11:15pm-went to bed
12am-Pax hungry
2am-finally get Pax back in his own bed
2:05am-Happy wakes up screaming. The only way Mr. Sloth can get him to stop is to give him what turned out to be the loudest toy we own.
2:45am-I remove toy which is keeping me awake and give him a book.
3:30am-Happy wakes up screaming again. Mr. Sloth eventually takes him downstairs as his 'tornado siren' of a cry is bound to wake the other children.
4am-Happy back in crib and not crying after a chat with Dad.
5am-Demand comes in and is cold and needs to be covered.
6am-Pax hungry again.
And I can't have coffee anymore.
We have a playdate this morning and we have to stop at the store first. I'll have to wake up Happy which feels so wrong. Straight from the playdate I have to drop Demand off at Good Shepard but I know the boys will fall asleep in the van which means Happy might not transfer well to his crib.
This could be it, this could be the day that does me in.
The Sloths
Lazywife, Mr. Sloth, Demand, Prophet, Rooster, and King
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
From Winter to Food
Big week of homeschooling planned. The theme for this week is food for Little Saints is "Let's eat out!" All about food which is what this family likes. There are so many cute ideas for this chapter we may just do all of them. Demand is going to love it! It's also the month dedicated to "The Holy Name of Jesus" I'd like to do something with this theme but I haven't decided what to do just yet.
Last week the theme was "Winter" and we made snowflake crystals. Here's what we did.
They turned out so nice and they were so easy to make.
We also painted a winter scene. It took some convincing. Demand is really into the show "Sid the Science Kid" right now and a particular show involving rainbows. She can name the colors of the rainbow in order....which is better than her mother can do. She wanted paint a rainbow and I had to convince her to try and paint a snow scene. Then we shaved a bar of soap onto the picture for snow while the paint was still wet. She thought it was fun! (Apparently it was an Irish Winter scene as we only had Irish Spring in the house)
That microplane has never been so clean!
Eventually she did paint a rainbow.
So we usually try and incorporate cooking into our week somehow but a whole week around it will be fun. There's a muffin puzzle letter match game, home made playdough (I'll make edible) cakes made from playdough, pretend pizzas, real pizzas, pasta sorting and a bit on loaves and fishes...hmmm maybe daddy can make bread for this one! All sorts of fun! We also have a playdate this week, doctors appointments, and Good Shepard and I have a party to go to on Thursday. Busy, busy.
Last week the theme was "Winter" and we made snowflake crystals. Here's what we did.
They turned out so nice and they were so easy to make.
We also painted a winter scene. It took some convincing. Demand is really into the show "Sid the Science Kid" right now and a particular show involving rainbows. She can name the colors of the rainbow in order....which is better than her mother can do. She wanted paint a rainbow and I had to convince her to try and paint a snow scene. Then we shaved a bar of soap onto the picture for snow while the paint was still wet. She thought it was fun! (Apparently it was an Irish Winter scene as we only had Irish Spring in the house)
That microplane has never been so clean!
Eventually she did paint a rainbow.
So we usually try and incorporate cooking into our week somehow but a whole week around it will be fun. There's a muffin puzzle letter match game, home made playdough (I'll make edible) cakes made from playdough, pretend pizzas, real pizzas, pasta sorting and a bit on loaves and fishes...hmmm maybe daddy can make bread for this one! All sorts of fun! We also have a playdate this week, doctors appointments, and Good Shepard and I have a party to go to on Thursday. Busy, busy.
Phun with Phyllo
For Christmas Mr. Sloth got me a cooking class for the two of us. He had over fifty classes to choose from and he choose. "Phun with Phyllo". It was a great choice since neither of us excel in phyllo. I made baklava once (and loved it) but haven't used it since. Mr. Sloth's mom came over around noon to watch the kids and I had a "Meal Deal" in the crockpot ($5 for the roast, potatoes, celery, and carrots were free!) waiting for us when we got home.
