It was a busy week last week. Jon worked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at Scottrade. He was gone until well after the boys bedtime each night. It made for a long weekend since the boys and I didn't get to see him very much at all. We were glad when the event was over. The rest of the week went pretty well though.

So we think that Justus is going through some sort of separation anxiety. At first he was only throwing a fit when I would drop him off in the children's center at the Y, but Sunday at church he did the same thing with Jon. We have no idea what is causing this, but we are definitely looking forward to it being over. Other than that though he has been doing really well. Time outs seem to be helping. He seems to be able to grasp the concept of time out...along with being sent to his room and spankings, which are usually only given after he has been put in time out for the same thing a couple times. It seems he gets smarter every day, and remembers things that we don't even remember. His vocabulary is getting bigger every day as well. One of his new developments is acting like a cat. I don't know where it came from, but he will get down and crawl around and "meow". It's pretty funny and I should probably get a video of him doing before the phase passes.

Matthias is doing well also. I totally missed his 15 month check-up, so we are headed to the doctor next week to combine his 15 and 18 month check-ups. Can you believe he is almost 18 months old!?! I sure can't. He is getting so big, and sometimes I forget how big he really is. I always think of him as little since he is smaller than Justus. He is able to reach things that I don't think he should be able to, fit into clothes that I think shouldn't fit him, and talk more than I think he should be able.

The pregnancy is continuing to go well. Charley is getting big and I can feel her kicks/punches/wiggles ALL the time. She is a mover...that's for sure. I will be 28 weeks on Wednesday next week. 28 weeks is such a huge sigh of relief since most babies born after that point survive with little to no lifelong effects on their health. I have a doctor's appoint April 6th and after that I start going every two weeks. I know that will make the time fly even faster. We have most of her wardrobe taken care of...except for winter clothes, which we are going to work on over the next few weeks. We also need to get receiving blankets, burp rags, sheets, and that sort of thing. Almost everything we have like that is very blue. We aren't too worried about it and we can use the blue if we need to, but of course I would rather not! I have also been a bow making machine. One of my friends taught me how to make bows last week, and so I have been hard at work making bows ever since. I was lucky enough to learn how to make bows the same week that Hobby Lobby was having a sale on all of their ribbon. Charley has a pretty good collection going.

Anyways...I finally added some pictures. Hope you enjoy!!

Charley's quilt...at least the front of it.

Matthias was so proud that he got the bowl of mac n cheese off the table.

Justus was rockin' out with his dad's iPod.

The boys having fun playing together...this is rare.

The new paint color in the boys room.

What a roller coaster of a week! As many of you know Jon and I attend First Baptist Church Maryville and were present during the service in which our pastor was shot and killed. We are doing well, but the week has had it's fill of emotions. Please continue to pray for the Winters' family, our church family, and the shooter. We know that God is in control of all things and trust His plan.

Sorry to start this entry on not so happy news, so moving on to something that is happier. The boys are doing great! Justus is getting so big and is learning more and more everyday. He is starting to recognize more things and remember them also...including people that he doesn't see on a regular basis. It's amazing to see how much he remembers. It seems that lately Justus has been a little more clingy with me. I'm not sure what the cause is, but he definitely hates when I leave him at the YMCA or at the nursery. He has been clinging to me when I go to leave and starts to cry. I don't know if he sees his brother getting picked up all the time and wants the same or if it is something else. At home he has been pretty good. Time out seems to be working a little, but I still don't think he fully gets it even though we try to explain it to him.

Matthias seems to be getting bigger...maybe going through a growth spurt. He is getting so tall. I can't believe he is almost 17 months old. Where has the time gone!?! He is becoming a little more independent, which is kind of nice in a way. He is starting to like to walk when we get out of the car. He isn't very good at holding hands yet though, so we are working on that. He just likes running around like a wild man : ).

The pregnancy is going well. I feel as though my belly has really "popped" in the past few weeks. I actually am starting to look pregnant rather than like I just gained weight. Charley is getting stronger and I can see her moving around now pretty easily at times. Jon and I didn't make it to any garage sales this weekend, but we know there will be plenty of them for us to choose from in the coming weeks.

