Maddy's Adventure

I knew coming into this week it was going to be a rough one because I had a rough draft due Wednesday that had to be 2,000 words on top of working my normal overtime, which by the way is mandatory. I did not know, however, just how bad it was going to get. I went to wake Maddy up at 7:30 on Monday morning as I do every other week day morning. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me other than the fact that she was taking a little longer to get out of bed. I didn't think anything of it because when I went to get her she was fixing to go back to sleep. I always climb in her bed and lay down because invariably she will tell me to "get up." I climbed in her bed as I do almost every morning and she decided to get down. I heard her fall, but she is usually a little unsteady in the morning. I heard her get up and saw her try to walk and then saw her fall again. This time when she fell she started crying, which I was unsure as to why she was crying because she didn't hit anything. I walked over to her and hugged her and then picked her up to get her clothes for the day.  By this time I had a funny feeling about her, but I decided I was just being paranoid and figured she'd get up and walk just fine once she got dressed.  I wanted to relieve my fears so I stood her up and noticed she was unable to walk...when she tried she would fall.  The way she would move her leg made me immediately think it was something neurological.  I carried her into the kitchen to finish getting her ready and saw my mom walk by so I decided to tell her I thought something was wrong. I sat Maddy down and my mom saw what I was talking about. By this time Maddy was limping so I decided to call the doctor. I had so many thoughts going through my head and it was all I could to keep from breaking down because she was struggling and I was scared it was something serious. All morning she couldn't walk. I tried getting her too but she just couldn't do it. By the time we were ready to go to the doctor's that little stinker started walking. I was glad to see her walk but was unsure if I should continue to go to the doctor. I decided to keep her appointment because she was still limping here and there. The doctor checked her out and then wanted to see her walk. She ran just fine and the doctor was like she's running fine. Then we tried one more time and this time Maddy started limping. I was relieved the doctor saw this and didn't think I was just crazy. Her doctor decided she needed to have an x-ray to make sure there were no fractures because toddler fractures are common. Hearing Maddy needed an x-ray made me want to cry all over again because I expected to come in and hear she was fine and go home. After spending what seemed like an eternity in the x-ray waiting room it was finally Maddy's turn. They had an arm bracelet for her that I have kept and will put in her scrapbook. She laid on a table like this

They took x-rays of both hips, legs, and feet and she laid perfectly still throughout the entire thing. She was curious about the light and the sounds she heard but I was so proud of her. I didn't find out the results until the next day but they came back just fine. The nurse told me they were going to send her for a MRI but since she was putting weight on it and seemed to be just fine they decided not to. If Maddy has anymore problems similar to this episode her doctor will more than likely refer her to an orthopedic.  She did limp a little on Tuesday at daycare, but since then she has been just fine. I want to say thank you to everybody who prayed for her because I feel everybody's prayers made her better.    

Half Week Rewind

This week I went back to work after having a whole week off and I must admit I started to regret my week of vacation. I came back to a huge mess at work and almost got in some serious trouble for not responding to my manager even though I was off. My manager did come back and apologize to me and admitted she forgot I was off work, but I still wasn't too very happy lol. Luckily we are on the downhill side and the weekend will be here soon!
Maddy's vocabulary has just taken off this week and it just came out of no where. I was holding her and she looked at the coffee table and pointed to a hat and said, "Pops.....hat." My mouth fell open and I got so excited and told her she did a good job, "yay for Maddy." I don't think she knew what to think about my reaction, but she did end up laughing. She says a lot of things about Pops..."Pops truck" "Pops drink" "Pops bite bite." I worked with her yesterday on the way home to get her to start saying "Mommy's car," but that seems to be harder for her to say.
On top of work being horrible, I also found out Monday that I missed my attendance in school the week I was off on vacation. I seriously just wanted to cry but what good would that do? I'm still a little confused as to what this means exactly. If I miss either one or two more times, then I will automatically be dropped and I think I will have to pay to retake. If my grade goes down a letter then I will be doing good to pass with a C and that scares me because I've worked so hard in school and if I have to pay out of pocket then I have to drop out and then I have to start paying loans back, which has lead me to my next decision. I am trying to find a part time daycare job. The whole reason I started school again was to get started in a daycare career anyways. Since school may not be around much longer I needed a back up plan. The only way I can work in an assistant director's job is if I have experience in the classroom. Right now my only option is my daughter's daycare, but I really don't think they'd hire me because I don't think they like me too much after there were some problems that came up in how they handled Maddy. I could always turn in an application and see if they would let me work there, but I don't want to deal with the rejection lol.
I purchased season six of The Office at Target last week because it was on sale for $14.99. They are normally around $35 so I was sold. I took the last one they had and I was so thankful they still had at least one. I am sad that Steve Carell is no longer on the show, but I understand his decision and think he did a fantastic job while on the show. This show helps me cope with my job but it also makes me wish Michael Scott was my boss lol.

