NO MORE BOOB!!!

Well I know it has been a long time coming... however after 468 days of breast feeding we are done!!! Helena has been putting herself to bed at night with out MILK from a cup or from the boob! Now lets see how I hold up. I have been wanting to be done for some time... however I have felt fulfilled that I have been able to keep up with her for this long! We have been down to 1 to 2 times a day for awhile and she has not been asking any more so I figured why not give it a try. And what does she do, she sleeps all night! Man she is really a big girl now:) This is a good thing for me too, I get to have 3-4 morning workouts along with a afternoon run a few days a week. I am going to participate in a half marathon on Valentines day and I am really looking forward to training and also doing most of my training pushing Miss Helena!
Helena was working on her cheering this weekend while we cheered on the 3 day Breast Cancer Walkers in San Diego (she cheered so much she passed out.) What an amazing experience and San Diego is so welcoming and there were lots of horns honking, whooping and howling going on for the ladies and gentleman participating in the 60 mile trek. My favorite shirt was from the guys I saw walking "We are busting our balls for BOOBS!!!"
I hope everyone had a great weekend... I am sure most of you are looking forward to a short work week and a nice long weekend! I am looking forward to starting and finishing all my Christmas shopping and taking Helena to see Santa. I am also thankful for having a nice relaxing 4 day weekend with my HUBBY... putting up Christmas decorations and making our new place nice and Christmas like.... and figuring out how to make our stuff child proof and safe... SHOULD BE INTERESTING!!!

Lots of New Stuff.... Helena is 15 months!

Well we have been having major Internet issues so I am so sorry for not updating. First things first.... Helena is now 15 months old! Where has the time gone:( She went in for her check up and she is 32.25 inches tall, 25 lbs, and her head is 18.5 inches..... she is between the 80th-90th percentile. She is just getting SO big. Here is a list of stuff she is doing now...

* She is now an expert climber at the park. She can do almost everything on her own including going down the slide all by herself!! She loves it and she laughs all the way down:)
* She is getting better at eating with a fork or spoon on her own, she would still prefer to use her hands, so I just give her a utensil so she gets use to it.
* She loves drumming on everything. She uses anything and everything as in instrument. I love it. (Helena got to play a grand piano on Halloween.... I think she is going to be better then me. Look at the way her fingers fly across the keys!)
* She also is an expert car singer and dancer. I have the same CD playing in the car and when #5 comes on she is singing before they do! It is awesome that she knows what is coming.
* She is still saying the same words... ( DADA, MAMA, Bubb Bubb (bubbles) ball, kiki, wuff, pup pup) are a few. I feel like she is trying to mimic things we are saying but a lot of the time she stares at us and watches our lips instead.
* She really like to mimic her dad. Pretty much anything he does she does. She does not do that with me. If I say Helena can you do this.... NOTHING. BJ asks and she does it on command. He loves it.... Helena always makes him laugh. I think it needs that especially after a stressful day at the office:)
* A negative thing is that Helena is a very picky eater and will not try new things! We are trying to get her to but no luck so Avocado, Bug Mac n Cheese, Cheese Sticks, Pasta, Oatmeal, Fruits.... those are out staples at this moment.... oh wait DON'T FORGET PUFFS:)
* A positive thing... she has been sleeping almost through the night... we had a whole week with no waking up. I have not been getting her in the night when she does... I need her to know and understand that night time is for SLEEPING! Another positive thing about this is that I get up early around 515am to head to the gym! I love it and it really jump starts my day!

So in October Helena and I were in Minnesota. It was very nice to have some fall weather, see family and friends, and drink Caribou Coffee everyday! We also went to the apple orchard picked some apples and played with the barnyard animals. There was a baby cow who was 4 days old that kept mooing at us.... so cute. We were there with Grammies, my bff Robyn,Auriana her daughter, and Robyns Mom Sue. It was an awesome girls day:) We had lots of fun and I think we took over 100 pictures:) I also got to spend time with my family it is always nice to go home. I hated that it rained almost all the days I was there, however there were about 3 really perfect fall days. The last day I was there I woke up to snow on the ground so I knew it was time to get out of there! Helena loved having a yard to run in and a pup pup to throw a ball too! She was very funny around Ava, our black lab. At first she was really into her and then Ava knocked her down for her cheese stick... for that moment on she would scream and crouch down when Ava would walk by. Then she got a little braver and would back herself up against the wall and sneak by her. This was too funny... Ava is the biggest baby in the world and would not hurt a fly... maybe lick you to death so to see Helena so cautious was very funny.

