H.I. Update

So many things have happened in the last 3 months that I would love to blog about.....

Mimi and Grandaddy visited

We went on a "cation" to Aulani

My BFF Cathy came to visit.

She's a professional

Girls night out 

The Kwasnowski's and Jessica threw a fabulous 2nd birthday party for Helaina.   We were so appreciative since incapable of doing so with a 2 week old). 

Ballon fest thanks to the Vertollis

The Kwas family has moved back to Florida :o(

All of our girls will miss them dearly

Sara and 2 or her 4 children, John and Grace, are currently visiting from Chicago

1/2 the Quinn Family

Helaina is loving John and Grace! (and Sara too)

This is how she looks at John (shhh, don't tell Chris)

These were all such wonderful or important experiences but a las time is slipping away and I do not for see any opportunities for better time management that will allow me to blog on these.  Right now a shower, teeth brushing, and dinner all in the same day is considered a blessing.  Your going to have to imagine what a good time we had with our visitors along with the sadness of saying see you later and enjoy the pictures that I have managed to post.

I did want to jot some thoughts down about my growing girls.  As my best friend Cathy pointed out, our daughters initials are H and I which also happens to be the abbreviation for the state they were born in.  Random but cool.

HELAINA:
Helaina is amazingly smart (though I think most people think so about their own child).  Either way, she get's any of her smarts from Chris and she continues to amaze us on a daily basis.

She found the letters that coincided
to spell Toms all by herself

It's hard to gauge at the moment as she is receiving quite a bit of attention from our guests but I think we are rounding the corner on the jealousy thing.  She is back to sleeping through the night and eating all of her meals with little hassle.   She likes to help a lot with the baby.  She is always eager to get a diaper or clean out the trash can during changing times and even says "it's ok Indi" when there is crying going on.
She would like to hold her a lot more than I am comfortable with but she is very delicate and sweet when she does.

Helaina has an extensive vocabulary, especially for a two year old.  Her pronunciation is sometimes a bit off but it comes out so adorable that Chris and I find ourselves talking like her after she goes to bed just for a giggle.  One of our favorite quotes is "We read about dis" when she wants to read something.  She pronounces "Ss" as Phs or Fs"  Ex.  Foon for Spoon, Phin for Spin.  It's almost sad when she learns the correct way to say it -- it's a reminder of how fast it goes.  Fortunately she has not picked up on any of Mommies accidental potty mouth words.  However, my husband, who hardly ever swears, has not been as lucky.  Chris' go to expletive is Oh Sh%^.  But instead of saying the word he literally cuts himself off and say's Oh SHhhhhhhhh.  Now this has only happened two times in front of her that I am aware but since daddy hung the moon, she picked right up on it.  We have tried ignoring and sometimes correcting when it became habitual. Lucky for us, I think it's fading and we won't have to worry about getting a call from the school.

We just got through our first legitimate sickness and it was NOT fun.  After a month of on again off again, we broke down and went back to the doctor for antibiotics.  She is doing much better and I am grateful that she has not been sick a lot.

Bless her heart, she has her mommies hair but I am proud to say that after 2 years and 2 months, her hair is finally able to make some sort of pony tail.    We  will probably finish the year before needing a hair cut.  Now she will wear a hat all day if necessary but refuses to wear barrettes or hair ties.  I guess I can't complain about that though.

I snapped a pic in the 4 minutes that these remained in her hair

We are potty training right now.  Yes. I am insane but I was always told that when kids are ready you will know and of course.....Helaina showed signs of ready when we have a 3 month old.   I keep telling myself it's easier now than it would be when Indigo is mobil.  I have resorted to the old school way of letting her walk around at home in her birthday suit.  The first day there were a few messes to clean up but after that, it works beautifully.  The transition to pull ups has not been as smooth but we are working our way up.  Besides, I have to admit that I get a giggle by seeing her cute little tushi walk around.

I hope health department doesn't
stop by the house.

Indigo (Indi)

Maybe she is an 'easier' baby than Helaina was or maybe it's because I feel more confident as a mom, either way, I feel like I am able to enjoy Indigo a little easier than I did Helaina.  It also doesn't hurt that she nurses for an average of 10 min on one side and then she is done for a couple hours.  

Helaina attends 'school' 2 days a week so she can socialize and I get to spend one on one time with Indi.  I think she is going to be sensitive towards others.  From the very beginning, when breast feeding was painful, she would latch on and pause and I swore that she knew it was hurting me and was hesitant to go forward.  When I would relax, so would she.  Her ears both wiggle when she is feeding.  (this could be a good party trick later in life). Speaking of her ears, I think they are so adorable.  They look like they are upside down with the wide part at the bottom.   She smiles a lot and when Chris smiles back at her, she turns her head to the side and almost blushes.  SOOO CUTE.  She loves to watch her big sister and I can hardly wait for them to play together (but I won't wishfully rush it since I know it's likely they will fight also).  She is an AWESOME night sleeper.  We put her down around 7:30 and she will sleep to somewhere between 1:00am - 3:00am, nurse and go back to sleep until 6:30 or so.   She often gets cranky around dinner time but I think this is common for most kids.  (I think I do too!)

Sisterly love

Because she is so new, I don't have a ton to blog on her yet.   I do feel incredibly blessed to watch these girls grow like weeds and get to be part of the process as the Lord develops their personalities.  Hopefully I will have more time to keep you updated!