the almost-one, almost-not-a-baby-anymore baby....

These were all taken last weekend. This coming weekend we'll be up at my parent's house, celebrating Helena and Violet's first birthdays!!

Master of the Sippy cup

this was the first time Helena used a sippy cup all by herself... and when she got the hang of it, she didn't want to put it down!!

another cold day indoors...

Is she not the most adorable little girl in the world?

on 1 degree days, we stay indoors...

more January pics

Just lots of cute pics of Helena...

Mealtimes with Helena

Helena and Daddy playing with food...

my two sleepy babies...

So I get home from work and find Nikolai asleep, hunched over the sofa...

with Helena asleep, hunched over Nikolai! Apparently, when he got her home he started to take off her coat and she just flopped over onto his shoulder and fell asleep. So they both took a tiny catnap...

okay, its MOSTLY Helena, MOST of the time...

Since becoming parents 4 months ago, all activities not explicitly related to 1) baby and 2) meeting our own basic needs have been put on hold. But this weekend, I'm happy to report, one non-essential activity came back on line! See below for the results of my painting spree. Maybe this means we're finding that elusive 'balance'! Now, if only we could get a bit of sleep...

oh, and for those of you who came here to see Helena, here she is! this is another video she'll hate me for posting some day, but its so cute I can't help myself. This illustrates why we still call her our little Banshee...

bedtime antics...

this is what Helena does alllll night long. Well, at least at bedtime, for like an hour...