Well we made it home safe and it took us awhile to get back into the swing of things... but we are back in normal mode. We made it to a pumpkin patch to get ready for HALLOWEEN:) We had a great Halloween, we were at a birthday party that evening for my CA grandma Alice. She had an amazing party with her friends and family. Helena had the best costume... for those of you that did not know she was a LADYBUG! She enjoyed dressing up and got to eat some M & M's. We did not go trick or treating this year. But next year we will be up for that.... I guess I better start thinking of some costume ideas to top this year!!!

So we are into November and I can not believe that holidays are around the corner. With all of this crazy flu stuff, we have not been doing to many organized indoor kid activities. We go to the park daily and swimming once a week. I just get nervous.... some parents are just so irresponsible and I do not want Helena getting these nasty viruses since she can not have her shot until next month. I lost a friend from high school last week from H1N1, she was only 29. I do not want to be paranoid.... but I am a little!

We have been battle the temper tantrums here... a lot of screaming has been happening. I am thinking this is because she really wants to communicate to us and just does not have the right words to say yet! She has also been on a biting kick, this is not good and I do not like that she does this! I ended up putting my teeth on her arm after she bit me 3 times in one day.... good news is she has not done it since. Helena has a very bad temper.... somethings that really make her mad are, diaper changes, getting dressed, and getting cleaned up after eating or her hair washed! SHE HATES THESE THINGS..... however she really loves the bathroom and is very curious about what BJ and I do in there. Is it time for a potty? I think at the start of the new year we will get one for her to try... She is really growing into her own little person. She is very funny, energetic, silly.... she is developing a very unique personality.

13 Months

Well Helena is already approaching her 14th month!!! Where has the time gone? She is always doing something funny! I would have to say that she is a very active little lady! She never want to sit still for a minute! She wants to be outside and on the GO!!! We almost go somewhere everyday. Between the gym and park or out for a run she must get out of the house at least once.... did I tell you she loves TARGET!!! HE HE

Some of the things she has been doing...

* Walking on her tip toes

* Talking from the moment she wakes up and her feet hit the floor.

* Saying bubble and ball

* Climbing the steps at the park and goes down the slide

* She has been eating more things... she always wants to steal my spinach put it in her mouth and then spit it out QUICKLY:)

* She loves when we build her nesting blocks... they stand about 3 feet tall and she knocks them down and yells BOOM or OHHHHHH. She loves throwing things down and making them crash!

* LOVES LOVES LOVES brushing her teeth

* She also loves reading her books to herself.... if we read them she like to walk around and come up and turn the page. Again there is no sitting unless she is very sleepy.

* She loves doing her ABC flashcards while eating breakfast and also her sign cards. Still not a big signer but we are trying!

Helena is the queen of silly faces!!! She always keeps us laughing.... never a dull moment :)

We are currently in Minnesota, I was looking forward to a nice fall vacation and we are having a FLOOD:( We got to the apple orchard on the only day it did not rain. I will post pics soon but the one above should do for now. We are doing some fun stuff for the next few days... I am hoping we get to fly out on Saturday... there is talks of snow!!!

It is SEPTEMBER???? REALLY? COME ON!

Ok so I am the worst blogger ever.... and I have not written in almost a month which means I have a lot to catch everyone up on!!!
THE MOVE
If you did not know, we moved, no more beach living for us, we are now living on a golf course! That's right we are now golf course people ( whatever that means) HE HE... We made the move on August 14th. It was a Friday night and it was LONG!!! We moved from 4pm-3am or something like that! The next day we got some stuff put away and finished getting stuff from the old place! Thank god for my parents they were troopers... they let me boss them around and we got things in to place in no time! Now for those of you thinking... man Sarah is a slave driver... I AM:) however I do feed you and provide beer and whatever else you may need! So I am very nice to work for! HA HA We had my parents here with us from August 10 thru August 20th... we got almost everything done before they left so it was very live able in the new place! We love it and it is really starting to feel like HOME!!!
HELENA JAMES
Well Helena James turned ONE!!! Can you believe a year has gone by... I can not! I understand why people have their babies close, because once they do turn one you forget about the craziness of a newborn and you think MAN I could totally do that again! (Don't tell my husband this... he would freak...) We are not going for #2 just yet but I can see why so many people go for it! Man it does go by so quickly.... it is so funny what they learn and do. A funny story, when Grandpa was here he said Sh*@ sometimes, and for those of you that do not know that was my first word. So one day Helena is playing with her toys and I hear "SHEET".... and disregard it and again she drops or throws something on the floor "SHEET" this time it was used in the appropriate context... I am know laughing and thinking this is soooo funny. I tell my mom and BJ they do not believe me.... she say SHHHHH a few more times and then she lets it fly "SHEET" Oh my little mimic... she is smart and when she hears something she remembers it and lets it fly! Helena is very good at mimicking... she meows, barks, clicks her tongue. She also tries to mimic words or sounds you make. This is not something she does everyday... she has to be in the right mood. I have been doing flash card with her and she gets so excited when we get to certain cards, she then waits for me to day the letter and object... you can see the wheels turning and she babbles something:) So there is always a good effort made! (Picture of her eatting a cupcake on her offical 1st Birthday!)
WALKING
Helena is walking. She started walking right after we moved in. We got it on tape so I will post the video! She is still very cautious however is cruising on the carpet from object to object. Tonight she went from sitting to standing with out any help from anyone or anything. We all clapped including her:) She was very excited! So we all went for froyo to celebrate. It has been in the 90's so special cold treats are a must these days!
MORE HELENA
So there is so much going on with Helena, she is truly an amazing little girl. She is over a very sweet and happy little girl and she LOVES me very much. She is really started to love her some daddy time so it is a nice break. We are currently weaning from breast feeding. This is very exciting for me. I have exceeded my expectations and am so glad for her and me that I was able to provide her with breast milk for this long. However I would like to preserve my nipples for #2 and with 8 teeth sometimes that is HARD! She did have her shots and at her appointment she weighed 23.5 lbs and was 30.25 inches tall. She is in the 80th percent tile. She did cry pretty hard for the shots and ran a fever for a few days. But all and all a TROOPER! Our pediatrician told me to watch out.... he was testing her on lots of things and he wanted me to not be surprised if maybe the TERRIBLE TWO's arrived a little early in our house. I told him not to worry I have already experience tantrums, her shaking her head no. Now I am just waiting for the day she throws her hand on her hip! I know it is coming.... it was one of my signature moves:)
We did have a party for Helena.... it was lots of fun and I loved watching her eat her cake! I am glad we had 3 different parties for her.... I got to experience ice cream cake, a cupcake, and a butter cream cake! She got lots of books and some fun toys. I had to get her a new bin to hold everything!
Well I am getting tired and I hope this is enough to start catching everyone up... I am sure there is more! I will do my best to go back to writing once a week so I do not forget stuff. I want Helena to be able to read this when she is older and laugh at all the crazy stuff we did together as a family! We did get her 1 year pictures taken. They are on the slide show on this blog or go to our flickr page! I am looking forward to coming home in OCTOBER! Excited for some fall weather and CARIBOU coffee!!! OH AND FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF COURSE:)

LONG TIME NO WRITE

I am going to post a very long blog over the next few days.... Good news... we are all moved and have thrown a successful 1st birthday party. I have tons of pictures to post and so much to write about between Helena and the move:) Talk to you all soon!!!

CHANGES CHANGES CHANGES

I have not written in quite some time... I have been between homes. We got the keys to the new place we are renting and we have making it COOK worthy every since! We have started to paint and clean up to our standards. We will be making the move on Saturday. We have a lot of work to do in 4 days before we get all the furniture and small stuff in. Really looking forward to the move and the new place:)
As for Helena... she is going to be ONE TOMORROW! Where has the time gone? I do not know.... I remember what I was doing a year ago today... I actually blogged that day it was the day before knowing I was having a baby the next day. The last day of being pregnant and the last day of it just being me and BJ. Having Helena James is one of the greatest joys I have ever experienced. I am still in awe of her everyday.
New things she is doing... she says UP, MOMMA,DADA, NIGH NIGH (NIGHT),COOL(She mimics this) and she is mimicking other sounds or things we do. She is still not walking but showing signs that it is not far away.
We are picking up my parents tonight.... and just going to ENJOY Helena's big day tomorrow by spoiling her rotten!

July is already here???

Well it is already the middle of July and I have not blogged in over a month:( SORRY! Things that have been going on.... we have all been sick:( It started with BJ, he was sick for almost 3 weeks. During his 3 weeks, he did however win his first volleyball tournament of the summer and he did finally get some anti-botics for and URI and Sinus Infection. Then he passed it on to me the day we were leaving on VACATION! So I was sick through out our trip and have been under the weather since we have returned! I have horrible allergies, so I do attribute most of my symptoms to that. However it has know been 2 weeks, of stuffy nose, runny nose, sneezing, ringing ears and MIGRAINES! Oh well, life goes on :)

So in the last month, I celebrated my 28th birthday. Which was a great day, I spent the day with Helena. BJ got me an amazing handbag that is big enough to carry all of Helena's stuff and Helena got me some personalized picture coffee mugs:) We enjoyed a family dinner and I got to come home and watch movies in bed! For the 4th we were just getting ready for our trip, so we had a relaxing weekend of beaching it and packing.
We left for vacation on July 6th, it was a red eye flight, which was very interesting with Helena, all and all she did great, she stayed up 3 hours past her bed time and passed out during the take off. She had a few outburst throughout the flight, and she really melted down during the landing, it was 3am CA time and 6am East coast time. I would have melted down too! She was attached to my BOOB for a majority of the flight I think for comfort, the negative part of this was that the plane was 1000 degrees and we were all sweating. We slept off and on the first day of vacation to try to catch up on sleep and get adjusted to the time. BJ's mom made the most amazing soup and also a fish dish for dinner!
Our vacation was based on spending time with family, which we did and we loved it! We got to see our niece and nephew a lot and BJ's sister, her husband, and mom. It was so great to spend time with them since we only see them a few times a year. We also got to have Dunkin Dounut's coffee, Water Ice, and East Coast pizza. BJ, Helena, and I also went in to Philly for a day and did some historic site seeing. It was a quick trip since Helena's attention span is a little shorter then ours.
Helena also had a little birthday party that Mimi and Aunt Nicki through her. They had some of BJ's oldest friends surprise him. She had a great day with everyone, she got some fun gifts and also got to taste her first ICE CREAM CAKE! Helena had many food firsts on her trip, Water Ice, Pizza, Ice Cream Cake, Fish,Spinach. It is good to know that she will pretty much try anything:) Helena also was practicing climbing the stairs. She only did that a few times, but she did a great job! Helena also got to meet her Great Great Mum Mum, she is 90. It was fun visiting with her, I am glad that we got to spend sometime with her! Vacation was amazing, I wish we could have had a few more days.
So we have not even been back a week and most of you know that our lease on our apartment is coming up and we have had some issues here so we are MOVING! We looked earlier this year and have been looking for this last month. There have been somethings we have been interested in, however there is always a catch.... so I called the place we were interested in before and it seems that the price is doable and I will have a washer/dryer, nice heated pool, and gym. We are happy to have this crossed off our list. Now it is time to pack.... we have less then a months time to get everything ready! Good thing is though that my parent will be here help with Helena and to get situated!
I think the last really cool thing that has happened since we got home.... I took Helena to swimming this week. She has not been for 3 weeks and I was so amazed how much she REMEMBERED! She is jumping in on her own, kicking like a champ, back floating, she also blew bubbles..... and the coolest thing was that I got to wear goggles while Helena swam to me under water. She did everything perfect, she was holding her breath with her EYES wide open:) It was so cool to see her kicking her way to me. I was so proud of her! She is really is turning into a fish! I hope everyone's summer is going well. The next month for us is going to be crazy, getting ready to move. I am training for my RKC, planning Helena's 1st birthday! Lots of fun and exciting things happen with the COOKS!

This is a picture of Helena on the way home! She never once fussed for the 5.5 hour trip home, she napped and read and played with us and DID AWESOME! We are very lucky parents to have such a good little girl on our hands!