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.