Mamma Mia!

I know I say it every time Paul goes out of town for work, but I still believe single parents are amazing, incredible people. 

Paul went out of town on his quarterly week-long business trip. 
That left me home alone with 
a 3 year old, 
a 4 1/2 month old, 
a large dog, 
a creepster fish 
(who - let it be known - I only forgot to feed ONCE!), 
and a whole lot of anxiety. 

This wasn't the first trip he has been on since Emma's been born, but this time I was in charge of getting us places on time  . . . ish. 

On a normal day, we have to leave our house at 6:40 a.m. 

(I know, right? That's #@$%-ing early!) 

to get the girls to the babysitter's and me to work by 7:15. That meant that this week I was getting up at 4:40 to get ME ready, Emma fed from 5:45 - 6, Lexi up, dressed, and fed from 6 - 6:30, with 10 minutes to load us all into the car and roll. 

Well . . . this is how it SHOULD have gone, we managed to only be 5 minutes late on our good days and as much as 15 minutes late by Friday. Oops. 

The anxiety of wondering if the girls would get sick, nearly did me in. I was in a state of panic at the end of every school day trying to lay out everything for a sub just in case. Every cough, sneeze, and sniffle put me on high alert. Thankfully, we made it through without any sickness. 

  By far the most difficult and worst part of my day was Lexi's bath-time. 

Lulu has a particular routine that cannot be deviated from  one little bit or she implodes (she has but a mild, parent-diagnosed case of OCD). 

Teeth brushed, potty, bath time (with bubbles, and copious use of the shower aka "rain"), potty again, nightgown choosing, story picking, story reading, potty a THIRD time (excessive? yes. But she has never wet the bed), lay down and count to 10 together, hug, kiss, and eskimo-kiss. GOODNIGHT! This in total takes about 35 minutes. 

It is impossible to hold Emma and do this. 

Getting Emma down for an evening catnap (her naps last about 30-45 minutes on average) and Lexi to bed every night before Emma woke back up qualifies me for some sort of award . . . or an Olympic medal . . . I'll take anything as long as it's shiny and comes with a large round of applause. 

We all survived, more or less. 

I didn't cook at all during the week - no worries, Lexi got to eat lots of kid-favorites like mac and cheese, PB&J, and chicken nuggets. 

I was a good mom and served it all up with sides of fruit or carrot sticks, so don't you go judging me, 'mkay? 

Problem with this menu is that I don't really love any of those things, and I was so busy I sort of forgot to eat a few nights. I kept telling Paul that I didn't feel well and when he finally asked me what I was eating that was making me sick I realized. . .

Wait a minute, I haven't eaten ANYTHING! No wonder I'm sick! 

(and yeah, I've already gained back the 3 pounds I lost and he's only been home for 36 hours). 

I was so exhausted by the time Paul got home Saturday at noon that I took TWO naps yesterday. 
That's right, people. 

2. 

T-W-O! 

And in case you were wondering - it did rock. It really did.

*all photos taken shortly after Paul got home. 

See how I quit caring what I looked like? 

No makeup and messy hair - that's my single-parent style.