Things have been kind of crazy with everything that has been going on. I had a wonderful birthday. Jon surprised me by taking me out to eat with some of my friends. It was a lot of fun and Jon did a good job of making my birthday special. On Saturday we celebrated Justus' 3rd birthday. I still can't believe he is 3 years old already! We had the family over for lunch and presents and then headed to Monkey Joe's. It's a place for little kids that has a bunch of jumpy houses. The boys had so much fun! They both impressed Jon and I with how much they climbed and were able to do.

Yesterday we had Justus' 3 year appointment. He is getting so big! He now weighs 41 lbs. which is in the 95th percentile. We were also told to take him off of whole milk. We have kept him on whole milk because we thought it would be beneficial since he is such a picky eater, but the doctor said it wasn't really. So once I run out of whole milk we are going to switch the boys to 2% for a while and then continue to drop them down until we get to skim milk. Anyways, Justus is now 39 3/4 inches tall, which was in the 75th percentile. The main thing I talked about with Justus' doctor yesterday was his speech. He doesn't really enunciate and can be hard to understand at times. The doctor said by age 3 a stranger should be able to understand 3/4 of what he is saying. I'm not sure if they could, so we are going to get his hearing checked and then take him to see to see a speech therapist. We'll see how it goes. I haven't set up the appointment yet, but plan on doing that sometime today.

Charley also had her 6 month check up last Thursday. She is in the 75th percentile on both height and weight. She is now 27 1/2 inches tall and weighs 16 lbs. 13 oz. She can now roll over both ways, and can sit on her own for a few seconds. She loves playing with toys and being in the exersaucer. She is getting so close to being able to push up onto all fours, but only does it when she is really frustrated about being on her tummy, so I don't think she is actually trying to do it.

Matthias is doing really great as well. He is the only one that hasn't had a doctor's appointment in the past 2 weeks. He seems to have hit a little growth spurt. He is getting so tall. He is still going through his terrible two's, although they are very mild. He tells us no all the time, but usually changes his mind pretty quickly. It's so funny how different the boys are. Matthias is still quite the cuddle bug. He loves for me to hold him. He doesn't really like hugs and kisses, but loves to sit on my lap....Justus doesn't really like that and rarely asks to sit on my lap. I think maybe he is going to be a momma's boy...or at least he is for the moment.

We are really looking forward to Christmas this year since the boys are starting to understand the whole presents thing. We think they are going to love all of their new toys, and race car beds! I will be sure to post pictures this weekend!

I guess it's been a few weeks since I have updated. I didn't realize that. I'm so behind. We are doing really well. We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Springfield. It was just Jon, me, the kids, Jon's dad, and sister. It was a little toned down compared to previous years. We had a good time. I even got a little Christmas shopping in. Other than that we haven't been too busy. I've been spending most of my free time making bows, but not that Holiday Mart is over I will be taking a break from bow making for a while. Jon and I made $100, so I think it was worth it. We also got to enjoy an evening out on Saturday night. We celebrated our anniversary and went to Charlie Gitto's downtown. It was super delicious...horrible service though.

The kids are all doing really well. We have gotten Justus to go pee on the potty 3 times now. He is finally warming up to the idea of going on the potty. After the holidays Jon is going to take a Friday off so that he can start potty training him over a weekend. I will be so excited when I only have to change two children's diapers! Justus is continuing to talk more and more and is becoming a little easier to understand as well. We have also been working with him on his colors and he is starting to recognize them. It seems his favorite color right now is green. He wants to say everything is green....even though he knows everything isn't green.

Matthias is doing well. The biggest change...he is now sleeping in a toddler bed. He is doing great with it. We generally have to separate the boys to get them to go to sleep, but for now it works. I think Matthias really likes that he is in a toddler bed and can get up and down as he pleases. He is still telling us "no" all the time, but he is much easier to handle than Justus was when he was going through his terrible two phase. Matthias is a good listener and even when he tells us no he usually does whatever it is that we ask of him.