It was a three hour class that started with a demonstration. At first our teacher seemed really annoying and I knew Mr. Sloth was thinking the same thing, but once we got into the class we learned to like him.
We made :
Three-cheese Roasted Bell Pepper Phyllo
Sauteed Butter Rum Tropical Fruit Baklava
Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese Phyllo Pockets
Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus (Our favorite)
and Sweet Phyllo Crisps which sandwiched angel food cake with raspberry sauce and lemon curd. (My second favorite)
We had just a few too many and were a bit nauseous on the way home but it was so much fun. It combined three of my favorite things. Cooking, drinking and not washing dishes.
I've already planned on making a few of these dishes in the few weeks. I'll make a version of the Baklava for book club in two weeks and we'll probably make the asparagus when we have our parish priest over for dinner (if I ever get back to him with some dates).
Way to go Mr. Sloth great Christmas Giving! Sorry no pictures maybe I'll take some when we recreate the recipes later.
It was a three hour class that started with a demonstration. At first our teacher seemed really annoying and I knew Mr. Sloth was thinking the same thing, but once we got into the class we learned to like him.
We made :
Three-cheese Roasted Bell Pepper Phyllo
Sauteed Butter Rum Tropical Fruit Baklava
Roasted Garlic Cream Cheese Phyllo Pockets
Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus (Our favorite)
and Sweet Phyllo Crisps which sandwiched angel food cake with raspberry sauce and lemon curd. (My second favorite)
We had just a few too many and were a bit nauseous on the way home but it was so much fun. It combined three of my favorite things. Cooking, drinking and not washing dishes.
I've already planned on making a few of these dishes in the few weeks. I'll make a version of the Baklava for book club in two weeks and we'll probably make the asparagus when we have our parish priest over for dinner (if I ever get back to him with some dates).
Way to go Mr. Sloth great Christmas Giving! Sorry no pictures maybe I'll take some when we recreate the recipes later.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Quick Week Update
I've tried all week to post but time has not been my friend. So I will try and do a quick review of the week.
Monday: When Mr. Sloth left for morning Mass I was doing my hair, Demand and Pax were in their jammies and Happy was asleep. Twenty minutes later we burst through the Church doors five minutes early for Mass. Mr Sloth was most surprised.
The rest of the day was equally crazy. Demand and I did some Math while Happy refused to nap and we had to leave for ballet at 2pm. At 1:45 pm Mr. Sloth called to remind me that friends were coming for dinner. (Hmmm, didn't know that actually.) So we went from ballet to Trader Joes (by the way Trader Joe's wasn't made for 'big' Catholic families to shop) all during yet another day of snow. We got home at 4:30pm and I started Orange Chicken and fried rice (Thank you Trader Joe's) Our friends stayed until 8:30pm so kids didn't get to bed until 9pm (and remember Happy didn't nap)
Tuesday: Don't remember. Too exhausted.
Wednesday: Regular stuff and homeschooling during the day. The theme this week was "Winter". Happy loves joining us for 'rug time' and Demand and I had some fun with projects while he napped. Mr. Sloth had CCD and the children were less than civil to me during the two hours he was gone. If I recall, Pax was up all night.
Thursday: Playdate in the morning with cousins. Being on a caffeine free diet* I stood in my bathrobe blurry eyed staring at my calendar and realized that I had to have the kids dressed and at Grandma's (20 minute drive) by 9am....deep breath. The play date wore my kids out. Happy slept until 4:45pm and Demand accidentally fell asleep at 3pm and I had to wake her at 5pm. Sadly Pax was up most of the afternoon and required constant attention. Good thing he's cute.
Since we knew the kids would be up late I found a project for them. My mom told me about making crystals out of borax,water, and pipe cleaners (all thing we have in the home). It takes all night for the snowflake crystals to form but it was great fun and it kept the kids occupied for an extra hour before bedtime.
