Paci Blues and Such

Today was a big day at our house. I decided last weekend that this weekend I would start taking paci away from Maddy. I have always believed in not rushing things like taking paci away, but lately Maddy just has it 24/7, whereas she used to only want it when she got tired or hurt. I decided I needed to go ahead and start weaning her now before it became extremely difficult. I must say I was really nervous over how today would go and was scared I might give in and give it to her but that was not the case. We had a birthday party to go to today so we packed up the car with no paci and off we went. She did ask for her paci but she got over it pretty quickly. As we were driving down the road all of a sudden she just starts whining. I looked back and saw the door to her cd player was on her hand so I told her to open it. Next thing I know she is just boo hooing and I realized something was really wrong with her hand. I pulled over and sure enough she had her finger stuck up in the opening of the slot where the cd's go through and to make matters worse the cd was helping to pin her finger down. Anytime I touched her toy she just screamed in pain and it just broke my heart. I finally figured out that if I turned the cd player upside down her hand would not be twisted and then I could get the cd out and then her finger would be released and it worked like a charm. When I first saw her finger I was so scared it was broke because it looked funky. I quickly rubbed her hand and she just looked at me but instantly calmed down. I was shaking so bad and believe me I about just swooped her up and ran into bi-lo to buy her a paci but I knew I had to stay strong and I was proud of both of us for getting through that incident without paci. After the birthday party we went shopping and got some cute clothes for Maddy.

These are just a few of the things we bought. Tomorrow we are headed down to Calhoun, GA to the outlet mall to go to OshKosh, Carters, Old Navy, and the children's place. Maddy is sound asleep in her room...and so happy to have paci might I add lol.

Never Grow Up

This morning Maddy was not ready to get up, which caused her to be quite moody. I completely understand how she feels on these mornings. I realized later on today that I felt sad and as I sat there trying to figure out what was wrong with me it hit me like a ton of bricks. I had just watched Maddy's slideshow I made and the song by Taylor Swift-Never Grow Up really got to me lol. I then realized or I think this is the case anyways that me and Maddy didn't really get any cuddle time in this morning. I started missing Maddy like crazy today and that is the only logical explanation I could figure out. I am beginning to realize just how much she is growing up and it does make me a little sad as it does most moms, but I'm not so sure if most moms feel sad about their kids growing up at THIS age lol. For some reason I feel like a lot is changing in life and in a way I am ready to throw on the brakes and say whoa horsey! There isn't really a whole lot changing per say...there is...but there isn't. It amazes me just how much Maddy is growing and how much of an independent little girl she is becoming. She drinks from cups without lids now...no I don't let her do this in the car or when we are eating out. I am working still on passy. Tonight just happened to be a blessing because her passy clip hurt her foot real bad...I really don't know what happened. I know she stepped on it but what I'm unsure of is if it pinched her foot closed in it or if she just stepped on something sharp. Either way she was not very happy with her passy afterwards and I used that to my advantage. I told her passy just needed to be thrown away. It was funny the look she gave me because she wanted to throw passy but at the same time she just wasn't sure about giving it up. She made sure to tell it no several times and then she finally decided to throw it in the trash. Her version of throwing passy...and only passy...in the trash is sitting it on top of the lid. She is in bed without passy and so far is doing great. She not once asked for it. I would so love to just take passy now while she is mad at it but I don't think taking passy in the middle of a school week is very good for her. I was going to start taking it this weekend and instead of throwing it away I plan to only let her use it for nap and bed time. Anyways, that should have been a different post. Bottom line is I really missed Maddy a whole bunch today and and this song is a song I will sing to her a bunch because I don't want her to grow up too fast even though she already is. Before I do I have to say it was very exciting tonight because Maddy finally used the potty at home tonight for the first time. She has gone at school a couple of times but never at home (and that is my fault) but tonight I caught her just at the right time and voila. I had mini m&m's for her which she really enjoys but she decided she would rather eat a whole apple instead of chocolate lol. This child will sit and eat an apple as if she has done it all her life. She ate one starting last year and she just sinks her teeth into it, peel and all, and just eats it like an adult would. She amazes me everyday.

