Wimpole, Audley End, Brighton and a few firsts for Noah

I decided to submit photos of the babies to modeling agencies to see if anything would come of it. Not for anything serious- just as a way to kill time and potentially make some college money for the kids. Luckily, they were both accepted to agencies (Esme to two!). Now we are just playing the waiting game! If nothing comes of it, oh well. If something does, great!

on 8/19/11 We took another weekend trip to Wimpole Estate and Farm with Gram Jill and Granddad Richard. It was a beautiful old building and had exquisite gardens! They were even having a tomato festival when we arrived and had a farmer's market set up. Esme tried the tomato basil ice cream :)

Noah was his usual cheery self

Esme and Gram in the gardens

Esme stopped to smell the flowers- she loved pointing out the colors of the flowers and the various fruits and was saying "flower" and "apple tree" the entire time.

I love this apple tree.

Our little family

On 8/20/2011 we had a short day trip to Audley End, again with Gram and Granddad Bailey. We have been there before and always enjoy looking around the house and grounds.

Gram and Esme in the gardens

Noah and Granddad

Esme being her cheeky self

We had a cup of tea before we left and Noah was being a chatter box



Noah and Gram

Audley End

While we were still living in corporate housing on Canary Wharf, I took the kids for a day trip to Greenwich (8/24/11). We had a lovely day in the park playing on the swings and in the sand box.

The next exciting weekend trip we had was down to the Brighton area to visit Adam, Nat, Jack and Isabella (weekend of 27/28 August). We stayed over at their house and had fun catching up the last year or so. We spend most of the time around their home in Henfield, going on walks and playing in the garden.

Esme fell in love is Issy's doll stroller. It was also the perfect outside seat for Noah as he wasn't very confident at sitting yet. Esme decided pushing him would be fun. Of course we didn't let her, but how worried does Noah look?

The boys had fun playing the ball game in the back yard and Peeps really wanted to join in. This video is pretty funny- Stephen accidently hits Esme with the ball.



The kids got along pretty well and seemed to enjoy each other's company- that's a relief!

We did take a few day trips while we were there- Nat took me to my first car boot sale. It is like a swap meet and it was a ton of fun. I picked up some really good bargains on books, toys and dvds. We also took a day trip to Brighton. I love the seaside and can't get enough of cheesy seaside fun- Brighton was perfect for me!

Peeps outside the pavilion

We had a nice long walk along the seaside and even took a ride on a small train. On our walk, Noah had his first ride in the front seat of the stroller.

We ended up staying an extra night because we were having so much fun. Nat was a wonderful cook and even made us a homemade curry on the first night! Thanks for the great time, guys!


Because we had very few toys with us in the corporate apartment, we spent a lot of our time out and about going to local parks, shopping and exploring. The docklands are great for walking around and Esme enjoyed looking for ducks, pigeons, swans and any other "birdy" she could find!

We often ended up in the park near Mudchute- Esme loves slides and swings. This toddler play area is a bit dinky but it did the job. Noah John even had his first swing at this park when he was five and a half months old. English baby swings scare me a little bit because the gaps for the legs are so much bigger than they are in the states- please excuse my shriek- I thought he was going to fall out!



Just like his sister- he loves to swing!

Here is a video of Emse playing and being goofy- the slide is far too small for toddlers but she won't be deterred!


My 26th birthday was pretty uneventful. We had planned on going to my favorite Mexican restaurant in Greenwich but disaster struck! Soon after Stephen got home, Esme vomited EVERYWHERE. I have never seen so much vomit come out of one tiny person. All I can say is thank goodness we had wood floors- I can't even imagine what I would have done if we had carpet! She had no other symptoms- no fever and was acting completely normal. We didn't think we could risk a train ride to the Mexican so we decided to go to the Lebanese restaurant at the base of our apartment complex. It was a lovely meal and there were no accidents. Success!