Friday: I know my limits and I keep Fridays open for play dates for a reason. 8:30am I called my friend for a play date and an hour later we were out of the house. The playdate was great but in the rush to get out of the house messes were made and left. Happy refused to nap again making for a very long afternoon. Thankfully dinner was easy. For meatless Friday we were trying a new French Onion Soup. I used Mr. Sloth's meat slicer on Monday to slice a bag of onions and cook them for hours with a stick of butter. On Friday, half of that mixer was mixed with 2 boxes of beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. It was so yummy! Demand even loved it, but she does love soup. Plus we had some fresh bread thanks to Mr. Sloth and sprinkled some fresh shaved Parmesan.
Saturday:(Today) I was bound and determined to clean the kids room top to bottom today. I woke up at 6am but Happy was crying in his crib so I hid in bed for a while longer and then Pax was hungry. Finally at 7:30am I was up....as was Demand. Happy ended up sleeping until 9:30am. (That kids going through some crazy sleep cycles) I got dressed and got all the basic house work done. (laundry started, kitchen mopped, bathroom cleaned...) and FINALLY Happy woke up and I got to work. I pulled out bed and emptied the closet. I got about half done before lunch, and then I laid down after lunch. Yep, I took a nap by myself. No nursing baby no squirmy four year old, no snoring husband (sorry honey). It was the best sleep I've had in a month. Honest to goodness. I woke up around 2pm and then took Pax and Demand to the grocery store while Happy and Mr. Sloth napped. I was home with the groceries just in time to unpack them and change clothes. I then headed out on my own to get my hair cut.
It's been about five months since my last haircut. Those who don't know me well may not know how thick my hair is. Let's just say that the stylist held 1/4 of my hair and said it would be a full head of thick hair for an average person. I know my hair is thick, in fact it's a problem. If I were to wash my hair at night it would still be soaking wet in the morning. So the idea of waking up, taking a shower and washing/drying/styling my hair is long gone for this momma. We came up with a plan. She thinned my hair. She thinned the center sections of my hair removing about a 1/3 of my hair and STILL it's so thick. Hopefully it helps. She took a few inches off too, boy did I need it.
As soon as I walked in the door at home I started cooking dinner. Mr. Sloth usually cooks dinner on the weekends but being forced to cook "weekday meals' while having children hang on me is less than fun so Mr. Sloth let me have today. I made Chicken Parmesan and we ate about two hours later than usual. I went from my half eaten plate straight up to the kids room to finish what I had started and then cleaned the playroom, took Happy out of the bath and then exchanged Happy for Pax and nursed Pax and then put him to sleep.
Then I walked downstairs and made a margarita.
I hope that bed is as comfortable tonight as it was this afternoon. It was a good day but I'd like to stop now.
* Last week in attempts to figure out what is causing Pax's spit up issues the doctor told me to give up coffee, caffeine, chocolate, leafy foods, spicy foods, and alcohol. Riiiiight. Thankfully after five days we figured out that coffee was the culprit. Unfortunately, coffee is the culprit. It's not the morning that's hard but the mid afternoons when I can't get a nap, I have nothing left to give and I have at least three hours until Mr. Sloth gets home. Oh, well. I'll survive.
Monday: When Mr. Sloth left for morning Mass I was doing my hair, Demand and Pax were in their jammies and Happy was asleep. Twenty minutes later we burst through the Church doors five minutes early for Mass. Mr Sloth was most surprised.
The rest of the day was equally crazy. Demand and I did some Math while Happy refused to nap and we had to leave for ballet at 2pm. At 1:45 pm Mr. Sloth called to remind me that friends were coming for dinner. (Hmmm, didn't know that actually.) So we went from ballet to Trader Joes (by the way Trader Joe's wasn't made for 'big' Catholic families to shop) all during yet another day of snow. We got home at 4:30pm and I started Orange Chicken and fried rice (Thank you Trader Joe's) Our friends stayed until 8:30pm so kids didn't get to bed until 9pm (and remember Happy didn't nap)
Tuesday: Don't remember. Too exhausted.
