Tristan prefers the taste of Beef and Blackberry

Tristan can crawl and stand

Mom I am coming for you.
Here I come!
Oh wait I got distracted when I passed my exersaucer. I need to stand up.
I am such a big boy. I barely hold on.
Hi Mom! Is this how this thing works?

Oh lord! We are in trouble now. Work has been hectic. I will try to update more.

Growing by leaps and bounds

Tristan is getting so big. He can pull up on things, and crawl. Its all to much for me. It makes me sad and happy all at the same time. I am also incorporating him into my workouts if he is awake in the morning. He watches me do the 30 day shred. Its so funny he will stop playing, look at me, tilt his head sideways and raise an eyebrow. Thats the look I give people all the time. I like to think hes saying in his head WTF is mom doing, shes lost it. I would say back nope I am losing it (the weight) for you. I dance with him, and we have a grand time. He also gets to go on walks if he is awake when I get home. Another positive note. The new parents choice sensitive formula seems to be working!!! YAY! No more happy spitter baby (thats what his pedi calls him). Now if you will excuse me I am exhausted. I promise to blog more and add pictures later.

Sorry for the delay

PEAS:
It's been hectic. So I wanted to make Peas, but I didn't want to shell fresh peas. I bought:
Birds Eye Steam Fresh, So easy 5 minutes in the microwave. Then I just threw it in my mini food chopper, a few minutes later I had fresh peas. I decided to taste the fresh peas against the gerber ones. The fresh ones were so much better, and Tristan tore them up. He was lunging for the spoon. I didn't freeze any. I have a piggy eater. So every night for like three nights I just heated them and purred them as I needed them. I know people that freeze them and use them later. So you also could do that.

GREEN BEANS:
Equal FAIL #2. I used the steam fresh green beans. I couldn't get them smooth enough. Tristan can eat a little texture but there was some long strings. I posted about it on facebook, there were some replies I got:
Ashley: Did you try adding a little water to them? E would never eat my pureed green beans - they look gross!
Christina: Take the seeds out & add water. In a pinch, we have also used the string beans that are in water (no salt) in a can. Didn't even have to puree them just mushed them with a fork & Evan loved them.
Stacy: Like the others, we just added water.
Caitlin: Hmmm, the frozen ones I used this afternoon did that too- is chunky bad? I gave Alexa a little on my finger and she seemed ok with it. What I'm concerned about is the little bits of green bean "string".
Me: Caitlin that's what I was worried about too. I didn't want to use canned. So now I am stuck. Chunky is ok, but stringy fibers worry me.
Caitlin: I think that as we use it, I'll just check each bite for the strings. I got a lot of them pulled out as I spooned it into the ice cube tray. Maybe straining them would help next time.

So after all that, I picked out some seeds and a lot of the strings added a bit of water and re tried. PERFECT. I froze some and they reheat great.

I am so torn about this weekend.

The first nice day in a long time on the weekend, is SATURDAY! 74 baby, so I got invited to go to a huge yard sale with almost ALL baby stuff. I am not against buying stuff for Tristan at a yard sale, it its a toy disinfect it, clothes can wash. They grow up so quick. So thats option #1 from 7:30am-1:00pm, at Bowie Baysox Stadium. Then at 1pm there is a local Mom meet up in North Beach on the pier. I really want to take Tristan to that too. Last but not least (what I want to do the most) is the Zoo is having Earth Clean Up Day. As a Friends of the National Zoo member I can drive and park for free, so no carrying baby on the Metro. AHHHHHHH what's a girl to do?

