Helena is finding her voice!!!

We were at my friend Natalie's house. Helena has her days of loving the dogs and then hating them. She loved them this day! TOOOOO FUNNY:)

SWIM LESSONS!

Helena had her first swim lesson today. It started a little rocky since she puked in the pool and the instructor freaked out:) We got all the chunks out of the pool and continued. We splashed and sang songs. We floated on our backs, kicked our feet, went under water, and jumped into the pool. All of these things were assisted.... Helena did a great job, she really loves the water. She did get a little freaked out about going under. They have you dive them under.... she came up a little freaked however we clapped and then she smiled! This is going to be a daddy and Helena activity, however I will be in the water too. We both want to be comfortable in the water with her. We do not have pics from the class, but I did get her a new suit and cover up! I will post pictures this weekend. We are off for a walk, the weather has been beautiful so we are spending a lot of time outside:)

32 Weeks! TIME IS FLYING!!

Wow I am a bad mom, I have not been keeping up on the blogging! Well big things happening in the Cook house. BJ and his company moved into an office space this last weekend. So that is a really big deal for them. They are getting new projects each day, so we feel really grateful especially when a lot of people are struggling. It will be nice to have in only 10 minutes away instead of 30 minutes. So CONGRATS Digital Operative, may the new office space bring you lots PEOPLE/PLANET/PROFIT :)
As for home life things have been a little stressful, we are trying to move out of our falling apart apartment. We are in a lease until August, however there are somethings going on and we would like to work with them on getting out. So we are giving them our notice and MAY 1st, 2009 the Cook family should have a new address:) We are all very excited for this, I am most excited to de-clutter our lives! Really dig in and get rid of stuff. How do you accumulate so much SH$%!!! We found a place we like we are just waiting to finalize everything till the middle of April so we can take advantage of being an immediate move-in.
On a positive not, Helena went swimming for the first time last week, she is natural in the water, she splashes and has no fear! She loves putting her face in the water, kicking her feet, and blowing bubbles! If I would have let her she would have stayed in there all day! Other things she is doing, she is really starting to have a temper, if she does not want to do something she squeals and arches her back and sometime throws herself back. It is very funny I do have to say, however you have to really watch where she is throwing herself, she is soooo strong, she wipes back so fast you can barely catch her. She is cutting her top teeth and I think on a growth spurt, she is eating, drooling, and sleeping a lot! We are doing really good with naps, she puts herself down with out a fuss most days. Bedtime I still rock her, which is not working as well anymore but again most days we snuggle up and rock till our heart is content! All and all she is such a good little girl, she loves to smile, laugh and talk! What more could you want:)

AIR CHEEKY BACCA!

This is one of our favorite pictures, Helena is very much a girlie girl. She loves hats, headbands, shoes and dresses! She loves to pose for the camera and most of the time she becomes very serious. We have to catch her off guard to get a smile. She is just too funny and is developing quite the personality. I can already tell what a smart pants she is going to be we will have our hands full!

Happy St Patricks Day!

I hope everyone is doing well. Things in the Cook house are very well, BJ is currently finishing our tax preparation so we can bring them into our accountant! YEA for our first big deduction... HELENA:) HA HA Lets see what else has been happening... oh that is right Helena is saying M words.... she is mimicking MILK and Meow. She is also a pro at MOM and MOMMA! It is the best thing ever when she says it, I think I might blush a little:) We got a little off with the time change, tonight is the first night Helena went down with out a fight, man she is really stubborn. She is doing really well on her naps, she goes down 2 times a day by herself and with in 10 minutes she is sound a sleep. As for sleeping through the night I have completly given up, we get up between 2-4 times a night, really just depends on the night. Getting up 2 times is a BREEZE.... I have really gotten use to this and it is pretty consistent. We will see if getting her to bed early tonight helps, lets hope so.
So we having been having a lot of tummy time to encourage crawling, she is getting better, however would be just as happy sitting in the same position with all of her toys. So she has a crawl ball that she has been very interested in and that makes her scoot in a circle, its a start right:) We also took Helena to the beach on Sunday and she experienced the sand for the first time, BJ was playing Vball so I do not have a pic, she loved it!!!! Did not cring or anything, I did not let her get her hands on it, I was not ready for a mouth full of sand yet. I have a summer full of sand ahead so I was saving myself.
Helena and I spent the day with my friend Maria and Tristan we played at the park and had lunch. It is always nice having playdates, she sleeps so much better after playing with kids. I LIKE IT:) We also found out today that we maybe moving. We found a place that we really love, so we are waiting to hear if they accept us and then we will need to help find some for our current spot. Our manager is also helping us which is sooooo nice! So keep your fingers crossed, we are ready for a more modern place and a washer and dryer in our unit!!! This is Helena wearing her GREEN, showing her Irish side:)

7 Months Old! Where is the time going???

Happy 7 Month Birthday Helena James! All day today I was wondering where the last 7 months has gone! Helena is really a girlie girl. She loves shoes, clothes, and hats. I tell her how pretty she is when we get her dressed or we put her shoes on and she just smiles and hams it up. I have a little miss look at me:) I love it! We have been struggling a little with the time change, but we are working on it. We are also letting Helena cry it out when it is naptime. She has cried as long as 20 minutes and there was one time she did not cry at all! It has only 5 days of this and everyday it does get easier and she falls asleep faster:) Well we are head to the Wild Animal Park tomorrow. So I am sure I will have lots of pictures and more to blog!

29 weeks and TALKING!!!!

So last night Helena said MOM MOM!!! We were shopping at Trader Joes and I was doing my own thing when BJ meet me in the check out line and he was in shock. She was staring at him saying MOM, MOM. Then he found me and she said it again! We thought maybe it was a fluc, however all night it was mmmmmm MOM! And today, she was looking up at me from her stroller saying MOM! It really does melt your heart. She is good with the MMMMMMM sounds. She is also signing MILK, and get very excited when we sign that and then she signs with us! We are working on all done now. She also always puts her hands up when she wants up! TOOOO CUTE!
Some other things she is doing, she is eating teething biscuits, she is really good at drinking out of her sippy cup! She loves riding in the shopping carts, she feels like such a big girl. We have a cart cover so that keeps her pretty entertained! She is also loving tummy time, she is not crawling, we practice the motions with her and get her up on her hands and knees. She does move herself in a circle then she gets pretty upset! She loves to stand next to things, tonight she was standing by the ottoman and Jones, ( SHE LOVES JONES) she laughs and gets so excited when he comes around!
Helena also has a new friend, my friend Sarah the owner of my gym have worked out a babysitting schedule for each other, so Emma and Helena are together Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8:30am to 10am. They are soooo cute! Emma is quite the mover and shaker so maybe she will motivate Miss Helena to get going. At Kettle Bells the other day, Helena did get to go in an AWESOME jumper! She did not really jumped but spin in circles and smiled up a storm! I am now going to work out from 8:30 to 9:15 and then take the girl for a walk by the bay! It is lots of fun to see them interact! Helena is also really enjoying her stroller now and just loves being outside on walks or at the park going down the slide and swinging. It is really hard to believe she is going to be 7 months next week!