Goldfield Ghost Town

My Aunt Pat and cousin Carl (her grandson) were in town last weekend. We did a quick trip up to the Goldfield Ghost Town, since my cousin seems to like that kind of stuff. It really is a neat area, and I decided it would be fun to take Everett back and take some photos in the same spots we did last time.

(they didn't want their photo taken)

E with my Aunt Tricia. This was right before he peed through his diaper onto me. Curse those cheap Target diapers! it keeps happening!

me and my boy! In case you look at the other post at the ghost town, YES I am wearing the same shirt. I do not know how this happened, especially since its probably the only 2 times Ive worn it!

Whats on the phone

Happy Birthday

Friday was my husbands birthday. I feel like it came and went so fast, I hope it was special for him!

We didn't do anything fancy, he requested Papa Johns pizza and wanted to watch the Muppets movie with some friends. Ok! I also made him banana caramel cupcakes that he loves.

I know everyone says Everett looks just like his dad, but what do you think? I am on the bottom, Chris above me.
I will tell you this, he is acting like his dad more and more daily. This morning I was feeding Ev yogurt and he turned his head into his shoulder and closed his eyes. Then he would look at me and laugh! I think he was pretending sleeping in his high chair! What a silly boy. Between his dad and him, I am in for a lifetime of laughs. I love my boys!

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

This is a recipe for the little ones. Others can eat it too, I just have an aversion to cottage cheese so I make these for the babe. And he is CRAZY for them.

Everett was never into baby food. So right away I tried to find recipes that he could safely feed himself for meals. I found this one, and have made it so many times and adjusted it for us, I thought I would share it! Its a good way to bookmark it for myself, I pulled it up on my phone twice already this week.

I love this pancake recipe, because it is flour and sugar free! the original is very thick so I add liquid to make a thinner batter. I also add cinnamon and I like to do banana when I have them on hand. I have tried these, and they are good!!

You need: oats, cottage cheese, eggs, fruit, cinnamon, vanilla, and water.

Add everything except fruit to the food processor.

Add the batter and cook like you would a pancake! I always add the fruit to the pancake batter once I poured it into the pan.

After I make a big batch (and its usually a big batch since I don't have another use for cottage cheese), put them on a cookie sheet, freeze for 6 hours then transfer to a ziploc. Then I pop one in the microwave for 20 seconds and cut up for Everetts breakfast! (the picture below are the frozen blueberry ones I made earlier in the week)

Baby approved!

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

1 cup oats (not quick cooking)

1/2 cup cottage cheese

2 eggs

2-3 tablespoons water or milk

pinch of cinnamon

1/4 tsp vanilla

thinly sliced banana, or fruit of choice

Put all ingredients except fruit into food processor. Blend until it forms a smooth, not too thick or thin batter.

I use an ice cream scoop to add the batter to the pan, this makes small pancakes. Add fruit (banana or blueberries are great) to the batter once in the pan. Flip once the pancake bubbles. Cook on fruit side another 30 sec- 1 minute.

Serve immediately or transfer to cookie sheet to freeze and enjoy throughout the week!

yields 10 small pancakes- recipe easily doubles, or triples!

My cool guy

My little boy looked so cute last week, I couldn't resist a little photo op.

p.s, if you have a little boy, Wal Mart has these hats for $3.47, I bought the navy one as well. I love them!

Zoo!

My sister invited Everett and I to the zoo last Friday. This was our second trip this year! Luckily for us, my sister has a membership which means we got in free! bonus! We didn't stay too long because it was so crowded due to Spring Break, and a little warm (I know in a couple months it'll be worse, so I hesitate even saying it was HOT!)

Everett loves being outside, but the heat was making his little cheeks so rosy red, as you can see in these pics!

Looking at the giraffes!

I gave my niece and nephew the cotton candy we had leftover from the Ostrich Festival. Hey, they are kids, and will never know...haha.

The walk-thru monkey exhibit is so fun. There were a ton of baby ducklings in there too. Cuteness overload!

The monkeys were so close to us, Everett was really watching them closely!

