Miss Manners

A quick post about Demand.

95% of the time she is the most polite child you could ever imagine and Mr. Sloth and I can't take credit for any of it. For example when she gets adjusted at the chirpractors she gets a sticker. She knows where they are and how to get them, but she won't get one until she's told she can. Secondly, at the end of each of her gymnastics class the kids gets stamps on their hands and feet. She's always the first one to sit and be ready, yet always the last to get her stamps because other children aren't as patient. She's great about saying please, thank you, excuse me...with very little prompting.

Anyway, a few days ago I was sitting on the floor in her room reading books before naptime. She bent down in front of me, tilted her pigtailed head and asked, "Massage?". She then proceeded to massage my neck and shoulders. She's actually quite good at it too. You'd never know a two year old was giving you a massage. What service though, huh?

Well yesterday was full of rushing around and Demand had been in a mood the first half of the day, but surprised me at dinner. Because Mr. Sloth and I had CCD to teach, dinner was chili from freezer. Just thaw, warm, and serve. Demand sat down ready to eat and said, "Chili? Yummy!!" She shoveled spoonful after spoonful in her mouth and kept saying. "This is really good chili momma. Thank you momma."

She'll stay like this forever, right? Cute and polite?

Exhaustion and the Great Mr. Sloth

It is with great exhaustion that I write tonight. In fact, it's the second night in a row I've felt like this. Let me explain...

Monday evening I had some time to kill before people gathered to watch "Heroes". I found an article online that spoke of strong marriages and challenged it's readers to do something everyday for their spouse. Nothing I hadn't heard before, but it inspired me just the same. I was going to do something for Mr. Sloth!!

Things didn't work out like I had planned. By the time our late viewing of "Heroes" was over I was exhausted and on the verge of rather bad headache so I went to bed. I woke up at 3am to a horrible, horrible headache. I got up and took Tylenol (obviously not something I do often during pregnancy) and grabbed ice for my head. I was convinced it was a migraine triggered by the weather (we had gotten a few inches of snow that day). Weather migraines are the worst because there's nothing I can do about them. With that in mind I thought I would have the headache the entire next day. I hesitantly woke Mr. Sloth and asked him to massage my neck, half expecting him to half heartedly oblige, but with little to no effort before falling back asleep himself. To my surprise, without question he rolled over and managed to actually bring me enough relief that I could fall asleep again. I thanked him the next day, adding that I was in so much pain at the time I couldn't tell him he was actually helping me.

So instead doing something nice for Mr. Sloth he did something nice for me. I was still motivated to do something nice for him though.

Yesterday was super busy. Our day started with a slower than slow drive due to snow to gymnastics class. Then Demand and I headed to the fitness center so *I* could work out. I had a fantastic swim. It's so much better to swim when there are only two other people in the pool than when there are three people to a *lane* while a water exercise class is going on causing ocean like waves in the pool. I could have kept swimming but I figured baby needed a rest and Demand would want lunch eventually.

So after basically two work outs, I headed home for more work. Demand took a nap after lunch while I cleaned and got dinner ready. After dinner I got Demand bathed and ready for bed while Mr. Sloth had his turn for the gym, as soon as he got home I headed out the door to pick up gifts for the "adopt a family" we had. I shopped for two hours with Obscure and Sidekick. By the time we got home, it was 10pm and realized that I hadn't sat down all day. Quite literally. Mr. Sloth and I both fell into bed beyond exhausted. Now remember, I was still determined to do something nice for Mr. Sloth. I had tried really hard to have a clean kitchen for him when he got home, but it never completely happened. So I woke up at 3am again. Not with a headache. With severe leg cramps. Between the standing, swimming, walking, pregnancy, etc, my legs we're done. I would sit up, get the cramp to go away, only to have it re triggered due to the unique way a 7 month pregnant lady has to lay down. It went on for a long time. Finally Mr. Sloth heard my whimpers and asked what was wrong. As soon as he heard I was having leg cramps he jumped out of bed.

Mr. Sloth has told me many times of how he used to get severe leg cramps all the time growing up, really bad ones that would make him walk with a limp for days. So for the second night in a row Mr. Sloth went above and beyond for me when I had planned on doing it for him. He jumped up and massaged my leg until the cramps stopped completely. I would have been completely blown away by his charity, had I not known his empathy for leg cramps. I was no less grateful, but definitely more indebted to his recent acts of charity.

So, the moral of the story is that Mr. Sloth has to stop being so nice so I can be nice.

