Sweet Frog

It's amazing how fast the weekends go and how slow the week goes. My weekend started rough and ended ok. I received a call from Maddy's school Friday around 2:30 p.m. telling me I had to come pick her up because she was having bathroom issues. That stomach virus seriously leaves you messed up for a long time. Last week I could keep her issue under control by limiting her diet to potatoes and saltines. We tried bread and chocolate milk Friday morning and I knew better than to do that because I myself could not tolerate bread. Maddy ate her school lunch all week and managed to not use the bathroom until she got home. My work is not very forgiving when you are sick or have a family member sick, even if you are a single parent. If I could get a job where I am not an hourly employee it'd be a lot different and I just completely disagree with that method. I can't tell you the number of times I have worked even though I was sick. I was actually going to work the night I got sick before the phenagrin (I don't know how to spell that lol) kicked in, but I decided it really wasn't worth it. I said all that to say that I panicked a little because I was already supposed to work between a 13-14 hour day Friday and going to get Maddy takes an hour and a half there and back. Maddy doesn't understand that mommy still has to work even if she's home, so I get no work done because I'm constantly logging in and out. I have learned to tell myself that if I lose my job over taking care of my child, then I'm ok with that because no matter what my daughter will ALWAYS come first. Once I remind myself of that I can calm down and just go with the flow. Maddy did act out quite a bit once we got home, but I realized it was because she wanted my attention so I spent a little time with her and talked with her and things got better. I made the mistake of telling Maddy that on Saturday I wouldn't have to work and could spend all day with her. I ended up having to work but thank goodness it was just for 50 minutes. I don't like working even a minute on Saturday because I spend all week giving them everything plus some and Saturday is for me and Maddy. After I worked on Saturday we got ready and headed to the mall. Maddy was still asleep when we got there. I got a little worried because the clouds looked real mean...

She woke up soon after and we were ready to hopefully find her some shoes. I have had a real hard time finding shoes for her that are cute since she has moved up to size 8. In the past I had success at Rack Room Shoes, but the past two times they had nothing in her size...not what we were looking for anyways. We ended up going to shoe carnival and I didn't like the options we had, but I decided to settle on some because she really needed them. I'll have to try to get a pic of her in them. Shoe carnival always has BOGO sales so I also got her some shoes that I think are so cute...not so much the shoe itself, but what it does lol...

The colors are really so pretty...it's hard to tell in the video. They are blue and pink and Maddy just loves to watch her shoes as she walks...which can really be kinda bad in a way haha.

One of Maddy's books she got in the mail (for free thanks to dollywood's imagination library) is called Llama Llama Mad at Mama. It's about going shopping and is perfect for us. I try to remind her of the book...luckily we had just read it recently so it was fresh on her mind. If she listens to mommy while we are shopping then when we are done she can get a treat. She wanted ice cream Saturday. She did fantastic with me on Saturday. I usually dread shoe shopping and tend to rope someone in to go with me to help with the fits, but she did not pitch one fit nor did she try to take all the shoes off the shelf. When it was time to go she said ok and we left peacefully. I let her know how proud of her I was and happy that made mommy. I think she was still really tired because she just looked at me but I'll take what I can get. We got her ice cream and headed home. Because I still cannot eat I have been craving soft serve. I told my mom of a new place I was wanting to try, so we loaded up and headed out. We went to Sweet Frog, which is a self serve frozen yogurt shop with tons of toppings. The store itself is really cute. Here is what me and Maddy got...

Maddy got Cookies and Cream with lots of chocolate chips and mini m&m's. I got NY Cheesecake with strawberries, pineapple, mango, and a few sour gummy worms. When I started to eat I knew right away I could not tolerate the candy so I gave those to Maddy. The yogurt was amazing! I wish I had just gotten strawberries and maybe some graham cracker crumbles on mine because the mango and pineapple were not good at all.

Today we stayed home all day. I have felt very weak today on top of bits of nauseousness and being extremely sleepy. I caught up on mine and Maddy's laundry and Maddy played. Hopefully this virus is almost ready to be done with us and we can be 100% going into this week.

Mommy Ok??