Vacation Recap

It's hard to believe my week off has finally ended and I must say that I am struggling greatly with the thought of getting back into the every day routine of work :( Monday I got to spend some time with baby Aiden and hold him some.  We went out to eat at Olive Garden and got ourselves in trouble because we got to laughing so hard I think the waiter's thought we were drunk, but we weren't drinking alcohol. I wanted to tell them oh yes we are drunk, but drunk off sleep deprivation and stress. Tuesday I spent watching a little tv and then went to go get my phone fixed. Luckily my phone's software just needed to be upgraded and a new battery. Then I had to meet up with Maddy's dad for a little bit and while I waited I looked around at the mall. I was able to get Maddy started a little bit on her fall wardrobe. I generally only buy clothes that are on sale unless it is an emergency situation or it comes from WalMart.  My favorite store to shop for Maddy is JcPenny.  They have the cutest clothes for a great price. After JcPenny I end up at the OshKosh store in Calhoun, GA. Sometimes they have really good sales and other times it's not so great. I think the key is if it is in between seasons or fixing to change seasons it's hard to find a good bargain. My favorite store whether it is on sale or not is The Children's Place. They have some of the cutest clothes, but considering Maddy is growing so fast I just don't see the need to pay full price there, except for a time when I have a little extra money. Here are some of her outfits I got at Penny's.

The pants are purple to match the hearts and says "love" on the top.

I also got her a pair of khaki's and some black leggings and pink leggings. Wednesday I was supposed to hang out at the pool all day because I can't "get my tan on" with an active toddler but I also had to clean out my car and get my school done so I could enjoy this weekend, so I opted out of going to the pool and stayed home all day. Thursday me and Maddy played all day and went to the store to get a few things such as food for that day and me a camera bag for my camcorder that I hardly used on this trip lol. Friday we also stayed home and played except for when she needed a nap. She helped me mop the kitchen floor and unload the dishwasher and pack for our Pigeon Forge weekend. After Maddy went to bed I stayed up the rest of the night (after a quick 20 min. nap) packing us for the weekend and attempting to get the kitchen clean...I did not manage to do the last part but got a head start on it anyways. Here are some pictures of Maddy playing:

Ok so this isn't Maddy playing but I wanted to show her appetite. There is no getting a kids meal with Maddy because her metabolism is so high she can eat a big girls meal. She normally gets a beefy cheesy burrito from Taco Bell and can eat a good 3/4 of it by herself. Here she is eating a burrito supreme.

 Yes, I realize St. Patty's day is over but it's a waste of money to only use the bib one day so I use them year round :)

There were actually cheerio's in the bucket and she loves to eat food like she is right here. She is so silly!

I went to bed around 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning was back up at 6 a.m. to finish getting everything ready before Maddy woke up to go to Dollywood. My weekend was actually kinda bad with some good in it lol. It seems everything I touched this weekend or did was completely wrong. I was following my sister up to Dollywood and we got separated so I was relying on my mom's old GPS to get me there. It would tell me to turn down a street and then it would show I was in oblivion land and would have to "recalculate." I finally called my mom to tell her I was close but Samantha, the GPS could not figure out what she was doing. Right as my step-dad was telling me something I saw a sign that said Dollywood next left. Once I got into Dollywood I couldn't figure out the parking thing. I figured they would have someone direct cars where to go like Lake Winnie did so I was just following the road and wound up in the handicap parking. I was like ok this isn't right. So I back track and end up going down a one way section and I was going the wrong way. I finally decided to just go back towards the entrance and find parking there but then I was worried how I was going to get all my stuff on the tram with Maddy, who is very active and very "me do it" right now, by myself. I was banking on having my sister's help but it was up to me to get it done. I must admit as I was getting stuff out of the car (Maddy was sound asleep) I had a mini melt down moment where I got my crying out because I just felt like everything I touched was falling apart...there is a little more to this story than what I'm saying. I think my main problem was I was just too tired and my brain was literally just on strike lol. On one ride they said to exit left and I clearly went right, for whatever reason I attempted to put Maddy's stroller on the tram with Maddy in it and they had to tell me otherwise which was embarrassing cause it was a "duh" moment. I did enjoy getting to see Maddy ride the rides and take everything in. She only had a 15 minute nap the entire day and did a lot of walking and she really held up extremely well. I def. want to take her back when she grows some more and go watch all the shows that we couldn't watch cause she just is too young to sit for that  length of time. She did get to see her first movie though, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 4D except she had a non motion chair. She did watch some of it and then attempted to try to get down lol. My mom stayed with her and my youngest niece Abby, who Maddy just loves and looks up to. Some of the pics didn't turn out too well cause I had my zoom all the way and when that happens the pics turn out grainy.

