Beach Bums

Our girls LOVE the beach. Yes - I said girlS. That would be Helen AND Stella! Over the weekend, we took a trip to Bald Head Island with our friends Brooke, Cameron and their kids Ada and Jackson. Not only was this Helen's inaugural trip to the beach but it was Stella's as well! Yes - she got to go, too!

First, let me just say that Bald Head is amazing. No cars are allowed on the island so we drove to Southport on Friday night and took a ferry over to the island. Stella wasn't thrilled about the car ride to Southport and even less so about the ferry ride and then the golf cart ride to the house, but she was a trooper. Helen hung in there, too, and didn't go to bed until 11 PM on Friday night! I am pretty sure she hasn't gone to bed that late since she was in her early early months of life! She did great, though - and the next day she woke up happy and ready to play! Of course, she got tons of attention from 4 year old Ada and 2 year old Jackson and it was, after all, her first beach day! She did take a 4 hour nap though - so I guess she was a bit tired.

As soon as we got down to the beach on Saturday, Helen was all about the sand. I have friends whose kids aren't too fond of the sand but I was pretty sure the gal would enjoy it. After all, she is her mother's daughter - and her mama LOVES the beach - sand, grit, waves and all! Helen ran her toes through the sand, played with Ada and Jackson and helped with sand castles (ok - maybe she tried to destroy them). Yep - she was a fan. In fact, she liked the sand so much that she thought she would see what it tasted like. Well - not so delicious. Daddy also took her out in the ocean and she loved splashing in the water. Stella even followed them out and just started swimming out into the waves! It was so cute!

I am 100% sure that we will be going back to the beach as much as possible this summer since I know that she is happy being a beach bum! Yippee!

Below are some pictures! Enjoy!


Helen and Ada "building" a sand castle.


I love the beach!


Ah - this is the life.


Um - this sand isn't really too tasty - but I thought I would give it a try.


Plum tuckered out.

A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On!

At the request of Noni, who is tired of looking at her own picture when logging into the blog to see if I just MIGHT have posted an update, I figured it really was time to let you know about all of Helen's new tricks! Really, this last month has been insane!

She now crawls everywhere! Yesterday, she was over at my sister's house (so yes - Emily was taking care of a 2 year old, an almost 9 month old and a 3 month old - she is a SUPERMAMA!), and EH, the 2 year old, would say to Helen, "Helen, c'mon!" and she would just follow him all over the house! So cute!

She also pulls up on pretty much everything....furniture, the walls, toys, my legs,.....yes - EVERTHING. She is not scared of a thing - quite the daredevil! I have even caught her once or twice pull away from the wall and stand ON HER OWN while playing with a toy! Of course, as soon as she realizes that she isn't holding onto anything, she deliberately sits on her bottom. But, I really think it is only a matter of time until she is standing on her own and even walking! Ah!

Her other super cute trick is shaking her booty. Any time she hears music and is standing, she shakes her hips back and forth and smiles SO big! It is adorable.

She still loves to eat and I will be interested to see how much she weighs when we have her 9 month doctor's appointment next week. I am guessing around 20 lbs......but we will see. She is really still rather tall as well (she was 90% at her 6 month visit!)

She still has no teeth but has really starting showing symptoms of teething in the last week......more than normal drooling, fussing, and yes - icky diapers. I have recently discovered Dr. Hyland's teething tablets, which many of my friends rave about, so we tried them today and they seemed to make a big difference!

Helen is really just a JOY to be around right now and I am just so darn happy being her mommy. I really think that I have a favorite "stage" of her life but then the next just seems better!

Below are a few recent pictures of our goings on!


With Cousin Caty!


At the Pool with her friend Caroline!


With Jack - taking a bath!

As Promised......

Here are some recent pictures from our trip to Maryland to visit Noni!


With Noni!!!!


Eating her first cookie! Yum!


Helen LOVES just watching her cousins!


With mommy :)

NONI!

I know it has been quite a while since my last post.....let's see here....

Helen is now attempting to crawl. She gets up in the crawling position but doesn't quite understand how to move her arms and legs in unison....so she throws herself forward and lands on her belly. It is really quite cute.

Helen is now saying Dada. Well, she doesn't know WHAT she is saying - but she says it over and over and over. Of course Ben claims that she knows EXACTLY what she is saying - but I know better.

Helen is now almost officially off of her reflux medicine. This will give mommy and daddy quite the pay raise when this happens because it is mucho expensive. But worth EVERY penny.

