Jude's First Birthday

I can hardly believe Jude's first year has come to a close. This has been the most wonderful year. Jude has been such a blessing to our family. He's such a happy, easy going little boy. I took him to the doctor this morning and he's growing and developing right on schedule. He weighs 25 lbs and 6 oz and is 31 inches tall. I'm not at all surprised at his numbers. He's so heavy and so tall. He had to get three shots and have his blood taken to check for anemia. We didn't have much time to really celebrate as it was a school day for both James and John but I did my best to make him feel special and extra loved today.

Jude isn't walking yet but he can stand on his own. I think it's a confidence thing because he can push a rolling toy all over the room with no problems at all. I imagine it will happen soon. Jude also has two teeth - the two on the bottom - as of his birthday. I think he's been the one to go the longest before getting any teeth. Jude is eating 100% table food. The boy will eat anything that is on your plate. He is definitely not a picky eater. He can also pack it away too. It really won't be long before we have to start purchasing him a kid's meal for himself. As of today, Jude is still on toddler formula. As soon as we get halfway through the last container I'll start introducing whole milk. I know that will be a shock for him. He usually has his formula at room temperature but of course milk needs to be cold. Hopefully he'll go with the flow.

Some things I'm looking forward to in the coming months:
First steps
New words
Full time walking (it's no fun carrying around 25 lbs when you're 5 months pregnant)
Introducing new foods - mainly breakfast foods like pancakes and waffles
Swimming
First trip to the beach
and last but not least,
Jude becoming a big brother!

California Adventures

This past weekend, I visited California with my mother and sister. We arrived in Sacramento around lunch time on Saturday. We picked up our rental car and headed up to Napa. After checking in to our hotel and showering, we headed to the V marketplace in Yountville. We did some window shopping while waiting for our dinner reservation at Michael Chiarello's restaurant, Bottega. Dinner was FABULOUS and we even got a visit from the Top Chef Masters runner up himself. We woke up early the next morning and ate breakfast before heading off to tour the Robert Mondavi winery. We learned a lot about how wine is made from the growing of the grapes, to the harvest and making of the wine. We participated in a tasting before heading back to Yountville to have lunch and taste the family wines at NapaStyle (Michael Chiarello's store). We then headed our for our last tasting at the Hess winery. This one was a wine and cheese pairing. They picked some super yummy cheeses and served it with candied walnuts and cranberries. We then headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before heading to the Napa Valley Wine Train. We got to see almost the whole valley on the train ride and the food was fantastic yet again. We were super stuffed when we walked off the train that night.

Monday morning, we got up and loaded up the car for our drive down to San Francisco. We got lucky that there was no fog as we drove over the bridge although it was raining lightly. We got all checked into our hotel and then headed out to find some lunch. It was still drizzling a bit but we braved the weather and walked down to Ghirardelli Square for chocolate and then Fisherman's Wharf. We walked all the way down to pier 39 for lunch at Bubba Gump's. The food was super yummy. After lunch we walked around the pier a bit and got some crepes for dessert. After that we walked back to the hotel for a rest. We again headed out in the light rain for some dinner. This was the one meal that was disappointing. It must have been authentic Italian because it was nothing like we had ever eaten before. Thankfully we weren't very hungry because we all left quite a bit on our plates.

Tuesday morning we had to get up pretty early so we could drive down to the Ferry terminal and eat breakfast before our 9 am city tour. We boarded the tour bus and were on our way around San Francisco. Our tour guide did a fantastic job telling us the history of the city and taking us to all the most important sights. We got to see the crooked street, Nob Hill, Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, and a bunch of other city highlights. We had lunch in Sausalito before heading off to Muir Woods for the rest of our tour. The forest was absolutely beautiful. We got to take a nice mile long walk through the woods. After that we drove out to Muir Beach which wasn't really a beach at all. There were stairs that led out to an incredible view of the bay. Our last stop was back in Sausalito to take the ferry back to San Francisco. We had a great view of the bridge, Alcatraz and the city. The weather held up all day long until the ferry ride and thankfully it barely sprinkled. Once we got back to the car, we headed off to Union Square to eat at Rick Bayless's restaurant Frontera under Macy's. The food was super yummy and we were all really hungry. After dinner, we took the elevator up to the 8th floor to get some cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. It was super packed which was surprising for a Tuesday. We hopped back in the car and were off to the airport.

