3 Cookies to 5 Cookies in 2 days!!!

So my mom was pointing out to me that I have been a very very bad blogger for these babies.... Harper and Gunner, mommy is sorry, but with work and your sister, moving and over all just being plain tired I have not been as up to snuff for you 2! But I would like to THANK YOU for being such good babies and over all giving me a GREAT pregnancy! Dr O'Hara's says if you were not breech and he did not have to take you via c-section you 2 would probably stay put until your due date! I do not know HOW I would be able to do that... Your Grammies Clark has been here for a week and I have been taking it pretty easy.... I am extremely swollen, gaining 10-20lbs of water weight a day, my belly is 48inches around. I am sleeping for 2 hours at a time and I waddle EVERYWHERE!!! I feel so blessed that I have not had to go on bed rest and I was able to work until my 36th week. All and All and AWESOME job babies.... I hope when I meet you on TUESDAY that you are perfect visions of health just like your sister was!!! PS I am very curious to know what you guys look like.... We have been able to see Gunners profile a few times, however Harper is always facing my back. My dr explained this week she is just trying to be polite to her brother since he has his BALLS in her face!!! He is already trying to show his true colors:)

So we have made it to 38 weeks, this Tuesday November 9th. This is the day our babies will be born, we are scheduled for a c-section at noon! This has been my most trying week of pregnancy for sure, I am swollen, short of breath, and so tired! The Dr thinks they are going to be 6 to 7lbs babies, that is very good sized TWINS:)
The only thing left to do is repack our hospital bag ( I had to throw one together since I thought I was having back labor and ruched to TRIAGE! FALSE ALARM) and finish the bookshelf in the babies room! All and all we are as ready as we are going to be! I have been talking to Helena a lot about the babies and that they are coming, I know that one baby would rock a toddlers world, but Helena will never know the difference, she is getting 2, the best of both worlds a BROTHER & SISTER.

The last couple of weeks have been great, i have been done working and I have been able to get ready for the babies! I also have had lots of time to snuggle and love Helena! I have been taking her to school, reading with her, coloring with her, playing playdoh:) I just love her so much, she is such an amazing little bean:) She is saying so many things and trying to put things together, she still jibber jabbers, but repeats all the things we say to her. My favorite thing she does is, she loves POPSICLES... and when she is eating meals or gets hungry she says "POPSICLE?" We respond, "lets eat dinner or wait until your finished eating." Helena then responds " 2 Popsicles" Totally disregarding anything we just said! TOO FUNNY! She loves playing on the I-pad, BJ has gotten a lot of educational games and she LOVES THEM! It is super cute to watch them play together. She still loves singing and dancing! It is so fun having dance parties every morning:) I love that she LOVES THE BEATLES:) THATS MY GIRL... oh and Kelly Clarkston, thats my fault too!!!

We got to truly experience Halloween this year, Helena had a festival at school that just her and BJ attended, I need to stay home and relax due to just being HUGE! She got to ROCK her Rainbow Brite costume, she loved it and looked adorable wearing it! The festival was Friday, Saturday we carved pumpkins and Sunday we went Trick or Treating, she was a PRO! She said Trick or Treat at every house, she also said Thank YOU, and she did want to go and check every ones house out! It was funny watching her try to bust in!!! I made it a couple blocks and then I switched with my mom, and I stayed back and handed out candy. We ran out of candy in an HOUR!!! I can not believe it... 5 bags next year for sure:) Helena is not a sweet eater but we found out she loves suckers.... I was tempted to count and see HOW MANY LICKS DOES IT TAKE TO GET TO THE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE POP :) She sucked on hers for almost an HOUR, got to the center and declared she was done!!! We had such a great Halloween, such a fun fun night!

Something that is so crazy is that on November 3rd, I had my last drs appointment and we went to the park after. It ended up being over 100 degrees that day and we busted out the swimming pool! Helena had so much fun.... but who is swimming in NOVEMBER! WE ARE.... it was over 100 degrees for 3 days straight, so hot and does not help a 9 month preggo with her swelling at all.