And the biggest new "trick" in Helen's repertoire - SHE SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! Yes, folks - you read that right - Helen sleeps from 7:30 PM to about 7:00 AM without waking up! It is absolutely wonderful. She has also become quite the napper extraordinaire. Some days she takes two 2 hour naps! Just a few short months ago, I was convinced that my child would never sleep more than 30 minutes during the day. Well, she has proven her mama wrong - and I am sure it won't be for the last time!

Other than all of this - shew! - we visited Noni in DC this past weekend and had a wonderful time. We also got to see Uncle Adam, Aunt Christine, Cousins Caroline and Will, Cousins Blayne and Becky and 2nd Cousins Madison and Jillian. Helen also got to meet her Great Aunts Paula and Sylvia and her Great Uncle David for the first time! As always, we had a blast and ate delicious food and just enjoyed seeing everyone.

Pictures to follow!

Bunny Day

Let's be honest. You really check this blog for the pictures. I know. So, no writing of our happenings today! Just pictures!



Her FAVORITE activity - playing in her "Janie" jump up!



Just playing....and of course chewing.



Yum. Teething biscuits.



Still an Illini fan after a loss in the lowly NIT.



Helen's 1st Easter!



Helen loves her cousin!



Apparently Easter eggs make great teething toys!



Wanting to diversify his portfolio, cousin Edmund doesn't put all of his eggs in one basket.


Our family's first Easter.

March Madness

And no...I am not referring to basketball. I am referring to the craziness that has been this house in the last few weeks! I tell you - work + baby + cleaning + playing = no time to blog. Anyway, happy half birthday, Helen! Helen celebrated being 6 months old on March 10 and boy is she growing up! She isn't walking and talking yet - but she is sitting up completely unassisted, putting her feet in her mouth all the time, loving to stand and hold onto anything, and just tonight, she tried to pull herself up in the bathtub. Uh oh. Anyway, we are having such a fun time as her daddy and E finally have her on a nap schedule during the day and she is normally taking 2 GOOD naps! And by GOOD, I mean - more than 45 minutes. Some days, her naps are 2 hours long! I mean, seriously - what!? We are so proud of her. She is now a genuinely happy baby (and I say NOW, because I mean - post-reflux). She is smiley ALL the time and just loves to enjoy the world around her. We are lucky parents to have such a sweet, sweet girl as our daughter!

Below are her 6 month pictures as well as some pictures of just what we have been up to in the past 3 weeks!


Eating her 6 month sign. Nice.


Doing what she does best - smiling!


Sitting up like a big girl!


Foot fetish?


At the park with Uncle Edmund and Cousin EH!



Just catching some rays on a beautiful spring day!


With all my first cousins - and my second cousin, Mary Hannah!



Sitting in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time!


Playing with her pal, Campbell!


Blowing out birthday candles with Uncle PJ! Check out that fire truck cake!



Just looking cute.

A Mexican Fiesta

Today was a big day for Helen as she and Daddy drove to Monroe to have lunch with some of his old co-workers at Cooper. They had a Mexican fiesta! Of course, Helen just tried to play with the chips and salsa - she didn't get to eat any...yet. It is still sweet potatoes, peas and pears for this little one. Ben reported that they had a wonderful time and that she was her usual smiley self! His co-worker Karen's daughter even tried to get her to take her out of school so that she could play with Helen during lunch! Of course, that didn't work and her daughter had to stay in school and miss the Mexican fiesta. Maybe next time!

It has been 2 1/2 weeks since I have been back at work and everything is actually going much better than I thought it would be. Not that I don't miss Helen a TON during the day, but I am really enjoying the work that I am doing and the fact that I am getting out of the house is good for me. Because she still wakes up pretty early in the morning, we still get a good couple of playtime hours together in the morning before I have to leave for work and then a couple of hours in the evening before she goes to bed - so really - I still get to spend time with her everyday! Lucky for Helen, while I am working, she gets to spend lots of time with Daddy and on the days that Daddy has to work, she gets to play with Edie! This week, Edie is on vacation in West Virginia, spending time with her niece and her children and I am sure she is having lots of fun! Of course Helen misses her but she gets to spend all week with Daddy, which she loves. They are going to the YMCA and going to play with cousins Edmund and Caty this week. Hopefully, I can get Ben to take some pictures next time they go over there! Next week, I believe a playdate with cousin James has been arranged! Helen is beginning to get into a bit of a routine in that she takes 2 pretty decent naps during the day and a short one in the late afternoon so it is a little easier to schedule outings and such. She is really is just changing so much every day and I can't wait to see what each new day brings!