Charley is almost 6 months old! I can't believe it!! I really need to get the camera out and take some pictures of her...and the boys for that matter. I haven't been so good at taking pictures lately. Anyways....Charley is getting big. She still isn't rolling over from her back to her belly, but she is SO close. She loves sitting in the exersaucer! She likes making it rock around and spinning in the seat to get to all the toys. I finally started giving her cereal. She absolutely loves it. She is going to be so excited when we start fruits and veggies.

The next couple weeks are going to be a little busy for us....Jon is working most of this weekend and then there's my birthday, Charley's 6 month check-up, Justus' birthday, Justus' 2 year check up, I have a doctor's appointment, Christmas eve in Mt. Vernon, and then Christmas here with Jon's family. I can't believe Christmas is so close. We are done shopping for the kids. The boys are getting a tool/work bench. It's really neat! It has a ton of tools, and some of them are battery powered and spin and make noise. We think the boys are going to love it! That is a joint gift for both of them and then they are getting a few smaller things and stocking stuffers. Charley is getting a small basket with some pink girly rattles/toys and then some baby food. I am almost done with Jon's Christmas also. I have a few more things to look for.

Hopefully I will get the camera out soon. When I do I'll post some pictures.

Finally some pictures!

I feel like it's been a really busy week or so...but it really hasn't been. Almost all my free time right now is devoted to making bows. I mostly have been selling them to some of Jon's co-workers...and I'm trying to get some made for Holiday Mart...that thing at Jon's work. Hopefully I will make enough to cover costs and pay for some of Christmas. I'm also thinking of setting up a site on etsy. I'll post a link so you can see my handy work once I get that up and going. There are so many people on there that sell bows though...so I'm not really expecting to do much business through there, but I figured if I could give people at Holiday Mart a website it might help me to keep a little extra income coming in...even if it's only a few dollars.

Other than bows...things here are going pretty good. Jon has been pretty busy with Blues games lately. He's had 3 this week...yuck! I think he only has one game next week and then is off for the rest of November, so that's kind of nice. We aren't too sure what our plans for Thanksgiving are this year. Usually we go up to Springfield and Jon's uncle from Nevada and his aunt and uncle from Chicago all come in, but this year we don't think any of them are going to be able to make it. It's kind of weird since going to Springfield for the weekend has been our tradition since we got married. We'll hopefully figure something out though. Jon and I have gotten most of the kids Christmas shopping done. The boys are both getting The Jesus Storybook Bible. We are pretty excited about that. We are really looking forward to reading it to them before bedtime. They are also getting a tool workbench. We have picked out a couple online that we like, and we are planning on going to Toys R Us to actually buy it so that we can see it before it gets here. Other than that...they will just get a few little stocking stuffer type gifts. As for Charley, we haven't really decided what to get her for Christmas yet. She is getting a copy of The Jesus Storybook Bible at her baby dedication, which is November 22nd...feel free to join us if you like. I think I'm going to get her a little basket of baby food as one of her gifts...she won't know that it's not exciting.

The kids are all doing great! Charley is starting to squeal and make lots of coo's. She "talks" all the time. She has also discovered her feet and likes to grab at them and look at them. She is getting so close to rolling over from her back to her belly. I don't think it will be long before she finally gets it. Hopefully this week I will actually start her on some cereal. I've been meaning to start trying to feed it to her, but I honestly just forget that she's ready...she shouldn't be almost 5 months old already!!

Justus is doing really well. He is speaking in more and more sentences...although I'm pretty sure Jon, Matthias and I are the only ones that can understand him most of the time. He has such a good memory also. He remembers places and things that I'm shocked he remembers. He is going to be 3 in just a few short weeks! I can't believe that! He is getting so big! His 3T pants are almost too small...the bad thing is that most 4T pants are way too big. I've tried a few different brands and it seems the same no matter what. 3T pants still work...but I don't know for how much longer....if he grows any taller they will begin to look a little silly on him. Hopefully if we reach that point 4T's will be a little closer to fitting him.

