Easter

I officially get a bad mother award for my despicable lack of photos from Easter.

We had a lovely brunch and egg hunt with some friends and neighbors (in pouring rain, of course!)

But managed to miss every photo op, including any decent photo of Ellie in her beautiful dress and I don't even have a picture of Ellie and Jude together!

Like I said, very bad mom!

I think I may dress them in their Easter outfits again and pretend. Ellie will probably think that's a grand idea!

Ellie loved coloring eggs. Juder in his cute Easter outfit!

Luckily, these Northwest kids didn't seem to be bothered by the rain!

Summer Dreaming

I think Ellie is ready for summer.

Every afternoon she asks to have our big blue comforter spread out on the living room floor. She then dons a swimsuit and pretends to swim in her "pool".

And here she is outfitting her little brother for sun.

I agree Ellie! I'm ready for summer too!

These days

Lots of changes in the Noble house in the last few weeks.

Going back to work has been fabulous ans stressful. I absolutely LOVE my job and the word

B A L A N C E

has never been so sweet!

Our new nanny, Diane, is wonderful and the kids love her. But it's still an adjustment.

Diane has been our friends' nanny for the last 2 years. Olivia will start kindergarten in the fall but until then Diane watches Ellie, Jude, Olivia and even 7 yr old, Chloe, after school! She must be exhausted!

Ellie has loved getting more time to play with her BFF, Livi

Unfortunately, this little guy has decided not to take a bottle. Which makes for a very long day for everyone and a very long night for me, since he nurses all night long to make up for his daily fast!

Juder is now rolling over from his tummy to his back. He looks so surprised with himself when he accomplished such a feat!

A little fuzzy but too cute not to post!

Family of 3 - once again

Drew and I decided to take Ellie out on a date last weekend.

She got all dressed up and we went to a fancy restaurant.

I think she felt very special to have our undivided attention!

One of her many hobbies lately has been practicing writing her name . . . now that's C O N C E N T R A T I O N ! ! See it!?! The 'E' has about 6 marks instead of 3 and she needs a bit of help with little 'e' but I think she does amazingly well!

Spring into . . .

MUD!

There has been nothing but rain in Seattle lately. And the aftermath leaves very muddy playgrounds. Luckily, when Ellie was out with Daddy, he let her have a mud bath

WORK!

My first day back at work, with my mum babysitting, went great. I love my job and Jude and Ellie love their mamop!

Tomorrow is my first day back with Diane, our nanny, on duty.

I'll miss you little guy!

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!!