Phew!

Well I managed to get all of the blog posts done before the boys woke up. I best sign off now as I hear Jude talking to himself on the baby monitor. Keep reading to see what new adventures 2010 brings for the Hadley Family.

Christmas 2009

I'm actually going to begin this post with Christmas Eve 2009. My parents and sister packed up an overnight bag and came down to our house early on the 24th. We spent the morning making cookies together and eating lunch. Around noon, Brian, Dad, James and I all went to see Avatar together. While it was long (around 2 and a half hours) we all enjoyed every minute of it. I love taking James to movies just so I can see his little face light up with wonder at what he's seeing on the big screen. Of course when we left, he told us he wanted a blue guy (Avatar) when he got older. We had to explain that the movie was a story and that right now, we don't know of any planets like Pandora. But we also told him that anything is possible and maybe when he is older, man will discover life on other planets. After we got home, we helped finish up the cookies and then ate yummy caldo (Mexican beef stew) for dinner. After dinner, we gave the boys a bath and got them into their Christmas pajamas. We all sat down and watched Muppets Christmas Carol together. Then we set out cookies and milk for Santa and I read the boys Twas the Night Before Christmas before tucking them in bed. After the boys were all tucked in, the adults watched A Christmas Story on TBS into the wee hours of the morning. I think I finally got in bed around midnight.

My mom and I were the first ones awake on Christmas morning. I think I was just too excited to sleep very long. This Christmas was really special for several reasons. It was Jude's first Christmas, John really understood about Santa this year, and we got to spend it with my mom. Jude woke up first and so he ate and played while we waited for James and John to get up. The boys were really patient as we waited for Poppa and Jocelyn to wake up. James helped me with the Monkey bread while we waited. Once everyone was up, we let the boys get down to business with their presents. They first ripped into their stockings finding lots of fun toys and candy. After that, they started in on their gifts from Santa. James' big gift this year was a Nintendo DS. He's been wanting one every since Cameron got one last Christmas. John's big gift was the Imaginext Batcave. He also got the Tag Junior reader. Jude received a new crib toy that plays music and some stacking rings. After all the gifts from Santa were open, we started opening gifts from family. The boys received lots of games, books, puzzles, movies, and gift cards. Brian received Beatles Rock Band and I got a new purse. We both got books and fun new games for the Wii. We really tried to clean as we went this year so nothing got lost. After we did the last final clean up, the adults ate breakfast. The kids just chowed down on candy and cookies most of the day. : ) We spent the rest of the day opening up packages and watching the piles of trash and recycling grow. The boys played upstairs with all of their new gifts for most of the day so the adults enjoyed watching some new movies downstairs. Later that afternoon, I got started on Christmas dinner. We had Cornish game hens, green bean casserole (what holiday meal is complete without the green bean casserole?), roasted potatoes and rolls. Everything was super delicious. After dinner we watched Angels and Demons before calling it a night. All in all, this was one of the best Christmases I can remember, not because of all the gifts but because of all the wonderful quality time we got to spend together as a family.

Here's a slideshow of the photos we took that morning. I'll have to download and edit the video we took Christmas morning. Hopefully I'll have it posted early next year.

Happy Birthday Gammie!!

Before I get into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my Mom/Gammie!! It was so wonderful to actually get to celebrate with her this year. Since she had to work on her actual birthday, we met up for dinner on the 23rd at one of her favorite restaurants - Pappadeaux. We all shared a delicious meal together and then she opened her presents. Well I think James and John actually opened them. :) We are so blessed to have her and really appreciate everything she does for us and all the love she bestows on the boys. They really love her to pieces. I only managed to snap one photo at dinner. I know, bad Mommy.

From Photos for Blog

Christmas with MaMaw, Poppa Steve, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

On Wednesday, the 23rd, we celebrated Christmas with MaMaw, Poppa Steve, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa. They arrived at our house around lunch time and we all had yummy pizza together. Brian and I were proud to show off our home addition to everyone. They were all very impressed with how it turned out. After that, we let the kids open their Christmas gifts. The boys spent the rest of the afternoon playing with their new toys and learning new card games. James and John are still sleeping with the Toy Story blankets they received and Jude loves the new teething toys and rolling monkey ball he received. Here are some photos from their visit.

