August just had tubes put in his ears this morning.  He has had an ongoing infection and fluid in his right ear for over a month now so I was eager to have the procedure done and avoid an otherwise inevitable future of recurrent ear infections.  I had a lot of anxiety about how cranky he would be at night and this morning with not being able to eat after 2AM but he only woke up once, cried for a few minutes, and then went back to bed and, aside from a few irritable moments at the same day surgery clinic, was excellent.  I do feel like all of my kids perform when it really matters.  Often I worry a lot for nothing.  But if you are reading this, you probably already know me well enough to know that this overabundance of worry applies to all aspects of my life, not just kid-related issues :)

Yesterday Andrew texted me about it being 12/12/12.  He thought it was the last day on the Mayan calendar but I corrected him and let him know that it was actually on the 21st.  ANYWAYS, I told him that I didn't know why but I felt like we should kiss at 12:12:12 PM.  It just felt like the right thing to do.  He never texted me back but showed up at the house at around 12:05 while I was wrapping Christmas presents for the kids and went to the US time check website.  So I don't know what the rest of the world was doing at 12:12:12 on 12/12/12 but I was kissing Andrew Lamoureux.  And it felt like the right thing to be doing.

Andrew is at the allergist with Elek and B right now so that Elek can get prick tested on his back and I am dying to know how it's going.  It was very hard for me to give up the responsibility of taking him to the appointment but August really needed to sleep after getting his tubes.

I am getting really excited about our trip to Vermont which is coming up on Wednesday.  After seeing how smoothly this morning went with August, I am going to promise myself to try to not stress about getting the 3 kids loaded up and on our way to the Jacksonville by 4:50AM!

We've been spending a lot of time with Grace while she nannies two very sweet kids, Carrigan and Brogan.  I tell Grace that I feel like she is a mom and it's so cool getting to hang out with her while she is in the same role as me.  I sure hope that when she does have kids of her own that we will remain geographically close but something tells me there's a fat chance of that happening.  Especially because things seem to be going so well with Teddy who lives in San Jose, CA.

This past Sunday I broke my streak of running 4.5 miles every Sunday.  I was just too tired and did not have it in me.  In fact, I haven't exercised in about 2 weeks and have been eating a ton of sweets.  The sweet binges are nothing new but when I don't exercise they get harder to justify :(

Augie figured out how to play the music on his exersaucer yesterday by banging really hard on the over-sized piano keys!

Andrew asked Elek yesterday what -3 + 3 was and he answered "zero."  You can imagine Andrew's elation!  I was pretty proud too :)

B's birthday was on Monday and I was soooo excited about giving her the mac daddy of doll houses that I had ordered for her a couple weeks back.  I thought for sure it would be a total hit.  Man was I wrong.  She has hardly played with the thing and according to Robyn (and honorary mother, Grace) this phenomenon of mother's being very disappointed about their daughters' lack of interest in ornate doll houses is not completely uncommon.  Both Josie and Carrigan have hardly payed any attention to the houses that their mothers were so excited to gift them.  Hearing these stories made me feel a little better, especially when trying to explain to Andrew why the dollhouse that he had spend 3 hours assembling wasn't being used, but it would have been nice to know before dropping all of the moola we did on the thing.  Oh well, maybe my next daughter will like dollhouses ;)

The birthday festivities are finally over.  They started with a birthday lunch and cake at my mom's house, then Elek shared a little celebration in his class with his birthday twin and buddy, Emily Moseley (for which I made rice crispie cupcakes), then Elek, B, and Em had a party at the library (for which I baked 48 cupcakes from scratch....vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and vanilla and chocolate frosting), and then B had a little celebration in her class (for which I baked and decorated sugar cookies with lemon icing).  Needless to say, I am so over the baking right now.  Especially in mass.  Over it.  But man I could use another one of those sugar cookies right now....

Their library party went really well.  We played pass the parcel, musical chairs, and musical statues.  Most of the usuals showed up and Grace brought Carrigan and Brogan.

I spent 3 weeks without checking Facebook after reading this article (which a friend had posted on FB): http://www.theminimalistmom.com/2012/11/alone-together/.  I'm back to checking it now but have "unsubscirbed" to posts from anyone other than a few close friends.  Anyone who I am still in regular contact with or would feel comfortable calling up made the cut to remain on my newsfeed  but the rest I'd have to search for individually to check in on.  And let me tell you, it is liberating!  So much less time wasted on there and so much less worthless information in my brain!

Recalling this as best I can from 30 minutes ago:

I'm lying on the couch (my bed for the past couple months) and Elek and Beata have just dragged in (it's 7:15 AM) and are sitting in a sleepy daze beside me.  Then Elek says:

"I had a weird dream.  There was a strange dog and he was talking and he said 'belly welly' and he was standing on top of me and then he peed in my eye."

I cracked up laughing.  To which Elek responded, not in a PO'd tone but just very serious and almost in disbelief that I could be laughing, "it's not funny."

Elek while playing with Augie on my bed:  "You're the best baby ever! There are some really gooder babies out there but you are the best!"