Matthias is starting to talk more and more. His favorite words right now are "zes" (yes), "sure" and "okay". He's also starting to speak in some 2-3 word phrases. It's so cute to watch him right now because he is learning so much. He is starting to catch onto things. It's just awesome to see him learning new things.

I really do need to post some pictures. I will really try to do that within the next few days.

Our little man is 2!! I can't believe he is 2 already. He had a great birthday! We had the family over on Sunday to celebrate. He got some puzzles, a little car garage, a music mat, some bathtub paint, and some other fun stuff. He was so excited about his cake and his party. He also had his 2 year check-up on Monday. He weighed 30.6 lbs and was 34 inches tall...although he wouldn't stand still so that is probably off a little. He is doing really great and the doctor said he looked good. She did give me a prescription for miralax though because he has some issues going number 2. I haven't started him on the miralax yet though. Matthias' new favorite word is "yes". It's so cute when he says it...it sounds more like "zes". It's kind of nice since he can actually answer a yes/no question.

Justus is doing pretty good. Nothing new to report with him. He loves that his brother got some new toys. He was actually very good at Matthias' party about not taking over things. He let Matthias open his presents all by himself and was very good about sharing with him.

Charley is officially rolling over all the time from her belly to her back. She is okay with it most of the time except for when she is trying to go to sleep. She likes sleeping on her tummy and cries when she rolls to her back. She typically will go right back to sleep if we flip her over. She has also begun playing with small toys...like rattles and likes laying on her play mat and touching the toys. I can't believe she is almost 5 months old....is that even possible!?!

Things are continuing to go well. We haven't been showing the house very much...in fact we have only shown the house 4 times since putting it back on the market. The 1st time home buyers credit did get extended, so hopefully that will work in our favor. I have been super busy making bows. I seem to have gotten into the bow making business on accident. Jon took a few of my bows in to show one of the woman there that had asked to see some of them and that has turned into me making a ton of bows for Jon's co-workers. It's kind of nice to make a little extra money off of something that I enjoy doing anyways. I am also going to have a little booth at a little craft fair/small business thing at Jon's work on December 5th. It's for people who have their own businesses like Mary Kay or people who make stuff and sell it...like me. It will probably be a little stressful since I have no idea how many bows to make in preparation and would like to avoid spending a ton of money on ribbon for bows that don't get sold. Oh well...we knew that might be a risk. But it's open to the public...so if you're in the West County area and want to buy some cute bows come on by Ed. Jones (that ends my shameless plug).

I'll post some pictures from Matthias' party a little later.

Animoto.com

Matthias is almost 2!! I can't believe it. We are having family over on Sunday (his actual birthday) for lunch, cake, and presents. Matthias doesn't really know the difference...Justus does. He keeps referring to it as "Justus' party"...yes he refers to himself in the third person. Matthias I'm sure will enjoy opening presents and getting some new toys to play with. Matthias also goes to the doctor on Monday for his 2 year check-up. I'm looking forward to seeing how big he has gotten since his last check up 6 months ago. Since he is turning 2, we have decided it's time to switch him into a toddler bed. We have been putting this off as long as possible, but Justus has been climbing into Matthias' crib while Matthias is sleeping and jumping on him. Poor little guy. Jon's dad is going to buy the boys racecar beds for Christmas, so we are going to make the switch then. I'm sure it will be pretty rough the first few nights. We actually let them play sometimes before bedtime in their room and they play really well together, so we are hoping that they play together instead of fighting. I guess we'll see.


We are heading to Mt. Vernon tomorrow night for a little trick or treating. We are hoping for no rain!! Justus is a tiger and Matthias is a lion. I was hoping to get Charley a bear outfit, but couldn't find one that I could justify buying. The only ones I found that would fit her were $30, and I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much for a costume. Last weekend Jon's work had "Trunk or Treat" in the parking garage. The boys didn't really understand the whole trick or treat thing at first, so we were kind of bummed about that, but they finally started to realize what was happening about half way through the garage. They actually really enjoyed it towards the end, so I am hoping Saturday night goes well and that they have fun.

