big meal, just like it would be if we were eating out. I put together a spinach and artichoke dip appetizer (SUPER easy to make, by the way) and had a pork roast slow cooking all day. I made an apple glaze to go on top of it and it made the entire house smell amazing! I found a yummy recipe for ranch-garlic mashed potatoes and so I decided to try that as well. Since I had to work all day, I did not have enough time to get everything prepared by 7 AND make a dessert. So, we decided to have chocolate fondue for dessert. I bought a bunch of dippers (strawberries, bananas (for Doug), pound cake and marshmallows) and some chocolate. SUPER EASY and really romantic.

We have dinner every night at our kitchen table so I decided to do something different and MUCH more romantic. We have a big chest that sits in front of our couch in the living room. I took white linens and covered the table and then put a thin red linen down the center. I sprinkled flower petals in between votive candles down the red runner and dimmed the lights. And what's a romantic evening without the music playing softly in the background???

We sat on big pillows and enjoyed dinner together. It was really good (thank goodness...talk about a downer if the food didn't turn out good!) and exactly what I was hoping for. We opened a bottle of champagne that someone had given us for our wedding and we used heart shaped champagne flutes that we were given as a gift for registering at Crate&Barrel.

We agreed to only get each other cards and not to do anything for gifts. Our gift to each other was a quiet and romantic dinner together in our home. As I was getting the fondue together, Doug had put a gift at my place setting. When I saw what it was, I totally freaked out!!!! He had gotten me a Coach wallet!!!!!!!!!! I have been needing a wallet for the longest time now and have been putting everything into a little wristlet. He completely caught me off guard and got the most beautiful wallet I have ever seen!!!!!!! Yes, I really do have the best husband in all of the world!

We ended the night with chocolate fondue and went to bed early. And...I even went to bed without cleaning up the HUGE mess I made in the kitchen (which is really NOT an easy thing for me to do!). Guess there's nothing better to spoil the mood then cleaning a kitchen.

Doug and I both agreed that it was the most intimate and special Valentine's Day we have ever had!

~Have I mentioned lately how much I ADORE being married?!?!? ;)