Augie started crawling a bit this week.  Well, not exactly crawling but he will shove his face onto the ground and then pull with his hands and push with his feet with all of his might to try and inch his way to what he wants.  I realized as I was trying to videotape his new skill why he may be a bit behind in learning to crawl:  it is nearly impossible to keep Elek and B away from him when he is on the floor!  They are drawn to that baby like a magnet and they love smothering him with kisses, hugs, and toys.  Which is great and all, but it means that I am far more likely to let him chill in his walker while I'm doing the dishes than I am to leave him on the floor to practice his gross motor skills.

Andrew has been working on teaching Augie to "clap" on command and today we were absolutely sure that he really got it.  This morning before work Andrew asked him to clap and he did!  He did it for me throughout the day as well.  He has also demonstrated that he knows that "splash" means while in the tub :)

Took the kids to the park today.  Usually I wear Augie in the ergo when we are out and about, pushing him in the swing every so often.  But today I could tell he really wanted to get down and explore so I put him down in the grass and he LOVED it.  It was so neat watching him enjoy the new sensory experience of running his fingers through the grass.  You could see that initial hesitation about touching a new type of material but he was soon, of course, hooked.

The other day in the car Beata and I were talking about different Disney princess movies.  She asked what the prince's name was in Snow White and I said I didn't know but and then went on to explain that the Evil Witch cast a spell which said that only true love's kiss could wake Snow White from a deep sleep.  Then Beata got very excited and said, "Mom, that's the prince's name!!!"
"What, B?"
"That's the Prince's name from Snow White, mom! His name is "True Love's Kiss!!"
Too cute!

All 3 kids have had a cold for about two weeks now.  At this point Elek and B just have lingering junky coughs but Augie seems to have relapsed.  His nose had stopped running but started up again yesterday.  He also had ear drainage out of his right ear which tells us that he has an infection but, thanks to the tubes, we don't have to worry about the infection causing him pain! Hallelujah!!!

We surprised the kids and took them to Disney last Friday with the Hershmans.  They loved it.  Elek cried throughout the Pirates ride and the Haunted house.  On both he kept crying, "what now?  what now?"  as he wanted me to let him know what to expect next.  The first part of the haunted house where they corral everyone into those creepy rooms was pretty bad as both he and B were screaming bloody murder that they wanted to get out.  I had to crouch down on the floor and hold and talk to both of them.  Some people laughed understandingly but there was one woman who I am pretty sure thought Andrew and I deserved "worst parent ever" awards.  As soon as we got to the ride portion of the show B calmed down and was good to go but, like I said, Elek continued to be majorly freaked out.  I did feel a little bad but mostly I felt like going on scary Disney rides and realizing that you come out fine on the other side is just a right of passage.  Amy and I also took the kids on Thunder Mountain.  B was pumped to go on it from the get go.  Elek was begging me to not make him go on it until I promised him ice cream and a lollipop after at which point he immediately stopped crying.  Elek and B ended up loving the ride and wanted to go on it again which we would have done if the line hadn't been so long.  Excited that there might be a future filled with thrill rides with my kiddos!  B loved meeting the princesses.  I'm pretty sure Elek did too :)

Sunday was a perfect day.  Went to Sherwin Williams (I am painting over our ORANGE dining room) without kids.  Stopped by the beach on the way home to discover that it was BEAUTIFUL out there.  Turquoise water and a cool breeze.  Saw that our neighbors were out there with their son-in-law and our friend Chris and his kids Aiden and Rowan who are close in age to Elek and B.  So I came home and told Andrew that we going to break his no-beach-in-the-middle-of-the-afternoon rule (he doesn't like the direct sunlight) and bring the kids out there.  So we lathered up all 3 of the kiddos, packed them a lunch, and headed out there.  It was perfect.  The kids all played (the Peters showed up with Sebastian too) while Lisa and I went surfing.  It felt so good to get back in the water and it was nice to chit chat with a friend between sets.  Augie LOVED the beach and according to Andrew was perfectly well behaved while I was surfing. After the beach Andrew went to boxing while I hung with the kids.  Then the Sherwin Williams color specialist came out to the house to help me choose a good color palate for the house. After that I got to go for a jog to the top of the causeway and back.  I did the 4.4 miles in 47:45...slow but my fastest time yet!  Then I came home and cooked up some yummy chicken.  It really was a perfect day.

Elek woke up the other morning and was very excited to tell me about "the best dream [he] ever had" in which he was fighting bad guys with Peter Pan and ...oh crap...I forgot the other super hero that he was fighting alongside :(  I am a bad mom.  I should have written this down when it first happened because he was so excited about it.  Crap.  I will ask him tomorrow and try to remember to post.  I just know what it wasn't Buzz because I remember being surprised that Buzz Lightyear was not included in this "best dream ever."

We are getting estimates for redoing our kitchen.  We haven't changed a single thing yet and remodeling is already a pain in the ass.  Pray that our marriage makes it through this!

Off to call my mama!