House Addition Update

Since I last wrote, a lot has been going on. A huge thanks to my wonderful parents for keeping the boys for us over the weekend so we could get the house ready and to my sister for tackling the upstairs for us. All the furniture has been moved and the master closet is empty. We draped sheets over everything to help keep everything from getting too dusty. We also loaded up the car and the van with all of our day to day stuff and temporarily moved to my parents house. Monday morning at 8:30 am the first shipment of materials was dropped off at the house and at 9 am we closed on our home improvement loan. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain so the guys couldn't start working. Thanks to perfect weather on Tuesday and Wednesday, they were able to accomplish a lot. The framing is about 99% done. The window for the new bedroom still needs to be installed but they closed up the exposed side of the house with tarps as more rain was in the forecast. Here are some pictures Brian took yesterday after the crew had finished up. Next up will be plumbing, electrical and ventilation.

Jude at 5 months

Jude is 5 months old today and is such a joy. This month he started eating solid food and moved from 6 oz bottles to 8 oz bottles. He also started rolling over front to back and is almost able to roll from back to front. He loves to play in his exersaucer and really enjoys bouncing in his Jumperoo. Jude takes two short naps each morning and usually one really long nap in the afternoon. He is so close to sitting up on his own right now. I can tell he really wants to be able to do it. I'm sure he'll master it in a week or two. Once that happens, he'll start sitting in shopping carts and high chairs in restaurants. Jude still has dark curly hair and blue grey eyes. He's still in 6-9 month clothes but will be moving up to 9-12 month once the weather makes a decides to stay cooler. Jude has also started grabbing the bottle and pulling it towards his mouth. I imagine he'll be able to hold it himself soon. Also, everything goes into his mouth these days, especially his fingers. He is a very drooly baby which is new because James and John weren't. We often have to change his outfit in the middle of the day because the front is all wet. Hopefully he'll get teeth soon and the drooling will subside.

Here are some photos of Jude today.

From Photos for Blog

From Photos for Blog

The Little Gym

The boys went to The Little Gym for the first time a few weeks ago for a birthday party. It was really cool and they both had a blast. It was basically a gymnastics gym for little kids. All the balance beams, bars, etc. were smaller and set lower to the ground. James had a great time and did everything they had in the room. John swung on the bars a bit and did the really low beam but that was about it. They both really liked the inflatable jumping mat, the parachute and the bubbles. Here are some photos we took.

James on the high beam

From Photos for Blog

John on the low beam

From Photos for Blog

Two little monkeys swinging on the uneven bars

From Photos for Blog

John doing a bear crawl

From Photos for Blog

Zoo Boo

Well I can hardly believe that the month of October is here and more than half way over now. The first Friday of the month, I took the boys to Party City to pick out their Halloween costumes. James is super excited to be Optimus Prime this year and John decided on Spiderman. They wanted to play in their costumes the moment we got home. John's is holding up well but James' costume has already required mending in several places. That's what I get for only spending $14.99 on the thing.

This past weekend we decided to hit the zoo because the weather was supposed to be (and was) fabulous and it was the first weekend of Zoo Boo. We met the Weatherwaxes at the zoo and had a wonderful time doing the activities and seeing the animals. The kids also had a great time looking at everyone else's costumes. We got there early and headed out before the really big crowds arrived. We all had a great lunch at Mission Burrito before heading home. We're so glad it has finally cooled down so we can enjoy the zoo more often. I'll post some photos and video soon.

Jude in his pumpkin outfit

From Photos for Blog

James, Kiera, and Jay on the carousel

From Photos for Blog

John and Daddy on the carousel

From Photos for Blog

Home Addition Project

Sorry there haven't been any updates in a while. We've been really busy working on an addition to the Hadley House. It all started over the summer with a Sunday dinner conversation with Kristen about how to add space to our house (we have the same floor plan). At first we didn't think about it much because we honestly don't need the space right now but seeing as how we plan to add another child to our family in the future, we really could use another bedroom and bathroom upstairs. So after much thought and soul searching, we hired an architect (who happens to live in our neighborhood and whose son is in James' class at school). We went over several ideas with him and after a few meetings, decided on a design. We're going to add a full bath over the entryway and a new bedroom over the dining room as well as a closet for the game room.

After we had the design set, we went in search of a builder. After interviewing five builders and receiving all the bids, we made our choice and signed the contract. At this point, we're in the final stages of closing on the home improvement loan. We should sign the papers and construction should begin on the 26th. I'll be sure to post before pictures and keep you updated during the construction process. Since the entire front section of our house will be under construction, we'll be relocating to my parents' house up in Copperfield until the work is completed. We've been told it would take between 4 and 6 weeks so hopefully we'll be all done and back in our house by the first week in December.