I tried writing this last night, but I had an unexpected event happen that prevented me from doing so. That event is part of what I am writing about tonight. 2011 was a decent year for me. I had my ups and downs but I had more ups than anything. When 2012 came around it seems to be a never ending battle. I just thought my birthday was the only thing that was going to go wrong this week...boy was I wrong. I talked about keeping my uncle's granddaughter the day we celebrated my birthday, but didn't really give a reason as it was irrelevant. It's relevant now...both my aunt and uncle both got hit with a stomach bug at the same time that was causing them to be sick every 30 minutes. The virus entails other things that I will NOT talk about because we all know what happens with stomach viruses lol. To help my aunt and uncle out we kept my cousin for them because who in their right mind could care for a two year old when you're constantly hovering over a garbage can and running for the bathroom. I was worried about Maddy getting sick but what can ya do...not much. Sunday rolled around and Maddy was just fine. I wake up Monday morning...a little later than usual but not that late. Before I actually got up I had heard Maddy awake earlier but it was her normal I'm up stuff so there was no need to go rushing in there. I finally roll out of bed and when I go to wake her up I see stuff on her bed. I originally thought at first that she must have gone to bed with a piece of pizza in her hand that I missed and it just smeared in her bed. I knew that wasn't the case because it's kinda hard missing a piece of pizza lol. I just keep staring trying to figure out what in the world was on her bed because it wasn't on her and it didn't really smell. I get up to turn her light on and I hear her doing something and I turned around to see her getting sick. It hit me that she had that yucky virus that I just really hoped she wouldn't have gotten. I took her temp and it was only 99. She got sick a couple other times throughout the day but it was very minimal and as soon as she was done she wanted to play. I felt so bad for her because it was obvious she was hungry, but her belly said you better not so didn't eat at all Monday. I thought by Tuesday she could go to school, but when I woke her up Tuesday she looked sick and I took her temp and it was 100.4 and she had some diapering issues. She tried eating Tuesday, but it ended up not settling very well and after that she didn't eat anymore. She mainly played all day Tuesday. By the end of Tuesday I knew she would be ok to go back to school on Wednesday. By the end of Tuesday...4:30 ish to be semi exact I came down with the same thing. I felt so bad because Maddy saw me get sick and the first time she asked if mommy choked. The second time she asked if mommy was ok. That virus is no joke....it takes all your energy within the first round and it just keeps going and going and going. I've been dehydrated before and I started to panic thinking I'd get dehydrated again, but I didn't. I tried eating a piece of toast Wednesday night, but it messed up my stomach so today I have only eaten a few saltines. Maddy is still having problems with food. She eats lunch at school, but once she comes home the consequences of her lunch appear. Last night on my way to write this I smelled something that was not good. I was hoping it was my dog, but I found out poor Maddy had gotten sick all over herself and her bed and she had fallen asleep in it. I got so worried because I had a hard time waking her up. She doesn't make any noises at all when she gets sick...she doesn't really even cry. She just stands there and once she's done she says she feels all better. I got her up and undressed and we took a bath at 10:30 p.m. and got back in bed by 11. I slept in her room until 2:40 a.m. and then decided to go ahead and go to my bed to try to get back up at 4...yeah...that didn't happen lol. I am only feeding her a soft diet at home right now, so hopefully she won't have any problems tonight. I refuse to try food right other than bread and crackers because I still don't feel right and I do not want to relive that experience. I haven't been all that hungry except for tonight and I really want some pizza or some soft serve ice cream, but for now I'll stick to my saltines, gatorade, and chocolate milk.

 This was the first time Maddy has done anything to the walls. She took her chalk and decided to make the wall her easel lol. She did this on Tuesday

This was on the way to Baskin Robbins. I felt so bad for her but was thankful she got some good sleep. I hope you all have stayed clear from this virus because it just doesn't seem to want to leave. I'm exhausted and have a 13-14 hour day ahead of me tomorrow. Time for me to jump in bed!

St. Patty's Day Zoo

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! I don't normally get all that excited about st. patrick's day, but today was a little different. We celebrated my birthday tonight since we wouldn't get a chance tomorrow, when my actual birthday is. First thing this morning our house became similar to a zoo...no joke. My sister dropped off her three kids at 8:30 this morning. I tried using my two niece's as a type of surprise for Maddy, but she guessed right away what her surprise was. She loves to play with them! We had one more surprise visitor and that's Maddy's cousin Aria. We had a total of five kids and it became very overwhelming at first. The ages were: 8 months, 22 months, 2.5 yrs, 7 yrs, and 10 yrs. We played inside, took naps, then we took the herd outside.