Wednesday: Regular stuff and homeschooling during the day. The theme this week was "Winter". Happy loves joining us for 'rug time' and Demand and I had some fun with projects while he napped. Mr. Sloth had CCD and the children were less than civil to me during the two hours he was gone. If I recall, Pax was up all night.
Thursday: Playdate in the morning with cousins. Being on a caffeine free diet* I stood in my bathrobe blurry eyed staring at my calendar and realized that I had to have the kids dressed and at Grandma's (20 minute drive) by 9am....deep breath. The play date wore my kids out. Happy slept until 4:45pm and Demand accidentally fell asleep at 3pm and I had to wake her at 5pm. Sadly Pax was up most of the afternoon and required constant attention. Good thing he's cute.
Since we knew the kids would be up late I found a project for them. My mom told me about making crystals out of borax,water, and pipe cleaners (all thing we have in the home). It takes all night for the snowflake crystals to form but it was great fun and it kept the kids occupied for an extra hour before bedtime.
Friday: I know my limits and I keep Fridays open for play dates for a reason. 8:30am I called my friend for a play date and an hour later we were out of the house. The playdate was great but in the rush to get out of the house messes were made and left. Happy refused to nap again making for a very long afternoon. Thankfully dinner was easy. For meatless Friday we were trying a new French Onion Soup. I used Mr. Sloth's meat slicer on Monday to slice a bag of onions and cook them for hours with a stick of butter. On Friday, half of that mixer was mixed with 2 boxes of beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. It was so yummy! Demand even loved it, but she does love soup. Plus we had some fresh bread thanks to Mr. Sloth and sprinkled some fresh shaved Parmesan.
Saturday:(Today) I was bound and determined to clean the kids room top to bottom today. I woke up at 6am but Happy was crying in his crib so I hid in bed for a while longer and then Pax was hungry. Finally at 7:30am I was up....as was Demand. Happy ended up sleeping until 9:30am. (That kids going through some crazy sleep cycles) I got dressed and got all the basic house work done. (laundry started, kitchen mopped, bathroom cleaned...) and FINALLY Happy woke up and I got to work. I pulled out bed and emptied the closet. I got about half done before lunch, and then I laid down after lunch. Yep, I took a nap by myself. No nursing baby no squirmy four year old, no snoring husband (sorry honey). It was the best sleep I've had in a month. Honest to goodness. I woke up around 2pm and then took Pax and Demand to the grocery store while Happy and Mr. Sloth napped. I was home with the groceries just in time to unpack them and change clothes. I then headed out on my own to get my hair cut.
It's been about five months since my last haircut. Those who don't know me well may not know how thick my hair is. Let's just say that the stylist held 1/4 of my hair and said it would be a full head of thick hair for an average person. I know my hair is thick, in fact it's a problem. If I were to wash my hair at night it would still be soaking wet in the morning. So the idea of waking up, taking a shower and washing/drying/styling my hair is long gone for this momma. We came up with a plan. She thinned my hair. She thinned the center sections of my hair removing about a 1/3 of my hair and STILL it's so thick. Hopefully it helps. She took a few inches off too, boy did I need it.
As soon as I walked in the door at home I started cooking dinner. Mr. Sloth usually cooks dinner on the weekends but being forced to cook "weekday meals' while having children hang on me is less than fun so Mr. Sloth let me have today. I made Chicken Parmesan and we ate about two hours later than usual. I went from my half eaten plate straight up to the kids room to finish what I had started and then cleaned the playroom, took Happy out of the bath and then exchanged Happy for Pax and nursed Pax and then put him to sleep.
Then I walked downstairs and made a margarita.
I hope that bed is as comfortable tonight as it was this afternoon. It was a good day but I'd like to stop now.