We are so grateful for every ones kind word and prayers during this pregnancy, we did it, we have made to the end!!! I look forward to sharing our journey as a family of 5!!! BJ will be in charge of pictures, he will be uploading them to facebook and then to flickr a few days after there arrival. I will do my best to update before Thanksgiving! We have so much to be THANKFUL FOR:)

Wow.... 35 weeks Preggos with Twins....

Well.... I am the worst blogger ever... These poor babies do have not blog records like Helena does:( I have no idea how I had so much time to blog with her. But here goes nothing.


We are all moved into to the house... we still are making it OUR cozy home, I know that will take some time and I know we will get there. The house is going to be filled with Baby stuff starting this weekend... the swing and pack n play are going to get set up and I am going to have BJ put the finishing touches on the babies room. Over all I am not prepared at all like I was with Helena... I do have nightmares that they come early and we get home and BJ can not find anything and he is so MAD at me!!! AHHHHH the pressure, not to mention that I do not have a bag packed or anything. I just let the babies know that we should wait a few more weeks:) As of right now we are scheduled November 9th at Noon. I would like to make it this far for many reasons, #1 they will be 38 weeks, #2 Dr Ohara will be delivering them, #3 my mom will be here. I am a planner and I would just like everything to go as I know it should:)

I started this blog last week and we are now almost 36 weeks.... the nursery is done, I have a little bit more laundry to do and put away. Things are coming together.... BJ and I have decided that I have DROPPED which means I now really have to TAKE IT EASY! The pressure on my hips and legs after an hour of running around is INTENSE!!! We are both doing our best to hold out until the 9th. He has been great HOUSEWIFE:) At last weeks appointment I was not dilated just very soft and Harpers feet are very much planted in my pelvis. At this time it looks like she is smaller then her brother, but we will see about this.... They thought Helena was 8lbs, she was not even 7lbs when she was born!

Helena has gotten another sinus infection, so she is currently on antibiotics. Bummer for her, but so glad I took her in, with in 24 hours of being on them, her nose cleared right up! This means good night sleep for all of us, and a little less clingy toddler. WHO AM I KIDDING... this kid has been glued to me for a week straight.... I do love her to pieces and snuggling with her is my FAVORITE thing to do, however I am 300 degrees and HUGE, so it is hard to have a 30 lbs little person draped over me! But we are making it thru!
Helena loves her minivan and is very ready to make the move to the 3rd row, her carseat will go there this next weekend... she always vlines for the back seat and driver seat when she enters.... future Danica Patrick on our hands. Speaking my lovely van, I have had it for ONE MONTH today and it is RECALLED! I have to take it in for its brakes... REALLY HONDA.... come on! Like I need one more thing to worry about!
I am getting excited for Halloween this next weekend, I think Helena is really going to enjoy Trick or Treating even though she is not a candy eater. But she loves dressing up and I know she will love being outside in the dark:) We also have her fall festival at school this week, excited to dress her up and see her with all of her friends!
We are also picking my mom up from the airport of Friday night! So we are going to have an extra set of hands in the Cook house! We are all looking forward to this and I think a little nervous, since she really marks the fact that we are going to be having the TWINS really really soon! Once she is here, it is the 11 day count down! CRAZY, EXCITING, SCARY!!! Well I will do my best to update later this week after my appointments.
Other things..... Helena is saying so many words and trying to put things together. Sometimes she gets very stubborn and her emotions get the best of her so she points, grunts, cries, and rolls around on the floor, she thinks we will break down and give in to her.... CONFESSION... sometimes we do! All and all though, she is doing a great job communicating, I love hearing her little voice! She is also an amazing dancer and singer, this kid sings every song in the car! SO CUTE.... I got her a little microphone for the car and we have singing dance parties A LOT! I just can not believe that is going to be 28 months, she is over all such a HAPPY little girl who truly LOVES life.

August!!!

So it is now August 23rd, I am almost 27 weeks pregnant, I have 2 year old and we are moving in 5 days!!!

Helena is 2, can you believe it! Grammies, my Aunt Cheryl drove from Minnesota to spend sometime with us! They got her on August 8th! We found out on August 9th that we got the house we wanted in Tierrasanta... it is 4 bedrooms, 1 full, 2 half baths, garage, washer and dryer, office area! All good things and a great space for us to grow! We also have a yard!