Ahhh Tristan is 6 Months Old

Tristan rang in 6 months in style. The night before he went to bed around 8:30, then he was up at 10:30. I was making bottles for the night, I mix his bottles in the Dr. Brown's pitcher then I take two up and put then in the warmer/cooler. So I rushed up, and prayed he was just hungry and would go back down. He scarfed down his bottle and did what I call his shark impression. He bites at the air. I took this to mean that he wanted food. So I woke my husband and asked him if he fed him a solid before bed, of course he said no. So back down stairs we went. Tristan ate a whole container of squash. So I made one more bottle (in case he was hungry later, I did not want to have to come back down) by now it was 11:25. He had to be tired right? I have been getting away from co-sleeping, but at this point I had been up since 5:30 am and I was so tired. So off to my bed we went. Almost everyone knows Rick and I are not sharing a bed right now since he has to be up at 1 am for his 2 to 2 shift. So we laid in the guest room, with the tv off and only the baby crack machine (its a projector and white noise machine) it usually does the trick. Well not tonight. Midnight rolled around and we were still up. AGHHHHH I was pulling my hair out. He fell asleep at 12:30, so I let him sleep with me until at 3:30 I was tired of being pushed out of the bed. So I carried him to his bed. BIG MISTAKE. He woke up the instant I laid him down. NOOOOO I thought to myself. So I warmed a bottle (Note most of you know we were having major spit up issues and the pedi said just to try formulas until one stayed down. The one that has seemed to work now is Parents Choice Sensitivity, its been a month and no spit up issues.) So he ate. Now it was 4am and I was tired of laying there in the dark so I turned the TV on. We were up for the day, so at 5am I did day one of Jillian Micheal's 30 day shred. HOLY HELL BATMAN, that stuff is tough. At one point I wanted to give up, but its like she knew she said I have 400 lb people doing this, so you can do it. I wanted to scream how do you know I am not a 400 lb person (I am not) but I just stayed on it. Here are some pictures of Tristan.

MOM I WILL NOT SIT UP FOR MY 6 MONTH PICTURE:
MOM I WILL NOT SMILE FOR MY 6 MONTH PICTURE:

Easter Pictures

Easter was fabulous, unlike Christmas I remembered to take pictures. Rick and I were up the night before until Midnight making different foods to bring over his mothers house. So when Tristan slept in until 8am, I was so thankful. The Easter Bunny brought Tristan a stuffed Monkey, Rabbit (as you will see below the Easter Bunny matched his stuffed bunny to one of this BG 3.0 cloth diapers (yeah I know I am a dork)), and a ball popping thing (ok sorry I don't know the real name). We got showered after sleeping in late, we had to be out of the house by 10am. I rarely shower with the baby, for a few reasons hes slippery and he like to play in the bath. Tristan doesn't mind the shower, he just prefers the bathtub. I will say its a two person job for safety. I took a shower and did my thing. Rick handed me Tristan and I washed him. Then we got out and Rick got dressed. We had to finish a few things at Rick's mothers before everyone got there. I was worried like most holiday's that all the kids would over stimulate him and naps would be horrible. I am happy to say that he took 3 awesome naps. At dinner he ate squash and sat at the table with everyone. Hes such a big boy now. Here are some pictures:

Tristan Opening his basket:
Ohhhh a fun new toy!
Your doing it wrong, lazy boy.
Siting up to do it the right way.
My favorite Easter picture.
My Bunny matches my diapie.

Tristan's New Toy

Toys R us was having a buy one get one free Fisher-Price sale, also Earth's Best organic food was on sale 10 jars for $5.00. I make my own baby food, but I will need some to take with us on the plane when we go to California in May. So I got level 2's that seem fun. I hope I don't have a picky eater like I am. Well we got the Amazing Animals Spinnin' Around Musical Zoo (WOW that is a mouthful), we also got a tug boat toy. Tristan loves the Zoo toy. Daddy showed him how to use it. He gets mad that the Tiger that pops up and down can't come out of the hole. Its cute he has an Irish temper. Hes Irish, Italian and Cherokee Indian on my side, and Polish and German on Rick's side. My little mutt. Here are some pictures:

Amazing Animals™ Spinnin’ Around Musical Zoo

It's almost Tristan's half birthday..... So we got him a toy!!