Thankfully the airport was super easy to find and it was surprisingly easy to return our rental car. We then hopped on the tram and got to the terminal. Checked the bags, got through security and then began the long wait for our red eye flight to Chicago. This was the first red eye I'd ever taken and was shocked at how full it was. There were only a few empty seats on the whole plane. Needless to say, none of us slept well and arrived in Chicago super tired and hungry. Well I was hungry but had motion sickness from all the turbulence and chose not to eat. We made it home just around noon. I drive us all back to my parents' house and then picked up Whinnie and drove back home to Katy. All in all, it was a great trip. We got to see and do so much thanks to my mom's careful planning.

Pictures to come soon. Brian took the camera for his NYC trip before I had a chance to get them off the memory card.

Testing

i just downloaded a blogger app for my Droid. let's see how well it works.

Our Final Little Boy Has a Name

Our last little boy will be named Jonah Charles Hadley. All of our boys' first names are books of the bible and each one shares a name with someone important in our family. That also all have 18 total letters in their name, just like Brian. (Yes, this was done on purpose) The Hadley Children will consist of:

James Patrick Hadley,
John Alasdair Hadley,
Jude Benjamin Hadley, and
Jonah Charles Hadley

We can't wait to meet our final little boy in September!!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. Saturday night James and I had dinner with my parents and sister. John and Jude took a late nap and were not in the mood for dinner at a nice restaurant. Sunday morning I was greeted with lots of hugs and kisses and the presents the boys had made for me at school. John made a really pretty candle holder decorated with flowers and his school picture. James wrote me a very nice letter, made me a bookmark and a card. He also sang me a really nice song he learned at school. I also received a really pretty Vera Bradley ribbon board, apron, and recipe box from Brian. Later that morning, we went to church as a family and were fortunate enough to find a seat. 9:30 Mass at our church is almost always packed to the gills. After church, James and I went to go see Iron Man 2 together. We both really enjoyed the movie and lunch at the Alamo Draft House. We also ran to Petco to get a few things for Whinnie. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home which is exactly what we needed after a busy Saturday. The last part of my Mother's Day festivities will be a trip to Napa, CA with my mom and sister. We leave on the 15th and get back on the 19th. I'm really looking forward to a few days without my normally mommy duties. I'm sure I will miss them terribly but I definitely need a break.

The Big Birthday Party

This past Saturday was the boys' big birthday party. We had it at Inflatable Zone Katy and once again, it was a huge success. We had about 22 kids come to help James and John celebrate their birthdays. Both boys had a great time playing with their friends running, jumping, and sliding on the inflatables. Parents and family members also had a blast!! After an hour and 20 minutes of playing, we went to the party room for cake, ice-cream and presents. The boys got some really great gifts that will get used a lot over the summer. Pictures and video to come soon!

Our Newest Family Member

On May 1st we added a new member to our family. Her name is Whinnie and she's a West Highland White Terrier. James, John and I drove up to Granbury on Friday evening and stayed the night with Sally and Jason before picking her up at the breeder Saturday morning. She's been a wonderful addition to our family. The boys instantly fell in love with her and she really enjoys playing with them. She chases them around the yard and is super happy to see them in the morning when they wake up and after they get home from school. Jude and Whinnie have a love/hate relationship right now. She loves it when he's crawling and she can get in his face which he hates. He loves it when he's sitting up and can pet her or push her away if necessary which she hates. I think things will get better once he starts walking and she can't get in his face any more. She's a bit afraid of John at the moment. He loves to hold her but is just a tiny bit too rough for her liking. I'm sure things will get better once she gets a bit bigger. We still miss Molly but are happy to have a family pet again. Photos to come soon.