big E turns the big ONE.

Today is our little guys' 1st birthday. I can't believe a year has already gone by since we were in the hospital OR room preparing for the arrival of Ethan. He's changed so much in a year, already walking (started at about 10 1/2 - 11 months). He has a few words (or sounds) that he likes to make:

momma
da-da
uhhh - oooohhhh
oooo-whhoaaa
din-doo (I think this means 'thank you', he always says it after we hand him something, ha!)

weighs 27 lbs.
height (I need to measure)
clothes - 24 months
shoes - size 6
*obviously, he's a BIG boy!

He's the sweetest, happiest, most handsome baby boy ever. Seriously though - always happy. He loves Isabella unconditionally. Every morning when he wakes up, he looks for her. Once he finds her, he usually lays his head down on her pillow - melts my heart. Bella is quite the little entertainer - she will do anything to make her little brother laugh at her.

Dinner's at the Conradi house are very entertaining...Bella is usually making a ridiculously funny face or sound, Ethan is cracking up laughing (which leads to him snorting, and eventually having the hiccups)...mommy is video taping, and daddy is just taking it all in. Never a dull moment - I wouldn't have it any other way.

This past weekend we had Ethan's 1st birthday party. Of course I had to go with a theme - and so I choose 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar"...this suited Ethan very well, considering he is always hungry! Everything turned out perfect. We had all of our friends and family over for lots of tacos, rice, beans, chips and salsa! Everyone loves Mexican food! I went all out for decorations (again), and like always, took tons of photos. Our little man was given so many new toys / clothes / shoes - he's a very happy little guy!

As for his birthday dinner - we will most likely have pasta (his favorite) and cake of course!

Happy Birthday Ethan - mommy loves you very much!

I like to write down things that Isabella says - because when she starts saying a new thing it's pretty awesome. Right now her favorite thing to ask is, "what's happening?"...some of my other favorites:

'we has to hurry!' - we have to hurry
'it's windy' - this is when we are driving with the windows down and yelling like 10 year olds :)
'tit-tle me' (tickle me).
'mommy dats your tar?' - mommy that's your car?
'titty tat' - kitty cat
'awww the bears sad, she's trying' - (from her favorite movie Madagascar 3 - the bear is CRYING)

a couple nights ago i started turning off the lights around the house to kinda slow things down for the evening, bella looked up at the clock and she said, "it's 8 o'clock? it's night time?" i looked at the clock and it just so happened to be 5 minutes to 8...no, she can't tell time...yet. she just knows that her bedtime is 8. haha! smart cookie.

the same night, i was in the kitchen slaving away making dinner, making baby food for ethan, doing dishes, and sweating like a mad woman...stephen walked in and asked what i was doing and my response was...'oh, you know - shootin' the shit'...little did i know i had a tiny pair of ears listening, and so bella danced around the living room yelling 'shooting the shit'...of COURSE she would pronounce that the way it's supposed to be said!! haha!

Every time I write a new post, I always think - dang, I have a lot of catching up to do...I should really, like seriously make it a thing to post every few days :/

Here's the current update on Little B. (notice how I say little, that's because her baby brother is basically the same size as her!) She's potty trained officially - I have it dated February 20th with no more accidents! We never really did the diaper at nap or bed time either. I wanted to just go for it - no pull ups, and it worked! This post from Facebook was on March 15th 2013 - for those of you who want to potty train your little ones, i bet this will help :) Bella didn't get this kind of treatment, we rewarded her with stickers & candy. I'm happy to say that she is COMPLETELY DONE with diapers, even at nap and bedtime! HAPPY MOMMY!...and I am, a VERY happy mommy.

 

 

Isabella has talked for awhile - and even though I'm her mommy, I think she is incredibly smart. I mean seriously, how many two year old's do you know that can say the Pledge of Allegiance?! that's right - she knows it :) actually, whenever we see a flag, she feels the need to stand there and recite it. It's pretty adorable.

favorite foods...mac & cheese, strawberries, carrots & ranch, pasta, fruit snacks (pronounced 'snoot snacks'), turkey, french fries, apples, oranges...any fruit, that girl is all over it.

 favorite TV shows...Bubble Guppies (she's basically obsessed), Madagascar (all of them: 1,2 &3 - oh and the Christmas ones)

favorite color...orange, she'll even tell you that.

clothes...little thing is still in 2T tops, and can fit her 18-24 mo. shorts.

she loves...riding her 'bike' (her big wheel), her mini mouse car, blowing bubbles, swimming at nana & pop pop's pool, going to the beach (we took her to the bay a couple times in the last couple months and she loves it!)

 

 

 

Ethan is growing like a weed! He's so big now! At his last doctor's appointment I want to say that he was 25 pounds (little B is only 27!) He's catching up! He has TWO teeth now, is sleeping through the night (and occasionally will wake up for a bottle). He's officially on the move and crawling, he LOVES food. His first word was da-da (boo!) I tried over and over again to push the momma, and look where it gets me! ha! Here's a list of firsts for the big guy...