We just finished watching ET for the first time with the kids and Beata's reaction was the cutest thing Andrew and I had ever seen. Basically, about 5 minutes before the movie ended, I came back into the room after putting Augie down to bed and B came up to me and just kept saying, "I'm happy.  I'm happy. And when the movie is over, I'll still be happy."  I thought this was a little odd but shrugged it off.  It wasn't until the movie was over that I noticed a very light mistiness in her eyes.  "B, are you crying?" I asked. "No, " she said, but I could tell something wasn't right.  "Andrew, is she crying?"  I asked.  "I think so, " he said, "and if she is, I think I'm going to cry, " he added.  "B, are you crying?" I asked again.  "No," she insisted, but then she started doing this crazy looking things with her lips where the would purse them, and then smile real big, purse them, and smile real big, purse them, etc., clearly trying to keep the flood gates closed.  "B, it's ok to be sad, " I explained.  "ET is a sad movie.  Which part made you cry?"  It took a good 5 minutes before she finally admitted to us that the part when ET was in a bag and couldn't get out was the part that got to her, at which point you could tell that she was really working hard to hold back the tears.  "B, go ahead and cry, it's ok, " I told her.  And then she responded in a really weak but firm voice, "I won't."  "But B, sometimes it feels good to cry.  Why don't you want to cry?" And her response was one that jolted me.  It was one of those moments where you realize the profound effects that your reactions to your kids, which you think are minor at the time, are having on your children.  She said, "I won't cry because I am a big girl, not a baby."  Ouch.  Ouch ouch ouch.  All this time when Andrew and I have been trying to tell the kids not to cry because we wanted to make them emotionally tougher and stronger than the saps that we were, I hadn't realized that I may be doing some serious psychological damage.  Sure I don't want my kids crying over silly things like not getting the cup that they wanted at lunch time, but I never intended to make them feel like they couldn't express their emotions with their own parents.  I felt...eh em...I FEEL horrible!  And to add insult to injury, immediately after I explained to her that it's ok to cry about sad things or if she gets hurt, she turned to Elek and said excitedly, "hey Buzz, it's ok to cry if we are sad!"  UGH!  From now on, I vow to handle with more care and empathy each incident in which they get upset.  Whether it is a whimper over a harmless fall from their bike or an all out fit about not liking the outfit that I have picked out, I will be more understanding about their reaction and more thoughtful in my response.  Hopefully I haven't taught anything that can't be undone...

Andrew was able to video tape the last half of B's reaction to the movie which we watched when they went to bed.  The footage brought Andrew to tears.  He said he was so proud of her and that, for him, it was a real eye-opener into the emotional beings that our children have become.

Other things:

-  Can't remember if I have mentioned this but every night B likes to stay up in her bed and read books to herself.  Watching her "read" is one of my favorite things to do.  Sometimes she tries (often successfully) to recall the exact wording of a book and sometimes she just makes up the words based on the pictures she sees.  Her voice gets pretty animated and you can tell she really loves reading.  I hope her love for books lasts!

- Earlier this week, on Tuesday, my parents made a surprise visit to Melbourne for the afternoon after a real estate meeting in Orlando. They met us at Panita and after I had already let each of them have half of a large dessert of their choice, my mom bought a giant slice of carrot cake and split it with them.  I said to them, "you guuuys," with a tone implying, "I can't believe this is happening," but Elek decided to finish the sentence for me saying, "are so lucky!!!"  Clever boy :)

- Today while the whole fam was lounging around in the playroom, Elek took out his little Leap Frog laptop.  All of the sudden, B decided to whack the thing with her hand and press a bunch of random buttons.  When he tried to press the buttons, the toy made some weird clicking sounds, like the battery was dying.  But Elek, thinking B had been responsible said, "what the heck did you do to it, Beata?"  What the HECK?!"  Andrew and I burst out in laughter...we are immature parents for sure.

-  My sister ran her second half marathon today!  Inspired by her accomplishment I ran the 4.4 miles to the top of the 192 bridge and back for the first time.  It took me 50 mins and 35 seconds which works out to well over 11 minute miles but I'll take it!  Hoping to do a jog like that once each weekend.  We'll see though...

- We went to Ryckman park last night so that B could practice starting her two-wheeler bike by herself (up to this point she could do everything but start it on her own so every time she would stop, whether by accident or on purpose, she would stand there and wait until somebody came over to help her...it was quite a pain) and she got it!  By the end of our roughly hour and 45 minute park visit, she was able to run and put her feet up to start peddling most of the time on her own.  And with a little more practice biking today around our street and all the way over to Orlando park, she has become a pro!  She can officially ride a bike entirely by herself and she loves it!  So proud of our little Hit Girl!

-  Augie has really just been along for the ride.  Unfortunately when I took him to the doctor last Friday because of fussiness my suspicion was confirmed and the doctor said that, despite his round of Amoxicillin, he still had an ear infection in his right ear.  He is now on Augmentin and both antibiotics have caused some serious diarrhea for the poor little guy.  Can't wait till he gets to feeling better again and is the happy all of the time baby that he was when he was 4 months old.  Did I already report that he can sit up for split seconds at a time?  Still haven't seen him roll from his back to his belly but he is a pro at belly to back.  And he LOVES Andrew and Elek.  Any time they come around he really lights up.  Beata too but not quite to the degree of her older brother.

- We watched Star Wars with the kids for the first time last night.  Just the first movie of course.  B said her favorite part was making the pop corn and watching it pop out of the pan.  Elek liked the movie but we could tell a good portion of it went way over their heads.  Not sure if they will ask to see it again any time soon because of that and because it was a little on the longer side for them.

Over all this was a great weekend.  Amazing weather and a slow-paced, enjoyable time spent with our little family.  I love them all :)

The kids did some reading with me after lunch today so I let each of them choose a treat from their Halloween stash.  B chose a Reese's peanut butter cup and downed it pretty quickly.  A few minutes later, as Elek was STILL trying to decide which piece to choose (he kept saying, "I don't know which one to choose, they all look so yummy!"), I notice that B is chewing on something dark.  Thinking that she stole another piece of candy while I was helping Buzz I say, "B, what do you have in your mouth?" to which she says, "this one has a bone in it."  She had been chewing the dark wrapper from the peanut butter cup and thought it was a bone. Haha!