Speaking of Charley...she is SO close to rolling over from her tummy to her back. He gets her legs up under her and can push her bottom over...but then she can't get her top half over. She has gotten to her side a couple of times, but wears out before making the final push and ends up back on her belly. It won't be long though. I am pretty careful about putting her up on the bed or couch, but I will have to start being extra careful. When she falls asleep on our bed I have a tendancy to just leave her in there...but I won't be able to do that anymore.

I will post some pictures of our adventures this weekend!! Until then...here is a little slide show of Matthias' first year....a walk down memory lane!!

So I'm being a little lazy...here is a link to our pictures from September and October. Since our computer crashed the only place I have some of these is backed up on the web. Here's the links...


September
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=309320&id=566475544&l=5689576702


October
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=321590&id=566475544&l=803b8a957b

I've been a little behind in posting. We were with out a computer for a little over a week, and it's been hard to get back into the internet swing of things. Our weekends have been pretty crazy as well. We had a halloween party on Saturday this past weekend and then a fall party with our old Sunday school class on Sunday. Both were a lot of fun, and the kids had a great time at each. Jon is going to be extremely busy with his second job at Scottrade for the next two weeks, so we were trying to squeeze in as much as we could since we will be unable to do much for the next two weekends.

Charley had her 4 month check-up yesterday. She did really well and the doctor said she looked great. She now weighs 15 lbs even and is 25 3/4 inches tall. She is in the 90th percentile on both. She also had to get 2 shots. She wasn't a big fan, but she only cried for a few minutes afterwards. Other than that...she is laughing all the time, which we just love. She is also able to sit in the bumbo, which is kind of nice. She loves sitting in it also. She watches me cook and wash dishes and likes sitting up to watch rather than laying on the floor or in her bouncy seat.

The boys are doing great as well. They both actually got a flu shot yesterday. They didn't mind it too much. It was quite the adventure at the doctor's office yesterday. I don't typically take all three of them with me when I go, but sometimes it's necessary. We pull into the parking lot and I park in the corner at the edge of the lot. I set Justus and Matthias out in the grass while I grab Charley. Well I turn around and Matthias has fallen into a mud hole...not a puddle...a hole! Thankfully he didn't fall all the way in...he just stepped into it with one leg...saving his whole body from being covered in muddy water. So I get him out of the hole and take all three inside. I had to take Matthias' socks, shoes and pants off. His shirt was a little wet, but I figured it was okay. So he got to run around the doctors office in just his shirt and diaper. Thankfully I didn't have any other stops to make before going home.

Justus is doing really well. He isn't climbing into Matthias' crib nearly as much anymore. We figured the fun of that would eventually wear off...and it has. He is speaking in more and more sentences. He is learning so much right now too and has a great memory. Every time we go to the doctor's office he remembers that the doctor's stethoscope has a bear on it....the funny thing is that her stethoscope broke quite a while back and she hasn't had it the past few times we've been there...but he still remembers. He is getting a little better at listening as well and hasn't been getting in trouble at the Y nearly as much...maybe like once every two weeks or so they tell me he did something he wasn't supposed to.

Matthias is doing well. His new favorite word is "no". That's his answer to almost everything. He gives in really easily though. He is definitely a softy. He is getting very big and it is hard to believe that his birthday is in less than two weeks. We are planning on getting him a bike. November really isn't the ideal time for bike riding, but we figure this way both boys will have a bike for next spring.

I will try to post some pictures soon...or maybe just a link to some pictures since we don't have any of our pictures on our computer anymore since it crashed. Thankfully I had them all backed up online.

We've had a great week so far. Last Saturday we got to enjoy Grant's Farm for the first time thanks to Edward Jones. It was a lot of fun and the boys had a great time. They loved seeing all the animals and getting to feed the goats.

Justus is doing great. It seems he has started speaking in more and more sentences lately, which is a nice change. He can still be pretty hard to understand sometimes, but hopefully that will continue to improve. He is also in the process of finally getting his 2 year molars...one is already through the gums and 2 other ones are just about there. So about two weeks ago Justus discovered that he could climb in and out of Matthias' crib...we were surprised it took him this long. He isn't doing it quite as much in the past few days, but it is a problem at bedtime. We think we are going to try one of those crib tents. We just have to find one that is a reasonable price. We are going to try Once Upon a Child first. Hopefully that will work, but we will see.