I did bring her pack n play this trip, but we didn't get back to the cabin until close to midnight and after only 4 hours sleep the night before on top of an extremely hot day at the park all day I was too exhausted to even unpack my car. Maddy did extremely well sleeping with me in the bed this time and I loved every minute of her sleeping on top of me. The first time she went straight to sleep but she woke up some time in the middle of the night wanting to play around. I finally decided the bathroom light being left on was making her think it was morning so I turned it off and told her it was "night night" time and after 30 minutes to an hour later she finally went back to sleep. She was actually laying a little bit on me before I got up, but she looked so cute so I just had to take a pic, sorry it kinda blurred. I also forgot to talk about the cabin. I did not think to get pics of it, but this was mine and Maddy's first time staying in a cabin in pigeon forge and oh my goodness was it nice. I love the open layout and the view was so amazing! My mom and step-dad stayed up there from Thursday until today. Next time I stay up there I will def be getting a cabin!
Today we went to Splash Country. I don't have a lot of pics because there is only one of me and I like to say there is at least two of Maddy's and I didn't want to risk my camera getting broken due to it getting wet. I also am including Maddy's breakfast pics, which she wasn't too interested in her breakfast this morning. She is starting to not eat breakfast very well like she used too so anything she eats I am thankful for.

Countdown!

So this song has nothing to do with what I am talking about tonight, I just needed something besides words on this post lol.  As the week is coming to an end, thank goodness, I find myself getting more and more excited. I am off next week and have some fun things planned. Normally when I take a week off from work Maddy takes the week off from school, but I've arranged it a little differently this week. My sister just had her third baby on July 7 and for the first half of this week I am going to spend with her and her newest addition. Maddy is extremely jealous as to be expected so I am taking this opportunity to love on baby Aiden while she is in daycare on Monday and probably Tuesday.  Wednesday it is my hope to relax at the pool, something else I do not get to do with an active toddler around. I don't get "mommy" time at all unless you consider doing school work "mommy" time, which I do not because it is stressful sometimes. I must admit I do feel guilty sending Maddy to daycare the first half of the week, but I am telling myself it is no different then other parents who send their kids to grandma's so they can have a "date night." Thursday and Friday I am keeping Maddy home and there is really no telling what all we do. I would like to take her to the pool one of those days because she seems to have a good time, but it is supposed to rain every day next week, with the exception of Wednesday. Saturday morning we are waking up early to begin a weekend getaway. I'm not exactly thrilled at having to wake up at 6 a.m. on a saturday when I go to bed so late due to school, but we need to be leaving by 7:30 am to make it to pigeon forge by 10 am to hit Dollywood the minute they open. This will be Maddy's first trip to Dollywood and I think she will have a good time. I looked up the rides they have because it's been so long since I have been and it's pretty much just like Lake Winnie...they even have the bees which is her favorite lol. My sister and her family will be coming as well and my mom and step-dad will already be in gatlinburg starting Thursday (those lucky dogs don't have to wake up as early since they are already there.) Sunday we are going to Splash Country which is a waterpark. That will be Maddy's first waterpark and I know she will love it. I have a feeling me, my sister, Maddy, and Aiden will be by ourselves a good bit of the day since our kids can't ride the rides. I originally took this week off because July 27 was my sister's due date and well...Aiden decided to come 20 days early. This vacation seems like it will be a pretty fun one considering I originally had nothing planned.  After this week off me and Maddy have a real vacation we are looking forward to and that is a cruise to the Bahama's on her actual birthday, September 23. It's only a 3 day, but we will take what we can get. This week has been a tough week on me and I'm ready to relax.