August has only woken up once for the past 3 nights and it has been WONDERFUL!  I've been putting him down around 8 or 8:30, he'll sleep till about 3, wake up for a feeding, and then sleep till 6 or 6:30, at which point he stays awake for about an hour and then goes back down for a nap.  Since the time change all 3 of the kids have been waking up by 6:30 which I thought would be murder but since I've been going to bed earlier and August only wakes once, it's actually been kind of nice because I can go for a walk in the AM before Andrew goes to work!

Took the kids to lap time with Miss Anne at the library this morning and August was really into it, cooing and gooing up a storm.  He is also able to sit by himself for a few split seconds at a time!  Can't believe how quickly he is growing!

Stayed in for most of the day except when at Walmart to shop for half price Halloween decorations for next year and about a half hour letting the kids bike in front of the house.  Got B a princess bike on Craigslist this morning and she rode it all by herself a few times.  It was so exciting to see that she finally got the gist of the circular motion needed for peddling!  I am sure that when she tries again while not sick she will quickly become a pro.

Elek closed the day with a fever of 99.9 :(  Grace had stopped by for some lasagna and pumpkin bread and was the first to notice that he felt warm.  Guess it'll be another indoor kinda weekend.  And the vicious cycle of Lamoureux illnesses continues....

It dawned on me today that it has been 14 months since I slept through the night without any interruptions.  Between frequently getting up to pee  (seemingly since the day of August's conception) and my bout with insomnia while pregnant and the wake ups that I have gotten since August was born from all 3 of the kiddos, solid sleep has become a luxury that I often find myself day dreaming about.  August's nose is finally starting to clear up and he actually only woke up twice to eat before 7AM, giving me sleep that would have been amazing IF Beata had not woken up to pee and needed me to snap her PJs shut and IF I hadn't then discovered that Elek's mumbling was actually him trying to relate to me that his "bed [was] wet" and had to give him a bath and change his pajamas and sheets and IF B hadn't woken up at 7AM to poop which ended up waking up Augie for the day and, in turn, Elek.

I told Andrew of my no-solid-sleep revelation this morning and asked him to keep this in mind whenever I seemed irritable.  I personally think it is a totally legitimate excuse for bitchiness!

Today is Halloween.  Last night, about 20 minutes before bedtime I realized that we hadn't carved our pumpkin yet and wouldn't have time to do it today so I had Andrew churn that baby out as quickly as possible.  I made sure to snap some shots of the kids digging pumpkin slime out of the gourd so that when they are older the picture archive will tell them only that they had fun carving a pumpkin with their dad and not that it was a 20 minute affair that was hurried along to meet a bed time deadline.  Despite the rush, they did have fun doing it though and it actually was just about a perfect length of time given their attention spans!

All 3 are sleeping now and if I wasn't so superstitious about naps throwing me back into insomnia I would totally lay down with them.  But instead, I'm off to do dishes, vacuum, and make dinner :(  While listening to David Grey on Pandora :)

Beata:  "I don't have any more of my snack....so I have to eat my buggers."

August was more cranky than usual last weekend and his cough was sounding more junky so on Monday I took him to the doctor to make sure that he didn't have an ear infection.  The doc said his ears and lungs were clear and sent us on our way.  Over the week the cough seemed to worsen further and become more frequent, he developed a terrible runny nose and he screamed anytime I put him down.So I took him in again on Friday afternoon and the doc ended up diagnosing him with bronchiolitis.  Poor baby.  He has been pretty miserable and having a very hard time sleeping. Hoping he will kick it soon!  

I told my parents on the phone how much I am impressed by Elek and B's unconditional love for their little brother.  Despite the fact that their mommy was preoccupied both physically and mentally with the screaming baby all day yesterday they would still come up to him and try to make him laugh and say things like, "he's so cute," and "he's the best baby in the world."  And when I brought August back home after his doctor's visit they both ran to the door yelling, "AUGIE!!!"

Another thing that made my heart melt:  

I was spying on Elek and B in the playroom when I heard Elek say, "Hit Girl, come here I have to tell you a secret!"  She leaned in and he whispered (as quietly as a three year old can whisper, anyway), "you're the best sister ever!" So. Sweet. 

And maybe this is one of those, you gotta be there moments but I thought it was so funny and quintessential Beata when we both saw this gross little thing on the playroom mattress and, after I walked away, distracted by August, she came up to me and said, "hey mommy, I think that that icky thing on the playroom mattress came from my nose."  

"Eww Hit Girl, that's gross." I said.

"It's ok mommy, I got it off of the mattress."

"Oh good B, what did you do with it?"

"I put it on the floor."

"Oh gross, Hit Girl!  You are supposed to put icky things in the trash!"

" Well, I couldn't touch it though because it was icky."

"Then how did you put it on the floor?"

"With my toes!"

At which point I leaned over and gave her a great big kiss and hug.  I LOVE my crazy Hit Girl!

Will talk about CA trip another time but wanted to leave a few randoms:

1.  When B gets excited about something lately (as in the past 2 or 3 weeks) she says, "yay, pomegranate!"  She crazy and I love it!

2.  Tonight 15 minutes after being put down to bed Elek kept shouting, "I'm a little too scared to go to sleep........I'm a little too scared to go to sleep!"  Andrew went in there to help him "analyze" it and within a few minutes he was out!

3. Andrew threw a live and rather large glass snake at me today.  I had trapped it under a bucket so that when he came home from lunch he could put it in a container so the kids could see it later.  So he put on his gloves and grabbed the thing with an old t-shirt.  But as he was putting it in the tupperware container I gave him, the thing started to slither and squirm which freaked him out and caused him to lob the damn snake right at my face.  I had been standing about 6 feet away and felt the thing hit my leg and foot while I did a very crazy looking heebie jeebie dance to avoid and escape it.  I was soooooo grossed out and immediately went over to Andrew and punched him in the arm.  He maintains that it was an accident and that he was just overcome with fear but I swear there was a look of intention in his eyes that I saw in the split second before I saw the snake flying through the air toward my head.  Regardless, after the incident we were both laughing hysterically.  And needless to say, the kids never got a pet snake.

