Out with the Old...

We ended 2010 with a very small bang. We stayed in for a cozy evening of chinese take-out, a riveting game of giant spoons and some italian sodas in fancy glasses. The kids went to bed by 9:00 pm and I almost made it until midnight!

Some things we are so thankful for in 2010:

• participating in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and paying off some debt!
• a fun vacation to Wisconsin Dells during the summer
  
• our church family that blessed us in many ways
• a challenging season of growth during the campaign "Elevate"at church
• and last but certainly not least, the birth of our third munchkin, Grady

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Our Christmas started out a little rocky with Drake starting to run a fever of 100-104* for a few days. Finally, on Christmas Eve he seemed to have kicked the worst of it with a lingering cough and cold. Then, Hadley started in that evening. Luckily, we had celebrated Christmas with Nana and Papa that morning at our house, so they stayed so I could enjoy the Christmas Eve service at church and they could stay home with the sickies.

Christmas Day we headed over to the Lodge to celebrate with the Rutledge clan. ( I keep forgetting to download those pictures so I'll have to post those soon!) Hadley was a little pitiful and pretty much just laid on the couch or floor all day. Drake's legs started aching that morning and he was limping around all day. This happened after the last time he was sick too so we're not sure if it's related to the virus he had or being dehydrated while he was sick. Sunday morning the kids and I had to miss church because Hadley was still running a fever and we had to postpone the Farwell Christmas that was supposed to happen that night so she wouldn't get any of the other kids sick. Finally Monday afternoon, we made it to Lincoln and we celebrated Christmas with our big meal that everyone pitched in to make and then let the kids tear into the presents. Seven children 6 and under made for an entertaining evening!

Thanksgiving 2010

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We got to spend Thanksgiving being thankful with both of our families this year. We spent a couple of nights out at the camp with Gabe's family. We had a fun time relaxing with the family and eating lots of yummy food.

After we left there, we headed up to Indiana to visit with my mom's side of the family. It was amazingly not as chaotic as I was expecting. There were 12 kids there from 2 months-6 years, not to mention all of their parents! It's always fun to reconnect with that side of the family, eat way too much, stay up too late talking and laughing and let the kids play.

Under God's Sea in 3D

Drake's big debut:

Drake got to perform in the children's musical at church: Under God's Sea in 3D. It was a great program and he's a natural on the stage, if I do say so myself.

Drake is one of the swimming fish during this song.

Shut up!

This is not a phrase we use at our house...ever. BUT, we took the kids to Toys-R-Us tonight to browse through the toys (and so I could secretly buy something for Christmas for them that was on sale) and Gabe was distracting the kids while I made the purchase. Drake was showing Hadley a toy couch that folded out into a small bed. Drake was being very dramatic about how cool it was and when he folded it out, Hadley said "Shut..up!" Not the kind of shut up that means be quiet, but the kind of shut up that means "No way!" Hilarious. We have no idea where she has heard this phrase but there was no containing the laughter on that one. Out of the mouths of three year olds...

Two months

I can't believe it has already been another month! Grady is growing like a weed. He weighed in at 14lbs 4 oz at his appointment and was 23 1/2 inches long. Some of Grady's favorite things to do now include smiling at mommy, chewing on his hands and he's been making some cooing happy noises lately too! He still has a herniated belly button and it has gotten quite a bit bigger lately so our pediatrician has referred us to see a pediatric surgeon next week to see if he will need surgery soon to correct it. Usually, they wait until at least one year, but with how big it has gotten lately there could be a risk of it strangulating some bowel so we will see what the surgeon's opinion on it is. He's not sleeping all night yet, unfortunately, but he is starting to stretch to 6-7 hours at a time most nights. I think I've figured out that when I eat dairy products (especially ice cream) it does not settle well with him and those nights are rough with a super gassy little guy.

One Month Young

I can't believe our little man has already been in our home for one month! He has been such an easy transition to our family. He's not quite getting the hang of sleeping very long stretches consistently yet, but other than that, he is usually a fairly content baby. He has given me a few small smiles and can't wait to see how his personality continues to develop. The comments we hear about him the most from others are "LOOK at that HAIR!" and "Wow, he's so dark, were your other kids that dark as babies?" And maybe a few unspoken thoughts about what ethnicity is this kid!?



At his one month appointment Grady weighed in at 10lbs 13oz and 22 inches. He's definitely a good eater! The other kids continue to love on him constantly. They have done such a great job welcoming him to our family.