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.