Teen Mom

Anybody that knows me knows that I am a huge teen mom fan. I became addicted to 16 & pregnant when i was pregnant with Maddy. I had no idea that was their first season and thought it was so cool there was a girl from Chattanooga on the show. Even though I wasn't a teen when I became a mom, I was single and I had so many questions or curiosities. I wanted to see how these girls handled labor and see how the first few months of being a mom went for them. I was hoping to gain advice on money and parenting tips that I might not have thought of. I didn't really gain any advice from those categories, but I walked away feeling that if they can do it, surely I could do it at the age of 26. As more seasons go by and more episodes air I find myself relating more and more to these girls. Tonight's episode really hit home with me with Farrah because the feelings she feels I feel everyday and I haven't lost the father of my baby. I've always been up and down with friends...sometimes I have friends...other times I don't. Before I got pregnant I would hang out with a couple of people and just have fun. I had my own apt and could come and go whenever I wanted. Once I got in a relationship with Maddy's dad I hung out with him all the time and we started our own life. I made friends at work and I really enjoyed talking with them. I started feeling like I wasn't really a part and like they talked about me when I wasn't around, but I had no evidence of that and still continued to hang out with them. When me and Maddy's dad broke up I started hanging out more and more with them and we started meeting up after work. The day I found out I was pregnant, I just happened to find out while at work...it was like 10:30 ish to be exact lol. I am a talker deep down inside and since my mom was unavailable to talk and me and Maddy's dad were broken up I decided to tell my group of friends because I was freaking out. They didn't believe me at first cause I had just joked about being pregnant that same week. After I told them I was pregnant I felt like everything changed. One of my friends ended up telling me eventually that he wanted to ask if I was sure I was pregnant because we had some in depth conversations about saving sex for marriage. At the time I just felt so ashamed that I had put myself in that position that I just kinda hung my head down and was like yeah, I know, but God forgives me. I've thought back on that convo with him and sometimes I find myself angry because I know he did things that were ungodly and not once did I bring that up to him, but then again I guess I was being a bad friend. I felt like my group of friends were slowly fading, but there was always that one friend, the one that I've mentioned before. If I could talk to him for one second I would tell him thank you for being there and helping me through a challenging time and for being honest with me even though it made me mad lol. After me and him stopped being friends I literally had nobody to talk to. It gets lonely sometimes being a single parent with nobody that can understand what you think and feel. I have to be very careful around some of my family when I try to say how I feel because sometimes my feelings get taken in a bad way, and so I don't even bother anymore. I would say that most if not all of my family have no idea how I really feel about things and what I carry around on a daily basis. One thing I have learned is that I don't want Maddy to feel like she can't talk to me. That is so very important to me because communication is an important skill to have in any relationship. On the after show Farrah talked about how there were times she didn't want to talk to anybody and if someone was interested in dating she'd shut them off and lie and she didn't want to hug anybody or tell her mom she loved her and things like that....that is exactly how I feel most days. I find myself in one sentence saying I want to be with someone, yet I want to be single all  at the same time. Talk about contradicting myself lol. I am truly happy being single but I would really love to have some people I can relate to and who can relate to me. Even when I'm given the chance to meet up with a mom my age, I find myself not wanting to make time to meet them...it's like I get scared. My conclusion is that I am scared of losing anymore friends...anymore people in my life. I would love to have a counselor like Farrah has because I need someone that I can just tell exactly how I'm feeling without having to worry about anything. I'm not depressed nor am I miserable in life...I have my issues yes, but I'm pretty ok with my life...this is just me venting lol. Teen mom brings out a lot of emotion in me because I feel like for that hour someone understands what I go through or someone understands what I am feeling on certain issues.

