The Hamilton Family: Jude turns 4

Jude turned 4 this weekend! My littles are growing up fast! But I never seem to feel too sad about it; I really like more independent kids!

Jude really is a kind and loving boy. He loves his sisters so much! He always wants Ellie to play with him (sometimes too much) and often happily volunteers to help her do things. He can be mischievous and lead Ellie into "bad choices" but most of the time he just wants her to be his buddy. Already, he loves his baby sister and insists on giving her a kiss and hug before I go anywhere, belly kiss and all. Jude is a smart, conscientious boy who likes to take it all in. He's the best behaved in his primary class, always sitting quietly and singing his heart out (I can vouch for this; I sit right behind him in primary and the rest of the sunbeams are like caged animals). Jude will remember anything and everything he does, memorizing train stations and lines from his favorite shows. I am continually impressed by how much he understands and can do on his own. We love you, Jude!

This must be the year of two-day birthdays. Just like Ellie, Jude's birthday got split into two days of celebrations just for logistical reasons. But hey, who doesn't want more birthday? Because his birthday fell on the Saturday of General Conference, we knew we'd be super busy and wouldn't have much time to properly celebrate. So we started the night before.

Jude insisted on an Octonauts-themed birthday this year. He really wanted a "gup-A" cake (like he saw on pinterest while surfing for ideas with me), but seriously, there was no way I could pull that off. I think I'm a pretty decent baker, but my decorating skills are severely lacking. Plus, I'm gonna have a baby in like a week, so not a lot of energy to try... Here's what we got.

9x13 dump cake + figurines and a poorly written "Happy Birthday." Go Mom. At least Jude seemed to like it and it tasted awesome.

We told Jude that he could pick anywhere he wanted in the whole world for his birthday dinner on Friday night. Where did we end up?

Chick-fil-a!!

Not that we were really complaining. It may not have been a chance for an excuse to get fancy food, but honestly, Chick-fil-a is GOOD. As far as fast food goes, I'd take it any day. Also: cheap.

mmmm...waffle cut fries.

After awhile in the play place (the real reason I think Jude loves Chick-fil-a), we came home to have cake and sing happy birthday. Jude was very happy a couple of our neighbors were able to join us and have cake!

being very shy about the camera

After the kids went to bed, Peter and I started on our traditional easy (and cheap) birthday decor. The kids absolutely love these traditions and I'm glad I can keep them happy without much fanfare.

decorating the "octopod," as Jude refers to our house now

for the record, Peter is very excellent at putting up streamers.

I always sew a little banner for their chosen theme. They don't really make Octonaut fabric, or decorations for that matter, so I improvised.

our kelp forest! Jude and Ellie colored the fish and we hid them in the kelp. As with all things Jude loves, he's now able to describe and name many different kinds of fish thanks to the show. Too bad we just let our aquarium passes expire :(

one last shot. I'm just really proud of my kelp forest; it took way longer than expected to put up.

bedroom streamers!

The birthday boy woke up bright and early the next morning. Maybe because he was really excited, or maybe because he requested cinnamon rolls for birthday breakfast so mom was up at 6am using the loud mixer.

couldn't wait for present opening, so Jude ran up to wake up dad. Thankfully, the gifts did not disappoint.

Ellie was very into the gift unwrapping. She kept trying to get in on the action.

I seriously couldn't get him to sit still for 1 second to snap a decent picture of his precious new Octopod (now he can stop taking random objects from around the house and turning them into the octopod and making a huge mess)

Our neighbors very kindly gave him a gift. While he was opening the first half, Ellie snuck in the second half.

Thankfully, Jude didn't mind at all. He actively encouraged her to open it. She then claimed the book as her own and has been hoarding it ever since. Sweet Jude has just let it go with no fights.

What Jude did most of conference.

Having his birthday fall on conference weekend and with my current giant belly, I'm very much reminded of watching conference pregnant with Jude and praying that something would inspire him to come out! Thankfully, labor started just a few hours after conference ended. Maybe baby girl will be so inspired...?