  August discovered that he could touch his feet on his own yesterday during lap time!  

We met up with Grace, Carrigan, and Brogan at Gleason Park yesterday to play and feed the ducks!  

Went to Ross and Panera with Grace and August last night.  While I was gone, Andrew helped the kids make the following movie (3 different takes below) in order to show Elek that the Goblin (or Gobbler as he called it) that he saw on a cartoon and described as shoes walking all by themselves, were not real.  Andrew told me that it was amazing how much direction and rehearsing was needed to produce the following short clips!  Hope you enjoy and get as much laughter as I did out of these gems :)

Well, no middle of the night coughing fits since Elek was started on the Zyrtec and antibiotic! Each night he has gotten into a fit right before going to bed but no wake ups.  Again, I am hesitant to throw a no-more-coughing party just yet since we have been tricked into thinking it was over before but it certainly feels good to not have to wake up and do breathing treatments!  August's cough on the other hand seems to be getting even more junkie and he is waking up more frequently.  This morning Elek woke up at 6:45 and couldn't go back to bed.  He just kept peeking into my room until 7:30 when B woke up and I went out there to feed them and turn on the TV.  I seriously can't win!

Took the kids to get their flu shots yesterday.  Decided on telling them beforehand what was going to happen rather than surprising them when we got to the doctor's office.  Andrew told them it would feel like a flick and demonstrated on their hands.  They both went into the room feeling very confident and "tough."  Elek and B volunteered Elek to go first.  He laid down on the table with a smile and nurse Laura kinda held him down while another nurse stuck him.  His smile immediately turned into a grimace and he cried, "ouch, that hurt!!"  He was still crying pretty hard when it was B's turn to lay on the table.  The whole time she did it she was looking at her brother crying and saying that it, "really hurt bad."  Still, she had a smile on her face and when the needle went in she barely cried out and said, "ouch," and that was it.  No tears, no complaining, no nothing.  She is seriously insane and I love it!  I remember that last year when they got their flu shots I predicted a similar outcome so I had her go first and sure enough, she didn't cry while Elek was balling after his turn.  Don't know how Andrew and my softy DNA were able to make such a tough cookie but man am I proud :)

I took the kids to see the end of Andrew's boxing class yesterday so that they could see what he does every Sunday and Wednesday and meet Fadul or, "Fadulo," as Beata calls him.  It was very cute to hear B wave and say, "hi dad! hi!" until Andrew would wave back at her.

Booked our tickets for Vermont last night!  I told Andrew that we haven't traveled in 2 years and now we are going on two vacations in 3 months!  Making up for lost time, I suppose :)

So much to do in terms of packing and cleaning in the next 24 hours before we leave for St. Pete and Cali.  Not sure how in the heck I will get it all done with the 3 munchkins begging for my attention all day but somehow I'll have to make it work!

Took the kids to see Dr. Weare yesterday.  $60 worth of copays later, Elek is believed to have a chronic sinus infection and is going to be taking another antibiotic along with Zyrtec, Beata also has what is believed to be an allergic cough so she will be on Zyrtec as well, and August may have a little cold so we just have to let it run its course.  The best news of the visit though was that we can discontinue Elek's breathing treatments as the doctor did not hear any wheezing.  Thank goodness since they were a pain in the ass! No coughing fits last night but I am not about to think that the war is over!

Elek got a haircut yesterday which you might have noticed in the swimming video.  He loves going to the barber shop, mostly because he gets a lollipop when it's over.

Went on a nice walk with Grace and August last night.  Really love having her live in Melbourne and I am going to miss the heck out of her when she decides to move along :(

I'm getting more excited each day about Andrew and my (and August's) trip to California for Rachel McNeal's wedding this weekend.  I've planned for some really nice hikes and Andrew is super psyched about taking a hang gliding lesson!  Most of all I think we are both looking forward to being able to have conversations without toddler tantrums and screaming for 5 days straight.  It is going to be so weird!  The kids seem to equally be looking forward to 5 days spent at Weeta and Pop Pop's house.  We have really talked up the whole junk food aspect of it so whenever you ask them about it they talk about how Weeta and Pop Pop are going to let them drink Coke and have lollipops.  This will be the longest that I have ever been away from Elek and B since Elek was born over 3.5 years ago.  Up to now the longest that I have gone without seeing them was when I was in the hospital having August.  And even then I'd see them before I went to bed at night and in the morning the next day.  And the one time last year that my parents came to stay at our house while Andrew and I spent the night at Crown Plaza on the beach, I broke down and came home to tuck them into bed after we had dinner and before we went back to the hotel.  Needless to say, while I am excited to go away I am anxious about leaving them.  What makes it easier though is knowing that they will have the familiarity of one another.  I think they have really become one another's security blankets. Elek used to fight going to school in the mornings but once we started sending B, we really never heard any argument from him about it again.  It is a pretty sweet bond that they are developing!

Ok, time to wake up Andrew's butt and send him on his way to work.  No plans with the kids today.  These usually end up being the most interesting kinds of days...

Andrew gave the kids a clothes on swim test to make sure they wouldn't drown if they fell in Weeta and Pop Pop's pool while Grace and I were on a walk. I think they did pretty well!