* Last week in attempts to figure out what is causing Pax's spit up issues the doctor told me to give up coffee, caffeine, chocolate, leafy foods, spicy foods, and alcohol. Riiiiight. Thankfully after five days we figured out that coffee was the culprit. Unfortunately, coffee is the culprit. It's not the morning that's hard but the mid afternoons when I can't get a nap, I have nothing left to give and I have at least three hours until Mr. Sloth gets home. Oh, well. I'll survive.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The Purge
My brother in law recently asked for an update on "the purge". Ask and you shall receive.
I've started, although I've made little progress, packing up boxes to store at Obscure's home. I've started with the toys since there are so many of them and they were going to be more at Christmas. I have about 7 boxes packed and ready to go right now. I didn't want to pack anymore until our house was in a more livable condition. It's taken a while but I think we're almost there.
Another part of the purge is just getting rid of stuff. We found out that our county accepts many items for free (Cough. Paid for by taxes.) Mr. Sloth loaded up an old TV and will be heading back soon with old computers, a vacuum, and a floor lamp. Plus a friend of my offered to take anything I didn't want and sell it on Craigslist (I won't do Craigslist) so I said, it's yours! And obscure took an old scanner that has been sitting around. It feels so good to get rid of stuff!!
I just ordered Motivated Moms for this year. Mr. Sloth said that if I posted a list of things to do around the house he could help out when/where he could so I thought it was worth a shot. It's actually been my favorite home organizing method I've tried. Very simple and doable.
Anyway, that's how the purge is going. Pretty boring, huh?
I've started, although I've made little progress, packing up boxes to store at Obscure's home. I've started with the toys since there are so many of them and they were going to be more at Christmas. I have about 7 boxes packed and ready to go right now. I didn't want to pack anymore until our house was in a more livable condition. It's taken a while but I think we're almost there.
Another part of the purge is just getting rid of stuff. We found out that our county accepts many items for free (Cough. Paid for by taxes.) Mr. Sloth loaded up an old TV and will be heading back soon with old computers, a vacuum, and a floor lamp. Plus a friend of my offered to take anything I didn't want and sell it on Craigslist (I won't do Craigslist) so I said, it's yours! And obscure took an old scanner that has been sitting around. It feels so good to get rid of stuff!!
I just ordered Motivated Moms for this year. Mr. Sloth said that if I posted a list of things to do around the house he could help out when/where he could so I thought it was worth a shot. It's actually been my favorite home organizing method I've tried. Very simple and doable.
Anyway, that's how the purge is going. Pretty boring, huh?
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Take Two
About a month ago Happy's godfather was in town for a visit. One day during his visit I had a homeschooling field trip and Mr. Sloth was heading to work that day so I asked (made) said godfather come with me. We were heading to the orchestra for a 45 minute show. It was geared towards children and the theme was "Sleighride". How bad could it be, right?
The second we grabbed a 'first come first serve' seat Pax had a blowout. So Godfather sat with Happy and Demand while I went to change the diaper. When I came back I found they'd been booted from their seats for no good reason and the infuriating usher was seating an entire school in between us and my homeschool group. After giving the clueless usher a piece of my mind we finally took our seats but now I was seated next to teachers and students not homeschool families. Happy was content for all of three minutes before he wanted to sit on my lap, which was taken by Pax who was nursing. A fit then ensued. Of course by this time I'm getting looks like, "Why would you bring babies to the orchestra?" Twice, Godfather, took Happy out of the theater before the show ended and we made a very quick dash for the exit.
The experience intimidated me. How can I do this alone? I could barely do it with help, and I wouldn't consider that a success. I can't physically hold Happy and Pax and I definitely can't chase Happy while nursing Pax...or can I??
I let some homeschool friends convince me it was possible. When my friend who has three boys the same ages our our children (four, two, and four months) told me that The Children's Theater is different, I believed her. Last Saturday some free tickets became available so I decided to give it a go. Sunday night I found out we were supposed to get a snowstorm right as we were to be driving and it was in the city where I rarely drive. When Mr. Sloth asked that I not go I thought "Great! A good excuse for not going." Then the weather changed and it wasn't supposed to be so bad. (Grrrr.)
