Jude at 11 months

We're heading into the final month of Jude's first year. Much has stayed the same for Jude this past month. He's cruising around like crazy and has even stood on his own a few times. Earlier this month, he walked a few times with the help of his push toy but doesn't seem interested in doing that anymore. He also finally cut his first tooth. He was miserable for a few days and then it made it's appearance. I think he's working on tooth number two right now as his napping is off and he's very fussy when he's awake. Jude also got his first haircut at home. Brian held him while I cut his hair with the clippers as quickly as possible. It turned out pretty good although I missed a couple of spots in the back. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. Jude went to bed before I could get the camera out tonight.

Big Announcement!!!

We're pleased to announce the upcoming arrival of our fourth and final child in mid to late September. This past Friday, we found out that the baby is definitely a boy. James and John were both disappointed that they weren't getting a baby sister but I'm really pleased that Jude will have a brother so close in age. We're not set on a name yet but it will begin with J just like his brothers. Here are some photos from the ultrasound. Enjoy!!!

Profile

From Photos for Blog

3D Profile

From Photos for Blog

Gender shot

From Photos for Blog

Congratulations Brian!!!

Today was the culmination of a long year of study and reflection. Brian was Confirmed in the Catholic church and received Communion for the very first time. We are so happy and proud of him. The boys, my parents and I were all there at Mass this morning to witness this blessed event. Brian and I are looking forward to being active in our church community through Children's Faith Formation (me) and High School Faith Formation (Brian). I want to give a huge thanks to Brian's sponsor, Chris, who helped him through his faith journey.

Homemade Gourmet

Yesterday I attended a Homemade Gourmet party at a neighbors house. I had never heard of the company before and was very interested to see what it was all about. Picture a Tupperware party but for food. The company sells several different spice mixes that help create a variety of meals. It picked up the "Let's Make Dinner Collection" that has 15 different spice mixes and an insert containing 20 recipe ideas. All 20 recipes are things you can mix together in a Ziploc bag, smoosh together and then freeze. I'm really looking forward to mixing these up with the boys and then cooking them in the coming months. I always have a hard time coming up with ideas for dinner and get bored making the same old things so this will definitely help! I'll keep you posted on how the meals turn out and what our favorites are.

Trips to the Dentist

This past week both James and John went to the dentist to have their teeth cleaned. I learned a valuable lesson last summer - don't take all three kids at the same time - so I made their appointments for different days. John went on Wednesday. John hates to have his teeth brushed but thankfully he did very well with letting the dentist check for cavities and the hygienist clean his teeth. He has to go back in May for sealants. We got a book that explains what happens. Hopefully after going through that a few times, he'll do a good job at keeping his mouth open while they put the sealants on. James went Thursday morning. Again, no cavities and he did a great job having his teeth cleaned and even helped the dentist pull out his top tooth. There was a little boy next to him having some fillings and caps put on due to cavities. I think the sound of the drill was good motivation for James to really do a good job brushing his teeth from now on.

Easter Weekend

I know it's a little late but things have been busy at the Hadley House. We had a wonderful Easter weekend. James, John and I went camping at Huntsville State Park with our family friends for the weekend. We lucked out and got the same exact sites as last year which were fantastic. They had a great view of the lake and were super close to both the bathrooms and the dock. The boys had a great time riding their bikes, fishing and playing with their friends. The weather was so nice on Saturday that we put the kids in old clothes and took them over to the little man made beach they had. The kids all had a blast swimming and playing in the sand. The water was way too cold for the adults to get in but we enjoyed watching them splash around. James was even holding his breath underwater and trying to swim with his arms and legs. I hope this is a good sign of things to come this summer. It would be great to get him out of a life vest by the time school starts up in the fall. After the kids were done swimming, we rented a couple of canoes and a paddle boat. Man, my legs got a good workout from all that pedaling. The boys had a blast riding on both the paddle boat and in the canoe. We really lucked out and had beautiful weather the entire time. The forecast had been predicting rain but we only had light sprinkling one night. The only downer for the whole weekend was the cold showers we had Saturday night. The park was super full and by the time we got to the showers, there was no more hot water. :(

Now, you might be asking yourself where Brian and Jude were during this time. Brian had several church services to attend over the weekend for RCIA. Jude stayed behind with Brian because he wasn't a very good camper in March and I don't think I could have handled all three of them without Brian. Apparently Jude was very good at one service but was restless at the other. Jude also got to spend some quality time with MaMaw and Poppa Steve last Saturday and Sunday morning. They kept him while Brian attended the Easter Vigil services Saturday night.

The boys and I got home right around lunchtime on Sunday so we picked up Brian and Jude and headed out for some yummy Mexican food. After we filled our bellies, Brian unloaded the car while I gave the boys a really good hot shower. We all rested Sunday afternoon before heading to Kristen's house for Easter dinner and our Easter egg hunt. Dinner was super yummy - ham, baked potatoes, corn and rolls - and all the kids had a great time hunting for eggs. A few of the kids are older so we hid money in 6 special glitter eggs. I think every child got at least a dollar or two with a $20 being the big prize in the golden egg.

I didn't take any pictures while we were camping. I know, bad mommy. But I did get some good ones of the kids hunting eggs. Enjoy!!