Pretty much all day yesterday I was eyes burning, fall over tired.  In my exhaustion I managed to work myself up into a tizzy about how it annoyed me that Andrew always moans and groans anytime I suggest that we attempt a family outting.  The end result of my sleep-deprived fueled protests was the institution of "Family Fun Day!"  So at 6PM yesterday the whole clan plus aunt Gigi departed for Ryckman Park.  I swear that our children have a 6th sense for when mommy and daddy are arguing and are determined to help daddy win all arguments since as we were getting out the car B started tantrumming about some insignificant detail of the unloading process and throughout our stay at the park each kid took their turns throwing fits.  Then on the way to part two of family fun day, dinner at Off the Traxx, Elek started into a coughing fit (which ended up lasting all the way through dinner) and August was screaming bloody murder.  Needless to say, throughout the evening Andrew was provided with endless opportunities to make sarcastic comments like, "wow, you were so right!  This s so much fun!  How did I not appreciate the joy that can be had in hanging out with two toddlers and an infant before?!"  and by the time we sat down to scarf down our meal so we could get home and put the demons to bed, I was conceding that Andrew was right and going out as a fam really could be a pain in the ass.  Not that it was all horrible.  While at the park Andrew started a game on the tennis courts where the kids had to sneak past him on their bikes and touch the stroller before he could tap them on the helmet with a stick.  It took them a while to understand how to play but after a while they got it and really enjoyed it and it was so much fun to watch the determined look on B's face as she killed Elek in the game.  She would wait in the safe zone until Andrew wasn't looking and them zoom toward the stroller to score a point.  We think that she was so good at it because she loves being sneaky!  B also had Andrew, Grace, and I dying with laughter at dinner when she requested a lemon and them proceeded to eat the entire thing, rind and all, like it was no big deal!  She just said, "mmm, this is yummy!" And apparently she really did enjoy it because she kept asking for more and even after I explained to her that the rind wasn't for eating she ate two more whole pieces! Crazy girl!  Plain spinach leaves, tomatoes, salsa, and now lemon rinds are just a few of the more foods that make us think she is going to give Andrew a run for his money in terms of food experimentation!

Between showers, breathing treatments, and extra food when they got home, it was 10PM by the time we got all the kids down for bed.  August woke up at 2:30 and then again at 6:30 for good.  Elek slept through the night without a coughing fit which was wonderful but I still plan on taking them all into the doctor today for their coughs.  We'll see what he says!

Elek had a coughing fit at 12:30AM.  August went down at 8:30 and slept till 3:30, then till 6:30 and then till 7:30.  When he woke up at 7:30 he was a mess.  Seemed like his belly was really bothering which may or may not have been the result of the gobs of Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream that I shoved into my mouth at 9:30 last night.  Kids woke up around 7:45 and I finally got August to go back down around 8:30.  Then took the kids for a walk (Elek biked) to Orlando park for a while so Andrew could catch some more z's.  Elek has been in a coughing fit since we left the park about an hour and a half ago :(  He's doing a breathing treatment right now.  Might give Zyrtec a  try today.  HATE the guessing game!

Elek has had coughing fits for the past two nights which has meant two middle of the night breathing treatments.  He also had a fit right before bed tonight and something tells me we will get one or more throughout the night.  I must call his doctor on Monday to ask about an oral steroid.  I guess I keep putting it off because he always seems to have a good night the night before I plan on calling and I convince myself that it is best to keep him on as few drugs as possible.  But waking up this often is not good for him either.  He's not napping anymore and he really needs his sleep!  Not to mention, the coughing disrupts mine, Andrew's, and August's sleep as well.  Little B usually manages to sleep right through it!

Today was a good day.  Whole fam went to Blue Lemon Cafe for breakfast, then Andrew purchased a Nexus tablet from Office Depot, then we went to Halloween City at the mall so the kids could get their first taste of scary decorations this year, then we came home and had Abby come over and sit while Grace, Andrew, and I went surfing.  Unfortunately, I didn't stand up once today.  For some reason I have been very fearful of getting hurt again.  I think maybe because I just had the baby? Not sure.  Despite my fears I still managed to get jostled around quite a bit though.  Got thrown off the board on one wave and Grace said the board flew so high up in the air before coming back down that she totally expected to see me flying up in the air with it!  While the board was taking flight I was underwater being flipped around with my arms blocking my head and thank goodness because when it came down it hit my forearm!  I also stepped on what I am 99% sure was a crab that proceeded to pinch me.  Which doesn't hold a candle to what happened to Grace and I after Andrew went in (the waves had gotten kind of crappy but we were still having fun and wanted to stay out longer).  I had JUST finished telling Grace that my worst nightmare is seeing a shark and then having a big wave come in that would threaten to throw me off of the board.  This conversation took place literally 10 minutes before this exact situation to place.  I was paddling north with Grace behind me when all of the sudden I saw a bait ball ahead of me and a fin cutting through it.  I immediately yelled to Grace that I saw a shark and put my arms and legs up on the board.  Then I looked behind me and thought, "oh shit," as I saw a  large wave approaching (ok, so maybe it wasn't huge by the typical surfer's standards but given my lousy surf skills, let me tell you that thing looked intimidating!).  My fearless little sister rode the wave in but I chickened  out and freaked out.  It took me forever to get back to shore and I could see the bait ball creeping closer and closer behind me.  Finally I reached the beach and ran out next to Grace and we and another family watched as 3 freaking sharks went ballistic on a huge school of fish in the same exact spot where we had just been trying to catch waves!  It was crazy!!

As we were walking home I told Grace that as long as I am going out surfing with her I will never get any better since all I do the whole time is laugh.  At her.  At myself.  But mostly at her.  At this point we both suck but I'm pretty sure that she is going to advance way past me soon if for no other reason than her fearlessness for attempting just about any wave.

Elek is obsessed with having me feel his muscles.  I took Sara's advice and told him that his breathing treatments would make him stronger and faster so now every time he completes one (and sometimes during) he asks me to feel his muscles and gets this really serious face as he flexes.

Beata has changed her mind 3 times in the past week or so about what she wants to be for Halloween.  First it was Pocahontas (she practiced the "Colors of the Wind" song over and over and is now pretty good at it with a few prompts), then it was Cinderella, and as of yesterday it is Snow White.  Her indecisiveness didn't stop her from getting sassy with me though when I asked her again this afternoon what she was going to be for Halloween.  She said in a very teen aged tone, "I already told you!  Snow White!"