While grammies was here, we celebrated Helenas Birthday 2 times. She went to Seaworld on her actual bday. My cousin flew down from Sacramento to see us and her mommy... from the pictures it looks like she had a great day! She even got a SHAMU button and got to skip the lines for all the rides at Elmos World! We had dinner with her and a cupcake! We then had a little birthday party on Saturday for her! She loved seeing all of her friends and playing, eating, blowing out her candles and also eating her ice cream cake! It was a great BIRTHDAY!!!

Helena is now 2 and continues to amaze us with all of the word she is learning and trying to say, my favorite is OH SHEET!!! you all know what that means and she does say it from time to time! She says so many things that I could fill a blog of just words... my favorite thing she says is HA-PER.... with a Boston Accent! Another adorable thing she does , when she wants to watch one of her shows... she lists them... WOW WOW WUBBZY... KAI... LIVIA until you pick one or she gets lucky and we put one on! She also loves to help her self to FOOD, whether it is in the fridge or the pantry nothing is safe from her!

We are living amongst boxes right now! There are so many I can not even count! We have been getting lots of stuff done... We really only have a few things left to pack, I should be doing that right now, but instead I am blogging and about to upload pictures! I will do a little each day after work! Before I know it, it will be FRIDAY... we will head to the drs and then come home and pack the final things, clothes out of the drawers and all of the electronics!

Harper Laine and Gunner Reid
In case you had not heard those are the names of our beautiful babies... it is so crazy to think they will be here in a MAX 11 weeks!!! So excited and so nervous all at the same time! Every appointment has gone well! My last appointment I had my diabetes test and that was negative. I also got to see the babies again, Helena and my mom came along. My OBGYN informed me that my cervix is TEXT BOOK! In all of his years of practice he has never seen anything like it... IS THIS A GOOD THING! It was so funny, my mom and I laughed all the way home! I have a feeling that I will be carrying these babies until the 38th week... NOV 9th, we have not decided on whether we are going to go thru with a VBAC or have another csection. We have decided to see what happens!!! Since my appointments have been going so well, I am going to continue working, this means Helena James is going to start preschool September 7th, she will be attending a German Preschool 4 days a week and I will be working 4 half days:) I pick her up by 2pm and get to go home and NAP!!! I am hoping to make it to the end of October.... so wish me luck! Other baby news is just that I am going to start getting the nursery ready, and getting all the baby stuff set up! This way Helena gets use to it. ( 25 weeks pregnant)

I also want to make sure we get her big girl room ready.... I have purchased a daybed, dresser and a adorable book shelve... all we need is some curtains. I have not decided on a color for those, but I am going to get them at Target since they have cute ones that keep the room dark. As for the babies room, we are doing Brown, Baby Pink and Baby Blue... with a few cute jungle animals on the wall:) It will be warm and relaxing in there! My friend Natalie is throwing me a Diaper Drizzle at the end of September, It will be so good to see friends and maybe some family... I feel so out of the loop, from working, packing, vacations, dr appts, house hunting you name it I feel like it has been on our plates... so I am not ignoring you FRIENDS and FAMILY... I just truly am scraping by!!! Well the next post will be from our new HOUSE! Wish us luck!

JULY

July 2, 2010, this is the day I turned 29 years old! Also I had my big doctors appt to see if we could see Baby A's sex. BJ was meeting me at the appointment. I drank some lemonade and a huge bottle of water. I HAD TO PEE SO BAD!!! BJ was not there when they called me in and they got started right away. Before BJ could get there, the tech had the sex of Baby A and so badly wanted to show me because she had a clear picture. So I said what the HELL its my birthday, she told me IT WAS A................. GIRL! I started to cry... I told her I am having a HARPER LAINE:) I was overjoyed to be having one of each. BJ walked in a second later and we kept him in the dark for a about 15 minutes. Harper did not go back into position so I ended up telling him we were having a GIRL! Just Baby A's ultrasound took forever... I had to pee like a race horse, she was moving everywhere and kept kicking my bladder! Finally after over 30 minutes of holding my pee I got to go to the bathroom. Then we got to look around at Baby B for a while... He looked awesome and was so calm and relaxed! We got a great picture of his profile. He looks pretty cute:) It was a great day... so glad I got to experience that on the big 29!