I got many beautiful birthday presents including soap and lotion from Jill and Richard, money from my mom and Gordy, books from Stephen, Esme and Noah and a beautiful Dooney & Bourke handbag from my Grandma and Grandpa Bajema. Thanks everyone! I am truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family :)

Noah's first back to front Rolll

Noah had been rolling from front to back for about a month but hadn't rolled the other way. On September 2nd, he did it! I didn't catch it on camera but I did manage to get this photo just seconds after he did it. He was soooo proud of himself!!

A few day trips and Noah rolls over!

Trying to get settled is a lot of work when you don't have all of your things and are living in temporary accommodation. Esme was a bit bored with the few toys we did have so we decided to spend a lot of our time out and about. Luckily, friends Steph and David had a few days off and were able to meet us for lunch and a trek through St. James's park one day. Esme loved looking at all of the birds- glorious pelicans, black swans, geese, ducks and several kinds that I couldn't identify. St. James's park is in the shadows of Buckingham palace and made for a brilliant day out. We even saw the Olympic Beach Volleyball courts- very exciting.

August 13th:

We found a house that we loved in Greenwich but ended up having to wait two months for it before we could move in. A bit of a bummer but really worth the wait. We decided to spend one weekend walking around Greenwich and exploring our soon to be home. One of the great things about London is that the museums are free. The Maritime Museum in Greenwich is great and is pretty kid friendly. Esme loves looking at the big boats and interactive displays!

Esme decided one of the exhibits was put into place for her to dangle from the railings...



After the Maritime Museum we went up to the Royal Observatory/Greenwich Meantime Line to see the views. This is arguably one of the best views of London and the pictures we took don't do it justice.

It is a difficult task but we did manage to wear Esme out!

Noah started rolling from front to back regularly at 5 months old. He did it a few times accidently before that but 5 months is when the real action started happening. He rolled front to back once and startled himself so I placed him back on his front to see if he would do it again. I filmed him for a few minutes and then decided he wasn't going to do it. As soon as I turned the camera off, he went for it. Luckily, I turned it back on just in time to catch the roll...



At five months, he also began sitting up on his own for short periods of time. He isn't quite ready to sit completely erect but if you set him up he will stay for a few seconds before falling over.

August 14th:

We took a trip to Hastings to visit with Michael, Veronica and Paul. We got to see Mike and Veronica's flat for the first time and were blown away- it is absolutely huge and has a ton of character. Plus, it is right next to a little park and pretty much right on the seaside. We had fun catching up with them and enjoyed a beautiful homemade meal. We also had a walk along the seafront and played some frisbee and football in the park. We had a lovely day and look forward to visiting again soon!

The seaside

Noah and Veronica

Esme had fun with stickers...

Soccer in the park (how cute do Mike and Veronica look in the background?)

Noah rolled in the grass and was all smiles

Learning from big Sis.

On August 16th I took a day trip with the kids to Kidspace in Romford and met up with my good friend Michelle, her three kids Georgia, Alfie and Freddie and my friend Aimee and her daughter Rosie. The kids had a great time running around and it was really great to catch up with Michelle and Aimee.

Esme would not leave the car alone!

Esme went on the go karts with Michelle's daughter Georgia

Noah couldn't do much but he had fun watching and getting cuddles from everyone. After we were done there, we went to a few shops and then to a park. Esme had fun on the swing and slides...

...but was most interested in the merry go round thing. She had no fear and went and joined right in with the big kids.


Aimee and Noah

Noah and a sleepy Freddie

Esme got to ride on the tube trains a few times and really enjoyed it. She doesn't like when they make loud noises but she does like it, in general. That makes one of us. Here she is on the tube with her shiny new shoes.

Back in Jolly Old England

We were sad to leave Seattle but also excited to start the next chapter of our life in London. Stephen's work flew us business class from Seattle to London and even bought Esme a seat. We were glad it was a night flight because flying with a toddler can be extremely challenging!