August continues to be super smiley and laughed quite a bit today.  He is becoming a bigger fan of the exersaucer every day as he figures out how to manipulate the little toys that are attached to it. Last night he slept from 9PM to 4:14AM which was AWESOME!

Andrew has been working just about every night on his flying wing plane and was thrilled to see that it glided today when he threw it back and forth with Christena's husband Chris, even though it is not yet finished.  He says his next plane will be a pod and boom glider.  Whatever the heck that is.  Just trying to document the daily going ons of our household.  He also continues to spend ridiculous amounts of time playing bug house chess on fics each night.

WE ARE BACK TO HAVING SOLID POOPS!  No more diarrhea in this household! And I forgot to mention that August finally had a big poop last night around 8 which is probably why he slept so much better last night. Oh the joy that can be found in bowel movements!  No coughing fits from Elek today.  We will see what tonight holds but I was very grateful for all of the progress that took place today!

We stayed at home all day today (a rare occurrence since I usually feel like I am going to pull my hair out if we don't escape the confines of our home at least once each day) but it was actually really nice.  Elek and B got along really well for the most part.  Elek pushed B on the baby swing that's on the porch, they goofed around in the playroom, we did some color by numbers worksheets, and Grace came over with Carrigan and Brogan for some play time and a dance party.  August was in a smiley mood all day.  I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies to prevent the same unanswered craving situation that occurred last night after the kids went to bed.  Elek and B sneaked some from the counter when we weren't looking.  Being sneaky together really seems to bond them so I usually don't mind them "stealing the cookies" even though I pretend to.

Randoms:  Beata recently learned to say "pajamas" and "adults" correctly.  She used to say "tuh-jamas" and "tuh-dults."  Sad that we taught her the right way :(
Elek is learning to use his /l/ sound.  Used to say "wuv" for "love" but I started to tease him saying, "you WUV me? what the heck is WUV??" He'd crack up and would say, and continues to say randomly, "mommy, I don't wuv you I luh-luh looove you!"  Again, wish I'd never corrected him now.

I love my babies.  All 3 of them so much.  They are so frickin' sweet and I want to eat them up!  Was just telling Andrew tonight how it is so crazy to me that their adorable, tiny little bodies will someday be big grown up bodies.  Wish I could slow time down because we seem to be getting there too quickly.  August will be 4 months in 24 hours and 10 minutes.  Where does the time go?!  Somebody posted this article about remembering your child's lasts (as in, the last time they do something...like the last time that they ask you to cuddle them in bed) on Facebook today and it nearly brought me to tears:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/devon-corneal/parenting-lasts_b_1874086.html

Must remember to cherish even the craziest of times.  Diarrhea, coughing, sleepless nights...Because it will be over sooner than I realize and much sooner than I'd like it to be.

Mom, you are going to kill me if you read this.  But I really feel like I can see how people like that woman from 19 Kids and Counting can get addicted to having children.  I get so frustrated and overwhelmed sometimes but I just don't want this part of my life with these silly little kiddos to be over.  No need to worry, I wouldn't go as far as the Duggars have, but you can see how it can happen.

HALLELUJAH!  For the first night in over two months we had regular baby wake ups and no coughing fits! Put August down at 9PM and he woke up at 1:30 and 5 and went right back to bed.  Then he was up for good at 7:30!  Before having kids I would have thought this a nightmare but after the recent weeks it feels like a Godsend!  Elek had about 2 and a half major coughing fits yesterday so I had totally planned on waking at least once for a breathing treatment last night but it never happened!!  Ok, time to go feed these rascals.  Hooray for sleep!

Elek sits down on couch for breathing tx.  B scoots up right next to him to watch TV.
Elek: "Why do you always want to sit next to me?"
B: "Because you're my best buddy and you love me."

Another rough night last night with August waking at 11:30, and pretty much every hour after that.  Brought him into my bed at 2.  He was awake from 3 to 4 babbling next to me.  Finally really settled down at 5, which was precisely when Elek started coughing.  Did a breathing treatment for 20 minutes and then crawled back into bed.  What a night!  I texted my friend Leela whose son Brady is a couple weeks older than August since I had remembered her saying that Brady wasn't sleeping well.  She told me it lasted about a week and that she did a whole bunch of research on sleep regression online and found out that good sleepers  turning bad was pretty common at this age.  Of course I immediately ran to my computer to do the same search and sure enough, my misery loves company self was pleased to see that I am not alone!  Hundreds of moms reporting the exact same torturous sleep schedules!  We are at about a week of poor sleep now so fingers crossed that there will soon be a light at the end of the tunnel!  Also, no clue why Elek's coughing fits are back.  Doing everything the exact same as I had done previous nights.  Shower, breathing tx, Benadryl, raised head of bed.  I'm stumped!

August started sucking on his fingers a couple weeks ago.  Usually his middle and ring finger, leaving the other 3 to form the "I love you" sign :)  Neither Elek nor B ever sucked their fingers and while I think it is just so cute when Gus does it now, I know I am going to be HATING it when he is a toddler.  Oh well, will cross that bridge when we come to it!

Luckily August had one medium poo and one big one this morning....finally!  (as you can see I am using this blog to document my children's bowel movements as well so that I can keep track of their poop schedules if I ever need to report anything to their Doctor).

