Thursday Complaints

Today I woke up sick, which only set the tone for my entire day. I finally caught the virus that Aria has. I was expecting to. After all, I can't have a sick toddler feed me and poop on me without getting it, right? Well, I don't feel nauseous or have diarrhea, but my stomach sure hurts and I have no energy for anything at all. We'll call that complaint number one.

Aria was not a happy girl all day. That's fine, she's sick. Problem with that is that I am sick too and she only wanted me. She screamed at her daddy and wanted to sit with me, which hurt my stomach. Therefore she was very unhappy. She also didn't eat much at all today.

Rod wasn't feeling great, but he was up because the old man next door was supposed to take out his fence today. The old man never showed up. This is not surprising to me. It's disgusting, but not surprising. I have never met a single person who has ever showed up to do something when they were supposed to, especially if it has to do with yard work.

My mom called and I had her come over because I thought that if she was over she could watch Aria and I could nap. Well, mom came over and first of all she had on makeup. It was hideous clown makeup. Blue eyeshadow up to her eyebrows. Blush in circles on her cheeks. It hurt to look at her, but I didn't say anything. I didn't have to. Aria saw her and started crying and didn't stop crying until mom washed her face of her makeup.

I went upstairs and took a two hour nap. That was the most enjoyable part of my whole day. After my nap I was weak from hunger. I ate nothing all day but one glass of tea. I went downstairs and Rod brought down Aria from her third nap.

Now, here's another complaint. Before I went up for a nap Aria was crying because she had diarrhea in her diaper. I asked Rod to change her. After all, I was sick or else I'd just do it myself. He got the diaper and wipes and then asked Aria to come over. She wouldn't come over and so what did Rod do? He kept watching TV. Aria kept crying. Finally I was like, "Why haven't you changed her diaper?" His excuse? She didn't come to him. I wanted to smack him. Instead I told him to just get her then and change her. She's crying. The goal is to make her not cry, not prolong it because she doesn't come to you or else you'll wait forever. This scene happened exactly twice today.

Then when I came downstairs again, we got Aria some applesauce. Rod was upstairs napping this time. We gave Aria some applesauce and she started to tip the little cup. Mom yells at her, "Don't tip it!" Now this scared her and she started crying and naturally tipped it and some went to the floor. I told mom not to yell at her. She never hears yelling and it doesn't do any good. Mom then proceeded to tell me that if I didn't yell at her then she would just dump food all over all the time. First of all, she wasn't doing it on purpose and secondly, she's one. She'd feeding herself with her own spoon and her own little cup. Does my mom expect her to be super neat? The applesauce hadn't even hit the ground when mom yelled. This scene also happened exactly twice. The second time when mom told me I should be yelling at my one year old I told her that "It worked really well for us, didn't it? One thing I do remember as a kid is that we didn't pay attention to you yelling at us. Why would I expect it to work for my daughter when it didn't work for me?" Mom didn't like that very much.

So after the whole applesauce fiasco, Aria had another diarrhea diaper. I asked mom to change it because, well, again I'm sick and I"m laying on the couch. Mom lays Aria on the blanket on the floor and changes her diaper. She then lets the diaper leak on the floor. Now, the diaper is leaking and I tell her that it is. She throws it away and I tell her to wash her hands. She does and when she comes back she has no wash cloth, nothing. Evidentally she was just going to leave the diarrhea mess on my floor but applesauce is horrible! I cleaned up the diarrhea with the baby wipes and then called mom on it. She was like, "I was going to do it." I told her that she was yelling at Aria before the applesauce even touched the floor but she let diarrhea just drip all over.

So that was my day.

Wednesday Accomplishments

So today we cleaned up the yard in preparation of Menard's delivering our fence stuff tomorrow. The old man is gonna help us by taking out his part of the fence and then helping us with the trees on the one side. We cleaned out the brush and the other treasures that had been left there by the people who lived there before us: aka, a tire, a brake pad, some other car parts. Chris joked that if we kept going we may find a whole new car. I made sure to make lots of snarky comments loudly in the yard as I cleaned up cigarette butts. Cuz, seriously, what kind of people throw cigarette butts over the fence into someone's yard? Asshole stupid people, that's who.