Matthias is doing good. I can't believe we are a month away from his birthday. We haven't really decided when we are going to have his little party, but I am super excited for it! I can't believe he is going to be 2! He is beginning to talk a little more and is more willing to repeat things when asked. I just can't believe how big he is getting. It's so weird to see him in clothes that Justus wore last fall, and to think of how much he has grown.

Charley is still as cute as can be. She is getting big. She is now in 3-6 month clothes and most (if not all) of her 0-3 clothes are way too small now. She smiles all the time and is beginning to laugh and squeal and coo. She will soon be 4 months old, which means we will be able to start rice cereal and she gets to go to the doctor for shots and a check up.

I will try to post some pictures of Grant's Farm soon.

Before

Before

After

After

After...I think the work paid off.

Having fun letting Daddy spray them with the hose.

This is how he fell asleep.

He loves his sister's pink bunny. He likes carrying it around.

He absolutely loves swinging like this.

Our pretty girl.

Things here are still a little crazy. Our house is officially back on the market. We have also been doing a few things to the house...which has made for a lot of work. We took out a wall in our kitchen and had to have a light switch and outlet moved, and tomorrow we are replacing the countertop and sink. We also had to patch the walls and paint. I'm not in love with the color, but I'm not painting again. We are also buying a used fridge that is a bit smaller than ours and will be able to fit next to the stove...which will make the kitchen feel a lot bigger. When we had our house on the market last time the biggest complaint we got was that our kitchen was too small. We are hoping by making some improvements to the kitchen it will help to sell our house quicker.

Anyways...Charley is continuing to get big. I just want her to stay my little peanut...but I know that's not going to happen. She will be 3 months old on Thursday! I've started putting her in 3-6 month clothes. I realized last night that some of her 0-3 month sleepers are way too small. The one she wore last night I'm not sure she could even stretch all the way out in. So I put her in a 3-6 month sleeper tonight, which was very hard. I also went through her 0-3 month clothes and took a lot of them out of her closet. It made me very sad to think that she is my last baby...waa, waa, waa. She is smiling, giggling and making little coos. She is just the most beautiful little girl with wild woman hair!

Justus is doing well. He is speaking in more sentences and remembers so much. It's to the point that I have to be careful what I listen to on the radio, what I watch on TV, and what I say. He also can relate things together...like birthday cake, party and candles...the zoo and animals...the store and carts...if I say one of them he usually says what relates to it...if that makes sense. We have decided to hold off on potty training since we have our house on the market. Since showings can happen any time, we figure it just isn't ideal. He asks us to change his diaper when he is stinky and sometimes even tells us that he has to go...but refuses to sit on the potty. Hopefully we will figure out how to combat that before we actually start potty training.

Matthias is doing great as well. He is getting so big! I can't believe he is going to be 2 soon. He is so laidback all the time. He doesn't like being scolded and will cry sometimes when we tell him "no". He always gets a very sad look when we tell him not to do things. He loves giving hugs and kisses, and loves helping me around the house. He is my little helper. When I make our bed in the morning he always hands me the pillows to put back on the bed. He also loves helping me put clothes in the dryer and pushing the button to start the dryer.

I will try to get some pictures posted later this week. The kitchen should be totally done, so I will have to post before/after photos.

I can't wait for bows to stay in her hair. This one falls out.

Matthias loves playing in the dirt.

She has the biggest, prettiest smile.

Things have been a little crazy around here. We have decided to put our house back on the market, so we are going to be spending this weekend getting the house ready and then putting it officially on the market next weekend. We are also traveling to Springfield to visit Jon's family. His Aunt and Uncle are coming into town and it will be there first time meeting Charley. Other than that Jon has been working his second job a little more often. We did get to enjoy a date night a couple weekends ago, which was so nice. We went out to eat at the Olive Garden, played some video games, and caught a movie...The Time Traveler's Wife...it was my turn to pick : ).