iPhone 4s

This doesn't have much to do with my blog in general, but it kinda does lol. This blog is about life as Maddy's mommy and part of my life includes my entertainment...my phone. For those who do not know, I previously had a HTC EVO. When I first bought that phone I absolutely loved it. It had an amazing camera and let me do so much more than my Blackberry ever did. I primarily bought it because it was the closest thing Sprint had at the time to the iPhone. I quickly realized the battery life was horrible and then recently I started having problems with it to where sometimes it would work and other times it would not. The first time it stopped working the dude said it just needed the update. I went with what he said up until this last time. It started acting just like it did the first time and I knew this time it was not the battery and I feel quite certain it wasn't the update either. If there was an update, it didn't tell me there was one like it normally does. To cut to the chase, with the help of my mom I was finally able to get the iPhone 4s today. There are pros and cons to it, but so far I am really excited to have it. The main con for me is the screen size is smaller than my evo was. The evo has a crisp, clear, and huge screen whereas the iPhone is smaller and not as wow with the clarity. The biggest pro for me is the battery life. Right now battery life is more important, especially with a toddler. The camera is not as easy to use on the iPhone as it was the evo but it is 8 mp and has front and rear camera like my evo. I really like how the iPhone fits in my hand, whereas the evo was more bulky and harder to carry. The other functions are pretty much the same. Yes, the evo has 4g (not mine because my area does not have 4g) and is a tad bit faster but again that does not matter so much to me right now. I would buy another HTC, but I would do some research on the battery life prior to buying as I really need my phone to be available when I need it. At this point I would buy another iPhone as well...especially if they would make the screen bigger which I hear they will on the next one. Once my 2 years is up with this phone I have no idea whether I will go with the newer iPhone or get something else. I will just have to weigh the pros and cons of each phone available. I just wanted to do a mini review between the two phones and to say I am very excited to finally have an iPhone in my hands and also to have a working phone in my hands again. I feel much safer while traveling :)

Pumpkin Patch

This was our first time going to a pumpkin patch. I've been to one when I was around six but I don't really remember it very well. We decided to take Maddy to the Mayfield Dairy Farms pumpkin patch and hay ride. The weather was really warm today so we went in sleeveless shirts and capris lol. I have nothing but good things to say about Mayfield's farm. They had plenty of activities for the little ones. We left around three to go have some fun.

 Maddy was trying to milk the cows, but apparently the cows were all dried up lol. It was actually water and the bucket needed to be refilled :)

 They had lots of hay for the kids to run around in and jump off of and slide down. Maddy loved playing in this...mommy...not so much lol

 Maddy wanted to pick up every pumpkin. She did not understand the point of us being out there, but she really had a fun time with the pumpkins.

 This is her giving some attitude, but she really wasn't pitching a fit or anything. She usually poses like this if she has just screamed NO! I think she was just trying to fold her arms like adults do sometimes.

 They were sooo cute!

 The goat is the only thing that would come up to us. Maddy loved petting him or her

This was the neatest thing. It's a corn box. I enjoyed putting my hands in there myself. We also did the tire swing, something else Maddy really enjoyed. I am starting to try to get rid of passy because she seems to be clinging to it more than she used too instead of less. I also don't like that she always has it in her mouth for pictures and you can't see her pretty smile. She really does laugh and smile a lot but it's so hard to catch on camera...especially with passy lol. I hope to make this a tradition and once she gets a little older I want to go towards the night time and sit by the bonfire and do the corn maze.

Friday Night Lights

After only having one hour sleep last night and starting work at 4 a.m. and not getting off until 5 p.m., you bet I am exhausted lol. I have school work to do that was due yesterday but I had to share our evening with you guys. My aunt and uncle wanted to take their granddaughter, who btw is only 8 months younger than Maddy, to a local football game. We went to my old high school and I haven't been there in about ten years lol. We started out eating at my favorite restaurant, Olive Garden. I cannot tell you how happy I was that we ate there. I am not the type of person to really savor my food, but I did savor every bite I had tonight. I usually like to try some of the new dishes, but tonight I decided to stick to a great classic, chicken alfredo:

Olive Garden knows how to do their kids menu and actually have very realistic looking pictures of the food. They are the only place I can usually get Maddy to point to tell me what she wants. She chose a kid favorite...macamoni aka macaroni and cheese. I can't find a picture of it right now so I will skip that. We then piled in the car and went to try to get my phone with no such luck. Then off to watch some Friday night football. As we drove up I heard the band playing and tears came to my eyes unexpectedly. I used to be in the band and it was so much fun and something I really miss doing. I was very surprised Maddy did as well as she did, but she just sat in my lap and watched football. When the player got hurt I think she got worried about him. She also enjoyed the music the band played. Her cousin Aria enjoyed the band in a whole other spectrum than Maddy. Maddy wanted to watch the action on the field and Aria was all about watching the band and nothing else. I quickly realized the minute I stepped out of the car just how much I have grown myself. I wasn't worried about being embarrassed like I used to be ten years ago. I didn't care that I had no make-up on and was basically wearing mom clothes lol. When we walked through the gates it was nothing but teenagers saying all kinds of cuss words and I realized that I would never be ready for Maddy to go to high school. Teenagers are faced with so much throughout high school and I decided in my head that maybe I would home school her lol. I wasn't able to get a whole lot of pictures because Maddy was in my lap most of the time but I got a couple.