Christmas Prep with the Lewis Family

While Brian was driving his grandparents to Texas from Arizona, the boys and I spent the weekend with my parents and sister. On Saturday we went to their house after dropping Brian off at the airport and had a yummy breakfast. I brought over some num-nums (super delicious bran muffins) and banana bread I had made the day before. The boys and I hung out with Gammie and Poppa all day. James brought over his new castle and John brought his sing along DVD. After my sister arrived, we all piled in the car and headed to Santa's Wonderland just outside of College Station. The boys did such a wonderful job during the very long wait to get in. I think we sat in the car for almost 2 hours to drive through all the light displays. It was worth it though because both James and John LOVED it. I'm not sure if we'll go again next year. I was so glad we arrived a little bit early because by the time we left, the line was 4 times as long as when we got in it. I'd hate to hear how long those people waited to get in. Anyway, we headed into College Station to eat some dinner at the Olive Garden. Again, the boys were really well behaved considering it was 2 hours past their normal dinner time. Thankfully I had brought their pajamas with us and so I changed their clothes before getting back in the car to drive home. All of the boys fell asleep and made the transition to their beds with no problems. Sunday morning, we drove back up to Gammie and Poppa's house and spent most of the day there. The boys helped decorate their Christmas tree and I played Harry Potter Scene It with my sister. We headed home around 4:30 because Brian was due home between 5 and 6. Even though we were without Daddy, we had a wonderful weekend with my family. Here are a few photos of the boys decorating the tree.

From Photos for Blog

From Photos for Blog

Christmas with the Crew

On Friday, the 18th, we celebrated Christmas with our best friends. We had our traditional stuffed pork chops, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and rolls. Dinner was super yummy and afterwards we all exchanged gifts. Of course it was the younger ones who were dying to rip open their presents so we let them go first. All the kids enjoyed the gifts they received and it was nice for them to have a taste of what was to come a week later. James received the Imaginext castle and John got a princess game for the Wii and a sing along DVD. Jude received a musical push toy that he loves to hit so it will play music. We had a wonderful time celebrating early with our friends since we knew we wouldn't see them on Christmas day. Here are some photos of the kids tearing into their gifts.

Class Holiday Parties

The last week of school was certainly a busy one for James and John as each of them celebrated the winter holidays with their classmates. To prepare for these wonderful parties, I made a few batches of fudge and a lot of yummy chocolate covered pretzel rods. John's Christmas program and party were on Tuesday, 12/15, in the morning. The Tuesday/Thursday classes participated in the program. John was in the chorus and sat on the benches. Ms. Sue told me how the entire time he was talking about Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. Some classes were angels, some were shepards, and some were sheep. It was really cute and so nice to see John up there on stage. After the program was over, the parents were invited back to the classroom for a special snack (cookies and pretzels). I stayed with John and shared his snack and learned all about his classmates and teachers. Thursday morning was James' holiday party. I got to the classroom a little early and helped the homeroom moms set everything up. The party was Olympic themed so as the kids walked in we played the Olympic theme music and gave them each a different flag to wave. Then they paraded around the room. The kids got to play a few fun games such as pass the snowball (like hot potato) and elf bingo and did two crafts - an Olympic torch and an edible snowman. Jude and I had a wonderful time spending time with James and his classmates. I always enjoy seeing him interact with the kids in his class and getting to know his friends a bit more. James had a blast delivering the pretzel rods to all 9 of the Kindergarten teachers (it was his idea to make them for everyone, not just Mrs. Moore). All in all both James and John enjoyed celebrating the holidays at their respective schools. Here's a slide show of the photos I took. Sorry the ones of John are so dark. I think it might be time to invest in a new camera.

Much needed updates

Wow, I've really fallen behind on our blog. So much has been happening these last three weeks that I just haven't had much computer time. I've decided to get up early on this last day of 2009 and update our blog with all of the activities we've been up to this later half of December so get ready for quite a few new posts.

Jude at 7 months

Wow, this month has flown by before my eyes. I really can not believe Jude is 7 months old already. I keep saying he's six months old. He's had a really good month. He's now eating four 8 oz bottles a day and two solid meals. He's been practicing his chewing a lot and is starting to eat small bites of bread whenever we go out to eat. He's going to really help me with portion control over the next few months. Anytime I sit down to eat, he stares at me with big eyes as if to say "when are you going to give me some?"