After a diaper and outfit change he was out like a light.

Tristan Update

Tristan now has 3 teeth. I can't believe it, 3 teeth before 6 months. Time is going so fast. Enjoy these pictures. Tristan can now sit for as long as he wants. He is such a big boy. I love him more and more everyday! Tristan can now sit up himself from laying down!

SITTING UP:

PLAYING:

HAPPY HEINY MONKEY DIAPER:

Bad Mommy Story

So last night I fell asleep on the sofa and Tristan was on a feather bed in the living room. Its a big king size feather bed topper like made to be put on a bed. He plays on and I guess he fell asleep and Rick never moved him to his crib. I fed him at 2:30 and laid him back on a pillow on the feather bed. Well I woke up on the sofa this am to a noise. I was like WTF, yeah it was Tristan playing. He had scooted to the end with his toys and was sitting up, wide awake playing. I looked at him and asked him if he wanted a bottle and diaper. He pulled out his pacifier and made a noise at me, so I took it as a yes. I am glad we have gates and will never let us fall asleep downstairs again. But I guess he said screw it Mom its time to get up and play.

Tea

While I was in Philly this weekend at The 9th street Italian Market, I picked up some loose tea at The Spice Corner. I love the ritual of preparing loose tea, it also seems so much fresher then the bagged. I got a few flavors to try and two 1/4 lb bags that I knew I liked. For the 1/4 lb bags I got a spiced chai and yerba mate. Chai can be made with just water, or you can make it the traditional way with steamed milk, so good both ways. In the way of flavored black tea I got: Black Cherry, French Vanilla, Apricot, & Mango Apple. Another kind that I got and LOVED is Ginger Plum Oolong! SO GREAT!

Funniest New Show

I watched Operation Repo last night on TruTV. I was laughing so hard. The people that repo the cars are funny at time. Even funnier are the people losing cars. In one scene they (the repo people) drove to a wooded area (new cars often have GPS that the car companies can track) so they pull up and four people were role playing. Only I think they thought they really were a princess, wizard, and 2 knights. It was so FUNNY! They stayed in character. As they were hooking the car up this crazy chick kept yelling you can't do this to a princess. OMG I watched 2 hours of it. I AM HOOKED!

Role Playing Scene

The 9th Street Italian Market

In front of Claudio's

Big Cheese at Claudio's

In front of Talluto's Pasta & Cheese

In front of Talluto's Pasta & Cheese

Car Ride

Squash

Tristan really does not like squash. The first time he threw up and this is what I got today.

California Packing List- DC to Cali (9 Days)

Carry On Diaper Bag:

Diapers & Changing-

• 6 Cloth- Pre Stuffed


• 1 Wet Bag (Medium Planet Wise)


• 6 Emergency Disposables


• 1 Container of Wipes


• 6 Large Ziploc Bags (I know not so eco friendly, but I want the smell of poo contained if blowouts occur in Cloth diapers. Then I will put Ziploc bag in wet bag.)


• 1 Changing Pad

Clothing-

• 2 Extra Outfits (1 Long Sleeve/pant Romper & 1 Short Sleeve/short Romper)


• 2 Shirts (1 Me, & 1 Daddy(in case of spit up)


• 3 Bibs


• 3 Burp Cloths


• 2 Swaddle Blankets (Tristan likes to chew on one & Cover his face with the other while he sleeps)

Feeding-

• 2 Empty 8 oz Dr. Browns Bottles


• 2 Juice filled 4 oz Dr. Browns Bottles (With Screw Tops)


• 2 Advent Dry Formula Containers (Each holds 3 Formula/Oatmeal Feedings)


• 2 Jars Baby Food (1 Breakfast @ BWI, 1 Lunch Emergency)


• 2 Spoons

Miscellaneous-

• 3 Pacifiers


• Few Toys (Non Noisy Ones)