Charley is doing great! She is now smiling all the time, and beginning to giggle. It's such a fun time since she is now becoming more responsive to us. She is also starting to make little noises. She is getting so big as well. She is filling out her 0-3 month clothes and we know it won't be long before she moves up to 3-6 month clothes. It's hard to believe that she will be 3 months old on the 16th of this month.



Matthias has now gone on the potty twice! We are really excited that he may be ready to start actually potty training. The two times he has gone is only because I have sat him on there proactively. He also tells me sometimes when he is going potty and knows when he is wet or stinky. We are hoping to start potty training him within the next couple of weeks. We were going to start this weekend, but now with trying to get the house ready to put on the market we are going to push it back a couple of weekends. Other than that Matthias is doing great.



Justus, unlike Matthias, is no where near ready to potty train. We thought he might get jealous when Matthias got candy for going on the potty and want to do the same...but that wasn't the case. Of course he was really mad that he didn't get candy, but still wanted nothing to do with the potty. We don't know when we are going to start potty training him. Hopefully not long after we start Matthias. Justus is continuing to do great though. He is starting to remember more things...songs on the radio, people, places, etc. He loves the zoo and mentions it all the time and then lists the "manimals" that he sees when we are there.

Hopefully I will get some pictures posted in the next couple of days.

Charley had her 2 month well child visit this week. She now weighs 11 lbs. 12 oz. and is 22 5/8" long...both in the 75th percentile. The doctor said she looked great! She also received two shots, which made for a cranky baby the rest of the day. She is continuing to sleep through the night...usually close to 12 hours. She is also doing very well at holding her head up.

This week has gone pretty smoothly...although Justus has been quite the bully at the Y this week. He is not so good with sharing...as I'm sure a lot of 2 year olds aren't, but Justus resorts to pushing and throwing things, which is never a good thing. We are hoping it is just a phase...and that we can figure out an effective way of disciplining him when he acts like that...especially when we aren't around to correct it immediately. Matthias has been doing well this week. He did have a little case of the sniffles earlier in the week, but it seems to have passed. He was a little extra cranky and had a runny nose, but both have seemed to clear up.

We are heading to the zoo tomorrow morning and then the kids are off to Mt. Vernon for the evening so that Jon and I can enjoy a date night. We aren't sure what we are going to do yet, but we are looking forward to going out to eat by ourselves...no sippy cups, crayons, or diaper bags.

He loves his little sister.

She is getting so good at holding her head up.

Heading to a wedding.

They love watching cartoons in our bed.

She has the biggest smile.

Brushing his teeth...well, getting ready to.

She has wild hair...and I love it!

Charley will be 2 months old on Sunday! I can't believe it. Time is going way too fast. She is now smiling, which I just love. She has the biggest smile...it's so cute. I will have to post a picture of it soon. She is doing much better lately as far as colic goes. She definitely isn't crying as much now, and I think most of her crying now is typical crying. She still has her cranky moments, but they aren't very common. She is still sleeping through the night...usually 10-12 hours. I'm very thankful for that!!

We have started introducing Justus to the potty...with his clothes on. We have to bribe him with candy to sit on it, but it's the only way we can get him to sit on it willingly. We had bought a candy machine for the boys for Christmas, and there are M&M's in there...Justus loves getting his penny after sitting on the potty and getting his candy out of the machine. We will probably continue this for a couple of weeks, and then start trying to get him to sit on the potty without a diaper. We'll see how it goes. In other Justus news, his new favorite phrase is "I cryin". He fake cries and then he tells us, "I cryin". It's kind of cute because it is totally fake and we know he is just wanting attention.

Matthias is doing great as well. We have been letting him sit on the potty for candy as well...mostly to make his brother want to sit on the potty. Hopefully it will turn into two boys being potty trained at the same time...that would be wonderful. He's getting so big and is talking more and more. He is still our happy-go-lucky little red head.