We had date night on Saturday night for my birthday weekend and saw Twilight Eclipse and had Dinner. On the 4th of July, we brought Helena to see Toy Story 3! She had such an awesome time, but DEAR PIXAR... 7 previews before a kids movie is TOO MUCH! Bring on the movie already! It was her first kid movie in the theater and she loved it and did a really good job!

So the rest of our month was our family vacation to the East Coast. BIG THING... Helena got her first pedicure with MOMMY!!! We left on July 15th, it was a red eye... BJ and I did not sleep, however Helena did right until we landed for our layover in ATLANTA... that is a HUG airport and we had to TREK across it! We got some breakfast and then headed to our gate. We got on the next flight and BJ and Helena both took a little nap! We made it to the Philly Airport just fine and headed to BJs moms for some much need R and R! Helena stayed awake for a few hours and then we headed upstairs were we watched the portable dvd player and both passed out for 5 hours!!! Helena got her first haircut ... not as traumatic as I thought it would be, but there were tears! Good thing her Mimi did it!

That weekend we were off to Ocean City NJ... Mimi had rented a beach house. We all were there for a week. The house was full, MIMI,Buddy, Auntie Nicki, Uncle Ian, Cousins Taylor and Evan. It was a great big house we all had great space! Helena slept on a twin mattress in our room and did really well! The week was full of beach days, nights at the boardwalk, ice cream, rides, good food, and great company. We had so much fun! Helena did develop the worst diaper rash she has ever had... we ended up treating it like a yeast infection. There were lots of sand castles and trenches built, also some good naps on the beach! Helena loved playing in the water... it was so warm and refreshing! The weather was HOT, which lead me to swell a little and there was night which I had some serious braxton hicks, and later my belly looked different, so I am guessing that the babies changed positions. We had a great trip, Helena loved playing with her cousins, she was afraid of Evan... AKA BEAST... he would come toward her and she would jump up on the couch or into your arms. She also loved playing games with Taylor, they played Hullaboo and Elefun! Helena loved them... I am going to have to get games this year for Christmas!!! We made it home safe to find our house FILLED with cat hair! BJ and I cleaned for 45 minutes and then relaxed the rest of the day!

By the end of July, BJ and I did find a house... and applied... that leads us to AUGUST......

The rest of June

Well the last time I updated was right before my trip to MINNESOTA.... We know what one of the babies was not both.... and we were dealing with a super fun 22 month old:)

Minnesota.... The trip started off on a Thursday, I went to work for 1/2 day got home and off to the airport we went! This is the first trip I had brought anything to check at the gate and it was not to bad... I am glad I had the stroller.... Carrying Helena and a giant belly does not work in an airport. BJ came home to take us to the airport and also brought us in to make sure we got situated.... We get to the counter and the plane is VERY VERY FULL.... only middle seats available.... this is not ideal for a 18 week pregnant lady with a toddler on her lap..... so BJ FORCED us to upgrade to first:) HE HE.... I really did not plan for this, but I booked this trip and the east coast trip at the same time! And reserved seats for the East Coast trip not MINNESOTA... OOOOPS! So Helena and I rode 1st class... we got a row to ourselves and she got her own seat in 1st... this is a big deal so much room for us both. In a matter of minutes Helena was pants less on the plane... She is always soaking thru her diaper and of course the wonderful forgetful mother I am forgot to pack and extra outfit! Helena did awesome on the plane, portable DVD players are amazing! She never cried and was the only kid in 1st and all the other passengers in 1st complimented her on being such a BIG GIRL :)

The trip to Minnesota was great and a little hot. Helena ended up running a fever for a few days so I did not get to see and do as much as I wanted but all in all we had lots of fun. She got to go the park, play with friends, swim NAKED in the backyard in her very own pool! Grammies also put up a swing in the yard and she LOVED that! We spent time with Robyn and her girls... Helena and Auriana switched rolls this time... last time we say them Auriana was smothering Helena with Hugs and Kisses and Helena wanted nothing to do with it... this time Helena was to be on top of her... hugging her, kissing her, tickling her.... Auriana was not so sure, but the last day they bonded at the park going down the tunnel slide and also found that they both had a love for SWINGING. We took the girls to my dads band concert... this is not a rock band, it is a community band, he plays trombone, Helena was dancing for an hour straight! She loved it... we also got to celebrate Kaposia Days, which is So St Pauls yearly celebration, Helena won lots of prizes at the kiddie carnival and she got a button!!!

