The Common Sunday

I spent the whole morning cleaning, filing and throwing away papers (what do other people do with their statements and kids art and stuff?!) and desperately looking for my truck’s new license plate stickers. I’d bought them the very last day of August, when they expired, and kept asking Mario to please stick them on my window for me. I’d of done it myself, except Mario makes it seem all difficult; he breaks out the Windex and a razor. Anyway, I was near tears when Mario runs into our bedroom waving the papers. I was so relieved. I felt so guilty thinking I’d lost $75. Mario said he found it in my center console. And guess who put it there? HE DID!! He says he remembers me telling him to put them on my window and when he couldn’t find his razor he left them in the console. I could have strangled him.

I watched the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie with Alaethia during loads of laundry. She was quiet, observing, and then grinned when she saw the chipmunks singing. It amazes me that she likes movies rather than cartoons. She has her favorites, like Little Bill and Blues Clues, but she can actually make it through a whole movie, too. I don’t think the boys had the attention span for movies till they were around 3.

I checked my e-mail pretty late, around 5pm, and when I was going through the Sunday ads I noticed they had the Playstation 3 for the same price, but with a $40 gift card. I told Mario about it and he said, “Let’s go, then!”

We went to the store and got a $3 refund for some reason and the $40 gift card. It took a while, because the girl didn’t know how to do the return, but we got it nonetheless. Mario bought himself Iron Man for $19 and he bought me this cute, pink polka-dotted robe I’d wanted, aww. I finally have a decent short robe! All my other ones have been down to my ankles and/or fleece!

We got home and I took a shower. Elda had Alaethia with her for a while, because Alaethia loves to visit (probably because Jose buys her love with candies), and she brought her back and I bathed her. She fell asleep at 9:30, which normally I’d love but I was waiting for laundry. I hate that. It always works that way. When she actually falls asleep early, I’ve got stuff to do.

She was so cute lying on the couch with her babies. Babies being her plushies like her white seal (which she calls “Fishie”), her brown furry bear (named “Bunny”), her Doggie and several of the same bunny plush in different colors. She swaddles her babies in dish towels she finds in the kitchen, pillowcases or whatever small rag she comes across. I remember the boys were into stuffed animals, but not like her. She seriously takes care of them and needs to have at least two with her when she’s napping, sleeping in her crib or out somewhere.

She also loves human babies. She points them out in stores and has a fit if I don’t let her pat their hand (with their mommy’s permission) or wave at them. She’ll say, “Look at the baby, Mom!” She doesn’t think she’s a baby at all. I’m hoping this’ll make it easier on her when her baby sister arrives. We’ve told her about the new baby (who’s still nameless!) and she seems pretty excited. I’m praying I can give them both the attention they need as baby and toddler, and my growing boys, too.

I watched “The 1000 Pound Mom” or something like that, on TLC while I was waiting for the laundry. It was about this morbidly obese woman and how she was going to go through the weight loss surgery as her last resort, to live for her two daughters. She had complications and died. How very sad. I was in tears at the end when her older girl was crying. She was so young. I noticed she was always on Myspace, so I looked her up and it was sad to see that she’d actually signed on March 4th, which is the day she passed.

When I finally got the last load of laundry into the dryer I got into bed. It felt SO GOOD to just lay there. Alaethia woke up as soon as I was about to drift into sleep and was energized and ready to play. This was around 11pm. She stayed up till 1am, flailing her arms and squealing. Finally, I could sleep.

Only to be woken up by Mario–bless him—snoring like a dying rhinoceros at 4am. I tried ignoring it, pushing my pillow as far into my ears as it would go and eventually I even shook him so he’d turn over to a more comfortable, less snore-inducing position and NOTHING.

Alaethia even woke up and told him, “Be quiet, Daddy-O!”

Yes: Daddy-O. The boys jokingly call him that so she picked it up. She rarely calls him Daddy; it’s either Daddy-O, or Babe LOL.

I looked at the clock and it glowed 4:50. There was no way I was going to make it through that day.