You can also walk right up to the peacocks! I had never seen them there before.

It was nap time, and I kept waiting for him to pass out, and he just wouldn't. Poor baby!

And hey, we have all had that awkward moment when we think we are taking a photo, but its a video! And I am sharing mine.

talking baby

My mother in law has always said my husband Chris was born talking. Everett is very vocal and learning new sounds every day.

Here are a couple videos of his words he will say!

Bye-bye (being held by my sister and my mom is talking. he says it very quietly at the end. this was about a month ago)

da da

oh, and if no one watches these I totally understand. I rarely watch videos on fb or blogs because I feel creepy....haha.

Ostrich Festival

This weekend we went to the Ostrich Festival! If you live in Chandler or Gilbert I am sure you've heard of it! When Chris worked in Chandler the company sponsored it so we got free tickets the first couple years we were dating and married. We have lots of good memories going there, and we were excited to bring Everett!

We were on our way there when I realized I forgot my camera. Hate that. So here are some iPhone photos for you!

They sell Ostrich burgers there. I tried one, and it was actually very good. Tasted like beef!

Everett loves being outside! He also loves looking around, taking everything in. We were waiting for a monkey show to start, and people were crowding in around us, so Chris put Ev on his shoulders. Everett started pulling peoples hair around us. Whoops. We didn't stay at the show much longer after that.
It was a beautiful day! The weather has been gorgeous, it was even very chilly once the sun set.

10 months old!

I've been dreading this month, since he is now double digits. Makes me so stinking sad! I know the whining about time going by so fast gets annoying- but SERIOUSLY it goes so fast!

Everett is such a busy little boy. Always moving. Always getting into things. Rarely still. Never cuddles.

He is standing on his own now. He pulls himself up on everything, even his crib which is very low so I am surprised he is tall enough to reach the top. He now stands and then lets go, standing alone for a second before he falls to his bum. For as busy as he is, he is very cautious when he is on his feet. He knows to sit himself down slowly, and takes slow steps when "cruising" along furniture.

He is so social. He babbles a lot. He still says "dada" all the time and definitely knows what it means. A couple times he has said "mama" but it was maybe only twice and when I tell him to say it he says "dada". Stinker. He also says "buh bye", "dog", and he called his PawPaw Kent "pawpaw" clear as day last week. I have gotten a few words on video, I need to post them!

He is doing this new thing where if I am holding him, and introduce him to someone new, or even just tell him to say hi to someone, he lays his head down on my shoulder and acts bashful.

He is still signing some things. A while ago I taught him "milk", but then I decided to stop because I thought it may make weaning harder. Well, the other day Ev was sitting at my feet and reached his hand up toward me opening and closing his fingers (the sign for milk is squeezing your hand open and closed). I thought it was a cute new wave he was doing, but when I picked him up, he "assumed the position" of nursing and yanked my shirt, signing milk over and over. Oh boy. This is his new favorite thing to do, and its so funny to me! He is so smart! Now that he signs it and knows what it means, it makes our life so much easier. He signs it when he is tired too so its almost like he's asking to go to bed. Which he does now beautifully.

Speaking of sleep, we had a rough month when him waking up often, but it was due to teething. He cut his fourth tooth (after it being **right there** for 3 WEEKS) and since them he will sleep 11 hours straight.

Everett had ear tubes put in this month, his first surgery.

His favorite foods are: black beans, blueberries, chicken, cheese, puffs, and cheerios. Still not a veggie fan- we need help in that department!

what I don't want to forget:

• waking up to your happy babbles over the monitor
• how love your dada
• how excited you get over black beans
• how you really study things. you take toys and look them over, picking and poking everything.
• how you are a little vampire, biting our faces and necks all the time.
• how you love your doggies! you often let them out of their kennel and chase them around
• your breathy voice, especially when you say "pawpaw" and "baba"
• your little hand signing milk at me
• how you eagerly pull all your clothes out of your drawer and throw them on the ground
• how you sleep so sweetly, taking up almost half the length of your crib

Jumper Fun