The Busy Cooks!

Wow, it has been a while since we have written and of course there is so much going on! We have all been sick here in the Cook house so things have been a little chaotic. BJ was getting random fevers and feeling run down, I started to get a fever, body aches, and fatigue and poor baby Helena is cutting another top and every time she cuts a tooth she gets a NASTY COLD! So all of us have been to the doctors and we are all going to LIVE!
There is so much going on.... I am starting to work sort-0f.... it is a top secret project that I can not talk about. But when I can I will and it will be BIG!!! I can say that I am very excited to be working on something I am passionate about and to be able to do with Helena. So I am sure in the next few months I will fill you in on everything!!!
As for BJ, his business is booming and I am so proud of him! He is doing an awesome job at balancing everything, from work, to home, and he is even getting in some V-ball from time to time! We both try to stay active so we can be a positive example for Helena as she grows!
As for the little stinker herself, we have figured out that she loves to sleep on her stomach, now if I could only find a diaper that holds thru the night. She wakes up soaked all the time! I have tried the Pamper Night-Time Diapers, however she is so sensitive she has gotten her first diaper rash:( So thank god I bought 6 sets of sheets and crib saver pads!!! Since she has been sleeping on her stomach she has been getting up less thru out the night. It is very nice to actually get a little bit of sleep. Other things Helena is doing...

* She is saying "Mama" and "YA YA DA DA"
* She is really good at feeding herself things.... and we are getting more adventurous about what types of food we feed her since she can eat some of what we eat:)
* She is still butt scooting
* She loves to stand and walk with us. (We got her a walking push toy and are very excited to see how she does with it.)
* She also loves reading and turning the pages. We read 3 to 5 books a day, and most of them we read at least 2 times!
* Helena loves playing with the grass and flowers, she got to experience mud for the first time this weekend and of course I did not have the camera!!!
* Helena has been enjoying wearing her sunglasses like her mommy, she thinks she is sooooo cool.
* Helena also really enjoys playing with her friends, she has a couple of friends her age and she loves to scream at them, pull their hair, and also hold their hands:) Over all it sounds kind of rough, however they have a way of being gentle to each other.
Here are some pictures of what has been going on over the past couple of weeks!







Helena feeding herself puffs.... (Good pinching skills)








Helena realized she could dump them in her mouth!
Ooops she is missing her mouth and feeding the sofa...









She decided that the sofa was REALLY hungry too, so she shared all of her puffs!!! HA HA

Swimming Disaster!

So BJ and I thought since Helena did not have a good lesson last week, we should get her in the water to just have some fun! We decided to go to family night at the pool. BAD IDEA.... we were in the pool for maybe 8 minutes and the next thing you know she had been smack in the head with a diving ring that some little kid threw! These were not supervised kids and the little girl felt horrible! Needless to say Helena cried like she never has cried before. She was so pissed and of course that was her first real injury.... POOR GIRL. We told the lifegaurd what happened, it took us awhile to calm her down but she was back to her old self before we knew it. I took a bath with her last night so she did not end the night with a bad water experience. I had her totally cracking up, we played for about 20 minutes splashing, blowing bubbles, and floating around. So glad we did that! So we will see how she does on Friday, we may walk into the pool area and she may just start screaming!!! Wish us luck:)

More Videos.....

This is one of her favorite toys still!!! She was 3 months old here....


The cutest giggle you will ever hear!


Helena loves to ROAR!!!

Videos

I have finally downloaded some videos.... I hope you enjoy.....

First day in the hospital.... she is so small where is that little girl....



So little!!!!

What A Week!

So the Cook family has been falling apart!
On a positive note, we had an awesome Easter! Helena loved her basket especially the shredded paper:) We spent the day together as a family and actually all got some down time. Helena and I have a packed schedule every week, between kettle bells, play dates, story time , and other things that pop up I feel like sometimes we are never here! So on Easter we went to breakfast downtown and then we just had a comfy Sunday and enjoyed playing with Helena and watched some movies. For those of you that have not seen BOLT, very cute and we give it 2 thumbs up.
On Monday, I was going to go to dinner with the girls, when BJ who had not been feeling well all weekend with sporadic fevers came home very ill. So started the long week of the Cooks falling apart. We ended up going to the Dr's for BJ and found out that he is ok and just needs to take better care of himself. Helena has been cutting her other top tooth which means we are up 2-5 times a night and with that we are also up for 1-3 hour stretches at a time. This is the hardest thing I would say about the first year. I have never slept thru the night, however there were weeks and days in there where Helena would sleep for 7-9 hours stretches. So when we are up every 1-3 hours it is very DIFFICULT! I feel very bad for her and I really hope that after this tooth is out we have a little break! GOD knows we need sleep! And then due to the lack of sleep I started to become very congested and running a low grade fever myself. We all have recovered except Helena she is still cutting that tooth:(
Helena is doing new things everyday, she has started to scoot on her butt in a circle, she is also scooting on her back. Still no crawling, but I'm sure we will get there soon. She is also pulling herself up with your fingers or if she has a ledge. She loves to be standing on her feet. She is not that big into walking her feet yet, but again I am sure we will get there. She loves feeding herself and is getting more things in her mouth. She does a great job eating her puffs she eats them one at a time and does it all by herself. She also loves drinking out of cups! The Easter Bunny brought her, her very own big girl cup and she loves it and does not dump it on herself which is GOOD! Last but not least, I know we have talked about swim lessons before, BJ took Helena this week by himself and apparently they did not get to participate very much because Helena cried most of the time:( Hopefully next week will be better! I hope everyone enjoys the beautiful weekend. I know we are going too!!!

8 months

HAPPY 8TH MONTH HELENA JAMES!!! You are growing in to such a little lady. We love watching you grow and learn. We love all of your funny faces, noises,and smiles! YOU never cease to amaze us! We are blessed to have you as our little girl! We love you very much!

Teething yet again!

Helena is officially cutting her top teeth. The first has broke through and man is she extra clingy and moody. She really wants to be with you all the time! I was fortunate enough today to get all the laundry done with her help of course and a light cleaning. We just dusted a little. When she teeth's she either sleeps a lot or not at all. This time it has been a little bit of both. I sure hope she gets some relief soon. Something fun is that she will be 8 months this Saturday and I am sure the Easter Bunny will be visiting on Sunday. Enjoy the picture of her folding laundry, we are having her start chores young. ( She was playing peek-a - boo, and when she pulls the shirt of she was keeping her eyes closed... like if she did that I could not see her! So silly:) )