Weddings and babies.

I've entered the age, and I suppose have been in it for a while now, where just about everyone I know is either getting married or having babies. Last weekend I went to the lovely bridal shower for my cousin's fiancée, Katie. Nate and Katie are getting married in a few weekends from now. I really couldn't be happier for them, as I think they are a great match. She's a lover of the outdoors, which is important for a man whose favorite season is winter (and he actually likes to be outside in the winter, not wrapped in a few layers of wool under a down comforter in front of a roaring fire, like me), she's athletic, and she's caring and kind. All things that one would want in one's spouse. I wish Nate and Katie nothing but the best, and I greatly look forward to their wedding, which is on the Cape, where I haven't been in years and years. Here's a photo of the bride-to-be at her shower:

Katie didn't break any ribbons when opening her gifts, which I guess means she's not having any kids. Right! My cousin Nate and his brothers and sister are made for having children because they'd all be great parents. And those who have children so far are great parents, and have wonderful children. It's unfortunate that I don't get to see those kids as much as I would like. But soon there will be a new addition, making Nate an uncle again. I mentioned this before, but my cousin Amy and her husband Mike are expecting a baby in March. Apparently around March 21, which means that there's a chance it could be born very near - or even on - my birthday. March is a good month to be born. Both my mother and I have March birthdays. We're a strong bunch, we March babies. It's a windy and generally chilly month, so we build up tolerance at a young age to adversity. Anyway, we saw Amy at the shower for the first time since she announced her pregnancy, and this allowed everyone the chance to give her all the advice on pregnancy, births, babies, childhood that she should possibly want, but in person. I'm sure she was overwhelmed by it all. My sister, though, having had three children not too long ago, certainly wanted to impart some of her learned wisdom to her cousin. I snapped a photo of the moment of sharing:

For me and Doug, though, our wedding is over and so I guess we're looking at babies now, but neither of us can bring ourself to say without hesitation that we want a child. I mean, how can one really know that a) one wants one, and b) one is ready for one? I can't wrap my head around the fact that a baby is not just a baby. Because certainly I like babies as much as the next girl, but for me my concern is the part about the baby growing up. Turning into an adolescent, a teen, and then an adult. There's so much that could go wrong with raising a child. I can barely handle my cats - how can I handle a human life? Definitely I'm not quite ready yet to tell Doug without reservation that I'm ready for kids, and he's fine with that. Allows him to focus more of his time on his goals and his hobbies. We like goals and hobbies a bit too much at this point to add a child into the mix, but we certainly salute and are excited for those who are ready for it (and look forward to babysitting, playing with the babies, and then giving them back to the parents when done).

Speaking of those who are ready for it, we are hosting a party/shower for our friends Chris and Chris in just three weekends. I'm really excited about it - Doug and I love having people over to the house (the more the merrier), and at this party we'll be bringing together people we haven't seen in a long time. And people we've never even met, like our friends Mike and Emily's baby boy. Doug and I do have to sit down and create a menu for this party (thankfully I won't be cooking the desserts, so they'll actually be presentable, but I am wondering if I should give up on cooking the food, too, and just leave it in the hands of prepared foods from the grocery store, or maybe take-out. We do have a wonderfully large - and I'm talking big and fancy - Whole Foods right near us now. Doug and I went there the night after it opened this past Thursday and had a blast looking at all the products that aren't in the smaller stores. Plus, the place was so neat (literally)! Each aisle was wide and long and all the goods were faced so neatly. Check out the juices behind Doug in this photo:Talk about everything being in its right place - this was a dream come true for me.), but we also have to decide if we are going to lock the kitties away in one of the rooms so that they don't bother the guests. Hard to believe that something so cute and fuzzy could be a nuisance, but some people don't like cats, or are allergic. Then again, the guests of honor have two cats of their own and adore cats (and also like our cats and don't get to see them often), so we're on the fence on this one.

But we don't have to make a decision just yet. In this particular moment, all we really have to do is finish packing up our stuff, get in the car, and make the trek up to my uncle's house in New Hampshire for the long weekend. A little kayaking, a little loon sighting, perhaps even a climb up Mt. Cardigan... this is what needs to occupy our minds right now. Relaxing awaits!