We arrived at Sea-Tac only to find that Stephen's company failed to book Noah's ticket! We had to shell out $800 just so he could sit on my lap! Luckily, the company will reimburse us but still quite a shock! The flight was pretty uneventful and fairly smooth. I am not a big fan of flying but the big planes tend to be a lot smoother and I am more comfortable on them. The flat seats in business did make the bumps more obvious when lying down but overall it was a good experience. Esme was a handful for the first hour but she quickly fell asleep for the rest of the journey. Noah was an angel baby, as usual and had no complaints.

I wish I could say that our post flight journey was as smooth. We had a car to collect us from the airport and somehow managed to get all of our suitcases into it. It took us over 4 hours to get to Canary Wharf, where our corporate apartment was, and was the most miserable journey I have ever experienced. The last thing you want to do when you arrive somewhere after an 8 hour flight is spend four hours in the car. It took us 8 hours to go 5000 miles and then another 4 hours to go 20 miles! Unbelievable. When we finally arrived, Grandma Jill and Granddad Richard were waiting for us. They were very excited to meet Noah for the very first time and thought he was a lovely little boy.

Grandma Jill and Granddad Richard brought us some much needed essentials (milk, dinner, tea, biscuits, etc.) and also a few presents! They also delivered their car to us. They were very kind to give us their second car and we couldn't be more grateful. Their generosity really made settling back into this country a lot easier and we couldn't have done it without them! Thank you both very much. We had a brief visit with them before they had to head back to Little Dunmow.

The weekend we arrived, we headed up to Louth. The rest of the family was up there visiting Auntie Norah and we thought it was a good opportunity introduce everyone to baby Noah. The rest of the family was staying at Auntie Norah's house so we stayed at a bed and breakfast down the road. We spent some time at Auntie Norah's house visiting and having nice meals prepared by Grandma Jill. Auntie Norah was very pleased to meet little Noah.

Before everyone arrived, we took a stroll with Granddad through Louth. It was a beautiful day and Esme enjoyed getting to run around the park. Noah was a little prince and was very well behaved while riding in the buggy.

We walked by a little stream and Esme got to feed the ducks. A nice family gave her a few pieces of bread to break up and feed them and she was in heaven. She loves all little creatures. We even found some swings on our walk!

The beautiful day quickly took a turn for the worse and it started raining! Esme loves the rain and puddles so it didn't even phase her. The adults and Noah, on the other hand, were happy to find refuse at a near by pub.

Granddad and Noah

Esme enjoying the rain- we are really grateful to Grandma Julie for teaching her to jump in puddles!! Thank goodness for wellies!

The boys were excited to meet Noah and see Esme again, too. This picture is super cute- what a good looking bunch!

We took a day trip to Gunby Hall. It was Noah's first National Trust property so we started him a passport. We started Esme's passport when we came to England for Uncle Adrian and Aunt Helen's wedding last September. As soon as they collect stamps from 30 different locations they will earn a certificate- that shouldn't be hard as daddy has a lifetime membership and we plan on visiting many more in the coming years! Gunby had a lovely house to look at and very large beautiful gardens. Esme had fun chasing her cousins around. We can already tell that her and Miles are going to be good friends- they are both a little bit cheeky!

Esme in the gardens

She is definitely her mother's child- she found a kitty to play with!

Playing with her cousins

Mommy and Esme

Gram and Daddy

Granddad pushing the stroller- it suits him, don't you think?

One of my favorite memories from this trip was watching Esme play with Miles and Stuart. They seem to get along well and have fun with each other. At one point, I made a comment about how Esme's pants were too big and that I had to keep pulling them up. Miles looked at me in a very matter of fact manner and informed me that "those aren't her pants!" Too funny! In England, pants are underwear and what we call pants are trousers! It was a lovely weekend and we had fun catching up with family.

We returned to London but the excitement wasn't over. There were riots in the streets all over London- shops were being looted, people were robbed and an immense amount of damage was done to local businesses and homes. We were glad to be 11 floors off of the ground and in a fairly safe part of London (Canary Wharf) but we did get some action. Our local grocery store was vandalized and we had police blocking off our driveway.

What a brilliant welcome back! ;)