The 3's

Jude is 3 MONTHS old and Ellie, 3 years.

Here is an update of our life in 3's

1) Yard sale season started today! Mum and I hit a few estate sales and I found some great vintage fabric, pillow cases and amber glass tumblers. LOVE this time of year!

2) I head back to work on Monday. I truly love my job but it seems bittersweet when Jude still seems like such a babe.

3) Drew is still loving his new schedule of 5 eights. It's so nice to have hours of daylight to play outside (be it in the rain) after work.

1) Jude is proving to be a better sleeper than his sister - slightly. He starts the night with a 4-5 hour stretch of sleep but then still wakes every 2 hours after that. This minimal amount of sleep should be interesting when I have think on my toes at work!

2) This baby boy is h u g e! He already weighs almost 15 pounds! Babies are supposed to double their birth weight by 6 months but he has done so in under 4! Wow!

3) Tummy time is not his favorite activity! Will this mean he'll be a late crawler like Ellie - I can only hope!

1) Cute cat

2) Cute kid

3) Super cute smile!

1) A new adventure starts in April, when Diane, our new nanny starts watching the kids. She has been our good friends' nanny for over 2 years and she's going to watch Jude and Ellie 2-3 days a week. It seems strange as they have only ever been left with family but we really like her and Ellie can't wait to have a nanny, 'just like Mary Poppins!'

2) Ellie and Jude have a new cousin! Drew's sister Shaneen had a baby girl on March 9th. We can't to meet Miss Stella Marie!

3) Spring yard projects are underway! We have ripped up the broken concrete driveway and walkway and now have a crisp gravel drive. Drew has been working on laying 2'x 2' pavers surrounded by beach rock for our walkway. It looks great and we'll post photos soon.

Tiny Dancer

Ellie has been taking ballet class for a couple months now and every week she asks - is it ballet day?

Her teacher, Miss Sharon, told me this week that Ellie is very graceful and coordinated but tends to get distracted easily. Yep! I agree!

At parent week, I noticed she spent much more time gazing at herself in the mirror than listening to Miss Sharon!

Can't wait for the spring recital!!

Kids with Colds

You know you're in the thick of motherhood when the following words are a common part of your vernacular

"Ellie - don't lick your snot!"

Big Girl Bed for the Baby

Addendum to last post: Let's add Judalicious (thanks Shauna!), Juju bean and Judester

And now for your viewing pleasure . . .

Ellie loves to have Jude hang out in her room and watching her read him a story is ridiculously cute!

J is for . . .

I wondered what nicknames we might come up with for Jude. Here is a sampling of those that seem to be sticking . . .

• Baby Jude (which I'm sure Ellie will torture him with when he's 2 and 13!)
• Jude Dude
• Jude-y
• Juder (my personal favorite! It really glides off the tongue)

Cousin Mania!

There has been a burst of babies in our family in the last few months . . .

Mila - Cousin Melissa's little girl born last summer

Nicholas - Cousin Kirsten's baby born born in September

Lucie - Cousin Owen and Caitlin's little sweety born in October

Baby Jude in November

Noralynn - Cousin Shea's baby born just a few weeks ago

And Shaneen's baby girl due any day.

5 cousins all within a 6 month span! Bring on the family get-togethers!

Owen and Cait brought Lucie for a visit this weekend. Ellie thought having 2 babys around was even better than 1

These little (second) cousins are too cute. They laid on the playmat and swatted at eachother.

Lucie is just 6 weeks older than Jude but at this age it's a HUGE difference. She can hold her head up and is very chatty.

We're planning a summer vacation together and there's no doubt these 2 will be crawling and stealing eachothers toys by then!

Sick but sweet

What a week we have had! This cute little boy had to spend a night at Children's Hospital for RSV last Friday. RSV is a nasty virus that is 'just' a cold in big kids and adults but can cause breathing problems in babies.

Poor Jude had a terrible cough and was working so hard to breathe we had to take him to the ER and he was admitted for observation. Watching him get an IV placed in his little hand was torture but, thankfully, the experience didn't seem to scar him and he continued to grin at all the nurses.

Luckily, he made a swift recovery and was discharged the next day.

Here a few gems from our photo shoot last week before he was sick.