Jude has also finally made the permanent move to his crib. We kept trying to get him so sleep in there but then we'd have something happen that brought us back into bed with us. We're now back in our house and there's nothing lurking on the horizon so we've decided it's time to get him in his own room. Thankfully he's been doing really well. Most nights he sleeps the whole night but on occasion he'll wake up once or twice and need some comfort.

Jude is also doing really well with sitting up on his own. He rarely topples over anymore and will sit and play with toys for quite a while. He's also rolling over a lot and can push himself backwards when he's on his tummy. Every now and then, he'll push himself back onto his knees but he quickly plops back onto his stomach when that happens.

We're gearing up for Jude's first Christmas five days from now. We can't wait to see what he thinks of all the presents and wrapping paper. He really enjoys looking at the Christmas tree and will try to pull ornaments off if he's sat too close to the tree. We'll also be celebrating Jude's first New Year in another week. We can't wait to ring in 2010 with our little baby boy.

Of course my camera battery died before I could get a few pictures of Jude so I had to use my sister's iPhone. This is the best one I could get of him. The grin is classic Jude. I love how it makes his little chubby cheeks even more pronounced.

Christmas Preparations

Christmas preparations are well underway here at the Hadley household. I've been wrapping presents anytime the older two boys aren't home and I'm finally down to the last two. We also dressed the boys up in their matching pajamas to capture a picture or two for our Christmas cards. As always, it was an adventure trying to get all three kids to look at the camera and smile. I really wish I had a camera with a faster shutter speed. There were several times they were all perfect but I had to wait for my camera to be ready to take another picture. Oh well, one day we'll invest in a digital SLR.

Last weekend, we braved the super cold weather to attend the Mustang Family Christmas Party. It was at the Farm and Ranch Club which is a covered outside venue. It was chilly when we arrived and only got colder as the sun went down. The boys took pictures with the longhorn and got to visit with Santa. We did a gift exchange and had yummy BBQ for dinner. After dinner, we waited in line for Christmas themed balloons. James got a reindeer hat and John got a candy cane. We met up with our friends, the Weatherwaxes and got the see the Broeder family for the first time in forever (they have two kiddos the same ages as James and John). After that, we decided to call it a night and head home.

I've also been working on some homemade stockings for our family. I found some really fun Christmas fabric while we were visiting Sally and Jason at the beginning of November. Now that we're back at home, I was able to break out the sewing machine and get them made. They turned out really well in my opinion. It was my first time making something completely from scratch. I made the pattern on my own and managed to piece it all together.

Alas, there are no decorations up at our house yet. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend and we can get both the inside and outside decorations up. It was dreadfully cold and wet last weekend.

Here are some out takes from the Christmas card photo shoot, pictures from the Mustang Christmas party, and our new stockings.

Snow in Katy?!?!

We woke to a super cold morning last Friday. I got a text message from Kristen a bit before 7:30 telling me it was sleeting/snowing. Lovely. So I had to load up everyone in the van and drive down to the bus stop. The bus driver informed me that the kids would likely be sent home from school early. Apparently the weatherman was misinformed as to the timing of the winter storm. The snow actually started coming down hard around 11:30, not the 3:30/4:30 he mentioned during the news the night before. We had a lovely lunch at the Olive Garden with Aunt Kristen to celebrate her birthday and what a wonderful birthday present she received. Snow on her birthday for the first time since she moved to Texas from Iowa as a child. John enjoyed playing in the snow in the backyard while waiting for James to get off the bus at 2. James got to throw snowballs at Brian for a bit before we loaded up in the van and headed out to wrap the pipes at my parents' house (it was going to get down well below freezing that night). By the time we were ready to meet Will for dinner at 5, the snow had stopped falling and the sun was shining. We still had snow on our grass and roof Saturday morning and well into Saturday afternoon. James is sorely disappointed every morning when he wakes up and there's no snow. I have to keep telling him that we live in southern Texas and snow is very rare here.

Here are a couple of photos of the snow we got last Friday.

Our Home Addition Project is Complete!!!