After a full day of playing we rushed out the door to get my birthday celebration started. My favorite place to eat is Olive Garden, so every year my mom and step dad take me out to eat for a yummy dinner. With this being Saint Patrick's Day we had to dress in green. I was very surprised more people did not wear green today...I guess I'm just a festive person. In a perfect world I would have gotten pictures of Maddy in her cute outfit and then some of me and her before we left, but that's just not how things turned out. I almost forgot to even put her in her cute outfit and we ended up changing in the truck. I didn't get her hair brushed or fixed at all, but surprisingly it wasn't a total wreck lol. Me and Maddy both ordered the same thing. She changes what she eats at Olive Garden and tonight she wanted chicken alfredo, which is what I had also. My mom made my cake, as she does every year, and I loved it. I am a huge fan of hearts and of coarse Maddy is my world so she has to incorporate both of those into my cakes, per my request lol. This year she spent time gathering pictures and sizing them and pasting them on a piece of paper and then took it to a local cake decorating shop and had them turn it into an edible image. It is filled with pictures of Maddy and I just absolutely love it. I almost missed a special part of my cake because I was too busy looking at all the pictures. She made Maddy's hand print from fondant and put it on the top of my cake and one cake said Happy birthday mommy and the other said happy birthday heather. I absoloutely loved it and of coarse it tasted soooo good. All my working out just went down the drain because it was so good but that's ok lol. I am turning 29 this year, so I am going to enjoy this last year in my 20's even though it has just been one more stressful year for me. Here are more pictures...I'm definitely a picture person hehe.

The last photo you can see Maddy's "mad" face. She really was mad here because it was past 9:00 p.m. and she is always in bed by 7:30 p.m. even on the weekend, plus she seriously played so hard today with all the kids in our house that she had no time to sit down. Soon after the last picture was taken I put her to bed. I let her finish watching the last part of her Bob Easter movie on my phone and then we cuddled/rocked for a while. When she got to her bed she was out in a flash, which is not like her at all. She normally will lay in her bed and just talk to herself for a while before falling asleep. Today was very chaotic and nothing went as planned, but all in all it was a good day. I have to say a special thank you to my mom because she made it all happen and everything turned out really good in the end :)

Walk A Day In My Shoes

Yesterday I made videos throughout the day to talk about our normal week day routine. I thought I would show more doing instead of just me talking, but because I filmed mostly on my phone I wasn't able to capture the whole process, such as getting Maddy ready (as in fixing her hair and that stuff), getting breakfast, getting out the door and that kind of stuff. Once I can find my video camera I may try to do another post like this that shows what we go through on a typical day. I was able to combine all the videos thanks to youtube's video editor so here it is:

Please forgive the awkwardness and the video quality. I can't even begin to stress just how weird I felt talking to myself on a camera, and then seeing myself as I'm talking was just a nightmare lol.

I made an end of the day update, however, I didn't get to add it on because it would have made the video too long. Once Maddy went to bed I went back to work and worked until 10:00 p.m. Once I'm done with work I try to give myself a little me time because I am not one that can go straight to sleep. I also don't like just going from work to sleep to work to sleep. I stayed up way too late last night. I didn't fall asleep until 2 a.m. and then my alarm went off at 4 a.m. and I obviously did NOT get up lol. I have stressed myself out to the max because this is a very hard week for me so please say some prayers if you think about it because I def need them :)