We also went down to grandpa's to get the post hole digger. While we were there Aria ran around on the grass in her bare feet! That was a new experience for her. She didn't want to go very far from me, though. She's totally clingy to me now. I realize that it is this age, and a lot of times it's cute. I'm all, "Aww, I'm her favorite!" and I will enjoy it until she switches and suddenly daddy is the favorite.



I also looked in the playhouse to see if there was anything there salvagable. I found the Jaymar toy piano. I remember that piano and I am not sure, but I think we got it for Christmas some year. I must have been around 5-7. Anyway, I looked up the piano online and the company went out of business in 1990. On ebay that piano is being bid on for $119.




I asked grandpa if I could take it home with me and he said I could have anything in that playhouse that I wanted. Well, the rest of the stuff was metal and now rusted and not worth anything at all. The piano is in good shape, though and all the keys still work! Now that's a quality toy right there.

It's really faded, but it cleaned up decently. A bit of varnish would make it look nice again. Aria likes pounding on it a lot. It is loud and clangy. It is also just perfect for her size. It's awesome that I get to find toys that I used to have and Aria can now play with them. This is why people should never throw toys away.

Grandpa also cut us some wood for the sandbox so I have my sandbox makings in the truck bed right now! It will even have little pieces to nail on the edges to sit on. I remember as a kid I didn't want to sit in the sand and get sand on my legs and pants. If you sat on the edges, though, it would hurt my bony little butt. Therefore the sitting area I thought was especially important. Everyone keeps thinking that sandboxes are so much more complicated than they are. They are all talking edging and painting and pretreated. It's a freaking sandbox. I expect half the sand to be thrown out of it, that's what kids do. I expect bugs to get in it, it's what bugs do. I even expect a neighbor cat to think it's a litter box once in awhile. That's what cats do. I have no idea why everyone thinks a sandbox has to be this huge, complicated thing. There was a sandbox at Virginia Grove park-just four planks of wood nailed together. It was awesome! That's what I want-simple and awesome.

I am loving the privacy fence going up. It is going to be so great. A play area for Aria, and when Vick and Todd come down we can have Lady in the yard without worrying about her running away. There is no downside to this fence. I won't let Rod put it off either. I want it too badly. I told him that I will withhold sex if I don't get my fence. I was making comments like, "You know what would really turn me on and get me hot?.....A privacy fence."

Ari still has a bit of diarrhea and she only ate a rice cake, half a banana, half a string cheese, and a couple pieces of cubed ham today. At least what she did eat was good stuff. Oh, she did have a few bites of my cereal. She's certainly losing some weight cuz of this sickness because she isn't so heavy. I noticed it in her legs too. At least I know that I don't have to worry if she loses weight cuz she is always a big eater otherwise. Luckily she has been drinking well now. She had her milk and two sippies of juice.

She also has diaper rash now. That must mean it is time for her 18 month appointment. It seems like every time she has to go to the doctor, Aria has diaper rash. The doc must think that she has diaper rash all the time. It's entirely coincidental, I assure you.

Tuesday Toys

Mom wanted to go to Iowa City today because she wanted to buy Gannon some stuff. To hear mom say it, she was saying that Vickie was getting mad because Aria got a pretty new Easter dress and Gannon didn't get anything and so Mom eleviated her conscience by going to Iowa City. For me it was just another excuse to go somewhere.

Aria went with us and the first thing we did was get sidetracked because of the construction and ended up driving to North Liberty and then turning around. Mom kept saying, "You can turn here." No, mom, I can't make a U-turn on the interstate. It's against the law. So she'd say it again. "You can turn around here." No, mom, see the big sign that says no U-turn? Well, it was just five miles off course. We then went into the mall and the kid's place to play.