We had to be there, in the lobby at 9:45am. Let me tell you something, the Sloth family cannot be anywhere before 9:30am (We are usually a part of the procession for 10am Sunday Mass) As most parents know, if you want your child to sleep in, make plans. To get there on time I had to leave the house at 9am. Happy slept until 8:30am and usually takes his sweet time eating breakfast . Demand is the slowest human being on the face of the earth and the more you rush her the slower she gets, and Pax of course wanted to nurse at 8:55am.
Deep breath.
Thankfully, God provides, and Mr. Sloth didn't go into work until we were loaded into the van. He corralled "Thing 1& Thing 2" while I nursed Pax. Then it was off to the show. It was actually an easy drive. It's one of the few places I've driven to before so I wasn't nervous and we were there in plenty of time. I was surprised to find that I seemed to be one of the few families without a father present. You gotta love homeschool families. Most dads were off for Christmas I guess and with us just getting back from vacation (big mistake in December) Mr. Sloth had to work that day. I found a friend who didn't have babies and had her husband with her and asked....ahem...told her that we were sitting next to her. Before I could finish my sentence she said, "So you can ditch?"
God Bless you!
This particular friend of mine shares the same maiden name as me. We tend to understand each other.
So we had to meet at 9:45am but the show didn't start until 10:30am. We were seated first of course and Happy wasn't happy about it. Now Demand is scared to begin with. That one thing you must remember or nothing else that follows will seem wondrous. (Sorry, that was a movie reference.) Demand is in a phase where she is afraid of everything. So when the show started by turning the house lights off and I was up the stairs chasing Happy, Demand started crying. So there we were Act 1, scene 1. One child crying and three on my lap.
I was eventually able to peel Demand off of me and Happy was very entertained for the first 20 minutes, then he remembered he was a two year old boy and started making exit attempts. Demand was getting increasingly frightened as cowboy's with guns (a specific fear of hers) and scary dream sequences unfolded onstage. One of the homeschooling mom's behind us caught on and had her 9/10 year old daughter, who was sitting next to Demand, offer to hold her hand. Demand leaped out of her chair and sat on this girls lap.
One down, two to go.
Since I needed both hands to chase Happy, I handed Pax over to another mom. After chasing/repremanding Happy I came back. Soon Pax started fussing so I traded babies with my fellow mom-friend. She handed me Pax and took Happy. Pax needed a diaper change. Out I went for the fourth time. When I came back Happy just HAD to sit with me, but Pax wanted to nurse. So as it turns out, I can chase a toddler while nursing thanks to my extra-long muslin swaddle blankets I just bought. At this time, carrying two babies I managed to find my way to the cry room. Turns out, it's pretty nice in there. You are still in the theatre, just behind glass. (The other theater there just plays a video of the live performance in the lobby.) Finally, intermission. I made my way back to the seats to collect Demand and my diaper bag as now Happy seemed to have filled his pants. Being intermission I had to weave my way though 20+ girls waiting to use the restroom with Pax in the carrier, Happy on my hip, and Demand trailing behind very....very slowly. I wrangled Happy only to find that he had not pooped but was in fact just gassy.
After collecting ourselves and heading to the lobby for the rest of the intermission I asked Demand if she wanted to stay or go. She wanted to stay but stay with me. Fine. However as Act 2 started Demand who was playing with her friends was no where in sight. Another mom found her sitting with her friends so I headed to the cry room without her, but she thought I was in the theatre. Just as the show started I saw her new friend walking her back to find me. So I had to drag Happy and Pax back out into the lobby to meet her and then head back to the cry room.
The second act went surprisingly well. Demand and Happy stood on chairs to watch the show through the sound proof glass while I stood there hand feeding them whatever snacks I had and Pax slept in the carrier. I don't think I mentioned this before but just as we were seated we found out that the show was 2+ hours long. Whoa there Tiger! I was assuming this would be 45 minutes, 1 hour TOPS. Two hours???? So we blew through snack time AND lunch. As soon as the show ended we were heading for the door and I would have stopped somewhere close for lunch (it being an hour and half past their lunchtime) but it was a heavy snowfall remember and I wanted to get as close to home as possible.
