Instagram November 30, 2015 at 10:02PM

Christmas Tree is up! The rest of the living room is a disaster, but hopefully that will improve a bit tomorrow evening... via Instagram http://ift.tt/1OrVbtE

Instagram November 30, 2015 at 08:35AM

Happy 2nd anniversary, #devinandjake! Now there are THREE of you! Hope the third lets you have at least a few moments to celebrate today. via Instagram http://ift.tt/1jtw5h1

Instagram November 28, 2015 at 08:30PM

Friendsgiving! Appetizers for dinner! Now that Max is asleep I can really get down to business. via Instagram http://ift.tt/1jqtsN9

Instagram November 28, 2015 at 08:52AM

Why yes, we WILL be lowering the crib mattress today! How did you know? #MightyMax #MaxAttacks via Instagram http://ift.tt/1jpq4Cf

Instagram November 26, 2015 at 05:24PM

Max gets how to do #thanksgiving via Instagram http://ift.tt/1IdlyCv

Instagram November 26, 2015 at 03:18PM

#MightyMax ate an impressive amount of turnip mash! Probably more than #MightyPJ ate by volume. #stuffed #thankful #family #thanksgiving via Instagram http://ift.tt/1NeIAcA

Instagram November 26, 2015 at 12:28PM

Pecan pie before and after! About to head to Mimi & JayPop's #thanksgiving via Instagram http://ift.tt/1Hq9uxJ

Instagram November 26, 2015 at 10:23AM

First crust I made last night fell apart and was a disaster. This one is nearly perfect! Time for the pecans & pie filling!! via Instagram http://ift.tt/21i7Btx

Instagram November 25, 2015 at 10:28AM

Runny scrambled eggs on toast, with a splash of Cholula Chipotle, made with eggs laid in NC yesterday morning by Paul's friend Nate's chickens. SO GOOD. via Instagram http://ift.tt/1IgAaf1

Dinner tonight: success

We had leftover steamed broccoli from dinner Saturday, and the very bottom of a bottle of sriracha, so I combined that with a little milk, eggs, and cheddar cheese; buttered the bottom of our ceramic pie plate; and baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes: crustless leftovers quiche. It's awesome.

Single Parenting Log, Day 4: late morning

Last night was not great. PJ went to bed fine, but Max stayed up till almost 10:00, and then still woke up by 1:00am to nurse, and nursed again at about 2:45 and 4:30; PJ woke up during the 2:45 session and spent the rest of the night in my bed, including waking me up at about 6:00 to insist she needed another bandaid on her thumb because it really hurt. So I'm feeling pretty seriously tired this morning, and as a result, our morning was quite contentious too.

But then I stopped for a peppermint mocha with an extra shot of espresso, and then there were actual snow flurries outside of Starbucks, and Paul is on his way home, so things are looking up! Tonight we'll make a grocery list for our Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving responsibilities, and that will be fun, and tonight I may even have time to fold some more laundry while listening to podcasts. I finally found my nice headphones hiding in my pumping bag, but my fitbit wasn't with them, so that's still missing. Oh well.

Here ends the first edition of the single parenting log. I feel good at least knowing I can do it! I hope to keep done of the "just get it done" mentality going over the holiday weekend so maybe I can come out the other side with a meaningfully tidier house. My main targets are the donation pile in the dining room and my craft mountain of mess in the corner of the living room!

Single Parenting Log, Day 3: nighttime

PAUL GETS HOME TOMORROW EVENING! We are in the home stretch! My mom is coming over here before breakfast tomorrow, so I'm pretty much home-free once we make it thru tonight.

This morning actually went quite well: PJ let me sleep till my alarm, and then we all got breakfast and ready and out the door with a few minutes to spare and minimal conflict. But Max nursed at 1:00am, 3:30(?)am, and 6:00am, an extra time, and PJ showed up in my room after 1:00am with her fuzzy blanket in tow and spent the rest of the night in my bed. But she actually went right back to sleep, slept thru both other nursings, and also slept thru me moving her legs out of my way, and me rolling over and poking her in the face on what felt to me like her closed eye. So I slept fine even with her there.

Bed time was a bit dicey tonight, with PJ getting upset about everything and nothing, and Max not going to sleep at all until quarter to ten. PJ did a lot of stalling, the culmination of which was insisting she needed a bandaid on her finger ("it REALLY hurts"), and then after minutely pointing out the spot that "really hurt" on her left pointer finger, as I began to apply the bandaid, she said, "oh, I mean *this* finger hurts," and indicated her right thumb instead. That's the thumb she sucks, tho, so I was able to talk her into putting the bandaid on the original finger.

Since Max was so very not sleepy, he played on the floor in the living room while I signed into my work computer to finish up a document, and was crying for me by the time I was done, so then went to sleep pretty easily. I needed to get that work done anyway, and having him there kept me focused and more efficient.