Other than that...life is going great. Life is about to get a lot more crazy with the Blues season getting ready to start. Jon works at Scottrade Center for those of you who didn't know. It will be an adjustment since he really hasn't been working his second job much this summer...maybe once a month. It was nice having him home especially while Charley had colic and required a little extra attention. Hopefully I can get some pictures posted in the next few days.

Our precious little girl. She makes this face all the time.

He's just too cute!

Waiting for the choo-choo.

Here we go!! They loved it!

Having fun on the train

Her first night in her crib

We were trying so hard to get a family picture. Justus wouldn't cooperate, and Matthias refused to put the ball down...so this is what we got.

Having fun at the park

Jumping on the suspension bridge

It's been a great week! Charley is now 7 weeks old. Charley turning 6 weeks old meant that we were able to go back to the YMCA. I was super excited since that meant I could get out of the house...and get back to working out on a regular basis. Anyways, Charley is doing great...we are still waiting for that first smile, which should be coming any day now. She is still pretty fussy, but the colic seems to be getting a little better. She has her moments, but she is definitely crying a lot less and for shorter amounts of time. One great trade-off is that she is now sleeping 8-10 hours a night. She goes to bed between 8 and 9 and then gets up sometime around 6:30 a.m. It's been great!! She has had this schedule for almost 2 weeks, which also means she has been moved into her room.



Justus is doing really well. He is getting so good at remembering things...songs, names, places. We are still working on the alphabet and we have started to work on shapes and colors. We'll see how it goes. We haven't started potty training just yet, but we are pretty sure he is ready. He is starting to be annoyed by his diaper, but not quite to the point where he asks to have it changed. He gets embarrassed about going to the bathroom also. We aren't quite sure how we are going to tackle potty training just yet, but however we do it we know we need to do it soon.



Matthias has turned into quite the chatter box lately. He is learning more and more words, and will even repeat some words when we say them. He is our happy-go-lucky little boy. He seems to always have a smile on his face...not to say he doesn't have his moments.

Other than that things are going pretty great. Life with three kids can get pretty crazy at times, but nothing that is too overwhelming. Hopefully I will get some more pictures posted later today.

Charley had her 1 month doctor's appointment today. She is getting quite big!! She weighs 10 lbs. 3 oz. and is 21 3/4" long...both in the 75th percentile. The doctor said she looked great! She also got 1 shot today. She was a trooper...she only cried for a few seconds and then was fine. She is still crying quite a bit...mostly in the evenings, but sometimes in the afternoon as well...and it's been a little more intense this week. I did read that colic usually peaks around 6 weeks, which is about where we are. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks it will start to taper off a little bit. She has been sleeping great for us though. Just this week she has been sleeping 6-8 hours at night! I'm not sure if it's related to her intense crying or not...I guess we'll have to wait and see. For now, I'm enjoying the sleep though!

The boys have been enjoying a little time outside this week. With the cooler temperatures we've been having we have all been able to go outside and play in the afternoons. Charley really enjoys being outside, so that's been a plus as well. The boys of course love being outside. We took a little trip home to Mt. Vernon yesterday and the boys even got to swim for about an hour at the park pool. They loved it, which was a huge shock. Neither of them has ever shown much interest in the pool, but they both got it and splashed around and had fun.

Last weekend I finally got Charley's room painted. I think it turned out really cute. I still have a few final touches to add, but for the most part the room is done. If Charley continues to sleep over night we are planning on moving her into her room within the next week. I'm looking forward to having the space back in our room. In the next couple of weeks I am planning on fixing and painting the walls in the boys room. Justus chipped the paint with one of his toys and then started peeling the paint off the walls, which damaged some of the drywall. Of course I don't have any of the paint left from when I painted their room a couple of months ago, so I will have to paint the whole room. Oh well...not a huge deal. Tomorrow we are heading to Springfield to visit Jon's family and also see some of our friends. It should be a fun time!

Finally Some Pictures!

A couple of weeks ago I got a new camera...a Nikon D60. I'm in love with it!! I love, love, love taking pictures with it. I hope you enjoy the pictures!!