So that brings us to today. I still haven't really done anything for Mr. Sloth. I've been trying, but nothing seems to get completely done in the time I'm allotted every day. I did get the fridge completely cleaned out and wiped out though. I know it had been bother him, and after cleaning it out I think we might healthier people now too.
Part of the reason I couldn't get the kitchen clean today was that I had 15+ presents to wrap for the "adopt a family" while Demand was napping. When Demand wasn't napping she was "potty training" or as I like to call it pooping and peeing in underwear. But that's a whole 'nother adventure for a whole 'nother post.

Weekend Update

When I last left you Demand had gotten sick inexplicably and our Saturday plans were tentative. Saturday was also the Feast of St. Nicholas. We decided to start celebrating it this year. Friday at dinner (before she got sick) we told Demand to put her shoes out so St. Nick could come and leave her presents. With the chaos of her being sick I didn't think it would work, but Demand wasn't picky. Mr. Sloth slept in her room until 5am. I just happened to be wide awake around then so when she woke up at 5:30am I had problem taking over. She was apparently feeling better as upon seeing me she declared "I wake up!!! Let's have dinner!!" I wasn't convinced of her being better yet so I sat her on the couch to watch a show and rest while she ate dry cereal and watered down juice. Sure enough, NOW I was tired. I kept falling asleep and waking up to Demand singing or dancing. By 8am Demand wanted a real breakfast of oatmeal (her favorite). It was then that I decided it was Mr. Sloth's turn. It was afterall my morning off. I woke up Mr. Sloth so he could take over and then I finally showed Demand what St. Nick had brought. She said, "Oh, this is nice!". She cracks me up. So I went back to bed for an hour before we all got ready to go shopping. We lasted about five hours before heading home for the day, Demand did great the whole time.

Sunday was a different story. Apparently Demand wasn't better yet. She slept in until 9am and then we all rushed to make 10am Mass. We were in the Church about three minutes when she fell asleep. FELL ASLEEP!!!! She has slept all of one Mass in her life, her first one. When she was two weeks old we took her to Mass for the first time. It was at the Cathedral, packed with people and loud organ music. That was it. From then on she would always wake up and want to held, nursed, or shown things at Mass. Needless to say we were shocked. Mr. Sloth still stuck in her heavy coat held Demand (still all bundled up herself) the whole Mass. She didn't wake up until Communion. Crazy!!


We went home for a quick lunch before dropping Demand off at Grandmas. We were heading to the History Museum for a rare exhibit from the Vatican. When we picked up Demand her Grandma agreed she wasn't herself. She almost fell asleep in Grandmas arms too! She was just so lethargic all day, until all of a sudden, around 6pm she just "got better". You could just tell. She had energy, appetite...spunk. Very bizarre.

It's snowing now. Apparently we're to get 3-6 inches today which would be great. We have some snow right now; enough to make the roads slippery but not cover the grass. On our ever growing list of things we need is a sled. We're excited for Demand this year. She'll really be able to sled down our nice hill.

Big plans

When I woke up this morning I had high hopes for the day. Demand and I had no plans or commitments for the day, and the house was 80% clean. I thought I would get in comfy clothes (which are getting harder and harder to find these days) and Demand and I would just do activities all day.

Demand had other plans.

Boy was she in a mood today. Crabby, frustrated, resilient. Usually our mornings go pretty quickly but not today. After we ate breakfast and got dressed I asked if she wanted to draw lines. She likes to practice tracing straight lines and such. She had fun for about two minutes then got frustrated but didn't want help. Then she wanted to do a puzzle. Not just any puzzle, the United States floor puzzle made for ages 6+. We like her doing the puzzle but it does take some patience on our part. She can actually do the whole boarder with very little assistance and then we go over the states and such as we put the pieces in the middle. Nothing was going her way, and it showed.

Finally I decided it would be fun to make fudge. I found a great simple recipe that she could help with. She had fun making the fudge. She unwrapped all the chocolate pieces and counted them as we put them in the pot. Next she wanted to "wash dishes" in the sink. Which was fine it's a great activity to keep her attention for a while. Although she dumped a whole container of water on the floor and licked the chocolate spoons *after* she put them in the soapy water. (eww!)

Of course today was the day Mr. Sloth was late getting home for lunch. We fought her the whole time trying to get her to eat her lunch. She was very ready for a nap and it showed. The nap never happened by the way. After an hour and a half of telling her to get back in bed and/or changing a poopy diaper, I thought she might sleep in our bed with me. No. It didn't happen, but she was so kind as to head butt me and give me a headache.