Now that both kiddos are sleeping, I'm getting myself to sleep ASAP too. Maybe Max will sleep past 1:00am since he just nursed before his late bedtime tonight. Maybe I can get 3 or, dare I even wish it, 4 hours of sleep in a row tonight! We shall see...

Instagram November 22, 2015 at 04:21PM

After waking from a great nap, PJ said she wanted to paint on the sidewalk. I almost said no, but they're washable crayola paints, so I figured, what the heck. I must be in a good mood after getting so many dishes washed! via Instagram http://ift.tt/21c1JBK

Single Parenting Log, Day 2: mid-afternoon

Max did not miraculously sleep through the night, and neither did PJ, but after a very full day and bedtime help from Mimi, both kids got to sleep and I then got myself to sleep a bit early (10:30) so the 1:00am nursing and then 5am wake-up call wasn't the worst thing ever. Both kids were briefly in bed with me, but that didn't last long, and by 6:00am, PJ was watching Octonauts and Max was playing happily in the living room with her, so I went back to bed for about 40 minutes and then took a shower, and even got us all to church *almost* in time for the start of Sunday School. Disclaimer: PJ strongly insisted she did NOT want to go to big kid Sunday School, so both kids played in the nursery instead while I went to the budget forum.

Now I have achieved a double nap, which feels pretty amazing, and I'm posting this as I finish my lunch. Then I'll be spending any remaining nap time trying to climb the mountain of dishes in my kitchen! I'm proud of that mountain: I made dinner for six before leaving for the Wild Kratts Creature Christmas pajama party, after a morning play date.

Here is where I might say, "this single parenting thing isn't so tough!" But no, it really is; I do not think I could keep it up for more than a few days without becoming a crazed, grumpy, yelling mess.

Instagram November 21, 2015 at 06:19PM

PJ is loving the Wild Kratts Pajama Party with bff Charlie! #MightyMax is hanging out in the tula. Mimi is managing PJ. via Instagram http://ift.tt/21aQoC4

Single Parenting Log, Day 1: early morning

Paul left early this morning to visit his childhood best friend at his new farm in North Carolina. He'll be back late Tuesday. This is the longest we've been apart in many years, and my first time alone with both kids overnight and for multiple days.

Right now, PJ is still asleep in her bed, and Max is asleep in my bed beside me. I have a very full day planned for us, starting with breakfast at our favorite nearby diner, then a play date with church friends, then home for nap time while I make dinner. Then other friends and Mimi are coming over for an early dinner before we all go to the WITF Wild Kratts Pajama Party!

I hope the long, exciting day will make for an easy bed time at least for PJ. Overnight worries me the most, because PJ has been coming to our room to get Paul almost every night again lately, and that plus Max still nursing twice overnight, and Max's sleep potentially further disrupted by teething...I'm nervous. But with my bed empty, I figure I'll just have PJ join me if she wakes up, and I'll deal with Max as it comes, and we'll survive.

I don't expect to get any more life editing, or even any more laundry, done in the next few days, but that's ok. It'll be empowering to do it all for 4 days...right? Not that I'm really doing it alone...grandparents will be helping a ton, as usual!

Just please give me the patience to avoid too many battles of will with PJ while there's no one here to tag off with.

Instagram November 18, 2015 at 12:45PM

What has two teeth and dresses like a Lev? #MightyMax via Instagram http://ift.tt/1YgD8tb

Mind My Own Business & Do Something Real Instead

It shouldn't bother me so much to read mistrust, vitriol, and hate speech masquerading as patriotism on facebook. I know these opinions not only still exist but are still widespread, but when it's someone I know, it just brings it home in a way that boils in the pit of my stomach for hours.

I think I want to look into what it would take to sponsor a refugee family, and then head that up as a project at church. We sponsored one of the Lost Boys of Sudan years ago; I think it's again time to do something real and concrete to make foreign conflict real to us here in insulated Central PA.

The solution to my bad feelings is to mind my own business where local haters are concerned, and instead DO something REAL to offset the hate with love.

November 16, 2015 at 08:59PM

Because I just wrote two letters in as many weeks, which is two more than I've written in the previous two years; and because I want to test out my new IFTTT recipe (if it works, this will auto-post to my blog!). via Instagram http://ift.tt/1l0ZIHH

Laundry is not my favorite

Tonight, I caught up folding laundry for the first time in months, while listening to as podcast all about my favorite kind of math. Podcasts make folding laundry bearable, but only just.

I will attempt now to do one load each day AND FOLD IT until I'm actually caught up on laundry too (meaning no overflowing hampers; it's simply not possible to ever be truly caught up on all laundry).

This is my resolution for the week, a la Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project, which I'm currently reading. AND my second resolution is to go to sleep earlier, which I've failed to do every night forever and so I will now stop blogging and turn out my light! Good night!