Slow Weekend

I'm waiting on my work, so I thought I would do a quick post over mine and Maddy's weekend. We didn't do anything spectacular or anything. Friday nights are just like any other week night for us because I am usually scrambling trying to get the rest of my time done so I don't have to work on Saturday. I am actually going to attempt to do a "day in the life" post soon. I'm going to do one for a week day and then the weekend. I have managed to lose my video camera, so I may just have to use my phone for now to send to youtube and then take some pictures along the way. I'm not sure how this will turn out but I'm very excited to try it. Anyways, back to our weekend. I've been trying to find time to go to the gym to get a good workout in. With my work schedule the way it is Saturday's are really the ONLY day I can go. We went either last Saturday or the Saturday before that and it was jammed pack. We went in and there was a line almost to the door. You can see the machines from the lobby and it didn't look like there was anything open and everybody on the machines seemed as if they would be staying for a while. We decided to leave and try again. We tried this past Saturday and it was pretty empty. We go to the kids area and there is only a birthday party. We finally got a schedule of when childcare is available and of coarse on Saturday it is only from 8:15-noon. So hopefully the third time really is a charm and I will get to work out. Maddy was very excited to see the play area though. She wanted to go play, but more than anything she wanted to go in the gym and play basketball. She doesn't know just yet that when she does get to play, mommy will be leaving her so she can workout. I know once Maddy gets playing she will be fine but I'm hoping the initial reaction isn't real bad. After failing at the gym lol, we did a little shopping. We headed to the mall to get Maddy an Easter dress. She wanted a blue dress...everything she wants must be blue...blue drink, blue food, blue cake, blue paci, blue everything...I also let her pick out her bathing suit and then I got her the suit I liked. We went with a tankini this year. I warmed up to the idea this year because the one piece's that I saw I did not like and then I realized that a tankini would be easier for diaper changes. It was not very easy last year putting on a soaking wet bathing suit. I won't be showing a picture of her dress until she is wearing it, but I am going to try to get pics of her bathing suits. I took one with my phone, but the colors were not right and it looked horrible. After the mall we headed to Sams and then to Wal-Mart. When we got home Maddy played outside for a little bit and had a ball. Sunday we mostly stayed home and Maddy played outside again...it was such a beautiful day outside. I attempted to clean but got distracted and only cleaned off my nightstand and a section of my bed. Here are some random pics:

Maddy seems to like these. I tasted the banana and it was not so good. It tasted like banana, but it was just kinda gross. She seems to like the Strawberry the best, but I think more than anything she likes to hold the bottle and they are the perfect size for her hands. I won't be buying these again unless I can do a coupon deal because for 12 of them it cost $4.68 plus tax. I really need to do more couponing.

Maddy Randomness

I've known for some time now that Maddy has a really sweet heart, but I was finally able to capture a little of it on camera. She takes such good care of her baby. If her baby gets a boo boo she will talk to her and kiss her to make sure she is ok. She feeds baby, gives baby drinks, changes baby's diapers, and most importantly loves on her. When we play outside she has to have baby with her. If she needs to take her car out for a spin...she will never forget her baby. It's just one of those things that really makes you go AWWWW!!! You can't see it too much on the videos I am going to post but you can kinda get the idea :)

As you already know I am a huge fan of Zulily! I was looking through the brands and happened to notice this one:

The brand is "Madison Paige." I thought that was so neat, because that's Maddy's name, that I HAD to buy me a shirt. I know I'm weird but whatever makes us happy lol. I actually think it's neat because from the time Maddy could interact at all with the world around her she has always had a fashion sense about her. Even now she seems to really like her clothes and loves to pick them out. When we get ready I let her pick out her outfit. She doesn't always pick things that match, so I try to steer her in the right direction by picking out two things that will match the shirt or pants she picked. She picked out her own Easter dress this year as well as her bathing suit. The bathing suit she went for they did not have in her size so she had to go to an alternate. Mommy picked out her favorite bathing suit for Maddy as well...a girl needs options lol. Maddy also has a love for shoes. She much prefers to buy shoes over clothes.

The other night Maddy had her first run with eating corn on the cob. She didn't really understand how to eat it and kept trying to eat the end of it.

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend :)

Laughing Randomness

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This isn't an "I'm a huge Whitney Houston" post. Back in the day...as in 1990-ish...I did enjoy a lot of her music. I didn't own every tape...yes...TAPE but did have one or two. This week has kinda been a bummer. Every week seems to be stressful due to work, but I'm finding with each passing week that I'm starting to burn out. I can only give so much of myself before I say enough is enough. I really enjoy spending time with Maddy and Saturday is really my only day to do so. I look forward to picking Maddy up in the afternoons. I really enjoy getting to break free from work and have a little fun. On my way to get Maddy Tuesday, this song came on my ipod....I Wanna Dance With Somebody. I think I stay so stressed that I enjoy things a lot more than maybe a normal person would lol. This song just made me feel so happy for some reason. I sang my heart out in the car, even though I can't sing worth a flip, and I was just dancing away...safely that is. I got so into it that I envisioned me being in the music video and my voice sounding like Whitney's. This song helped put a lil pep back in my step and it was just a breath of fresh air. I know not everybody is like me nor does everybody enjoy all the kinds of music I do, but just want to say if you ever feel so weighed down in life...of coarse you should pray and give it to God, but why not turn on some tunes for a minute and just dance/sing it out....it has to release happy endorphin's some how lol.