Finally a little after 1pm we pull into our garage. Demand is starving, Pax too is hungry and has been screaming for fifteen minutes, and Happy is asleep and I am forced to wake him. The good news is that starving your children through snacktime and well past lunchtime does seem to make them eat more. Too bad it was Burger King.
That my friends was my second attempt at an outing with the kiddos and yet I press on! Tomorrow I am 'planning' on trying to take them to morning Mass. If you've ever seen us at Sunday Mass you would now laugh and say "IMPOSSIBLE!" and I wouldn't doubt you, but I have to try sometime and there is no time like the present. Now the real trick is getting out the door in time. Mass starts at 8am and we are rarely out the door before 9:30am...9am earliest. So if we are up, fed,dressed, and in the van by 8:45am it will be a Christmas Miracle, but this girl likes a challenge.
The second we grabbed a 'first come first serve' seat Pax had a blowout. So Godfather sat with Happy and Demand while I went to change the diaper. When I came back I found they'd been booted from their seats for no good reason and the infuriating usher was seating an entire school in between us and my homeschool group. After giving the clueless usher a piece of my mind we finally took our seats but now I was seated next to teachers and students not homeschool families. Happy was content for all of three minutes before he wanted to sit on my lap, which was taken by Pax who was nursing. A fit then ensued. Of course by this time I'm getting looks like, "Why would you bring babies to the orchestra?" Twice, Godfather, took Happy out of the theater before the show ended and we made a very quick dash for the exit.
The experience intimidated me. How can I do this alone? I could barely do it with help, and I wouldn't consider that a success. I can't physically hold Happy and Pax and I definitely can't chase Happy while nursing Pax...or can I??
I let some homeschool friends convince me it was possible. When my friend who has three boys the same ages our our children (four, two, and four months) told me that The Children's Theater is different, I believed her. Last Saturday some free tickets became available so I decided to give it a go. Sunday night I found out we were supposed to get a snowstorm right as we were to be driving and it was in the city where I rarely drive. When Mr. Sloth asked that I not go I thought "Great! A good excuse for not going." Then the weather changed and it wasn't supposed to be so bad. (Grrrr.)
We had to be there, in the lobby at 9:45am. Let me tell you something, the Sloth family cannot be anywhere before 9:30am (We are usually a part of the procession for 10am Sunday Mass) As most parents know, if you want your child to sleep in, make plans. To get there on time I had to leave the house at 9am. Happy slept until 8:30am and usually takes his sweet time eating breakfast . Demand is the slowest human being on the face of the earth and the more you rush her the slower she gets, and Pax of course wanted to nurse at 8:55am.
Deep breath.
Thankfully, God provides, and Mr. Sloth didn't go into work until we were loaded into the van. He corralled "Thing 1& Thing 2" while I nursed Pax. Then it was off to the show. It was actually an easy drive. It's one of the few places I've driven to before so I wasn't nervous and we were there in plenty of time. I was surprised to find that I seemed to be one of the few families without a father present. You gotta love homeschool families. Most dads were off for Christmas I guess and with us just getting back from vacation (big mistake in December) Mr. Sloth had to work that day. I found a friend who didn't have babies and had her husband with her and asked....ahem...told her that we were sitting next to her. Before I could finish my sentence she said, "So you can ditch?"
God Bless you!
This particular friend of mine shares the same maiden name as me. We tend to understand each other.
So we had to meet at 9:45am but the show didn't start until 10:30am. We were seated first of course and Happy wasn't happy about it. Now Demand is scared to begin with. That one thing you must remember or nothing else that follows will seem wondrous. (Sorry, that was a movie reference.) Demand is in a phase where she is afraid of everything. So when the show started by turning the house lights off and I was up the stairs chasing Happy, Demand started crying. So there we were Act 1, scene 1. One child crying and three on my lap.