Aria had a good time playing with the little kids there. Most of them were just a bit bigger than her and there were a few just a bit littler. She was so excited. Then we went to the Old Country Buffet to eat before we rented one of those car stroller things for her to ride around in. She loved that thing. Mom bought Gannon some clothes, but we had to go to 4 stores to do it. No one had anything cute for boys that were under 12 months. All the boys clothes were 12m and up. It was annoying. Of course there were plenty of stuff for girls. I bought Aria a cute pair of sunglasses because they were only $3.50 and they looked so cute on her. I think she liked looking through the blue lenses. She kept them on a long time while riding in the car stroller. She was holding my smoothie, with her shades in her hair. She was really cruisin'. Then we let Aria play again with the other kids in the play area. She wore herself out and slept the whole way home.

Aria is still kinda sick today. After I gave her tylenol she ate spaghetti, but I think her tummy upset her. She drank juice and had a bit of diarrhea this morning. I think she caught the virus that had been going around the daycare when Carly was over. She had long naps and she's watching Wiggles happily now so it's all good.

Monday Milestones

Let's talk a moment about milestones. I am not talking my little girl's either. I am talking about mine. There are certain points in time in which you don't feel like you are a mommy. Then suddenly something happens that you would have never ever done childless and you pause. I have had a few of those lately. I can now call myself officially a mother.

I have let my child put sticky food in my mouth, and I was not grossed out by this. I guess having her snot on me, slobber on me, and puke on me so much prepares one for all bodily fluids that will be upon you in the future. I had a squishy, sticky piece of cereal thrust into my mouth. I ate it and smiled like a mom should.

I carried a little girl and fifty other things at once. Now, two years ago I was the person who only carried a wallet because if you need more than that then you have too much stuff. I never had a purse, a backpack, nothing. Today I carried Aria, a diaper bag, sippy cup, extra food, phone, wallet, and insurance cards.

But here is the big one today. Unaware of the cause of the mess that was in my tiny daughter's bed, I lifted a blanket and smelled the mess with my nose. It was vomit. Yes, I touched my nose to sick toddler vomit. This is it, I am now officially a mom.

Aria had her hearing test today. Her hearing is normal. She hears everything normal. At this point they can't tell if she can hear better in one ear over another, but if she does have a better ear, at least one of them is perfectly normal. This means that her speech delay is not caused by her hearing. In a way, I am disappointed because I wanted it to be something easily fixed. I wanted something that tubes or cleaning, or anitibiotics would fix. No, instead I have to go to her 18 month appointment and see if they recommend speech therapy. The good news is that everyone says it looks like she's trying. She talks and talks and talks insistently, but she doesn't actually say anything when she does talk. She has no real words, just babble. Well, I keep hearing that 1 out of 5 kids end up with a delay in speech, so maybe Aria is just one of those kids that will need some help. I dunno yet. We'll see at the 18 month appointment to see if the doc thinks she's reaching her milestones. The girl can eat with utensils, run all over the yard, dance, clap, and put the circles in the circle part of the shape sorter without help, but she sure isn't going to talk.

Friday Playdate

Today Heidi and I were going out to dinner since we always try to do something on pay weeks. Anyway, Heidi was babysitting a little girl that was 18 months old and even though she didn't have to pick her up until later, Heidi picked up Carly earlier and the girls played.

When Aria saw Carly she did her excited squatting thing she does. When Aria gets really enthused she squats like she is going to poop and then extends her hands out. She even clenches and grunts. This is how you know Aria is super excited about something. Carly and Aria got along great. Aria was even trying to feed her with a fork at China Garden when we went out to eat. That was also super funny. Both girls were trying to feed me too. That was amusing.

So then we went to Walmart to pick up a few things and I got Heidi to babysit Aria for Saturday since Rod has to work. It will be the first time Heidi has Aria by herself. Heidi is good with kids so I am only worried about if Aria naps or not. With Ari, it's always about the napping. She doesn't just nap anywhere at all.



