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!

Crazy Weekend!

So Helena has jumped on the I am going to be 1 ban wagon and has changed over night! She use to be totally content sitting and playing with her toys, she was the kid that never wanted to roll over. She also did not want to acknowledge that you were teaching her something, she would give you the look like DUH I know that already:) Well man in 2 days things have totally changed....
So like I have said before Helena has been standing and walking around things, chair, toys, sofa.... and just last week she started to crawl. While over night she taught herself to pull up on anything, including her crib which now she is EATING. Yes I am aware I have given birth to a beaver:)
She is moving like a champ and is very brave, we are making bets here in the Cook apt. to see when this lady walks. I am saying by the end of July.... please let me know if you would like to take part in these shenanigans, the pot is going to get hot I can feel it.
Now because Helena is moving she seems to be getting into trouble, this is not her fault since we still have stuff in her reach. We are moving in 45 days somewhere so why move it now. Well this leads to us distracting her and teaching what she can play with and not. I told her no, and well she now fakes a sad face and pretends to cry. Yes again I know I not only gave birth to a beaver, it is a beaver who is nominated for an Oscar.
Well since Helena has been moving she is a lot happier, which means she seems to be more into learning things. We do lessons everyday, from clapping, touching our nose, eyes, ears, hair. I am teaching her to plug her nose and say "PHEW" her daddy stinks sometimes... we love you Daddy:) She is also signing a little more, she now signs, MILK, Drink, Eat, and More. 3 more then she would do a month ago. She is also babbling up a storm and its so funny... when BJ comes home or into a room she says HEY..... that's what it sounds like and it is every single time. So cute and sweet it is something she really only does for him... it like she is on of his buddies just hanging out saying HEY!
Helena has also been getting her appetite back, she has been eating more solid food, eggs, bananas, cheerios, grapes, blueberries, bagels. I have yet to really give her meat, however she really love beans and that to me is a good start. I took Helena to the Baby Time Expo this weekend with her friend Emma and they did so well. I got Helena some Baby Legs. THESE are genius... I have never heard of them or seen them and I am in love with them.... BABY LEGS you are amazing. I also go these really awesome utensils for free from always learning. They are also amazing and Helena loves feeding herself with them!
All in all a very busy weekend of change....She really has changed to me over night. She is such a little lady, I love being able to spend every day with her and I feel so blessed and lucky. Thank you Helena James for letting me be the best mommy I can be!

A terror on the loose! Mr Jones WATCH OUT!

Helena is moving and it is very funny she will go a little then rest, with a big breath! Its so funny. She is also sitting up from laying now and when we go to get her from her crib she is either sitting, kneeling or standing! Good thing I dropped it down a few weeks ago. We had an incident the other night, she started crying and we went in to check on her and she was "SLEEP CRAWLING" she was on all fours moving around her crib with her eyes totally closed! They say the practice what they learn during the day.... IT IS TRUE! Enjoy the video:)

We have a mover and a shaker people!

Lots going on in the Cook house.... Helena unfortunately got a stomach bug last week, Thursday night she woke up with a low grade fever and the fever just kept getting higher. We ended up bringing her in and found out she probably had a stomach bug. She got to sleep with me for a few nights so she got some rest and by Sunday her fever had broke and she was getting back to normal. She is also cutting 4 more teeth so she has been a little more irritable.
But the good news is that HELENA is crawling all over the house! It is so exciting for all of us. She is leaving no spot unturned. She is also pulling herself up onto things and walking around anything she can get her hands on. I do not think we have very long before she is running around the house!!!
Helena is 10 months old today. I look at her and am amazed, she is not my baby anymore she is such a little lady. She is saying MA MA and knows that it is me. She is also very close to telling us NO. When she does not want something or is done she yells and it sounds a little like NO or she shakes her head NO, can we say SMARTIE PANTS. She also is pointing to Nose when she is asked and we working on mouth, ears, and eyes. She loves reading her books everyday we read before her naps and she very patiently waits to turn every page. She is just really starting to be a sponge absorbing and taking everything in! Our days are truly becoming an adventure!