 

first tooth - 3/17/13

 

first buzz cut from daddy - 3/24/13

 

2nd tooth - 4/21/13.

 

 

 

crawling for the 1st time - 4/23/13

 

first time at the beach - 4/27/13

 

 

clapping for the 1st time - 4/28/13

 

first word - "da-da" 5/5/13

 

2nd buzz cut from daddy - 5/10/13

 

 

 

favorite foods - pear, apricot, carrot, apple, bananas!

 

favorite toys - Sophie the giraffe (and cell phones, remotes -things he cannot have, but as soon as he sees them - he starts crawling like a maniac towards them)

 

loves to pull his sister's hair - she hates that.

 

loves cuddling

 

will give kisses - only to the lucky people, daddy usually gets them every time he asks for it.

 

loves to 'dance' while he's sitting on the floor and a toy starts to make a sound

 

absolutely LOVES when his sister plays 'peek-a-boo' with him - he cracks up, and it usually leads to both of them having the hiccups.

 

loves bath time with Bella (daddy does bath every night) mommy is a little jealous :) all I know is that I am so incredibly lucky to have these two amazing children - and that they love each other to pieces!!

 



my little (big) guy is already 6 months old! Where has the time gone? we are still waiting for a tooth to come in, hopefully he has some by his first birthday. anyhoooo...I will post pics for his 6 month (1/2) birthday, but wanted to share another puree recipe. Ethan LOVES apples, they also help in the pooping department ;)

so, here's what ya' need...

apples - wash, dry, and peel them.

slice them (remove the seeds)

put them in your steamer - I only used 4 apples for this batch because Bella is on an apple kick and clearly I didn't get enough to satisfy the whole clan....

let them steam for anywhere between 5-10 minutes, and then allow them to cool off a bit before you puree them.

add the apples to your blender and add a little water (I added maybe a 1/2 cup). Depending on the consistency you are looking for, use more or less water. Since my big guy is, well...big, I am making the puree's with a little more consistency and not so 'creamy / watery'

blend away until desired consistency is achieved

pour into a separate container (this will allow you to see any chucks that might not have been blended)...at this point, I like to use my immersion blender to give it one more mix :)

finally, pour puree into ice cube trays - remember that each cube is 1 oz.

wrap the trays with plastic wrap and stick them in the freezer...

easy peasy!

Potty training is a lot of..........work. We are getting close with miss bella, but my goodness - it's tough. She'll have really good days, and then days when she stands outside and says, "uh oh!!!!!" with pee running down her leg. ahhhhh!!! Every single time she does go on the potty we make a HUGE deal about it so she gets excited and wants to do it again (tricky, I know).

Her and daddy were celebrating the other day...so freakin' sweet!

Speaking of the little princess...she got a hair cut - not just a trim. We took her to my Aunt's shop and she did awesome. Her new cut makes her look so much older! What a little sassy pants...

I decided when I was pregnant to make all of Ethan's baby food once he started eating it...and now our big guy is eating solids so I am one happy / busy momma! I dedicate one day (typically Sunday) to get all of my groceries (organic, of course!)...and spend a couple hours preparing and storing his food. I am only storing enough food right now for a 1-2 week supply...for a couple reasons, but one is that our freezer space is limited with my husband's ice cream addiction and my breast milk supply!

We introduced spinach to our big guy last night...

Here's step-by-step instruction's on how I made it...

First, wash your spinach - even though mine said 'pre-washed', I still wash it. Spinach is on the dirty dozen list of foods, so I like to be extra careful.

Next, pack as much of it as you can into a steamer. Spinach will cook down (a lot) so you can pack that baby full - let's just say, my lid didn't really stay on :)

Steam it baby! The leaves will soften pretty quickly, so just keep checking it. I took mine off after about 10 minutes. (as you can tell, it cooks down a lot!!!)

Blend it. I love my blender. It makes incredible smoothies...and really gets these puree's nice and creamy.

Pour the puree into a container. As you can tell by the picture, my packed steamer only gave me 6 ounces at first. I then steamed another batch to fill up the rest of the cooling cup.

Let it cool off a bit before you store it. I let mine sit for approximately 2 bath's and 1/2 of a bubble guppy episode :)

Next, you can store it. I like to fill up ice cube trays...they are cheap, the food pops out easily, they fit great in the freezer, and they are each 1 ounce - so you know exactly how much your little one is consuming!

Wrap up the ice cube trays with plastic wrap nice and tight and stick it in the freezer. These will be good for up to 3 months.

Of course Ethan was eager to try momma's spinach...so I mixed some up with a little bit of apple puree that I made for him last week, and he was one happy boy!

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas - I'd love to hear from you!

love day.

a little mini photo shoot with my little love bug...seriously, how can you not kiss this baby all day!? I'm sure one day he's going to be so embarrassed when I whip these photos out to show his girlfriend :)