Time to clean the house!  Don't worry, it is actually pretty cathartic.  Especially when Beyonce Radio is playing on Pandora :)

- Yesterday while on the pot Elek said to me, "Mommy, I love you.  I wish I could stick to you."  He has actually said this whole "stick to you" thing before and every time it makes my crush on him grow.  Such a sweet boy :)

- Andrew came home a little early from work today so that he could meet us at the beach.  I tried surfing and nearly stood up once on a pretty large wave.  Since having August I've been out a handful of times.  Some outtings have been more successful than others.  Today was a nice day to be out but overall the waves were larger than I would have liked for a retraining session and the shore pound was pretty bad.  I got pretty jostled around trying to make it back in.  Feel pretty lucky to have a husband that will watch 3 kids on the beach for me while I go out on my own!


- Elek had a coughing fit last night but luckily the breathing treatment that I gave him took care of it.

- August woke up at 12:50 last night, much earlier than his usual 3AM-something initial wake up.  Then he woke up again at 3 something and I was so tired that I just brought him in bed with me, where he slept for the remainder of the night.  Waking up two more times before being up for good.  Poor little guy just keeps trying to push those poops out in vain.  He has had two very light poops in the past 9 days or so :( Still having good pee diaps though so I know he is taking in enough milk.


- Andrew told me today that I always say negative things.  He said I might be a "negative person."  To which I responded, "try getting up a thousand times in the middle of the night to do breathing treatments and nurse and soothe a baby and then try waking up at 7am to feed two kids and get them ready for school 3 days a week and then see how many positive things you have to say throughout the day!"  I told him we could switch rooms (he sleeps on the other side of the house in the playroom) and nighttime and morning responsibilities (he has none) and then see how his outlook on life fares.  Not surprisingly, he declined my offer. Therefore, I will continue complaining as much as I see fit until I am getting some decent sleep again.  And just for the record, I did some serious reflecting on his accusation while I was trying not to get killed by giant waves and I do think that my recent negativity is indirectly proportional to the amount of sleep that I get each night.  Overall I would consider myself a pretty positive person.  Just don't eff with my sleep schedule!  Oh, and I will also say that I have never minded being the one to get up with the kids in the middle of the night or the one to help them get ready in the morning since I know that Andrew has to actually be able to use his brain the next day.  I don't resent that he gets to sleep in....as long as he doesn't give me a hard time about being cranky the next day.  Then he'd better watch his back!

- B didn't poop today but Elek still had diarrhea.  Both are on a diet consisting of toast (with just the slightest hint of preserves to make it appealing), bananas, applesauce, water, and Gatorade.  They are both pretty stoked about the whole Gatorade thing since getting juice around here is a pretty big deal.  So far not too much complaining about the bland diet which makes me think their stomachs must really be bothering them.

- August gets a kick out of his feet if you put them in front of him.  I also dipped his legs into the pool on Sunday and he seemed to like it.  Tried it again today but it was too cold and he wasn't a fan.

- Beata did her first somersault today!  She was very proud.  Will eventually post pics on Lamoureuxlife.

- One of my favorite things is how Elek and B always sit right next to each other on the couch.  There is a whole huge couch for them to spread out on but they are always butted right up next to each other whenever they are watching TV.  So cute how they are little buds. Oh and apparently at school whenever they are on the playground they always want to play with each other and aren't really interested in hanging out with others.  Which, while it kind of stinks for their social development with other kids, is so frickin' sweet to me!

- About a month and a half ago we were about to pull out on A1A from Tampa Ave and we saw our friends Frances and Damien biking with their kids.  We waved and then turned onto A1A.  Well, shortly after we pulled away Beata says very excitedly, "mommy!  I just saw Jesus!!"  "What Beata?" (not sure if I heard her correctly).  " I just saw Jesus!!"  Then it hit me.  This is our artist friend Damien:

Two seconds later it hit Andrew and neither of us could stop laughing.  Then I played into it.  "Oh yeah, B?  What was Jesus doing?"  "He was riding his bike with some kids!"  "Would you like to ride on a bike with Jesus?"  "Yes!!!"  Absolutely priceless.  I can't even tell you what I would give to see Beata's reaction to Damien showing up at our door to take her for a bike ride!  

-  Previous random story bring up a recurring topic in my and Andrew's conversations:  how much are we willing to let our kids be brainwashed for the sake of convenience?  Elek and B's school is located literally right behind where Andrew works.  And I will say that the teachers there are very nice.  But meanwhile, we will randomly hear Elek in the backseat of the car singing "I love church! I love church!"  and Beata exclaiming, "God made me!"!  Now don't get me wrong, I really don't mind them being exposed to Christianity and I realize that we knowingly enrolled in a Baptist school so we have to play by their rules.  And I expected some lessons about God to be sprinkled into the curriculum.  But when nearly every piece of artwork that comes home has a Bible verse on it, the homework is for mom and dad to write down their favorite verses, and the Christmas program contains not a single song that does not contain the words "baby Jesus,"  I think it's a little overboard!  But oh the location is just so damn convenient :(

Gem from yesterday:  Elek and B were playing on back porch.  I noticed that they were kind of hidden behind an umbrella turned on its side on the ground next to the pool so I went to the playroom window and peeked through the blinds to spy on them.  And what do I find?  Nothing other than my dweedle dee and dweedle dumb children playing a version of pat-a-cake in which you clap once and then hit the head of the person sitting in front of you and repeat.  While I was watching the hits looked pretty harmless and they were both laughing each time they hit and were hit.  But by the time I ran and grabbed Andrew so that he could see what our two goofuses were up to, we observed Elek knock B square in the nose with a fist!  She started just barely crying and went to go look for us but we were already outside.  We asked them what they  were doing and why Elek hit her and he said they were playing a game.  So Andrew asks, "Elek, why did you punch B in the nose?" and he said, "because that's how you play the game."  Very matter of factly and in such a way that Andrew and I both had to turn our heads to the side to hide our laughter.  Of course a lecture on why it is not right to hit and that they must play nicely ensued (we may be immature but we're not THE worst parents, after all) but man did the whole thing leave Andrew and I laughing for a while.

