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!!

Charley is one month old today!! I can't believe it. She doesn't go to the doctor until next week though. She is continuing to do well, and is now actually fitting in her 0-3 month clothes. I'm anxious to see how long she has gotten and how much weight she has gained. When I made her appointment on Monday I asked about her crying. I think I mentioned that she cries every night (early evening around 7ish) for at least an hour. She doesn't usually cry for longer than 2 hours, and can sometimes be consoled. We thought it might be her formula or air in her belly so we switched bottles. Well, the doctor said she most likely has colic, which is what I was assuming but kind of hoping it was something else since there's nothing you can do for colic. The good news is it's temporary and goes away by 3 months of age.

The boys are doing well. They are doing much better with sleeping in the same room. We usually just shut the door and let them play or do whatever it is they do to keep themselves up. Jon and I were getting so stressed out about them keeping each other up, so we finally decided to not worry about it. They are usually asleep by 9. We finally switched Justus into a twin size bed, and he seems to like it. He was constantly taking the mattress off the frame and moving it around the room. He was moving the whole bed around until we bought brackets to secure it to the wall. We decided that him being able to move the mattress around was one of the things he was using to keep himself awake and since he can't move the twin mattress we switched him into that. It seems to have helped. Matthias is doing well. Last weekend..during the garage sale...he decided to ride his brother's bike off the front porch and landed face down in the lava rock. He wasn't phased and got up and then not even 1 minute later got on his bike and did the same thing. He didn't care either time...but got a bloody nose the second time. It bled for a good minute. I think I was more freaked out than he was. He's such a little dare devil. He is going to be a rough boy.

Other than that things are going well. I think we are all starting to go a little stir-crazy. I'm looking forward to being able to go to the gym during the day just so that we can all get out of the house. Charley can't go into the children's center for 2 more weeks, so we will have to wait until then. I really need to post some pictures, so maybe I will try to do that later this afternoon.

We had a great 4th of July! We didn't make it to any fireworks this year since Jon was out of town, and I didn't feel like braving it by myself...but we will for sure be going to some next year. I so miss going to fireworks. Anyways...the kids and I had a good time hanging out with our friends from Sunday school.

The boys are continuing to do well. We are going to attempt potty training with Justus. He got to pick out his new big boy underwear at the store the other day. He picked Cars underwear. We will see how it goes. I'm sure the first few days will be rough, but we think he is ready. We are hoping Matthias will follow closely behind Justus in potty training, but we aren't going to rush him. Matthias is continuing to throw his little fits, but we know it's just a phase.

Charley is doing great. We switched her to a gentle formula and also bought some new bottles in order to hopefully help her be a little less cranky in the evening. It seems to have helped so far. She was getting pretty fussy towards the end of the evening...the time when she is awake the most...and we thought it may be due to air in her belly or her formula. The only problem now is that because we switched two things at once, we have no idea which one was the source of the problem...the formula or air in her belly. Oh well, the gentle formula won't hurt her, so we aren't too concerned. This week Charley will be 1 month old!! I can't believe it. She will have to go to the doctor this week. I'm curious to see how big she has gotten.

Other than that things are going great. We had a garage sale this morning and actually made a little bit of money. We were pleased and got rid of a lot of stuff that was cluttering up our shed. I got a new camera so be expecting some pictures soon!!

Happy 4th of July!!

It's pretty impossible to get a picture where they are all happy. I'm pretty sure Charley is scared for her life in this picture...I don't blame her : ).

I'm super excited about celebrating Charley's first 4th of July...not only that, but her first holiday! Too bad Jonathan is in D.C. and won't be able to enjoy it with us. He's an usher in his cousin's wedding, so he left early this morning. Charley is continuing to do well. She is a good sleeper and a happy baby most of the time. The only time she gets fussy is when she is hungry. We have decided to stop breastfeeding. I was nursing for 30+ minutes and then pumping for about 15 minutes to get my milk supply up. That wasn't working, so our next option was taking Reglan (a prescription medication), but it has some major side effects so Jon and I decided it wasn't worth the risk. Charley doesn't seem to mind bottle feeding...I think she actually prefers it since she doesn't have to work very hard to eat. Other than that she is doing great!!

Justus is doing well. I am constantly reminded that he is getting bigger, smarter, and older. He is now able to sing along with the opening song from Imagination Movers. He is also starting to remember words to songs on the radio. He's starting to speak more in short sentences as well...too bad Jon and I are the only ones that can understand him most of the time. Right now we are working on him sharing with Matthias, and not pushing him or taking stuff away from him. He seems to only understand how to share when he wants to...not when we want him to.

Matthias is continuing to go through the "terrible 2's". He throws little fits when he doesn't get his way, and he cries pretty easily. I'm not sure if he is more sensitive than Justus was at his age or if it's just part of the terrible 2 phase. He is doing well other than that though. He is getting so big! He talks all the time as well. Matthias is doing really well with Charley. He is very sweet with her. He is surprisingly gentle and loving with her. He loves to pat her on the back very softly and give her kisses. I am so shocked at how well he has adjusted to having a little sister. I thought he would be very jealous that he wasn't the baby anymore, but he doesn't seem phased by it at all.

Things are going really well around here. We have all adjusted pretty well to being a family of 5. I have even been able to go on a few outings with all 3 kids. They usually have to be quick trips, but it gets me out of the house for a little while. I've been able to get back to the gym also...only in the evening for the time being. We can all start going to the gym once Charley is 6 weeks old. Anyways...hopefully I will get some more pictures posted soon. Have a happy 4th of July!!