The Nellys: We Love Spring

I know I keep talking about how much I've loved the weather lately, but I really do! We've even had a couple shorts-wearing days around here. One thing, though. I swear Norah is about 10 times more likely to trip when she's wearing shorts. In the 3 days she's worn shorts this year, she's managed to cover her legs in scratches and bruises. Plus, she's also in between shoe sizes, so she trips even more because her shoes are often too big. But, still, she doesn't seem to have the same problem in pants.

I guess there's not really much to say for the past couple weeks, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Norah will make a "choo choo" out of just about anything these days.

More park time:

It's amazing how easy it is for her to break down into a pout. I have no idea what this one was about.

This picture just shouts spring to me! When we're driving, anytime Norah sees a blooming tree, she calls it a "popcorn tree."

I've started watching my friend Aubrey's little girls once a week. I love to see when Norah and Alivia are getting along (instead of stealing each other's toys).

That also means I get to watch this little cutie. She's such a sweet, calm little girl!

We introduced our friends to our woods, where she immediately took up pine cone collecting. Norah started to help her out.

Aren't these two so cute together?!

Chocolate toast face. I love how she's trying to lick every last bit she can get. (Norah just saw this picture and said, "Choco [chocolate] face." Her favorite.

This was officially our first shorts-wearing day. She discovered a little sand patch in the woods. I'm sure we'll be back to it soon.

A lot of times when I get Norah in the morning or after a nap, she starts to tell me about a monster. She'll point to her pillow and say, "Monster. Talks." I'm not sure what that's about. She was trying to tell me about it here, too.

And this is just because she's so stinking adorable. How cute are those eyes? (I don't know if you notice it, but she also has a little bit of a stutter. You can hear it right before she says "pink." She's done this A LOT lately, which I've read is pretty normal. I think it's kind of going away now, too.)

And then there's this video that shows what a little ball of energy she is. This was right before bedtime - not even close to winding down. She loves running in circles - I think track is already the sport for her.

Last Saturday, we had a banquet for Gonzaga track and cross country. Norah tagged along with us, and she actually did really well for most of it because she got to run around with a friend just about her age. The only pictures we got, though, were at the end, where it was past bedtime.

The guest speaker at the banquet was Alan Webb, who set the high school mile record in 2001 (3:53.43) and holds the current national record in the mile (3:46.91). It was his little girl that Norah got to run around with. I tried to get a picture of them together, but they were way too full of energy to hold still.

On Monday, I finished this dress for Norah, my first dress success for her. I've tried other ones from patterns, and they have turned out awful! There's no way those things are sized correctly. But this FREE tutorial from The Cottage Mama was great. I modified it a little, doing an 18-month bodice and a 2T skirt since Norah is skinny and long. I still can't get over how well it turned out. I wasn't sure I loved the two fabrics together when I picked them out, but they actually look pretty good together. Would it be ridiculous for me to make about 4 more of these in different colors? I just love the dress so much!

So, Norah's birthday party is coming up, and I wanted to get at least one good picture of her to put on the invitation. That was a joke. This girl will not smile on demand.