All day yesterday kids hardly ate a thing.  Elek still had diarrhea.  Sped shopped at Old Navy for about an hour until August lost his shit (poor baby was tired) and Andrew had to bring him to me.  Amazing what you can do in an hour alone though!  Earlier in the day Andrew went to boxing class with Fadoul and I got Abby to come over and watch older kids while I took Gus to Publix with me.

Today started like most have in the past week or so:  August wakes up at 5:30 (after having woken up twice before in the middle of the night to eat) and tries in vain to push out a poop.  Is very unhappy until 7 AM when he finally passes out in my bed.  At precisely 7:01 AM Beata walks into my room, taps me on the shoulder (I pretended to be asleep to see what she would do...I like conducting mini-experiments on my children), and asks for some food.  Fed B and talked to her for about a half hour before going back in bed and trying to squeeze in a few more minutes of sleep.  About 2 minutes after my head hits the pillow, Elek emerges from his room and I roll out of bed to make him breakfast as well.  Breakfast consists of apple sauce and toast, both of which they hardly touched.  Guessing today will mark day 3 of crazy bowels in the Lam fam.  You can't make this stuff up.

So since I am so bad about posting pics on lamoureuxlife and for some reason feel like I cannot post new pics on there until I finish all old posts, I have decided to start this extra blog which will be more like a journal  to record the day to day happenings in our household.  So much happens and is said on a regular basis that I hope I won't forget but know I won't remember given my notoriously terrible memory.  I plan to think of this blog as a no-pressure place to jot down a rough sketch of what happens each day in our house, random things that are currently on my mind, and random silliness that the kids have done or said whenever I get a spare moment.  Posts here might stop mid-sentence or thought since, as anyone with kids knows, children seem to have a 6th sense for moms having spare moments and they find joy in spoiling them.  This time in my life, while hectic and exhausting, really has been wonderful and I don't want to forget it!

So here goes:

- When August was just a month old or so I was driving all of the kids home from Publix and August was wailing in the backseat.  During these times I usually wouldn't even attempt to talk to the older kids because we'd all just get frustrated that we couldn't hear one another.  Well, I glanced in my rear view mirror and noticed B leaning her head against her seat and looking sleepy.  So I semi-shouted, "awww B, are you tired?"  To which Elek exclaimed, "Tired of this baby, crying all of the time! Be QUIET baby!" Hilarious.

- I took Elek and B to a ballet class about a month ago.  I sat behind the two way mirror and watched while the teacher gave each of the kids name tags.  I knew instantly that Elek's would say "Buzz" as he and his sister refuse to go by anything but their nicknames.  I wondered though what the teacher would write for B since her articulation of "Hit Girl" almost always requires my translation.  So after the class I sure enough see "Buzz" come out of the door and then I see...."Nicole." Later I asked B, "so Beata, did your teacher call you 'Nicole'?" and she goes, "yeah, she said 'Come here, Nicole" so I went."

- Elek just got a nebulizer on Friday for a cough that he had had for 2 months.  The cough showed up primarily at night and would persist for an hour straight.  Sometimes he'd have two coughing fits in a night.  The cough was dry and LOUD and kept the whole house up...or at least me, the lightest sleeper of the bunch.  Between his cough and the baby's usual wake ups, it's been a particularly exhausting past several weeks.  Luckily though the albuterol seems to be doing its job and while he still coughs, we haven't heard much at night.....pretty sure I probably just jinxed myself :(

- Two days ago the kids seemed to have some kind of stomach bug.  Elek had some crazy diarrhea and B had poop tooted in her pants when I picked her up from school.  So we put both to bed in diapers as a precaution.  Well, as I was getting ready to go to bed at midnight (I know, no right to complain about the exhaustion thing), I smelled a horrible smell coming from their room.  Andrew and I grabbed a flashlight and checked both of their bums.  Nada.  Andrew left to go back to his room and play some more online bughouse chess but I knew that SOMETHING nasty must be waiting to be discovered in there because the odor was just too overpowering to be a lingering toot.  So I continue to search the room with the flashlight and as the light passes over B's face I see that she is covered in vomit.  Her hair, her pillow, her sheets, her face, all covered in frozen corn (one of her favorite snacks) sprinkled putrid puke!  And there she lay, fast asleep and dreaming.  We woke her up and Andrew showered her while I changed her sheets and pillows.  Then she crawled back in bed and said, "ooo this bed is so cozy."  Just a little story to convey while Gigi has always said that "B is crraaazy!"

- Yesterday we tried to go to the Cocoa Beach airshow.  After about 45 minutes in the car we finally walked the long walk to the beach (distance-wise the walk wasn't that long but when you've got a stroller to push, a 3 year old in his first pair of flip flops and a 2 year old who just doesn't feel like walking, trust me, it's a long walk), pushed the non-beach-friendly stroller through the sand, and sat down....in the sand...because we forgot to bring something to sit on.  We also forgot sunscreen (which I had asked Andrew to apply before leaving the house...in my defense.  Luckily this is my blog so I can state my defense.  If Andrew wants to start his own blog he can state his).  So, I went on about a half mile hike in the pounding heat in search of sun protection for my kiddos, only to discover that the hotel that we were located right behind was selling sunscreen in their gift shop.  Just as I approached the register, sunscreen and a Gatorade in hand, Andrew calls and says, "let's get out of here!"  He didn't have to tell me twice!  This time we were smart I parked it with the kids while he ran and got the van.  Then we went to Cocoa Village and enjoyed a yummy pesto pizza at Osarios.  And after that we headed over to Harmony's dad's pool in Viera for a BBQ.  On the way home, all 3 kids passed out (the true sign of a fun-filled day....or at least a heat-filled day).  When we got home, Andrew went surfing and when he got back, I went for a jog.  Good day :)