The Rest of Summer

All three kids are in bed and I think I have some time to dump some pictures on the blog!  Yippee!  Forgive me for rushing, but I have a lot of CUTE to pack into this post.  Five weeks worth, in fact, so buckle up!

At the end of July, Sylvain and I took Albert to Louisville for the weekend.  We went to a wedding reception for our friend Steve, of which I have NO pictures because I was too busy talking.  We spent the night at the Seelbach Hotel (it was AWESOME and I can't wait to go back without a baby who wakes up every two hours).  Then, before we left, we went to a gallery opening featuring none other than the amazing artwork of JORDAN MICHAEL HUMBERT!!!!!  It was super fun:

 

He paints llamas.  Well, he paints a lot of things, but his llamas are a HIT.

The man, the myth, the legend.

Sent a text of this gem to my mom.

Albert enjoyed himself in the ol' Moby wrap.

Our crew: Jordan, Katie, Karl and Sylvain.  One person came up to us and asked, "Are you the llama people?"

Moving on.  Let's talk about this picture for a second:

Couple things: sideways sleeping?  Hilarious and cute.  Dirty feet?  Not so cute.  Bath time has been totally optional lately.  Don't get me started on the night time pacifier (I'm not fighting that battle, she can go to college with the stupid thing for all I care) or the UK blanket (she's attached, enough said, right?)  These days I let that girl have whatever the heck she wants if it makes her happy and keeps her quiet.  Being a two year old AND a middle child is rough, to say the least.  Poor baby.

Then there's this one, the little Mama:

 She can feed him, so once I teach her to change a diaper we're going OUT ON THE TOWN!

They are totally into games right now and I absolutely love watching them learn together.  Margot couldn't play games a few short months ago because taking turns was NOT possible, but now she's a pro!  Games are also a nice, relaxing way for me to spend time with them.  In the air conditioning.  I can play Candy Land while lying on the couch - Mom for the win!

Uncle Evan was in town and I wish I had more pictures of him with the kids.  He and John came over for lunch and the girls were thrilled.  We also went to the zoo one day while he was here, so it was all of our favorite things in one place!

We gave this little guy his first bath!  (Alright, full disclosure: these pics are from, like, his fifth or sixth bath, but they all looked the same.)

Here he is in his adorable hooded towel from Mamie Nelly.  She embroidered a picture from The Little Prince on it!

Here's mom driving Uncle Steve's new hot little red car:

And here's Margot in her hot little yellow car!  Mom found it at a garage sale, of course. 

Cuteness

 Albert took his first bottle from Daddy and he has one every few days.  So far, no problems, but if he's anything like his big sisters he'll go on a bottle strike here pretty soon.  Time will tell!

And that's it!  Tons of fun in the last five weeks.  School has started without me and I'm so glad because there is no WAY I could go back to work this soon.  Three kids is hard work on a good day and downright impossible on a bad one.  We're trucking along, though!  Sylvia starts preschool next week and I'm sure September will fly by before we know it!  I can't wait for fall weather, football, chili and pumpkins!!

Backyard Camping

Oh my, I have so many pictures and updates to post, but alas...it's just not going to happen.  The short version is....baby.  How in the world I manage to do NOTHING all day and still feel busy and exhausted is beyond me.  Keeping Albert alive and fairly happy while two screaming girls run around and trash my house is HARD WORK, people!  So, the blog suffers.  Oh well.

I did want to hop on and post about one awesome event that took place at our house recently: Sylvia's first "camp out!"  She got a sleeping bag for Christmas two years ago - not a slumber party princess sleeping bag, either.  She got the real deal, 15 degrees below zero, zips all the way up and around your head sleeping bag!  So far, all she's done is dragged it out of her closet and filled it with her tea party toys.  But she's been begging to go camping for months now, so we decided to pitch a tent in the backyard and see how she fared.  If all went well, she could go on a real camping trip....someday.  If not, that was okay, too. 

Helping Daddy prep the fire

Albert, Margot and I were there for s'mores, but we all "slept" in our own beds!

Hiking

 When Sylvia wanted to walk in the creek, I told her she was welcome to try it, but I was staying in the grass.  Margot was determined to follow Sylvia.  When her tiny cowgirl boots kept tripping and getting stuck on all the foliage between the path and the creek, I said, "Margot, why don't you just stay over here with Mommy?"  She said sternly, "No, Mommy.  I go with Sil-ya."  Sigh.  There goes my baby, following that big sister and leaving Mommy behind.  I have a feeling it'll only get worse from here!

Sylvia found her marshmallow roasting stick

aaaaand Margot found a Harry Potter wand.

Carving the roasting sticks

Sylvain says this next picture completely captures our summer: new AC unit, garden, toys and a tent.

 
She was pretty darn excited about the whole event.  

Margot got to play in the tent for a while

Discussing the rules and procedures for a successful night in a tent.

 After I put Margot and Albert to bed, I went out to check on the campers.  Here's what I saw:

Apparently it was really hot in there, even though it was one of the coolest nights we've had all summer (eventually it got down into the 50's!).  Sylvain took his shirt off to sleep, so of course, Sylvia had to take her nightgown off, too!  Silly goose.

