Our "Baby" is 3!

Today is Helaina's birthday. Happy Birthday, little darling! Last year we missed being with her on her birthday by only 10 days - we traveled to China on March 7th and our "gotcha" was on March 9th, so this was another very special day having her here with us. She's fast asleep now and Jim and I are EXHAUSTED. We took her to the Strong Museum of Play so that she could do one of her favorite things - run around, which she did for about 4 hours - non-stop! Unfortunately Jim had to chase after her just about the entire time because those 2 pudgy little legs move amazingly fast. We opened presents when we got home. Believe it or not, her favorite gift so far is a $4 umbrella with Belle on it. She carries it around the house saying "got my brella"! Sometimes the cheapest things are the best. After dinner we had Pablo cake that I made. After I stuck the beanie hat and beak in the cake it really looked like him! Then it was a quick trip to the grocery store for food to prep tomorrow for her family party on Sunday. Then bath time to get the layers of grime and sweat off of her, a Wonder Pets cartoon (saving the elephant, of course) and into bed. Ahhhhh! Here are just a few pictures from our birthday adventure because I'm too tired to do much more.

Daddy and Helaina "sitting" with Abby.


Checking out her groceries at Wegmans.

Sitting in a critter chair - Elmo?

Up and down the slide - "one more time?" uh huh.

The yellow barrel of this thing slid up and down. Helaina loved this and could have stayed in it all day.

A picture with the bears.

Helaina's "brella".

Pablo cake! It took a lot of blue food coloring - yikes!

Sweet Treats at the Zoo

The day after Valentine's Day was Sweet Treats at the Zoo. Many of the animals were fed heart-shaped treats and Helaina had a front-row seat to watch her favorite animals. She watched the elephants snack on heart-shaped jello (popped out of the molds) and then jelly beans. Siri also made her rounds and Helaina was right in there petting her absolute favorite animal. As exciting as it is for Helaina to pet Siri, it's just as fun for Jim and I to watch her interact with this beautiful gentle giant! She talks about it for weeks after, stroking her own nose and saying "nice". Too funny.

Helaina checking out the penguins, and a funny picture of a skink.


We also observed the lions getting their frozen heart-shaped hamburgers. Love the lion exhibit because you get right next to the animals with the way the glass enclosure is set up.

There were 2 TV crews at the zoo and Helaina managed to get a brief moment on TV on each of the channels. You can see her standing along the glass in her black & white outfit with a red bow in her hair. My face managed to get into the top right corner too. They shot footage of the female lion eating her hamburger patty and Helaina was right there in the shot for quite a while, but it didn't make it on TV. Couldn't believe our cutie ended up on the cutting room floor instead of on the big screen!

Below we have a great shot of Jim's face as he holds Helaina. Unfortunately Siri's huge protruding brow blocked out Helaina's face perfectly! Oh well, we can see the top of Helaina's purple hat anyways! Helaina's holding up her elephant spinner we bought her at the zoo.

Happy Valentine's Day - Daddy outdid himself, as usual

Jim showered Helaina and I with Valentine's Day gifts this year declaring that it was special because it was the first one with our daughter by our side, and it was. There were many white and red packages awaiting us Saturday morning, but it started Friday afternoon when Jim came home from work with red roses for me from Daddy and Helaina, with a few white roses mixed in to represent Helaina.

Helaina was thrilled with her special gifts from Daddy that were so appropriate. A musical piggy bank that plays It's a Small World when you drop coins in the slot and a little glass good luck ladybug. Mommy got elephant salt & pepper shakers that are so darn cute (their trunks are intertwined!) and Helaina loves them because, of course, they are elephants.

Helaina and I were each given a gift box and instructed to open them at the same time. Helaina ripped at hers first, and when I saw the familiar green velvet box I knew that Jim had visited his favorite jewelry store (Diana's) again. Helaina's box contained a silver chain with an elephant charm dangling on the end of it. My box also held a necklace with 2 diamond hearts intertwined representing Mommy and Helaina. I must say that I felt a little guilty when we gave Daddy his cards and candy. Oh well, Valentine's Day is supposed to be for the girls, right?

Daddy with his dark chocolate sweets and his sweet Helaina.

Helaina also got lots of cards from her aunts and uncles. Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike sent her a box of candy and a red teddy bear too.

Helaina's first introduction to Peeps. I must say, it went well.

A headless Peep!

It was a cold but sunny Valentine's Day. Helaina was up to the challenge when asked if she wanted to ride her bike. She mastered bike-riding in our basement when the bike was put away for the year. She took to the driveway and streets like a pro, peddling her little tail off.

To say that spaghetti is Helaina's favorite meal is a HUGE understatement. Man, can she pack it away, complete with grated cheese on top. She wasn't into the meatballs this particular night, just 2 large plates full of spaghetti!

Guess she passed on the meatballs to make room for the pink funfetti cupcakes. I should just skip the acutual cupcake and give her a bowl of frosting, a spoon and the tub of sprinkles!

Jim was right. Valentine's Day 2009 was a very fun, very special day for us all.

My little kitchen helper

Helaina loves helping in the kitchen, especially anything she can stir, or anything that involves water, or anything that involves licking a spatula - gee, I guess she likes just about anything! Her chore yesterday was to plunk cut up pieces of potato into a kettle of water. Even though she was asked to drop them in gently, every one was dropped from a height that splashed water all over the table. Food prep with a toddler is always fun and always messy. And she enjoyed the mashed potatoes at dinner time too.