Progress

As you know I started hitting my workouts a little harder starting on Friday. I decided to attempt to finish the insanity program I once started. Monday ended day 2 for me and the workout was called cardio resistance and power. Let me tell you if you do this one, your legs WILL burn lol. I was already exhausted when I started due to little to no sleep but I decided to fight through and make myself workout. I began to wonder if it was a mistake because I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I did on Friday. I did better on the warm up (that warm up is just as much a workout as the rest of the dvd) but toward the end started losing my momentum. Once we cooled down to start the last half of the dvd I was able to go a little more. I still did not do every rep, but did try to do my best with each series. I almost gave up on the last series and I finally got some motivation and pushed myself to finish. After this workout I had to go lay down and take a nap. I felt like a dish rag. I went ahead and measure myself and I am making some progress. I have lost 2 pounds. I lost half an inch in my waist. My chest has stayed the same, but I lost 1/20(?...i think i did my math right but basically i lost 1/4 plus half an inch) in my hips. I also lost an inch on my thighs. Overall I am surprised to already have results but I am so thankful that I do. I woke up this morning saying I was having an off day today for working out, but this progress makes me want to keep going. I need to do laundry though because I wasn't able to over the weekend so I am torn lol. I highly recommend the insanity program and also recommend you look on  amazon.com or ebay because it is an expensive set. I got mine for $30 I believe.

Insanity Maddy

I have decided to add a workout section to my blog. I don't really think I have a definitive blog and I want to get it more organized to where it has more of a purpose other than my random ramblings. I have started to hit my workout routine harder these days and I am hoping to continue it. Today started my second try at insanity. My first try I ended up getting the flu during the first week and I just never started it back up once I got better.  This workout is extremely hard. I can't do all the reps nor can I keep up with them but I am hoping in the end I will be close to doing it all at the same speed they go. I took my measurements down and will continue to monitor my progress and let you all know how it goes. I would love to lose 15 lbs from it, but that is highly doubtful that will happen for me. I am having to get my mind set determined in order to complete the insanity workout. Today I watched the extreme makeover weight loss edition and that show got me so pumped to do my first insanity workout and I found it kept me going longer than if I had just said hey, I'm gonna do insanity. I am learning to do workouts for an extended period of time it is about where your mind is. As they said on the show you have to separate your mind from your body and for whatever reason I'm just figuring this out. I can usually last 20 minutes in a workout which isn't bad, but I'd like to push myself and be the type that can workout for hours throughout the day. I skipped the fit test because that isn't my focus and I have done the fit test the first time I did this program and know I am in need of a good shape up lol. I am sore from my workout yesterday, which was the s.w.a.t one. My workout routine will be monday-friday because saturday and sunday are devoted to maddy and she won't let me workout right now lol. I won't be doing insanity every single day because i do get bored with workouts over time and where as insanity changes it up here and there it is ultimately the same type of routine. If you know anybody interested in learning about workout programs or just want support in losing weight please pass my blog along to them. I am looking for new followers and would love to help out any way i can.
I am so proud of myself for remembering I have a camera now that I can take pictures with. When me and Maddy got home we headed straight for the kitchen to eat bite bites. I let her choose where she wants to sit: her highchair, her booster seat, or a regular seat at the table. I try to steer her toward her booster seat, but tonight she wanted in her high chair. Her dinner was spinach and cheese ravioli and juice. A while back I bought her this cute cup at old navy that has a straw that she can't pull out. She is always pulling out her straws and ends up throwing them so I thought this would help teach her not to do that. I wasn't thinking, however, that it wouldn't be spill proof and she dumped a lot of cherry icee on her (i believe) white shirt. Mommy was not very happy that day, but I wasn't mad at her..just frustrated at myself for not thinking of the cons. I decided to let her use her cup with her dinner tonight and she did so well with it. Not once did she try to turn it upside down...she actually wanted to drink from it so mommy just gave her all kinds of praise and she loved it. Here are some pics:

After dinner Maddy let me know that it was book time. She grabbed the book and we headed to the couch. One of the books we read all the time is called, "Goodnight Gorilla."

After we read the book a few times Maddy decided she wanted to watch tv. This still amazes me that she asks for the tv because this child has never been a tv person. I'm still hoping I will be able to take her to at least one wiggles show but I don't know if she is going to like them or not...she loves their dog though lol.

After a little tv it was time to take everything out of her shopping cart and then put it all back in. She likes to hand me items in her cart one by one and then once she is done she tells me to put it back. She is a very routine child.

She is also a very good mama. She carries her baby around with her everywhere she goes. She used to only carry one baby, but she has become ok with holding the one in this pic as well.