I did use the word random in the title for a reason...this is why...I don't have one specific topic to talk about. Tonight was bath night for Maddy. When I picked her up she was in a good mood. I had chocolate and juice for her as a snack on the way home and all was good. Oh yeah...can't forget we listened to Bob as well. We get home and start to have a meltdown over eating dinner, but she decides if she's gotta do it that SHE is going to find what she wants. In her words, "MADDY HAVE TO DO IT!!!!" yes, she screams...literally. For the record I do not give her what she wants when she does that. I calmly talk to her until she hears me talking and tell her what she needs to do to get what she is requesting. Anyways, she gets over it all and eats dinner. I buy the single cups of velveeta shells and cheese and she eats a whole one and easily asks for more after that one...my child can eat like nobody's business lol. She doesn't like bath nights most of the time and I think it's because she knows when she gets done with the bath it's usually bedtime. I finally convince her to take a bath. It went well up until time to bathe her. I tell her it's time to get bubbles on her...she knows what that is...and it puts her into fit mode. She does her screaming thing and I realize she's mad cause she wants to do it herself. I always tell her mommy does it first then it's Maddy's turn. I would have done that tonight had she not been screaming and crying and throwing things all because she wanted to do it. I tell her she needs to be nice and not throw things and the whole nine yards, but she is just so worked up nothing was working...the more I tried to talk her down from her fit the madder she got. I finally just let her scream it out for a few seconds and then I did the unthinkable. I did something that I get on to everybody else for doing if they do it in front of me. I really have no idea why I reacted this way or why I did it at all....I found myself laughing hysterically. I tried my best to stop but it was one of those kinds of laughing that once you started you couldn't stop...kinda like a slap happy laugh where any and everything is funny...yeah...I did that in the middle of my child's fit. Do you know that I felt horrible for reacting that way? Here Maddy is so upset that she is acting out in a screaming/throwing rage and I'm laughing. I did get myself under control and no I didn't laugh for a long time...just a few seconds but it felt like forever in my mind. First of all I don't like laughing when she is pitching a fit because it gives her a reaction...that's what she is after...the reaction...the attention...and that is now how you get mommy's or anybody else's attention. Second...these are her feelings. I don't think feelings should be laughed at. Maddy really is a very very sensitive child. If she thinks she disappointed you in any way she instantly gets her mad look on her face and starts to pout because she disappointed. I don't want her to think that I don't care about her feelings...because I do. She fought me all the way until she was completely dressed for bed. No, I didn't laugh the entire time...just once or twice while she was in the bath. She wanted me to hold her and I just quietly went to the kitchen to fix her bottle and asked if she wanted to give my step dad hugs and kisses. She opted not to and just said night instead. We got to her room and she just snuggled with me for the longest time. I had to tell her to go to her bed but I decided I would carry her to bed. I love how sweet she is and how loving she is. She'll put my head on her head and she'll just rub my face or she'll want me to lay my head on top of her and she'll just hug me so tight and then she'll stop long enough to pat my back then she'll go back to hugging. I'm so thankful tomorrow is Friday and I'm looking forward to spending the weekend with Maddy. Laughter really is the best medicine, but in the right circumstances/situations lol. Laughing during a temper tantrum is not really the best time but just goes to show if ya don't deal with your stress it will come out sooner or later and it usually happens in the worst times lol. Lesson learned...kinda

First Sickie of the Year

Yesterday morning when I woke Maddy up she had this weird look about her. I asked her what was wrong and she simply said, "Look!" as she pointed to her nose. Her nose was just pouring snot, but it was clear thank goodness. It's normal for her to have a runny nose throughout winter, except this winter she hasn't had that problem thankfully, so I was hoping it was just the typical runny nose. On the way school I kept watching her in my mirror and she just looked like she didn't feel good. She wasn't smiling or playing...just sitting there playing with her hair. I got off the exit I normally do and as we were stopped at the red light my gut told me to just turn around and take her back home. Did I listen? of coarse not. I proceeded to take her to school. I fully expected them to call me to come get her, but they never did so I thought everything may have been just fine. When I picked her up they told me she acted like she didn't feel good and she coughed all through nap. She only napped for 35 minutes and she looked pretty bad. I snapped a pic of her before we left, but this is before she started to look real bad.