• Few Teethers


• Tylenol


• Orajel


• Mylicon


• Baby Sunglasses

Carry On Luggage:

Tristan’s-

• 3 Striped Short Rompers- Children’s Place


• 3 Long Rompers- Old Navy


• 1 Swim/Beach Outfit- Old Navy


• 3 Casual Short/Tee Shirt Outfits- Old Navy


• 3 Cargo Shorts- Old Navy


• 3 Polo Shirts- Old Navy


• 12 Bibs


• 2 Blankets


• 6 Onesies


• 3 Bath Towels


• 6 Wash Cloths


• 6 Burp Cloths


• 2 Pacifiers


• 6 Cloth Diapers- Pre Stuffed


• 1 Large Wet Bag (HAVE TO BUY)

Miscellaneous-

• Cow Britax Carseat


• Pooh Evenflo Stroller

Ship Ahead:

• Jumbo Pack of Disposables


• 1 Wipe Container


• 1 Wipe Refill


• 1 Can Formula


• 1 Large Box Oatmeal


• 2 Juices- 32 oz


• 28 Jars Baby Food


• 8 Dr. Brown’s 8 oz Bottles


• 1 Dr. Browns Drying Rack


• 3 Baby Spoons


• Baby Bowls


• 2 Sippy Cups


• Toys


• Ziploc Container w/ Planet Wise Detergent


• Baby Powder


• Baby Lotion


• All Over Baby Wash


• Sun Screen


• Inflatable Baby Tub


• Pack n Play
  
  

Philly Trip Packing List:

I know its a one day trip, but it is a 3 hour car ride and I don't want to forget anything.

PACKING LIST:
10 Diapers
Small Wipes Ziploc
3 Bibs
2 bottles of water (16 oz)
1 bottle of juice (1-4oz & 1-8oz)
6 bottles w/ dry formula & cereal
1 container of bananas (bkfst/lunch)
2 scoops oatmeal in small round cont.
2 baby spoons
Ziploc bag (dirty spoons)
Ice pack w/ soft cooler for baby food
3 Burpcloths
2 Spare Outfits
2 Rings (1 on exersaucer & 1 Cora's)
Dog Rattle (In my purse)
Monkey Rattle (Cora's)
Stuffed Elephant (Living room)
2 Blankets
2 Pacifiers
2 Teethers
Cow Britax Car seat
Pooh Stroller

A relaxing night with my two boys!

Tristan tried bananas for the first time tonight. I wish my camera had been by me. The first bite he made the funniest face. It was so cute. Daddy added a little oatmeal and Tristan ate all of it. He was reaching for the spoon and eating away. I waited to give him bananas since it is a binder.

After dinner we snuggled and Daddy fed a 6 oz bottle, with oatmeal in it. Tristan has acid reflux so the oatmeal helps him keep it down. We snuggled on the sofa and watched Survivor.

Then it was bedtime for Daddy, and Tristan and I laid in the guest bedroom to snuggle and watch the 200th episode of CSI.

Now its almost over, both my boys are in bed and I am relaxing.

Holy Hot Mama

We learned a new trick!!!
We can sit up ALONE!!!!!!!!

I will get a picture tonight!

Our Weekend Plans

We are headed to Philadelphia, more specifically to the 9th street Italian Market. Its Easter dinner shopping time. We is Rick's Mom, Dad, & Sister, Tristan, and I. This is an annual trip. Last year I was pregnant and there were a few things I couldn't eat. Like YUMMY blue cheese.

Shops I love-
D'Angelo Bros.- Our Leg of Lamb usually comes from here
Anthony's Italian Coffee House- Cannoli, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Candy Apples...... YUM!
Talluto's Pasta & Cheese- Fresh made pasta and sauces... So GOOD!
DiBruno Bros Cheese- So many yummy cheeses.
The Spice Corner- Tea, Coffee, and Spices, Need I say more?
Fante's- Fun things for the kitchen

I promise to take many pictures!