By this time it was 3pm and my dream of a lovely Friday home with my daughter was over. I asked Mr. Sloth to come home with the car so I could get out of the house. Besides we were desperate for food. Apparently graces were abundant today because Mr. Sloth thought I would be ten times more stressed after seeing how Demand was acting, but I was mostly numb. The other day was much more stressful. We went to the post office and Aldi with little trouble. Target on the other hand.... I was so sick of her hearing "cheese stick" repeated over and over and over again. By the time we got home I was done with her, but she wasn't done with me.

Finally we ate dinner and then Mr. Sloth took to play in the fresh snow. I had time to myself until they were done. When they came in I helped get all the snow gear off and then wrapped Demand in a blanket and held her on my lap in front of the fire. Two minutes later she started vomiting all over me.

It was obviously time for a much needed bath followed by bedtime. She seemed fine during her bath and after, but Mr. Sloth said she had a fever when he came downstairs after putting her to sleep. Ugh. Please don't be sick!!

If she stays asleep, then I have a lovely evening planned fully of food and movies. Tomorrow I've volunteered to forfeit my morning off (unless she's vomiting, then I'm reclaiming my morning off) so we can all go Christmas shopping and get it done with for the season. And my morning shall start with Caribou Coffee!!

I can't wait, I can almost taste the warm decaf peppermint mocha now! Delicious!

Laugh or Cry

Yesterday was aweful. Just aweful. I had started to blog about it, but then I decided that it was over with and I didn't want to complain about it anymore. My day got better once we all went to the gym for some alone time. Mr. Sloth on the machines, Demand at the playground, and me in the pool. Once Demand was in bed for the night I had a nice warm bath with a cup of hot cocoa and spent the rest of the evening watching pointless television.

Today, I decided after Demand went down for her nap today that I would fight stress/bad mood with cleaning. I set the timer for 15 minutes and decided to nothing but attack the kitchen in that time. It's amazing how a clean kitchen can change your mood. (Thanks FLYlady!)

After my 15 minutes were up I had an 80% clean kitchen I then decided to make a fantastic snack of turkey crostinis (ask me about those later). It was a great idea!


So let me walk you through the last twenty minutes of my life. Demand wakes up crying while I'm on the phone. By the time I get off upstairs she's smiling sleepily at the gate. I notice the distinct smell of a dirty diaper but I am surprised since she went right before naptime.

Me: Do you need a new diaper?
D: Yeah, I big poopy.

So as I start to change her diaper she says,

D: I see chocolate.
M: You see chocolate?
D: Yeah, chocolate.
M: (hesitantly) Where?
D: Down there. (points to diaper)

Oh, boy. That could have been so much worse.

Since we'll be home until after dinner, and she had just pooped (twice) I decided to put her in big girl underwear. We get downstairs. I pop in her DVD (she only gets to watch a show if she sleeps) and sit on the couch (Demand is standing next to the couch). Within seconds I hear,

D: I'm all wet.
M: You're all wet?
D Yeah, all wet.

Sure enough she had peed. So I say,

M: Ok, stay here I'll get you new underwear (as I walk away I hear,)
D: And a towel!!

Snort! I'm glad to hear that she was concerned about the carpet. Mr. Sloth is aware of all this happening, and is very content being in his cold office right now. He'd much rather freeze than deal with bodily fluids. I can't say I agree. I hate being cold.

Alright, I have forty-five minutes until we have super healthy frozen pizza for dinner (note the sarcasm) and I have laundry to switch and more to fold, plus I should clean some more of the kitchen before Mr. Sloth gets home.

Our Thanksgiving

Ah. Thanksgiving.

Tuesday evening, I realized that Thanksgiving was in two days and I needed to get my act together. I did my first of four "last trips" to the grocery store for ingredients, finalized my menu, and started making a plan and time table for cooking/cleaning. I spent a lot of Wednesday cleaning and prepping. By the end of the day I had a decently clean house and all but one of my dishes made.

In fact, the stress didn't hit me until 1:30pm Thursday afternoon. About the time Demand protested her afternoon nap. (The first time in a long time) If she didn't sleep, fine, I wasn't going to fight that battle, but we did need her in her room for a minimal two hours just so we could get work done. Around the same time, Mr. Sloth was having some issues with the turkey which pushed back grilling time. (more on that later) and I kept realizing not only what I hadn't done yet, but I realized a lot of little things I hadn't thought of that needed to be done.

Around 3:30pm (a half hour to an hour before guests were to arrive) is when we really kicked into gear. I had to let Demand out of her room. That's when I discovered her most disgusting diaper. Half way through changing the diaper I decided the best place to put Demand was the bathtub. Perfect for everyone. She's staying clean and out of the way while being entertained. This allowed me to do my hair,makeup, get dressed and pick up the playroom. (Before I get concerned phone calls you can see Demand fully (and hear her at all times) from her playroom..actually, most of the upstairs.

