Hi Brent!

I thought you'd get a kick out of this. Just a reminder of how fun our crazy chicas are. Allie spread these paper plates all over the piano room while I was making breakfast this morning. She pretended she was a frog jumping from lilypad to lilypad. Emily was happy to join in. They had a good time and no, we won't be eating off these plates. They are strictly for crafts now!

We love you!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Lately Haley and Allie have been coming up with all kinds of pearls of wisdom and giving us peeks into their minds. Brent and I have been getting a lot of good laughs and I thought it would be fun to share. I've also included some recent pictures of the girls.

Emily isn't saying much of anythig lately except "Daddy" which has only helped her keep him wrapped around her little finger.

Emily likes to crawl under the table for two reasons, I think. One, because she likes to terrorize Allie who tries to hide under the table to get away from Emily. I don't know why Emily likes to pick on her, but I do remember Allie picking on Haley when she was Emily's age. Two, she likes it under the table because it's like having her own jungle gym.

Last week at dinner Brent and I were talking with girls about asking us before they sit down in the home theater and watch a movie with whoever may be in there at the time. We were trying to explain that the movie may not be appropriate for them and that Brent and I need to be aware of what they're watching. Allie very honestly replied, "But when you ask, mostly people tell you 'no'." These girls are getting really good at taking the wind out of our sails. All we could do was laugh because we both remembered thinking the same thing when we were little.

Last Saturday Brent and Haley were talking about some of Haley's friends from ORFF. Brent told Haley that her friends' dad is the doctor that delivered her, Allie and Emily. Haley said, "They're a long way away now. I guess we won't be buying anymore babies from him."

With the winter weather setting in I think we're all developing a touch of spring fever. It's so much colder here than what we're used to and the girls don't want to play outside. This often leaves them with more energy than they know what to do with and no way to use it all up. So, Haley asked me why it's so much colder here than in Alabama and I explained about the equator and how we lived closer to the equator when we were in Alabama, so our weather was warmer there. Haley says she can't wait to move back closer to the equator. I will simply add, AMEN!

Allie's Fieldtrip

I feel bad that this is another post about Allie. I have some great pictures of Haley and Emily, but I'm not sure where Brent stored them.

Allie's preschool class took a fieldtrip to Macey's Grocery Store. All the kids really enjoyed themselves and they got a great tour of all the departments and met all the managers.

They took them through the deli and gave them ice cream and showed them their big kitchen and refrigerator.

They went to the bakery and watched the big automatic mixers, saw the ovens, the doughnut fryer and had a cookie. The cake decorator showed them her huge buckets of frosting and how she decorates the cakes.

They toured the produce section and the manager explained about cleaning the fruit and vegetables before it's put on the floor. He says the produce comes off the truck in boxes and it's pretty dirty. They find tarantulas in the bananas. He also gave them a fruit roll-up.

They toured the storage area where all the extra groceries are kept and watched the trash compactor and the box crusher.

The dairy manager took them in the refrigerator and showed them how they load the milk and other items through the special doors. He made them guess what was behind each door.

At the end of the tour they received gift bags with a balloon, candy, and coupons. They were all well behaved and had a great time.

They had to tour the deli with hair nets and their arms folded.

They're headed to meet the produce manager. Everyone was so nice to the kids.

Looking out the loading dock where the trucks bring the groceries in. Allie wasn't happy unless she was standing right on the edge.

(L to R) Jackson, Allie, Emmie, Devon, Miss Sharon (our tour guide), Seth and Tyler.

Pancakes, a Lecture and Morning Breath

Haley and Allie had no school on Thursday and Friday. I decided to make pancakes for breakfast, thinking it would be fun for all of us to spend some time together, rather than rushing through breakfast as usual. As we were gathering to the table, Brent asked Allie to do something and she replied, "NO. DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" Brent did not lose his composure. He sat Allie on the table in front of him and began to explain that part of his job as a daddy is to remind Allie of things she needs to do and ask her to do those things, but as is typical with a three year old, something else caught Allie's attention. In the middle of Brent's lecture she scrunched up her nose and blurted out , "I smell the smell of what you're saying!"

Thank you Grandma and Papa!

Thanks so much for the package! The box arrived a little over an hour ago and about half the candy is already gone. The rest of it was divided evenly between Haley and Allie's trick-or-treat buckets. They were very excited about the balloons and the hair glitter (they've already made me spray their hair). Emily especially liked trying the box of chocolates. She can't hardly bite them with the few teeth she has, so she just stuck the whole chocolate in her mouth and sucked on it. (When I have a little more time I'll post a video of Emily eating the chocolate covered coconut.)

The girls loved the note with the card, especially Allie. She's carrying it around with her and made sure it ended up in her bucket. It's nice for them to know you're thinking of them. We love you!

Emily's trying to untie the balloon.

Allie especially liked the fun masks.

It was fun watching her try to figure out how to eat the candy through the mask. Haley only wanted to wear the scary mask.

Allie loves the gummy life savers. She'd ask me to open a pack, shove all five life savers in her mouth and then ask for more. She ate four packs back to back like this.

Emily loves the chocolates!

Emily

Here are new pictures of Emily. It seems like she's changing a lot lately. Her hair is lighter and longer. She now has 6 teeth with another one about to pop up. She's still not walking, but atleast she's starting to make an effort. I think she's getting tired of being left behind when the girls are playing. She doesn't talk very much except "up", "mama" and " dada".

We've discovered that Emily likes things on her head, like headbands, hats and crowns. She also likes peek-a-boo. Yesterday she kept pulling the clean, folded laundry off the couch and covering her head with it. In the department store last week, Emily started pulling clothes off the racks to play peek-a-boo.

Emily's too big for her baby car seat, but she seems to like her new one very well. I just need to tighten the straps a little. She likes being able to see Haley and Allie.

Emily at the park. I've quit taking her because she won't sit in the stroller and if I let her crawl around in the grass she wants to sit right under the swings. Don't be fooled by the beautiful weather outside. We're currently covered in 6 inches of snow.

Still a very happy girl!

Drumroll Please...

Brent and I went to see the doctor today because I was scheduled for my ultrasound and we learned that we're having a BOY! We're very excited for this new addition to our family. Now that we have three girls I keep wondering if this boy will look at all like his sisters who all resemble each other in some ways (mostly their opinionated natures).

We've already settled on a name, Joseph Alan. Joseph is after Brent and his grandfather and Alan after my dad. We'll actually call him "Alan". Brent is very excited that there's finally a male Helms to carry on the family name. Alan will be the first one in all of Brent's family to carry on the name as far as this generation goes. For some reason everyone's had girls so far. We already have Crimson Tide (Alabama Football - Brent's favorite team) booties and pacifiers. I think Brent's mom and Mamaw had a hunch.

Dr. Varner, who did the ultrasound, says Alan looks very healthy and is even a little big considering his due date. Apparently this is typical for baby boys and so they are not changing my due date from March 5. Since Haley, Allie and Emily all weighed around 8 lbs., the doctor estimated that Alan will weigh about 8.5 lbs. I love big, healthy babies. We're so excited! This will be a new adventure.