Another Chinese New Year Party with the Dancing Queen, Timbits, a bad car wash experience and more...

Yesterday we went to our adoption agency's Chinese New Year Party and it was a blast. Lots of good Chinese food, fun, music for the kids with a DJ, balloons, dancing - you name it. Helaina had fun every second we were there. When the music started and she realized she could dance, jump, clap and scream as much as she wanted - well, she was just the happiest little gal. She loves to dance, but what toddler doesn't. I took lots of pictures when she was "struttin her stuff", but as usual they were just a blurr. I have to do some research on a new camera so that I can take action photos of our action gal, because she's usually in motion! We had so many people come up to us and comment on Helaina's free-spirited dancing. "Gee, too bad she's so shy." "She really needs to come out of her shell a bit." "She seems so inhibited." All hilarious comments by on-lookers who enjoyed watching her as much as we did.

First things first, eggrolls and noodles!

Helaina would spin around so much that she'd get dizzy and fall to the floor.

She tried her best to keep up with the older girls.

"Daddy, do I have to take a break? I'm bustin a move now."

A view of the party from above.

Shooting some hoops.

I don't know what dance move she was doing here.

Cecelia and Helaina with balloons tied to their wrists.

Look at the determination on her face doing the limbo!

At home with the balloon centerpiece from one of the tables and her gift.

Timbits and a car wash (which turned out to be a royal pain in the butt).

Sunday morning's paper brought some Tim Hortons coupons, so mid-morning we were off for some lattes and Timbits. This was our first trip to the new Tim Hortons just a few miles from our house and when Helaina heard "cocoa" and "donuts" in the same sentence, she was happy.
"Hmmmm, which one should I have first?"

"Is this gross, Mommy, showing you the pink Timbit in my mouth?"

The annoying car wash: After our sugar-fest, we headed down the road to get the multiple layers of salt and dirt washed off of Daddy's car. With coupon in hand at the mega car wash facility, Jim purchased the car wash deal where you get 2 future washes free and some other glossy application stuff (which was most likely a rip off). Helaina enjoyed driving through the car wash, seeing the water and soapy suds sprayed all over the car.

When we got out of the washing station and pulled into the drying area, a cheerful girl with towels in hand proceeded to dry off the car. Then she tapped on Jim's window and motioned for him to roll it down. "Sir, your rear window wiper appears to be damaged. Was it like that before the car wash?" Uh no. "I'll go get my manager" she said. Jim hopped out of the car and I looked behind out the window. Yah, not good, the whole wiper blade & attachment was sticking straight out like a tail. So here comes the manager. We'll call him Doogie Howser, C.W.M. (Car Wash Manager) - looked like he was about 12 years old or so. "Oh, no problem. This happened to another car this morning. I'll just bend it right back in.", and with a screwdriver and pliers begins to attack the car as if he were trained at what he was doing. This went on for quite some time with Jim standing by nervously watching, and me watching from inside the car getting more annoyed by the minute. Meanwhile Helaina is loose from her car seat and trying to drive the car away. Doogie was never going to get the wiper bent back properly, looked like he was using too much force and I was waiting for the screwdriver to come crashing through the back window. Helaina and I got out of the car, I told Doogie about my concern for him not knowing what he was doing and possibly damaging it more. "Oh no, all I have to do is catch this little spring." Oh no is right. Enough, you're done. So we go inside the store, Jim fills out a claim form and now has to go to the dealership next week to get it fixed, with the promise from Doogie that we will be reimbursed the expense. Oh yah, and please refund me my money because we're not coming back for the 2 free washes. "Gee, this hardly ever happens. Are you sure?" Oh yah, we're sure. So much for our peaceful Sunday morning.

Housecleaning (yuck)
Every once in a while you need to move furniture and clean underneath it. It's always an adventure in dust bunnies and long-lost toy pieces, but it's a necessity. Daddy got behind the TV stand to see what was under it and all I kept hearing was "Oh my God" (not good). Helaina saw Daddy on the floor and realized it was an opportunity to either help, or pounce on him. She ran for her ladybug broom to help, but then decided jumping on Daddy would be more fun. After she landed on him, I again heard "Oh my God"!!!

"Here's the broom Daddy. Can I help?"

"Over there, Daddy. You missed something."

"Forget that. This is way more fun."

Funny Helaina: Ok, this is too funny not to share. In today's paper there was a picture of a Burger King whopper big as life. Below it was the little Burger King symbol/logo thingie. When we go visit Poppa in the morning sometimes we'll go through the BK drive-thru and get breakfast to have with Poppa. Helaina is a fan of the hash brown potatoes and always demands them as soon as the BK lady hands the bag to me through the window. After lunch today Helaina was sitting at the kitchen table with Daddy looking at the newspaper. She sees the BK logo in the paper, points to it and says "hash browns, hash browns"! So here's the question: Is it a good thing or bad thing when your almost-3-year-old recognizes the BK symbol immediately and associates it with hash browns? I think I know the answer.

Here's Helaina wearing Poppa's t-shirt she got him for Christmas. Of course, it's Poppa's favorite shirt!