Sylvain sent me a text around 10:00 saying Sylvia wanted her dou dou bunnies.  They came inside at 11:30 to pee and went right back out.  I thought for SURE they'd be back in their own beds at some point in the night, but NOPE, they stayed out there all night long.  I know it sounds silly; they weren't really roughing it by any means - but I was so happy for our big girl to spend the night outside with the crickets under the stars/clouds, right next to her Daddy in her very favorite sleeping bag from Grandpa!  The next morning she was bright eyed and bushy tailed, and she didn't skip a beat all day, so I guess she slept pretty well out there!  I suppose she's ready for a real camping trip, but I don't think I am.  I like having her right outside my bedroom door while I sleep inside!  However, she's dying to go camping with my dad and my brothers, so maybe this fall or next summer she'll get the chance.

Mama and Papa

I haven't written a post for the 30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me series since the end of May!  Now is a good time to write this one, though.  I'm supposed to describe my relationship with my spouse.

I've started and stopped this post quite a few times recently, probably because it's tough to describe a relationship that's been changing and growing for the last ten years!  Here's what it boils down to:

I fell in love with Daddy ten years ago because, after countless boyfriends and relationships, he was the first person to treat me the way I should be treated.  He didn't treat me like crap AND he didn't treat me like a princess.  He treated me like Rachael Humbert.  He respected my opinions and felt comfortable disagreeing with them.  It helped that he was also French.  And ridiculously good looking.  And funny.  But mostly, he treated me with respect.

Today, those are things that keep us together.  We respect each other, we treat each other fairly, and we're not afraid to communicate honestly and openly to one another.  We don't expect each other to reach unattainable goals and we celebrate every small glory we can find in each other.  We try to make each other laugh and we try to find the humor in our less than glamorous lives.  We give each other lots of forgiveness and grace, particularly when sleep deprivation is involved (like right now while Albert and Mommy are up partying all night.  Daddy is good about letting us sleep in and he doesn't make me feel guilty for trying to fold the same damn basket of laundry for two days).

As we've grown together, it has become evident that I chose my partner wisely.  Your daddy is the BEST daddy any kid could ever have and I mean that sincerely, from the bottom to the top of my whole heart!  When I run out of fuel, he's there to keep us all trucking along.  When I'm at the end of my rope, he's already standing on firm ground.  I watch him play with you, tease you, tickle you, wrestle with you, tell jokes to you.  It melts my heart - but all dads do that.  I know your daddy is the best because I watch him comfort you when you're upset.  I watch him cook your favorite meals.  He can bathe you and put you to bed faster and with more fun and flare than I could ever hope to replicate.  I watch him kiss you goodbye and hug you hello and I know...I just KNOW that he was meant for me and for you.  I ask you all the time, "Where'd you get that Daddy?" but the truth is, none of us would trade him for the world!

So how would I describe our relationship?  Our relationship is fluid and constantly changing.  Our relationship is honest.  Our relationship is hard and we work on it every day.  Our relationship is one of my greatest accomplishments and our relationship has produced three of the world's finest beings: you guys!  We love you to death and we are convinced that, for better or worse, a healthy married relationship is our gift to you.  You're welcome!

Albert at One Month

Albert had his one month check up today (even though he was a month old on Saturday) and he really brought his A game.  His percentiles are going up and he's right on track developmentally, so all is well with our Main Man.  Here's what you need to know about the little guy:

Weight: 8lbs, 15oz; 14th percentile.  He's almost 9 pounds!  Not bad for a 6lb 6oz birth weight baby!
Height: 20.75 inches; 7th percentile.  We make small babies, what can I say?
Head: 14.5 inches; 25th percentile.  I really don't think this is right.  His head seems tiny to me, but then again, my girls' heads were in the 50th percentile, so...whatever, he's perfect!

Likes:  Your face.  Being held.  Pooping.  Boobs.  His play mat.  His wubanub.  Sisters.

Dislikes: Laying on his back.  Being swaddled.  Getting dressed.  Riding in the car.  Sisters.

Greatest Achievement: Smiling!  He totally smiled at us on purpose yesterday.  It was awesome.  He can also hold his head up for a minute or so, follow us with his eyes, and make adorable faces.  

Eating: He nurses every 2-3 hours, sometimes more often.  I'm trying really hard to nurse "on demand" right now, but it's SO HARD for me to ignore the clock.  I got rid of my nursing app and started to just pay attention to his hunger cues.  He's hungry a LOT, but that's a good thing.

Sleeping: He has absolutely no daytime nap schedule, but his nighttime sleep is starting to come along quite nicely.  He's down for the night anywhere between 9:00 and 11:00.  He wakes up every 2-3 hours to eat, but always goes right back to sleep.  He's sleeping next to my side of the bed, which is a blessing and a curse and I'm not sure how long it will last.  The boy grunts and squeaks like crazy in his sleep and it drives me crazy!  As soon as he gets some longer stretches between feedings we'll move him to his own bed. 

Life with Albert:  The girls are smitten.  Sylvia is Mommy's Little Helper, fetching everything I need whenever I need it - burp cloths, diapers, wipes...and every morning at 7:15 she shows up at my door with an outfit she's picked out from his room.  Margot loves to help soothe him when he's fussy.  She pats him and says, "It's okay, Baby Ah-bert.  Don't cry.  Margot's here.  Awwwww.  Don't cry."  If we don't keep an eye on them, the girls will smother him to death with kisses.  Sometimes he gets a little....annoyed, but I have a feeling he's going to have to get used to that!  Sylvain and I are still adjusting to life with 3 kids.  I'm always amazed at how much laundry comes along with a wee baby.  Some days it feels like we've got it all figured out and other days feels like we're barely treading water, but we're getting better every day!  I don't go back to work until mid-October, so we have plenty of time to enjoy the pretty weather and figure out a routine, whatever that might be!

There you have it!  This kid is awesome.  Can't wait to see what wonderful things he does next!