Meanwhile Mr. Sloth was downstairs cleaning and managing the turkey. Everything came together, and we were ready before guests came. (It helped that they got lost and were later than expected)

Since all my dishes were done or waiting to be cooked through I just had to wait and follow my time table (which was a great idea by the way!) Mr. Sloth however kept hitting road blocks...a lot of them. From having a roasting rack too high so he couldn't close the lid, to having the wheel fall off the grill. One thing we really had going for us was that the kids were entertained up in the playroom and no one was really hungry. Around 6pm, after seeing pink juices from the Turkey, we decided to eat all the other dishes while the Turkey finished in the oven. Mmmmmmm, why don't I make this food all the time??? Sadly, after stuffing ourselves some of the guests had to leave, before the Turkey was ready. Mr. Sloth was frustrated.

But...

When it was done, it was the most fantastic turkey ever. No really. It was. Demand who chose to throw back sparkling grape juice rather than eat during dinner LOVED the turkey and kept coming back for more. In fact considering some of our guests had left, we made a big dent in that wonderful Turkey.

After a long day filled with fun with cousins and no nap, I actually saw Demand grab a blanket and climb onto the couch. You don't see that too often around here. The rest of our guests left and Mr. Sloth put Demand to bed. She was more than ready. She grabbed her new snowflake pajamas and brought them down to Mr. Sloth. How's that for a hint? I did some cleaning while she went down for the night and then Mr. Sloth took over. I would have helped more if baby Valentine wasn't staging a protest over the days events.

By 9pm the kitchen was clean, just in time for company again. Yep, we weren't done yet. It was time for our annual viewing of "A Muppet Christmas Carol" with friends. It's no surprise that when the movie ended at 11:30pm, I was more than done. And off to bed I went.

It's now 8:43am and Demand and Mr. Sloth are still sleeping. Eh, I guess the longer they sleep the longer the kitchen will stay clean.

I can eat pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast, right?

Jesus Cake!

With the Holidays approaching very quickly Demand has been learning a lot these days. The last two weeks at Bible Study she's learned about Thanksgiving, although when I asked her what we do on Thanksgiving she only says, "Cookie Pie". Hmmmm, I don't recall that being on the menu.

Speaking of which I am hosting Thanksgiving this year. Mr. Sloth is grilling the Turkey and in charge of the gravy. (He's rather excited) After other food is assigned (assuming Mr. Sloth calls his family members) I'll be in charge of various potatoes, stuffing, cranberries and bread. One super-bonus is that we have two ovens! Sidekick will of course NOT be using his oven that day and actually since his fridge is almost always empty we're thawing the turkey in there as well...assuming Mr. Sloth buys a turkey soon.


Apparently the day after Thanksgiving we're having another Thanksgiving with the same family, but honestly I'm confused. The day after THAT we have Friends Thanksgiving. This will be our third year to gather with friends and eat semi-traditional turkey-day food and pretend to be adults for once. Needless to say I'm going to be sick of turkey and fixings by the end of the weekend.

We're gradually teaching Demand about Christmas. She knows the Holy Family. She knows that Jesus' mother is Mary and Jesus' foster daddy is "Jophus"(Yes, Jophus.) Next I told her that Christmas is Jesus' birthday to which she promptly exclaimed. "CAKE!!". So up until yesterday if you asked her what Christmas was she would say "Jesus Cake!".Yesterday, I finally got her to respond with "Jesus' birthday". Although you can't blame her she associates birthdays with cake and presents. I think she'll be pleasantly surprised Christmas morning, even if there is no cake. (By the way I'm not opposed to doing birthday cakes for Jesus, but some people in the Sloth family thinks is silly.)

I briefly told Demand about Santa Claus to which she exclaimed, "PRESENTS!! I go Gramas house get presents". Nothing gets past her. Last night she saw her first Christmas lights. The garden store near us was all decked out and Demand thought it was fantastic. She's going to love the Christmas Season.

I've made pretty good progress with Christmas planning/shopping, thanks to my Holiday Control Journal. Demands things are all picked out and half of them have been bought. I found some super deals at Menards, including a doll house with all the furnishings for $24. One hiccup we've had with Christmas shopping is the 5 birthdays within three weeks in our family. That's not counting the birthday we forgot. We have birthdays on Nov. 23 & 25 and three, count em three birthdays in December. (four siblings, one niece) I honestly did avoid a December baby for this very reason. We can't afford it!!!

We know the holidays are going to come fast and as soon as Christmas is over it's countdown until baby comes. Yikes!