I also headed to Iowa with my dad to see my friend Jaime for the day and her new little bundle of joy Lincoln... he is such a cutie. It was very nice to see them! Glad we made it down there:)

So again all and all a good trip... also started to get a few things for Baby Boy.... got to love buying clothes and it is tax free!!!!

17 week Doctors Appointment

(Below is both babies head to head, Left: Baby A grabbing its little toes)

So today was our big Dr's appointment. I remember very much that I was so excited to find out whether Helena was a girl or boy.... but today, maybe because I knew I was pushing my luck, I was very calm:) As usual we had a very good appointment. The babies look great, they are so big and active.... Baby A is a show off, always moving around and being crazy. Today it was curled up with its feet above its forehead and grabbing its toes with its hands. However because of the position, Baby A was to close to my hip so we could not get a gender:( Its OK.... I have 2 weeks and 3 days and I will know. Plus the time will fly because for 10 of those days I will be in in Minnesota!!!

B was relaxing as usual.... not the most active one at the ultrasounds, so I made a comment about how calm it was being and IT got mad and started moving everywhere... and then Dr O'Hara yelled " WHOA, I think its a boy.... " Baby B moved back in to position and low and behold a BOY :) Could not be happier....

So Baby A will be determined on July 2nd, my 29th birthday:) What a great present besides the fact that I have 3 healthy babies, and an amazing husband!!!

(Left Baby B and his little manhood) I know he will kill me when he is older:)

PS ALL night I was trying to get Helena to say BABY BOY..... she just keep saying TICKLE TICKLE and laughing... at one point as we were saying BABY BOY again and she laid her head down on the babies and sighed..... I think she knows that there is TROUBLE in there:)

BIG SISTER HELENA JAMES

So Yesterday Helena turned 22 months.... SHE IS THE MOST AMAZING LITTLE GIRL! I feel so blessed. We take the good with the bad, I think she is a very normal tantrum throwing little lady:) She has her moments of pure meltdowns, but then the next minute she is hugging you, kissing you, playing with my hair! She is just so sweet!

Helena understands that was are having babies, we ask her how many babies are you having.... she responds with 2 fingers in the air and states DO.... toddler word for TWO:) Know does that means she really gets it??? Not sure, but she is trying... I am sure she will freak and 2 really do come home!!!

She is such a big helper, she loves to help put dishes away, she cleans up when we sing the CLEAN UP song.... she feeds the cats, she puts all the shoes in the house away. BJ tells me she likes to organize his shoes for him!!! She is really good at making PAIRS! She has been trying to help us get her dress which is fun and exciting. I think the biggest girlie thing that is happening in Helena life is she has officially gotten to wear a ponytail and pigtails! That's what big girls do, so I guess my baby is gone!

She does something new everyday..... she is doing really well with me being at work and her and BJ have an amazing bond now that they spend so much time together in the mornings. Helena loves to get up at 5-6am.... BJ IS NOT A FAN of this... however he does get up, he has officially made us a hotel, since he chops Helena a fresh fruit salad every morning.... Apparently I did not get that memo that we are CASA de la Cook.... I have very high standards on the my mornings to fill.

Helena is saying many words, however she says them once or twice then stores them somewhere... we ask her to say it again and then she jumbles a few words together! Cute, but BJ and I are very ready to hear her little voice, we both know once she starts talking though there will be no going back:) She will talk from the minute she wakes until the minute she goes to sleep! I think she gets that from BJ!

BJ has also started a blog about Helena and being a dad... I recommend reading it, he is such a great writer and it melts my heart to hear what he thinks about all the crazy stuff we do:)

http://www.dadsarerad.com/

It is hard for me to think that we are having 2 more babies, I just look at Helena and wonder how am I every going to love these babies as much. I know I will, but she is just my BABY.... and I just feel so blessed to have her! Im excited to continue to watch her grow and flourish into a little girl. I have started to realize that I do not have a baby any more, she is my LITTLE GIRL or as BJ would say she is a MINI LADY FRIEND:)

I promise to be better about updating, I just get busy with Helena, work, sleep, eating, ..... all the stuff , but this is important so I can remember all the amazing things my family and I are doing!