I was eventually able to peel Demand off of me and Happy was very entertained for the first 20 minutes, then he remembered he was a two year old boy and started making exit attempts. Demand was getting increasingly frightened as cowboy's with guns (a specific fear of hers) and scary dream sequences unfolded onstage. One of the homeschooling mom's behind us caught on and had her 9/10 year old daughter, who was sitting next to Demand, offer to hold her hand. Demand leaped out of her chair and sat on this girls lap.
One down, two to go.
Since I needed both hands to chase Happy, I handed Pax over to another mom. After chasing/repremanding Happy I came back. Soon Pax started fussing so I traded babies with my fellow mom-friend. She handed me Pax and took Happy. Pax needed a diaper change. Out I went for the fourth time. When I came back Happy just HAD to sit with me, but Pax wanted to nurse. So as it turns out, I can chase a toddler while nursing thanks to my extra-long muslin swaddle blankets I just bought. At this time, carrying two babies I managed to find my way to the cry room. Turns out, it's pretty nice in there. You are still in the theatre, just behind glass. (The other theater there just plays a video of the live performance in the lobby.) Finally, intermission. I made my way back to the seats to collect Demand and my diaper bag as now Happy seemed to have filled his pants. Being intermission I had to weave my way though 20+ girls waiting to use the restroom with Pax in the carrier, Happy on my hip, and Demand trailing behind very....very slowly. I wrangled Happy only to find that he had not pooped but was in fact just gassy.
After collecting ourselves and heading to the lobby for the rest of the intermission I asked Demand if she wanted to stay or go. She wanted to stay but stay with me. Fine. However as Act 2 started Demand who was playing with her friends was no where in sight. Another mom found her sitting with her friends so I headed to the cry room without her, but she thought I was in the theatre. Just as the show started I saw her new friend walking her back to find me. So I had to drag Happy and Pax back out into the lobby to meet her and then head back to the cry room.
The second act went surprisingly well. Demand and Happy stood on chairs to watch the show through the sound proof glass while I stood there hand feeding them whatever snacks I had and Pax slept in the carrier. I don't think I mentioned this before but just as we were seated we found out that the show was 2+ hours long. Whoa there Tiger! I was assuming this would be 45 minutes, 1 hour TOPS. Two hours???? So we blew through snack time AND lunch. As soon as the show ended we were heading for the door and I would have stopped somewhere close for lunch (it being an hour and half past their lunchtime) but it was a heavy snowfall remember and I wanted to get as close to home as possible.
Finally a little after 1pm we pull into our garage. Demand is starving, Pax too is hungry and has been screaming for fifteen minutes, and Happy is asleep and I am forced to wake him. The good news is that starving your children through snacktime and well past lunchtime does seem to make them eat more. Too bad it was Burger King.
That my friends was my second attempt at an outing with the kiddos and yet I press on! Tomorrow I am 'planning' on trying to take them to morning Mass. If you've ever seen us at Sunday Mass you would now laugh and say "IMPOSSIBLE!" and I wouldn't doubt you, but I have to try sometime and there is no time like the present. Now the real trick is getting out the door in time. Mass starts at 8am and we are rarely out the door before 9:30am...9am earliest. So if we are up, fed,dressed, and in the van by 8:45am it will be a Christmas Miracle, but this girl likes a challenge.
Pictures from our Trip.
Pax enjoying the excitement.
Princess Demand and Prince Happy.
Lightening McQueen!!! (And Mater)
This was a pretty exciting event for our family. Happy's eyes lit up when he saw Lighting.
Demand posing in front of one of her favorite Characters.
Pax wondering, "Is this really Florida?"
Happy. Just where we want him....unconscious.
Sweet Demand in front of an anomatronic Mr. Potato Head while waiting in line for two hours.
Meeting up with friends in Georgia. Six children four an under makes for crazy airport fun.
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