She's always tired on the way home but she fights through it and talks and plays and sings and sometimes yells at mommy lol. I noticed it was really quiet and when I looked back at her she was sound asleep. I let her sleep until she woke up, which was around 6:45 p.m. I carried her in the house and she curled up in my lap and just sat there and watched tv, which is something she never does. She asked for bite bites, but didn't eat any. I put her to bed and the only way she would let me leave is if I told her I would be right back. I told her I had to work but that I'd be right back...she said ok and let me go. I couldn't work as late as I normally did because I was worried about how she felt. I had taken her temp before I put her to bed and it was 100.1. I felt bad that she wanted me to stay in there and I had to work. I knew I wouldn't be going to work Tuesday so I chose to forget about trying to work and just focus on Maddy. I peaked my head in her room and finally saw her sitting up in bed. I crawled in her bed with her and told her I was back and she could lay down and she fell forward on me and fell sound asleep. I did my best to take a picture of her sleeping on me but I didn't get a good one...here is what I did get...

Had I not been propped up on my arm, she probably would have laid there all night. I had to get off my arm though because it was really hurting. She did lay back down on me for a while longer. I had trouble sleeping because I worried that she would break out in a high fever and I would have to take her to the ER. I stayed awake until around 1:30 a.m. before I was finally able to go to sleep. The night before she was coughing non stop and last night she didn't cough at all. I had refilled her humidifier last night and I think it was a huge help in her coughing. When she woke up this morning she seemed just fine, just sounded really stuffy. I was thinking I could have sent her to school, but I'm glad I didn't. Her nose was still running nonstop and it had changed from clear to green. While she was eating her breakfast she started coughing, then got choked on her mucous. She ended up throwing up and a good bit of mucous came out. It really scared her. After that incident her nose went back to clear and it seemed to not run as much. I'm figuring if it isn't a sinus infection it's allergies. I'm thinking it's more allergies because aside from night before last she has no fever and it's not consistently green snot. We got to do a lot of playing today and had some good quality one on one time that we hardly ever get. I really hate that she was sick, but I really enjoyed our day together. We watched Bob and Sprout and ate cupcakes and fruit and cornbread and played house and rolled ball and worked on mommy's coupons and then played more house and other things. She did end up locking herself in her room this afternoon, but luckily I got the idea to take her doorknob off. It wouldn't let loose at first, but I say God intervened and turned it loose. I will either be switching doors because my room has no lock on it or will be getting the child proof doorknob covers so she can't do that again. She no longer has that I don't feel good look about her. The only thing that has me concerned right now is she only used the bathroom once and it didn't even fill her diaper. She didn't drink a whole lot today and I tried to encourage her to but she only took a few sips. Her throat may not feel real good but I really don't want her getting dehydrated. Hopefully tomorrow she will wake up feeling even better.

Crane Humidifier

I am a huge fan of Zulily. I have the app on my phone and everyday at 9 a.m. I get so excited to see what cute things are on sale for the day. One of the deals I purchased is the frog Crane humidifier for Maddy. I was unsure if it was really a good deal and it was suggested I look online to see what it would run. This was running around $40-$60 at other stores, so I thought $29.99 was a great deal.
This is an image I found from amazon.com. The particular listing I am looking at is selling for $52.90. I would never have thought this cute lil guy would cost so much lol. I am so happy I purchased it. I gave Maddy the choice between the cow and frog and thank goodness she chose the frog lol. It is very easy to use and is super quiet. In looking at the reviews people are giving it a bad rating because it is extremely hard to clean. You can't take it fully apart to get it good and clean, but you can clean it by using vinegar and water. I was very nervous when I first used it because it talks about not letting the water sit for more than a day or bacteria will grow. Maddy normally has terrible sinus/cough issues at night...especially in the winter and spring. This humidifier claims it will take away flu symptoms and get rid of coughing and it just sounded amazing. The first night she used it she did not cough one time. The night before we used it she was up quite a bit coughing. She loves her frog and is very curious about him. She watches me pour the water in and put it back together and then we turn it on. As soon as we do she normally says, "Maddy's frog!" I only want to use filtered water in there and have been out the past few days and her sinuses have just bloomed full force. I can tell a big difference when we do use it verses when we don't. I'm hoping I can get her back on track and get rid of her runny nose and coughing at night. She is coughing tonight, but I also have her fan and heater going, so I probably need to bump up the setting. I really wish I had gotten one a lot sooner. Right now my review is basically that I love it, but that may change in time :)