GUESS WHAT TWINS!!!

13 weeks 5 days preggers!!! Below: BABY B was partying on its head and also was showing off its feet:)

BABY A (ON LEFT) Waving at the camera, already not shy and has Big Sisters profile!!! Ultrasound 13 weeks, 6 days
BOTH BABIES: 10 weeks, 6 days

I started this update back on MAY 17th...... at that time I was officially 13 weeks pregnant... and we had found out we are having TWINS...... so I think I am going to have few different posts.... This one I will just fill everyone in .... Ultrasound Both Babies: 8 weeks, 6 days

On March 17th, HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY... BJ, Helena, and I found out we were going to have another member of our family! We were all very excited! I knew I was pregnant from the get go... we had been trying and a week later I was feeling sick, tired, cranky... I waited until I was one day late and before work took a test and low and behold, our St Patricks Day did not include Green Beer, but a really pretty PINK plus sign!

At almost 9 weeks we went in for our first appt, I believe the date was April 19th, I had a weird weekend and thought I was feeling movement, so I looked up when do you feel TWINS move??? Yahoo answers had moms feeling them as early as 8 weeks, so I thought.... HMMMMM could there be 2???? At the drs appointment, BJ and Helena were with, the first half I was on my own and I let the nurse know that I was curious if there was more then one. I felt this way because of the early symptoms I was having and because of the weird movement from the weekend. So I asked her to PLEASE look in every nook and cranny of my uterus. The second half of my appointment, Bj and Helena were present and it was time to meet the FETUS! and with in ONE MINUTE she confirmed my motherly instinct and said there are 2!!!!! We were excited, scared, shocked.... no words can truly describe that moment. Good thing BJ was holding Helena because had he not was would have been picking him up from the floor!

I was feeling pretty good up to week 10 and then I started to become VERY ILL!!! This is why you are all just getting the blog update and I uploaded over 3 months worth of pictures last weekend:) I was lucky to keep one meal a day down, I was not sleeping even though I was beyond tired. We had another appointment at the almost 11 week point, we all went again, it was crazy too see how much bigger they were. They did a little wave to Big Sister! We also were then informed of all the good, the bad, and the ugly of what was to come with a Twin pregnancy. The Good.... I see the babies every appointment... The Bad, I go to the doctor every 2-3 weeks, The Ugly, I could end up on bed rest, the babies could come early, at some point I should not carry Helena, the list goes on and on!!!

So that appointment sent me in a TIZZY.... I ended up with almost a week off of work because I was having mini panic attacks... my heart would start racing and I would get so sick.... We figured it out...ONE DAY AT A TIME.... MIND OVER MATTER..... I have decided to tackle what has to be done. And as for bed rest and babies coming early, I just tell myself that it is not an option.... so that means that I am going to do what I can to keep them in until November 9th, that would put us at 38 weeks.... as for all the other craziness that has come along with twins. We are dealing... we plan to move in August, we are in search for a house, with a yard and some storage:) We are debating preschool for Helena..... but hey she is only going to be 2.... I figure lots of other people have done this.... SO CAN I!!!

We had our last appointment right before our 14th week on May 24th, I went to this appointment alone, again I was lucky to keep a meal down so I was actually a little worried about the appointment, but they say the sicker you are in your pregnancy the BETTER! I had not gained any weight in the 1st trimester which is normal and when we did the ultrasound on the babies, they had gotten so big that they did not fit on the screen together! They were both doing well... Baby A has a higher heart rate and is very active.... Baby B was chilling and had a much slower heart rate. This appointment lead me to believe we have one of each....

So today is June 12th, I am no longer feeling sick, I have my days that a smell gets me gagging and I lose it. I am still pretty tired, however I pee every couple of hours so a good night sleep is not happening, I also love sleeping on my back, which makes me not be able to breath and its not good for the babies!!! So we are working on that:) The good news is that I go to the DR June 14th..... we will be 16 weeks 6 days and Dr Ohara said he will take a look for us to see what the babies are.... please babies let us take a look:) If not I have an appointment on my birthday July 2nd, not a bad birthday present RIGHT???