So, in all, not bad. Both girls threw food on the floor of the restaurant, but I gave them a good tip to make up for that. Both girls had to be changed at Walmart and if one was unhappy in the carseat the other one had to complain too.



In all, I am in a pretty good mood because Aria doesn't get to play with other kids much and I enjoyed seeing how happy she was with another little girl her age. I am also glad she didn't hit or pull hair or pinch. In fact, she tried to hug and kiss her a few times. It was very sweet.





Gratutious crazy pic today is: Crazy hair! This is what Aria's hair looks like after you take the ponytail out. She also had chocolate.

Thursday Experiment

Well, I have another rash, again. I believe that it is from the Purex that I used before because it was on sale instead of getting my usual $12 HE Cheer. There are some clothing I have not worn lately and I believe that it was washed with the purex last. That is the explanation I have for why I wore this certain blue long sleeved shirt and only my arms have broken out. It's always my arms and it's always in about the same area.

So, to combat the rash I have an experiment. Now, it is good to moisturize by really laying the lotion on thick and then putting on gloves or socks all night. I decided to go with this and throw on the anti-itch cream really thick and then wrap my arms with an ace bandage for hours. Therefore if the anti-itch didn't work, at least I couldn't scratch myself all the time.

So how did that work? Pretty good, actually. I slabbed on the cream and at first it burned because I had scratched myself to injury. Then I wrapped the ace bandages around each arm. At first it was itchy and then after awhile it stopped. The only place it really hurt was where it was too tight on the inside of my elbow and I was bending my elbows. IT kept my arms from rubbing against anything and it kept me from scratching. I took the bandages off now and rinsed my arms of the caked on, dried anti-itch cream. The rash isn't red right now and some of the bumps aren't as prominent. Right now only my elbows really itch. I am going to slab on the Desitin next and rewrap my arms for bed. I figure if Desitin can cure diaper rash within two days it can work on my rash too. The wrapping of the arms will help me to sleep tonight without itching all night in bed.

More progress tomorrow.

Thursday Money Day

Well, most of our tax money is gone now and I don't feel that sad about it. Usually you end up buying just nothing and you wonder where the money went. Instead, we got things that were pretty important like new glasses, a truck registration, and an oil change. We also bought our privacy fence stuff! It will be delivered the next week that Rod has off and then we will be doing a whole privacy fence week project.

I am excited about this privacy fence. I've wanted one for a really long time and every time Rod says to wait then I give him more and more reasons why this privacy fence is important. Not the entire thing will be privacy though, just the sides. The front will be a 4 foot fence so that we will be able to see the vehicles and save us some money. Rod is also getting a removable post thing so that he can remove a part of the fence in case we need to drive vehicles down into the yard.

Aria's cold is getting better. You don't have to wipe her runny nose every few minutes anymore. I took her outside to play until she starting coughing, then I brought her back in. That's another reason to get this privacy fence-when she's outside playing I won't have to block her from running out in the alley.

I just ordered some Wiggles DVD's because I am getting tired of watching the same ones over and over. I was quoting everything as they were saying it and so I decided it was time to watch something different. The new Wiggles DVD's are more for me than Aria because she doesn't care if she watches the same thing over and over. It's me that cares.

My sims2 love has been renewed again in my need to make cool houses. I got my Jill Smith into the secret society and now I'm all about the secret society. I went thru a period where I was all about the Greek houses.

I've found one way to keep Aria from wanting to pound on the keyboard. The solution is to pull up a playlist of the Wiggles on youtube and then put the headphones on her ears. She loves this. She loves this so much that she comes over to you with the headphones so that you'll put them on her ears.

What to do with the rest of the tax money:

1. Put some in savings

2. Pay off some doctor and dentist bills.

3. Try not to spend the rest of it. (That's the hard part!)