Tornado 2012

March 2, 2012 was such a wild day around my area. We had potential strong storms Wednesday February, 29 but it wasn't anything to worry over. I knew we were in for strong storms today but I still did not think anything would come of it. I saw on Facebook that morning from a local news station that was advising everybody to make sure their cell phones stayed plugged in throughout the day so they would be charged and to make sure weather radios were charged and you had batteries. I knew from that post that we definitely had potential tornadoes coming our way. They predicted around 4 p.m. to be the worst so I took their word...they were wrong (not at all downing the weather people, I fully rely on them and think they do a great job). Maddy's daycare director sent an email stating the kids had a safe zone to go to in the event a tornado touched down and they had practiced a tornado drill first thing that morning. When I read that Maddy had gone through a tornado drill I'll be honest and admit I cried. My 2 year old should not have to be practicing for a tornado and even worse be practicing without her mommy there to protect her. I kept my eye on the clouds all day that day...I obviously could NOT focus at work. Here is the first picture I took outside:

Honestly it did not look bad at all so I was beginning to wonder if we really were in for bad storms. I kept my eyes glued to news channel 9's facebook page as well as the weather in motion map on weather.com. The new station finally posted a map that showed just what we were in for and I knew we were definitely in for some bad weather. Here is the map they posted:

I had a friend keeping me up to date in their section of the woods and they were reporting hail. Soon after I heard there was hail I received word that there was a tornado on signal mountain (which is near the downtown area of my town) and had jumped over to Red Bank, TN. It became real to me that tornadoes were on their way. I kept a close watch on our dogs. For the April 27, 2011 tornado outbreak all the dogs were going crazy. This time around my dog Manny was definitely shaking like a leaf, but he wasn't going crazy and neither were the outside dogs. The outside dogs were all in their house being quiet as a mouse, which I didn't understand. The rain finally hit my house and in my mind I was thinking ok...let's do this. This is what I saw out of my window:

I know..it looks just like a typical rainy day. I started hearing reports that there was a torndao on the ground in Harrison and then in Ooltewah. I guess I was in disbelief because I just refused to believe that was true. It wasn't until I saw pictures and heard people near the situation start talking about it on facebook that it became more real to me. Island Cove marina got destroyed and the pictures my friend Wendy posted were just unreal to me. When I think of tornadoes, I do not think of my town as having them. In school we were told not to worry about tornadoes because we live in a valley and tornadoes would just bounce off the mountain...now it's becoming more and more common it seems and it's just crazy. Finally close to 2:00 p.m. things started to ease off as far as warnings go and I began to wonder what 4 p.m. would bring. Roads were closed all over the place and it was taking people 2.5 hours just to get home. The exit I normally get  off of to go home was closed. Both roads you take on the way to my house were closed. Never has that happened that I can remember. The next round of storms were brewing and it was around 6:30 p.m. I took some more pics of the clouds just for my documentation purposes:

It really did look much worse than the pics show. It was funny because I'm all into seeing what was going to happen and is a tornado gonna fall from the sky and next thing I know this lightning that seemed to just be like a huge claw reaching down struck and I screamed and tried to take off running, but I forgot I was right next to my car and ran into it backwards tryin to get outta there lol. My mom and I stood in amazement at what it looked like outside and we both agreed that a tornado was definitely going to be forming from that storm. The rest of the night we hung out in my mom's room, which Maddy loves because of their awesome king size bed they have lol. Here she is:

She was munching on grapes and talking to her cousin Aria. They were so cute talking to each other. I have them on video but haven't uploaded it yet. I put Maddy to bed at regular time, 7:30 p.m., and then went back to work. By the time I was done with work at 10 p.m. the weather was starting to ease off. It was a very wild and crazy day and I truly feel so sorry to the people who lost their homes or were affected by this tornado. The tornado has been categorized an EF3 and started in Harrison, TN. We drove by on Saturday and I honestly didn't want people seeing me take pictures of the damage to their homes because I feel it is disrespectful unless they tell me they are ok with it. We drove through again Saturday night and I felt a little better about it because it wasn't obvious what I was doing. The road I am talking about is Mahan Gap. I travel this road every day at least two times a day, seven days a week. Never in my life have I seen a house completely taken from the foundation, partially twisted, and then looked as if it had just been sat back down. As my mom put it, it was like something you would see in the Wizard of Oz. I saw kids just sitting on parts of trees and my heart just broke for them. I cannot imagine what they must be feeling and I will definitely be praying for everybody. I will post the pics I have of the damage, but they are blurry as we were driving through: