Vacation Days 3&4

Tuesday was by far our best day there. We woke up at 8:30 a.m. Our routine in the morning was to wake up and watch one of Maddy's movies before heading out for the day. We didn't watch much on Tuesday because by 9:06 a.m we were headed down to Aqualand. Maddy's attention span was very short on this trip and after a few minutes in Aqualand she was ready to move on to something else. She saw other kids playing with a beach ball, so we walked over to the hotel market to get her a ball and some toys and played a little while longer. After aqualand we went down to the beach and the water was just beautiful. This vacation I was able to completely forget about work and I just enjoyed every minute of it...minus a few moments lol. To tell the details is a little boring, so I will let pictures do the talking.

This is how Maddy took her naps in the afternoon. Can ya tell the sun drained her? She actually took better naps than she slept at night. She took 3 to 3.5 hour naps..unreal!! When she woke up from her nap, which was around 4 p.m. I tried getting us ready for dinner. She wasn't having any part of it and told me she didn't want to. I finally decided not to force her to go get dinner because I was scared I would have had a major meltdown on my hands. Luckily I brought some mac and cheese from home and cooked that up for the both of us. We had just a stay in movie night. Before we went to bed she was having a few issues and I knew going to bed that night that Wednesday was gonna be a rough day. We went to bed around 11 p.m. We woke up at 7 on Wednesday. Wednesday was one of our worst days there. We did our usual routine, but I think she was just so tired and ready to be with her toys at home that she just let me have it. At the pool she would scream NO to the top of her lungs and try to run away. I decided to just try to get her into the room so she could take a nap. Now that I've waited so long to finish this I have no idea what I said to get her to walk with me. I just remember as soon as we got to the room I sat her in the chair for a 2 minute time out and then gave her passy. She crawled up in the bed and went straight to sleep. I was determined to make her go eat dinner somewhere when she woke up. I decided to get ready while she was sleeping, so she wouldn't have much time to decide to pitch a fit about going. My plan worked pretty well lol. We went to a place called Boar's Head. When we pulled up I was really nervous because it was a dead parking lot. We got there around 6:00 p.m. but Maddy fell asleep on the way so I let her sleep till 6:30 p.m. We had another good evening out at dinner and I was so relieved. The inside was so pretty and we were pretty mesmorized by the decorations.

I got the broiled seafood platter, which consisted of oysters (eww), deviled crab, scallops, shrimp, and grouper. I actually don't like fish but I went ahead and tried it. I was surprised I could eat it...it actually had no fishy flavor and I was impressed! Maddy got a hamburger. 

After dinner I made the mistake of trying to get us our airbrushed shirts. I love airbrushed shirts and have one from 1995 that I wear as pj's now. The guy told me it would take about an hour before they were ready, which was fine cause I could look around and then get our shirt. He told me when I came back to make sure to bring the yellow copy to him. I thought he meant so I could pick up my shirt. We browsed around for what felt like maybe 30 minutes then went to pay. Maddy was beyond done at this point. After we paid we ran across the street to look in that store. I was actually trying to find me a new bathing suit. I like the one I have now, but the top is getting too big now and I'm constantly pulling it up..it's annoying. We went to check on our shirts. The guy looked at me funny and said you never brought me the yellow paper back. My face fell. I knew Maddy couldn't hold on for another hour. He told me it would take about 30 minutes so we tried to wait. It was a bit rough, but we made it. Here are our shirts.

We went back to the hotel and got ready for bed. I have no idea what time we went to sleep...maybe midnight lol. I will put Thursday and Friday up as soon as I can.

Mommy and Maddy's Vacation Part 1

Sunday morning Maddy and I woke up and started packing the car. I didn't get to bed until 1:30 a.m. and set my alarm for 5:45. One would think we would have hit the road by at least 7, but oh no...try 8:30 a.m. lol. We had a rental car again like we did last month, but unfortunately the same car was not available. We got an Altima and it was nice, but I wouldn't pay the money for it if i were car shopping. The camry is by far the best out of what I have driven. I'm having problems with my phone transferring pics to my photo stream...I need more storage but don't wanna pay for it lol. I'm gonna post what I can and I may have to come back later to put the rest on here. Here are the pictures/video of what I have on the way down to Florida.

We got there sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. I can't remember to be honest because we had a semi rough ride up there with traffic and then I was wondering how to get all our luggage in by myself. Once we checked in we took as much as we could carry up to the room, which was on the 9th floor...906 was our room number. The view was amazing but it was a long haul for me. Once we dropped the first load off we went to park and then brought in our last load. Here is our room when you first walk in the door.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort. It's the number one family resort in Panama and honestly it is well worth the money.

How could you not be stress free when you have this out your back door? I must say once I saw the ocean I became ecstatic. Poor Maddy didn't quite know what to think of mommy being so excited. I wanted to take a minute to soak it all in before we jumped on in but the other part of me just wanted to get down there. I did take a minute to catch my breath because I was pouring sweat from getting all our stuff in the room. This was my first vacation with no help. I knew I could do it, but it was a learning experience for me as well lol. I know I had to look hilarious trying to drag all our stuff up. Soon after we got suited up and hit up the water park, aka, Aqua land.

We didn't play that long once we got there because it was getting time for dinner. We ate at the restaurant in the hotel because Maddy got to eat free and with us driving all day I didn't think she would want to go back in the car...I didn't really want to drive anywhere myself lol. We put in a movie and hit the sack. Day 2 of our vacation we woke up super early...6:40 a.m. I tried to get Maddy to eat breakfast but she just wouldn't. By 9 a.m. we were dressed and ready to play. We went down to the beach for a little bit...maybe 15 minutes. She is just like her mommy and can only handle staying in places for a little bit before wanting to move on to the next. Here she is playing on the beach.

Monday was not the best day for us, but I later learned it was not the worst. Her mood was so different than it normally is here at home. She became this super independent person who literally refused to listen to a word I said.  Around 11:30 a.m. I got her to go back to the room with me and I put in a movie for her and sat her stroller in front of the tv. It didn't take long and she passed out.

When she woke back up we went back to Aqua land to play some more and then got ready for dinner. We went to a restaurant called Scampys. It was late for us...7 p.m. ish. We had a little bit of a wait and while we waited Maddy looked at the fish.

We got to sit outside and Maddy played the mommy role very well. She said her booster seat was baby's seat and made sure she had plenty to eat. It was so cute to watch.

Maddy had the popcorn shrimp with mashed potatoes

We got dessert and headed back to the hotel. I got Maddy Peanut butter blitz and me key lime pie. Mine was real good, but Maddy's not so much. We cuddled up afterwards and went sound to sleep. I will post day 3 & 4 tomorrow...I think.

Wednesday Randoms

I've written more than I thought I would prior to leaving for vacation. This week has been one more crazy week. I feel like I have a black cloud over mine and Maddy's head. Maddy went back to school today (if I had a job that actually understood what it was like to have a sick child, I would have kept her out all week), and she seemed to have had a good day. I worried about her all night last night (I think she knew the minute I was starting to fall asleep because just when I fell asleep she would wake up crying....I know that's not true...her poor mouth was hurting) and all day today. I worried about her teachers not being patient with her if she started hurting...I worried about if she could eat anything for lunch (luckily they had mashed potatoes, which she can eat)...I just worried about her hurting and me not being able to be there to hold her hand or hug her or let her know I'm there. I felt like it was her very first day at daycare. I was supposed to have a meeting first thing this morning, so my mom took her for me. If I had to take her I just know I would have bawled my eyes out because I really did not want her to have to go. Throughout this whole ordeal I have learned something about Maddy that I really have no idea where it even came from. The first incident happened on Monday. Me and my mom were in the kitchen and Maddy had wandered off into the living room. Out of no where she just screams with everything within her. She was playing with the flashlight (I used it to look in her mouth and she loves playing with it). We went running to her and the split second I saw it looked like she was trying to free her hand from the flashlight cord. I thought it must have gotten stuck and it scared her. I scooped her up and told my mom to help take the flashlight. I saw my mom was able to just take the light so I began to panic some over what was wrong. I asked Maddy what happened and she said a fly. I thought she was just saying something and was really scared of the light or something else I couldn't figure out. The look on her face and the way she was shaking you would have thought she saw a ghost or something that would just really shake you up. Tuesday came around and if a fly got near her she would start to cry and run. I realized at that point she is absolutely petrified of flies. When I put her to bed tonight I went back to finish my work and next thing I know my mom is yelling at me (I was watching a movie with earbuds in my ear) saying Maddy was screaming. When I took my earbuds out sure enough Maddy was screaming with everything within her. I knew it was a fly because I now know that scream. I asked her what happened and of coarse she said a fly. I would like to know where this fear of flies came from because we've had flies in the house before and she thought they were funny because we were always chasing them with a fly swatter. After the fly incident she would not let me leave her room unless I was getting the fly swatter. Needless to say both me AND Maddy are definitely going to need a vacation after the week we have had. So far the only real chance of rain in Florida is Friday and that is our last day there...we head back Saturday morning.

I still don't have an official date as to when I can move into my new house, but I do have a phone installation date of June 21. I will be out of town, but my mom was kind enough to offer to be there while they get my phone set up. I just need my internet and then I will be moving in. I really wish I could doc my work somehow because it is ridiculous that I have been paying rent since April 21 and they have YET to move me. If it took me that long to do my job I would be jobless.

Speaking of jobs, I can't/won't go into details yet but I have a great job opportunity coming up. If I can get involved it would allow me to take the time I need off when Maddy is sick. It would give me my evenings back and I would not have to work till 10 p.m. every night. It would take a lot of stress off me...it already has really because being a single mom I have no choice but to keep my job or Maddy isn't taken care of. My job is practically impossible to keep for a lengthy amount of time (for me anyways) and I stress day in and out over what if I lose my job. I now know what I can do if I were to lose my job and that relieves me so much. I'm going to pray about it, but my heart and mind are already geared towards going for it.

Maddy helped wash dishes on Monday.  She enjoyed playing with the bubbles mainly. I can't wait to cook/bake with her...especially during Christmas.

Hope you all have a great rest of the week...hang in there if you are having a rough week :)

Icky Sickness

Mine and Maddy's weekend was not at all anything spectacular. I don't think I've ever wished for a Saturday to hurry and end but I did this past Saturday. Maddy woke up at 4:50 a.m. I went in her room to comfort her and she tried to get up, but I told her it was still night night time. She went back to sleep for a little bit and then woke back up. By 6:30 a.m. we were up, dressed, and ready for the day. Her mood that day was very up and down. I knew by 7:00 a.m. I was in for a very long day. We spent the day at our new house trying to unpack, but she didn't understand why mommy wouldn't play with her all day. I tried to make time to play with her but when I did she just watched tv. I did get her to take two naps...both in the car. I thought she was just super tired, but her naps didn't really help that much. My uncle had to work on my car because it would overheat and it almost left me stranded. He was supposed to work on it on Saturday. When he was ready Maddy was still asleep in the car. I accidentally woke her up and when I got her out I noticed she felt warm  and didn't look ok. I kept asking her if she was ok and not sick and she would just stare at me. She perked up when she got out of the car so I thought everything was ok...until my mom asked me if she was warm. My heart sank because I knew that meant she was getting sick and it wasn't my imagination. While my uncle worked on my car she played pretty hard...she wore me out to be honest. Once he was done with my car they went to build his granddaughter her playset because the instructions said with two people it would take 12 hours...that's just crazy!!! I plan on getting Maddy her own playground set for her birthday, so I guess we better start building a few days before her party lol. Anyways...as they were working on the playground Maddy just went down hill. She sat in my lap for the longest time and almost went to sleep. I realized she was refusing to eat...she tried so hard to eat but just never would. She would drink ok though. I remembered a couple of days prior to Saturday she asked for some ice for her ear. We finally got home around 10:48 p.m. and I went immediately for the thermometer. Sure enough her temp was 101.4. I took her down to PM Pediatrics, which btw, I no longer have an ounce of trust for . I found out she weighs 29 pounds which is really good for her! At her two year check up she weighed 27 pounds so I'm glad she gained her two pounds. The nurse practitioner came in and asked what was going on and I mentioned her ear was hurting but she had also been around strep throat. She checked her ear and said it was infected and took a look in her mouth and said oh yeah, she's got strep...there's puss pockets all in her throat. She didn't do a strep test to confirm and gave her a strong dose of amoxicillan. By the time we got home it was 12:30 and I had to change her while she was asleep because she was konked out! I found these...

Maddy is at the age where she refuses medicine if she's in pain or it tastes bad. When I got her allergy medicine it came with a free sample of chewables and she thought they were candy. When I saw this tylenol type chewable I knew I was in luck. If only all her medicines could be chewable/meltaways. She said she didn't want it at first. I told her it tasted like gum (she's on a big gum kick right now). I let her hold it and by the time I turned back around she was eating it. She said it was yummy and was willing to take another one. I think that is what let her sleep so good. Sunday morning I tried to get her antibiotic in her...she drank it just fine and even said it tasted good. I was so thankful. As the day progressed she quickly deteriorated in how she felt.

We literally laid around and watched movies all day. She did try to eat. She started off with mashed potatoes then she wanted this:

Pickles and tomatoes. She couldn't eat the tomato but did some of the pickle. I noticed she was holding her cheek and decided to look in her mouth...strep shouldn't hurt on your cheek. It looked so horrible! There were sores all over the roof of her mouth...in her throat and on the sides of her mouth. I felt quite certain that instead of having strep she had another case of hand foot mouth disease because it had been in her classroom last week.

These are accurate pictures of what her mouth looks like, and this is hand foot mouth. I did look up strep and only found one picture that looks a bit similar to hers, but I don't see her glands swollen at all and because it is on her cheeks as well I'm pretty sure it's HFM. She was up all night Sunday and got up super early again. She was still running a fever last night so I have kept her home today. So far she hasn't run a fever, but she is in a lot of pain and is so very tired. I have some video of her playing before I knew she was sick...it's amazing how strong these little ones are because they can sure tough it out when they are pretty sick.

A part of me knew I should have left my uncle's while they worked on the swing set...next time I will listen because she was definitely not feeling good at all!!!

She is about the same today, but the sores do look some better. Her mood is not so great, but I can definitely understand why. My mom took her out for a bit in hopes she would take a nap and so I can get some work done...work waits for no one!!! I hope you all had a much better weekend than we did :) I'm on beach countdown...early Sunday we are on the road headed back down to Panama City Beach, FL...I just hope she is feeling MUCH better by then!

Pampered Chef

I have always loved Pampered Chef products...well..once I was introduced to them years ago lol. I've never really had a chance to use/buy them because I've never really had my own home. Now that I have my own place I have a need for their products. My mom ordered me a ton of products that will be very beneficial in my new home. I thought I would share what all I got. Some of these I have never used myself so I will have to come back and update once I use them.

Here is the lovely bag it comes in :)

These are flexible cutting mats. They come in a three pack and I love how colorful they are! There are two different sizes available. These are 11x15. These are cutting mats and I will use them for that purpose, but I will save at least one to be used to roll out smaller pastries on as well.

This is a neat gadget...it's a cut n seal. This cut n seal will make crustless pb&j or any other kind of sandwich you would like. It beats paying $3 or so for the crustables at the grocery store when I can make my own! It comes with recipes for things such as pizza and cherry cheese turnovers. I cannot wait to use it!

 As you can see this is the Hold N Slice. It just helps hold the food steady so you can cut things up without worrying about cutting your fingers lol. This is a must for me because I am so clumsy!!!

This is pretty explanatory. The good thing about ordering the pink one is for every one sold in 2012 $1 will go toward the Help Whip Cancer organization. I like unique things so I love the pink!

This is a must have for moms!!! I have used this numerous times and it is such a big help. It's an apple wedger and works very well! Saves so much time when preparing apples for little ones.

I am a huge cook book addict! I think I could buy just about all the cookbooks there are and still want more lol.

This is an egg slicer, but it will also cut strawberries and kiwi.

Who doesn't need a good cutting board! I had cutting boards, but they were wood and ended up splitting while in storage.

Last but not least is this covered baker. I've heard these things are awesome for making chicken. I have not personally used this, but have eaten chicken cooked from it and it was amazing. I can't wait to use my products!

If you are interested in Pampered Chef please let me know and I can get you hooked up.

Midweek Ramblings

I meant to write this last night but there were a few variables as to why I didn't. First of all it was a huge tv day for me...or should have been. Two shows I watch premiered last night...Kendra On Top and Dance Moms. I missed Dance Moms due to the fact that I was stuck at work, but I made it for Kendra. I had to flip back and forth between Kendra and 16&Pregnant Life After Labor. By the time the show was over it was 11:00 and I needed sleep as I was going to try to be up at 4 a.m. today. HA!!! One of these days I will learn to quit trying to be up at 4 unless it's a Friday because that's the only day I can make myself get up and that's ONLY if I desperately need the time. Oh yeah...I forgot to mention Tuesday is also Giuliana and Bill. Next week the final season of Teen Mom premiere's so as sad as I am that Giuliana and Bill had their finale last night...it helps some because I have too many shows coming on Tuesday's now.

I've been trying to get a new blog design since Easter has come and gone. I found one I liked, but Photobucket seems to have made some changes and now I don't know how to add pictures to my header. I hope to get it fixed this weekend, but I'm gonna be pretty busy so who knows.

I may finally get to move into my new place soon....I'm hoping by next week. My manager finally decided to respond to my email that I sent her on April 26 to let her know I would be moving on May 5. I had to forward the April email and ask if there was anything I should be doing to get things moving. Her response, "Oh you've moved already?" Talk about being so frustrated!!!!

I've talked about Maddy's appetite before, but I took a picture to show you just how much this child can eat...

She eats a whole one of these with no problems, but when it's all gone she asks for more and usually eats at least half of a second one. She has food going into her mouth round the clock it seems. I think one day I will do a food diary for her and post on here to show the amount of food she consumes in a day lol. I'm not at all making fun of her...I'm just a bit amazed at how much food she really can eat, but doesn't gain a pound. I'm pretty sure her pediatrician questioned my mothering skills where she is concerned because she has always been so tiny. At one point she told me that she was okay with where she fell in weight, but if she didn't gain at least two pounds by the next check up she would be a little concerned. She did mention she was probably just small because I was small (yes I wanted to hug her right then and there lol) but she also wanted to keep a watch on Maddy and make sure there wasn't anything wrong. I stressed out until time for the next check up and thankfully Maddy had gained exactly two pounds...I said Whew in my head lol.

Have I mentioned that we leave for vacation in just 11 days (only 7 work days)? I'm so ready to get out of here again and forget about my problems! I've been looking up restaurants online so I know where we can go and where we can't and I have it all planned out...no I'm not really a planner but I had to this time due to financial reasons. We are going to try some new restaurants because I'm kinda tired of the same ol same ol. Sunday night we are just going to eat at the hotel because after driving all day I don't think either of us is going to want to get back in the car. There are three different restaurants in the hotel so I'm not sure which one we will be eating at. I want to go to The View because you're supposed to have a good view of the beach but price wise I don't know what any of them cost and that will be the determining factor.

Insert random picture here :)

Last Friday we celebrated my cousin Aria's 2nd birthday. She had a chipmunk theme party at Harrison Bay. They had yummy BBQ  with baked beans and potato salad and of coarse....cake and ice cream. Maddy really enjoyed herself.

 The birthday girl enjoying her cake

This is the view from the deck. The pool is just amazing and being able to see the lake is neat as well :)

Saturday me and Maddy just stayed home for the most part and played. We played car and baby and stroller. Maddy loves to pretend she's going to the store like we do all the time. She really is going to be a good little mommy some day. We went to see what Pops was building in the back yard and we found some pretty flowers.

The biggest news is we finally went "big girl panty" shopping. I pulled all the ones that were her size and let her pick. She chose Hello Kitty. I was going to show you all the picture I took, but it just seems so awkward now so I decided not to lol.

Yesterday at school Maddy had her first water day of the summer and she really seemed to enjoy it. I told her the night before about water day so she woke up ready to go play in the water. She went to school in her bathing suit and when I picked her up she seemed so happy. I asked her what she did in the water and she told me/showed me she jumped in it. I can tell she had played in the water because her hair looked funny. I'm glad she loves the water :)

That's all the ramblings I can remember for now. This may be my last post until after vacation because I need to get the rest of my stuff out of storage before the end of this month and I'm also in the process of getting ready for vacation still so if I don't post again I hope you all have a great weekend and week next week and be prepared for another few posts full of vacation pictures when I get back!!!