This weekend was a pretty busy one. The boys went to my parents house Saturday and stayed the night. Jon and I got to paint the boys room and organize/clean out our storage shed. The boys room turned out really well. It's a light blue, but it is pretty vibrant. We thought it would be much lighter than it is, but we really like it. We ended up getting rid of quite a bit out of the shed and it felt great to get it all organized. We are planning on having a garage sale in the next few weeks so that we can clean it out even more.

I really need to post some pictures. Hopefully I will have time to do that sometime this week.

Life has been pretty busy lately. I think maybe the pregnancy is starting to catch up with. I just feel busy all the time and as if I am doing way more than i actually am...if that makes sense. Things are good though...no complaints!!

We have a pretty calm week ahead, and next Saturday the boys are staying with Mimi and PaPa so that Jon and I can re-paint the boys room. Justus has been picking at the wallpaper border and it was looking very rough. Jon and I decided that we had better just take it down...not only because we didn't like the looks of it, but we figured potential buyers would just see it as a task that needed to be done...and the fewer of those we have the better!! So I took the border down this week, which went very quickly and was very easy. We are planning on picking out a paint color and painting it on Saturday while the boys are gone and letting it air out over night. We are planning on cleaning out our shed on Saturday while the boys are gone as well. We are going to have a garage sale in the next few weeks and want to prepare for that, but the shed is also in need of some major organization. It will be a busy Saturday, but we will get lots of things done that we have been putting off.

Anyways...the boys are doing great. Justus is doing pretty good. He is really starting to hit that independent/terrible two stage. He has been pushing his brother a lot, and will throw fits when he doesn't get his way...screams and tears included. He has even gotten put in time out at the YMCA a few times. We know he is probably just testing his boundaries, but it is so frustrating because nothing we do seems to help him not to do those things. Time out has been helping a little bit, but even though we explain to him what he did and that he's not to do it again...he does it again. Oh, well...it will hopefully pass.........eventually. Another new development of Justus'...sleeping with the light on. I don't know if he is scared of the dark or what it is, but we will put him to bed and he will get up and turn the light on and fall asleep. We were going back in and shutting the light off, but he would just get up at some point (in the middle of the night) and turn it back on. I would also shut it off if I got up in the middle of the night and noticed it back on, but Jon said it was usually back on when he got up in the morning. We decided that if he turns it back on to just leave it on. Since we stopped shutting it off he seems to be sleeping better. We want to put some sort of night light in his room, but we fear that he will mess with it since the two outlets in the room are exposed. Other than that...Justus has been doing really well. He is well behaved most of the time and loves being silly.

Matthias is doing well also. He is a little chatter box most of the time, which I just think is adorable. He has a pretty good vocabulary now, and can get his point across with words and pointing. We have discovered that Matthias loves to be outside...and is a little explorer. Justus would usually stick pretty close to us in the yard and not wander away...but Matthias is just the opposite. We have to keep our eyes on him at all times otherwise he will wander off...and usually head straight for the front yard and then out into the road. He really loves the road for some odd reason, which makes me very nervous. Yesterday I was picking up some sticks in the yard when I realized Matthias was in the ditch and heading toward the road. He is completely trusting and fearless all at the same time.

The pregnancy is going well. Charley is getting bigger and stronger every day it seems. She is a mover...that's for sure. She is pretty active all the time. We had our doctor's appointment Thursday...with an ultrasound. She is close to 2 lbs. now and is doing really well. My next appointment is the beginning of April. I have to get my glucose screening done at that appointment, so hopefully that will come back fine. Today Jon and I went to a big garage sale at the high school in Edwardsville. We got a ton of clothes for $8!! We came in about 30 minutes before it ended and cleaned up at one table. They let us fill up two tote bags for $5. I think we are pretty set as far as summer clothes go...now we just have to work on fall/winter clothes. I also need to figure out how to make some bows to go with her new clothes!!

Nothing else is really going on. We are super excited that the weather is getting nicer and that we can get out of the house a little bit!! I'm glad the boys love running around outside...they have no idea how much energy they are burning!!