18 Months

I was suppose to write after Christmas and guess what THAT DID NOT HAPPEN... so the time is now to catch you up on what the Cooks have been up to and it is A LOT!

So the Cook that is the most important and has the most updates is, you guessed it HELENA JAMES!

Helena just turned 18 months... really she is a year and a half. Where has the time gone. She is not a baby anymore, she is getting longer hair, she is talking, signing, singing, marching.... you do it she mimics. SHE IS AMAZING. She has lost her baby features to and totally looks like a little GIRL! There is so much she is doing so bear with me while I share with you and document it for us....

• Helena's vocabulary is growing here is a list of things she loves to say: cracker, car, read, bubble, woof, kitty, puppy,yummy, Blues Clues, plane, truck, ROAR , I did it, mama, dada, fish
• She also is in love with the show Blues Clues, from this show she has learned to say, Blues Clues, Hi Steve, and sing "EIEIO" She also does all the dances to a perfectly and begs us to watch it DAILY!
• She is also signing very basically. She signs more and says it too, signs milk, all done, help, and we are working on Thank you.
• She also tells us when things are hot by waving her hand and blowing on it and she like to tell us when things are yucky by saying "ish"

Other milestones that she is reaching:

• She is in her big girl bed... she has been since the New Year and is doing AWESOME in it.
• She loves her body parts, she points to all of hers and yours as well. She likes belly, teeth, and tongue the most right now :)
• She is very independent she likes to pick out her clothes, wash her hair and body by herself. She also like to pick out her snacks and food for herself!
• Something that is funny... we take a lot of pictures of her from our phones, she now takes our phones and holds it towards us and says " CHEESE" like she is taking a picture:)
• She tells us NO of course, but she also started to shake her head YES, and shrug her shoulders for I Don't Know.
• She tells us OH OH if she did something or I DID IT... very funny especially if it is something she is not suppose to be doing.
• She hit a huge milestone at the park, she climbed a ladder after she watched 2 other kids do so.... she was so proud she could not stop smiling or clapping.
• She also loves jumping.... we say 123.... she squats then tries to jump up, she usually gets one foot off the ground, its pretty cute!
• OBSESSED with BUBBLES.... to all the moms out there GAZILLION bubbles from Target ROCK and they just came back out.... stock up now!
• The other big thing she is into is pointing at things and wanting us to tell her what it is... its like she is an encyclopedia that just stores every word sometimes she will try to mimic. Most times she will just go back and forth between 2 or 3 objects.

On a negative note..... Helena is a TANTRUM thrower and WHINER some days are awesome and others are very challenging. I just keep telling myself that she will be talking soon and that will help both of these things.

Grammies was just here to visit and Helena liked that very much. As I called Grammies THE ENABLER..... its funny, I love having my mom around,but all rules go out the door! Grammies allows ALL:) HA HA Helena and Grammies had an awesome visit. BJ and I got to go out a few times since it was our 3rd Anniversary and I also got some just Sarah time. All and all it was a great trip .... 11 days went by so fast though :( Glad she made it home safely and I am sure in a week she will be begging to come back to the 70 degree weather!!!

As for the last big change in the Cook house..... I am going back to work part time. Starting in March I will be working 3 days a week. We have hired a nanny to come in and help with Helena, this is going to be a huge transition for us since I have been home with her everyday for 18 months. I went in a few times when my mom was here and I am looking forward to interacting with adults. Even though I am working I guess it will be time I am working on myself. I'm very nervous about going to work and missing out on things Helena maybe doing. However I will be with her Friday thru Monday and working Tuesday thru Thursday from 6:30-3.... so it will really be about 18 hours a week that I am missing..... I know it is going to be a tough transition but a very good one.

BJ's business is growing rapidly and it sounds like there is a lot of new and exciting things in store over the next few months. Well I hope everyone has a very Happy Valentines Day..... again I say that I will try to blog more GOAL at least once a month:)

I almost forgot, Helena had her 18 month check up..... 25lbs 62 %, 32.5 inches tall 66%, 19 inch head 90% :) and she is developing fine:)