To 2009.... May it bring good things to all!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!
I hope everyone has a great New Years... I am going to stay awake until midnight to kiss my husband! New Years resolutions for me..... NO MORE SUGAR!! and I am sure I will think of some more. I would like to end my blog by sending a prayer to my family in Minnesota, for those of you that don't know my Uncle Steve, was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer back in June and we were told earlier this week that treatment had stopped working and that his kidneys where shutting down. I just want to say that he has been an AMAZING Uncle and Godfather to me and I am so happy my daughter got to meet him when we were home. This is a difficult time for my family and this is when I wish I lived closer so I could be there to help. He and the family are in our thoughts and prayers everyday! I hope everyday for him is comfortable while he is at home and he knows how much we all love him! With that, I do say Happy New Years, stay awake and kiss all the ones that you love and don't sweat the small stuff, it too will pass and tomorrow will be a new year! HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009:)

December 2008

Minnesota Bound
Well I have not written again in awhile,so bad at keeping up to date. Helena and I were in Minnesota from the 2nd- 17th. We were able to see friends and family. It was such a great trip, I just wish the weather would have been better so I could have seen more of my family. And I also wish BJ could have come with us. Helena got to meet her pen pal Auriana, that is Robyn's little girl and she is 10 weeks older then Helena. They got to spend lots of time together, Robyn took a day off to just hang out with us. I hate saying good-bye to her. She really is the sister I never had! Helena also got to see A LOT of snow. I think it snowed almost 10 inches while we visited and she also got to experience her first wind chill! Lots of very exciting things!
BACK TO CALI!!!
It was very nice being home in Minnesota, but it was also nice getting back to my hubby, cats and my own bed! We got home just in the nick of time for Christmas. We had such and amazing Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with friends and had a Latin meal. It was amazing and I could not eat on Christmas! As for Christmas day... Helena made Santa's nice list and got lots of toys and clothes from the East Coast. I am so glad she did, because this is the last sizes I have.... I have 6 months and some 6-9 month stuff.... so I am sure in the next few months there will be a shopping spree for Helena... What a lucky girl!!! As for me I got gift cards and work out stuff. When you gain 70 plus pounds during pregnancy it takes a lot of hard work to get it off. As of January 1st, there is no more sugar or desserts:( MY FAVORITE!!! Lots of fresh fruit and veggies to go with my Mighty Mom Class. That is my husbands gift to me, beside some gift cards to get a sexy outfit for our 2 year anniversary. Mighty Moms is a Pre and Post Natal Kettle Bell Class! IT IS SOOOOO AMAZING!!! http://www.ironcorekettlebells.com/ check it out! You can buy them at Target, you get a total body workout with cardio... all in 45 minutes! Plus I get to bring Helena and she gets to play with 2 other little girls. They were all born and August. So hopefully come swimsuit season.... WATCH OUT!!!
Updates!
Since we have been home, we have moved Helena to her crib!!! This has been a very interesting week. I feel like I just brought her home again! It has been a hard transition for us all.... all 3 of us are EXHAUSTED!!! We had a better night last night.... so hopefully we are getting closer to sleeping thru the night again. I have a totally new crib set up, thanks to some online research! So if anyone needs some help.... feel free to give me a call and I can give you my advice! Helena is also almost sitting up all by herself and sort of rolling over.... she is not that motivated to do this.... She does however love tummy time and is so fascinated about how to get moving. I try to trick her with toys to roll or crawl and she just smiles at me like I am CRAZY! How does she know this at such a young age:) Helena is also eating cereal and oatmeal and drinking water from her sippy cup. She loves to put the cup all over her face before she finds her mouth. She is very funny:) She also loves her jumper, this weekend while watching the Chargers, we put the jumper in front of the TV... football and jumping are her 2 favorite things and she was gabbing and jumping as fast the football players were running. BJ and I were cracking up. Helena has really found her voice and it is sooo cute when she makes new noises. I am sure she is going to say MAMA or DADA soon!

Minnesota Bound December 2 , 2008

Minnesota Bound

December 2 , 2008

Helena and I are headed to MN. We will be gone until December 17th. We are looking forward to spending lots of time with family and friends. I have gone a little over board with warm clothes for her. I have none:) HA HA Anyways, we are going to miss BJ, he is staying her and growing there business, that is doing SO WELL!!! We are so proud of him! When we get back Helena has shots and her 4 month check up. And we start going to Mighty Moms 3 days a week. This is a mom's kettlebell class. IT IS THE BEST WORK OUT EVER!!! Hope everyone is well!

Santa Baby We brought Helena to see Santa today.... SHE LOVED HIM!!! We also uploaded a very cute video of her babbling.... she loves to chat with us.... please check it out at www.flickr.com/photos/bjcook

The Month Of November!!! November 22, 2008

The Month Of November!!!

November 22, 2008

Well I am a bad mom and have not written in so long:(.... we have had a lot going on. For those of you that do not know BJ lost his job on his birthday back in September, so since then he has been working very hard with his partner Adam to start a new business, Digital Operative. He has been doing an amazing job balancing all his duties. We sure do miss him, it takes a lot of hours to get a consulting business up and running. THEY ARE DOING A GREAT JOB!!!

Helena Meets Great Grandma Mingo

Well the first week of November, Great Grandma Mingo was in town. I think she was expecting this tiny little baby... Helena is still little, however she is very strong. She must be upright at all times and facing outward. She is almost sitting up by herself and she is chatting up a storm. She talked to much when Great Grandma was here, telling lots and lots of baby stories. We had a great time and were sad to see her go!

3 Months Old

On November 11th, Helena turned 3 months, it is crazy to think she is getting so big. It is amazing to watch her grow and take the world in. Things she really loves right now.... TV, she loves all the colors and she really likes to sit and walk it contently. She also loves to be read to and sung too. She has 3 favorite songs, #1 Baby Beluga, we sub the Beluga for Helena and it always calms her down. #2 Pretty Pretty Princess, BJ made this song up, she loves it! and this morning we made up a new song for her Bear. She loves this one because we have combined Peek a Boo. She and I have also been working out. We go to Stroller Strides 3 days a week and walk and I get some resistance training. This next week we will be starting Mighty Moms, which is a 45 minute workout using kettle bells. I am very excited to start this work out and really start toning up. I did gain around 70 pounds:) so with breast feeding and walking I have lost almost 35 and have 35-40 more to go... I shooting a little lower then when I started! Helena is such a good baby, she is starting to really chew on things... I am pretty sure she is getting a tooth she had a low grade fever for a few days and was extremely crabby. This did pass and now she is back to normal.

Schedule

I wish I could say we have a set schedule.... for now we are getting better... She is still getting up between 1am and 3am for just a little night cap. Then we are up by 6am for the morning. She has started to take a 1.5 to 2 hour nap around Lunchtime when we are home. So I am trying not to run around at that time. As for bed she is sleeping before 9pm every night. I would say things are a lot better then in the beginning, now if I could just get to bed by 9pm everynight too...

MINNESOTA

Helena is going to ride her first airplane on December 2, we are flying home to MN for a few weeks. We are really looking forward to seeing some snow. I am really looking forward to seeing my family and friends and introducing my Little Red Head, HJ to them. We are going to miss BJ, but with this new business he can not step away. So in the next 2 weeks, we will be having lots of family time, seeing Santa, Christmas Tree decorating and Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to a long weekend next week to really spend some quality time together.

Happy Halloween October 31st, 2008

Happy Halloween

October 31st, 2008

So I have not written in a few weeks. We have been doing well, we have been trying to get a on a schedule. Sometimes this is easier said then done. I have been trying to get Helena to start sleeping in her crib, this has not been easy. She has yet to sleep in there for longer then 30 minutes! If I had nothing to do, I would let her sleep on me all day. She is just so cute and cuddly so it is very easy to let her lay with you. She had her shots and did very well, she really did not cry however she did run a fever for a few days. We also had a visitor, Aunt Jaime from Iowa came to visit us and do some work up in Del Mar. It was very nice to have her here to catch up and hang out. I got out of the house for the night to have dinner while BJ had the baby. They had a great time together. As for our Halloween plans... nothing to exciting. Helena and I had lunch with my friend Natalie, she had such a great time over there and loved Nat's husband along with her dog, she got lots of puppy kisses and did not mind at all:). We had her in a very cute outfit for the day time and dressed her up as a pumpkin for fun. We did not take her anywhere, just snapped some pics and hung out with her. She loves to watch the TV, so we put on Baby Einstein. SHE LOVED IT for about 10 minutes she watched and responded with lots of ahhhs and ohhhs. It was really cool to watch her interact. She is really strong and is holding her head up along with wanting to be very independent and sitting up, whether it is propped up with pillows or just sitting on our leg, she must know what is going on at all times. SHE IS VERY NOSY.... wonder where she gets that from. HA HA Well We hope every one had a very safe Halloween. We are looking forward to Great Grandma to get here this week!

Spoke to soon October 17th, 2008

Spoke to soon

October 17th, 2008

So she is not quite sleeping thru the night.... we are getting up at 3am. Eating on one side while I pump the other. She then would like to to play for an HOUR!!! You can not get upset she just talks and talks for an hour... I am sure she gets that from me! She is 9 weeks old this week and becoming her own little person each and everyday. The funniest thing this week is that she has new fake cries. She loves to tell you that is not what she wants... it is this whiney cry and all you can do is laugh switch position and let her know you are on to her ways. As soon as you do move her she SMILES!!!

Little Miss Lily

Helena and I spent this Thursday with Lily and Monica, Helena LOVES Lily, she is just so interested in her. Lily is 13 months so much bigger then Helena, however they are becoming great friends. I have the cutest pics.... ENJOY!!!

Sleeping Thru the Night

October 14th, 2008

Helena slept from 9pm- 5am!!!! I was sleeping from 10pm- 5am!!! Can you believe it... I did wake up a few times to check on her... you get so nervous even though they are right next to you.

2 Months Old!!! October 11th, 2008

2 Months Old!!! October 11th, 2008 Helena is 2 months old... I can not believe it. She has been battling a little cold, we brought her to the dr and she is almost 10 pounds and 23 inches. She is getting so big. She is really starting to recognize things. She loves her floor play-mat. She loves kicking and grabbing the toys. BJ and I also have a little game we play with her. We give her kisses on the cheek and we ask her to give us a kiss. We then place our cheek next to her and she opens up her mouth and slobbers all over us and smiles. She is just getting so big... we are not on a schedule yet, however we are only getting up 2 times at night, so I can not complain. We brought her to polish fest she loved all the music and the baby bjorn. That thing is the best thing... she loves it and can be in it for hours. Helena and I are going to hide to stroller strides this week, it is a walking and weight class for moms and there babies. We are super excited. We pushed back her shots, so we are going in a week from Wednesday, not looking forward to that appointment. BJ will be going with so hopefully, I will not be to much of a mess. We are loving all this time get to spend together as a family, if BJ could only be Semi- Retired forever... Well I am signing off for this week. Enjoy the some new pics and BJ is updating flickr.... www.flickr.com/photos/bjcook

Flickr So Many Pictures We have over 600 pics of Helena... it is very time consuming to put them up to this site and very easy for us to upload them to Flickr... so I am just putting a few up a week from now on. Please look at.... www.flickr.com/photos/bjcook Thanks.....