Random Tuesday

- so, tomorrow is the last day of the photo challenge, and I've really had a good time doing it, so I decided to find a bunch more on Pinterest and keep doing them all year.  And I even found a bunch that were already labeled with months, which is completely irrelevant but appeals to my sense of order quite nicely.  Except this project started at a weird time so now I have to figure out how I can round out January and maybe February so I can start with the challenge labeled March on the first.

- I have started an "allowance' chart where the kids get dashes for doing stuff they are supposed to do anyways for free (ie, cleaning up their messes), and at the end of the week we tally up the dashes and they get some money to put in their piggy banks.  It takes 10 dashes to get a dollar, so I don't feel too terrible about paying for tasks that should be considered basic responsibilities, and it is really pretty funny how helpful they are being in the hopes of getting a dash.  Bribery for the win!

- On the flip side of the helpfulness however, is the complete deterioration of anyone's ability to not just scream all the freaking time.  Okay, Isabelle is still pretty much perfectly behaved, but Jack and Sophie are completely out of control.  Jack seemed to be doing better there for awhile with the constant whining and crying but that seems to be over.  And it is really hard to deal with in any manner that doesn't devolve into calling him out on being the crybaby he is.  Seriously - man up a little, dude. 
And Sophie - Sophie will just scream in rage over any perceived injustice, which is not really new, but seems to have ramped up in both volume and frequency.  I know a lot of it is my fault because we have established a pattern of giving her what she wants to avoid the screaming since she was a baby, but sometimes it's just not possible.  And sometimes her problem is her own damn fault - and you just can't explain logic to a 3 year old.  The other day she DEMANDED I wash her blanket right as we were going up to naptime, despite it not seeming any dirtier than normal, and I explained several times that if I washed it she wouldn't have it during her nap - wouldn't she prefer I wash it afterwards?  But no, it had to be washed right then, so I took it and threw it in the laundry.  She screamed for FORTY FIVE MINUTES about that damn blankie, which at that point was wet and couldn't be given back.  OMG, that was fun times.

-speaking of laundry, my hatred and avoidance of it has grown to completely irrational levels.  There are two baskets of clean laundry that have been sitting by the washing machine waiting to be folded for two weeks.  they are completely in the way of coming in the house from the garage or trying to get into the bathroom, but I don't even see them anymore.  This is how people get on Hoarders.  It's a good thing we all have way too many clothes - no one is even close to running out yet.

- I gained only 5 pounds during the first 3 months I was pregnant, but I think I've gained another 5 pounds in the last three weeks.  All I want to eat is bagels.  And salads covered in ranch dressing and cheese.  I don't feel like I'm eating tons of anything, but it must be affecting how much water I'm retaining.  Either that or it's just all boobs, because my belly really isn't that big at all yet but my boobs are huge. To be honest I'm kind of wondering where the baby is, because according to the websites it should be 5 inches from head to rump, and I would think that would poke my stomach out quite a bit but it hasn't - I can still get my stomach basically flat if I tighten up the muscles.

- I feel like I have been growing my hair out FOREVER and it isn't any longer.  It's getting annoying.  I'm also kind of over the blonde, but I don't want to completely toast my hair so I'll probably go darker gradually rather than all at once.  Or not.  My decision changes daily.

- Sophie's birthday is Friday and I have no idea what kind of cake I'm going to make or what present to get her.  And I feel completely unmotivated to think about it.  Poor little third child.