We came home Sunday to find our house was ready for us to move back in. The cleaning crew came over the weekend and everything was in really good shape. There were just a few remaining items on the punch list but nothing the would prevent us from moving back home. Sunday and Monday were a whirlwind of cleaning, packing, unpacking, and what seemed like a never ending pile of laundry. All in all, we were only out of our house for 5 weeks. We are over the moon with the results. The bedroom and bathroom turned out exactly as we envisioned and the new carpet is AWESOME. The only thing we wish we had done is put a light in the new hallway upstairs near the game room closed. It gets really dark up there at night. Thankfully a few well placed nightlights have solved the problem. I'm having a great time decorating the new bedroom (truck theme) and bathroom (monster theme). We are all so happy to be back in our house and Brian and I are definitely happy to be done commuting to and from Copperfield each day (thanks for letting us use your house Mom and Dad!!!). Here are pictures of the final product.

Camping Trip - November 2009

While most people were out shopping on Black Friday, the Hadleys were on their way to Fredericksburg for a camping trip with Kristen, Darren, Aly, and Cameron. Kristen reserved a cabin and a tent site at the nearby KOA. This was my first time to camp somewhere other than a state park and it had it's pluses and minuses. On the plus side, this KOA had private bathrooms that each had a toilet, sink and shower. That came in real handy when it came time to give the boys a shower. On the downside, there weren't any biking trails which the kids were looking forward to. We got to the KOA around noon on Friday and set up camp. After that, we ventured into Fredericksburg and walked down Main St. We stopped in several shops and ended up eating dinner at a German restaurant before driving back to camp. Saturday morning Kristen made hobo pies for breakfast. After we all ate, we made the short drive to Enchanted Rock. Everyone but Jude and I made the climb up the rock. Jude was napping in the car. Saturday afternoon was spent napping, riding bikes, and playing on the playground. We made burgers and hot dogs for dinner and I taught the kids how to play Uno. Dessert that night was a super yummy peach cobbler Kristen and Darren picked up at the pecan store. Here are some photos from the trip, many of them taken by James.

Supper Club

I just wanted to write a quick message about our wonderful Supper Club. We've been getting together with these three couples once a month for the last 5 years now. It really amazes me to see how much we've gone through together. Since we started, we have added 5 kids to the group (James was already born when we started) and have each moved to our second homes. We rotate which couple hosts dinner with the hosting couple choosing the theme for the month. The host prepares the main dish and the remaining couples each prepare a different course to complete the dinner. We have a fantastic time each and every time. We've done many different themes and have been shaking things up recently. This past month we all went on a dinner cruise in Clear Lake. The month before that was game night and before that we did a murder mystery dinner. We are so blessed to have these wonderful friends in our lives and truly look forward to seeing them each month. Here's a picture of the group and one of Brian and I.

From Photos for Blog

From Photos for Blog

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know it's a little late but I hope everyone out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours began with a day at the pediatrician's office. Jude had his 6 month check up in the morning and then the older two had to get their second dose of the N1H1 vaccine in the afternoon. After that, we were off to Georgetown to spend some quality time with MaMaw and Poppa Steve. We arrived pretty late on Tuesday but Wednesday was full of adventure. MaMaw got us tickets to see the 101 Dalmatians musical that was playing at the Long Center in downtown Austin. It was my first trip to that theater which was really nice. They must be remodeling the Bass Concert Hall because I noticed that the Nutcracker ballet was also going to be held there this year. Anyway, the musical was a hit! James and John really enjoyed all the songs.

Thursday was also a lot of fun. Aunt Sally and Uncle Jason arrived with their two puppies - Gus and Georgia. James and John both enjoyed playing with the dogs and taking them for walks. Poppa Steve and Uncle Jason worked on putting training wheels on James' bike. After a little modification, they were on and James was off and riding his bike. Brian took him out for a ride and then later in the afternoon, I took him for a ride around the block. Thanksgiving dinner was super yummy. We had ham, stuffing, lima beans, corn, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and rolls. Later that evening we munched on queso and different cheese dips while playing Scrabble. Sally rocked the house and beat us all by a mile. The day finally ended with the UT vs. A&M football game. While the Aggies did not get the "W", we were all very proud of how well they played against the #3 team in the nation. We're hoping to get the win next year when Colt McCoy leaves and we still have Jerrod Johnson on the roster.

Sorry I didn't get any pictures from all the activity. We were just too busy having a great time. Here are the only two photos I did take. It was Jude's first time taking a bath in the big tub. He had a great time splashing in the water and playing in the tub with James.

From Photos for Blog

From Photos for Blog