 It was homecoming night

Late Night Ramblings

I have been up and down with school here lately. One day I am quitting the other day I am going to attempt to make it through.  Prior to our cruise dropping out was never an option. I may have thought about it all the time but I always found my determination to finish this race. Once we came back from the cruise and I was sick I lost all determination. I was not sure where I stood with school and just assumed I would have to drop out because I can't afford to pay for classes. I was given a second chance so to speak. I was able to drop one class and only have to pay half of that class back and I was supposed to have worked on assignments starting on Thursday. Thursday night came and I could not make myself log into school. I almost viewed school like I do work...it's just too stressful sometimes and I was not ready to deal with everything that comes with school. I'm not ready to go back to sleepless nights and I certainly am not ready to go back to having absolutely no free time whatsoever.  I decided to work on Maddy's slideshow instead and would figure school out another day. Friday came and once again I was supposed to have worked on school, but I would not allow myself to log in. I decided the sleepless nights were not worth it anymore, especially with the holidays coming up. I was wanting to enjoy the holidays instead of missing them as I did on Mother's day because I'm sure I will have some paper due on Christmas and that is just not going to happen. All weekend I just kept telling myself that dropping out was the best solution. I want somebody to tell me what I am supposed to do, but unfortunately I am the only person who knows what to do. I decided before I dropped out I would pray about it. Getting my degree has always been my dream and in fact before I found out I was pregnant with Maddy I was preparing to go to school. I started wondering if my going to school now was me just wanting to do what I wanted to do or if God supported me. When I first enrolled in school I honestly believed it is what God wanted me to do. I received an error at work on Friday...right before I was logging out for the night...and since I am supposed to not be worrying about production to help my quality come up I panicked. That one error has messed my entire month up unless it goes on September's numbers and if I am slowing down to ensure good quality...what are the next steps going to be for me. When I received that error it definitely kick started my motivation to finish school once again. Apparently it wasn't quite enough motivation because over the weekend I spent time with my nieces and nephew and of coarse Maddy. I decided Monday I would start back and try to make up work. After work Monday night I had it in my head that I was going to work on school no matter what. I open my laptop up and next thing I know I am falling asleep. Once again I started leaning toward dropping out. It was obvious my body had reached its limit a long time ago. Tuesday I receive yet another error at work. By this point I am really stressing. I remembered my interview I had a couple weeks ago and thought maybe that would be my outlet but my application is only good for 30 days and I would have thought I would have heard something by now on the other job openings she was telling me about. Once again I was feeling defeated. I watched the movie Flywheel and once again was reminded that God usually shows up at the last minute possible. Here we are on Wednesday and I am so proud to say that I did log into school tonight and made up the only assignment I could. I will have to work really hard to keep my grade at a passing level, but I do believe it is doable. I have my determination back and I have facebook friends to thank for that. I have seen a few statuses tonight that both said, "Do not give up." The first one I saw I wondered if God meant that for me but I didn't have that aha moment so I just dismissed it. I read my bible this morning and it was Ecclesiastes 8 and I saw in there basically to keep my eyes on the Lord and from Him I will gain wisdom. Low and behold right as I was working on school I saw someone else post about not giving up. When I saw that post I was like okay God....I will not give up. I am still praying about school and will work on it until the door is completely shut. I will also continue praying about my job situation and trust the Lord to take care of me. 

On another note I am so happy to say that Maddy's 2nd year slideshow is done. I still have more video to add to it, but it is currently lost and it may never be found again lol. I will make a slideshow every year because even though they take a lot of work they are really fun. I will not just rely on slideshows for memory sake. I still want to scrapbook about her life, but that takes a little more time and money and I don't really have a lot of either right now. 

I have a lot to say about Maddy but will make that another post as this one is becoming quite long. I will post a random music video in here just because I can lol.

Zumba

I apologize up front for any typos in this post. I am using my phone and usually miss all the mistakes. This morning my mom and I went to our first zumba class. Can I just say, apart from feeling really awkward, that class is so much fun! I am already addicted to it even though I need tons of practice. Today hasn't been the best day. I received an error at work and I am supposed to he bringing my quality up and with one error I have blown this month. I also got a lovely packet from the IRS stating they were auditing me. Normally I would have been super stressed, but zumba has really helped me have a good day despite these issues. My wording is a little off in that last sentence...I don't worship zumba or anything like that. It is just an outlet for me to reduce stress. I will come back later and post a video of zumba. This class will help me come out of my shell and work on my confidence level as well. I do not dance in front of people...especially not shaking my hips, which I cannot do by the way lol. By the end of the class I didn't feel so weird but knew I had work to do. Just wanted to share my zumba experience with you all :)
The video that I posted is the closest I could find on YouTube that was kind of similar to the class I went to. The instructor  has some latin in her and she is amazing at doing the moves. I don't think I will ever get as good as she is but I will try my best to get as close as possible. There is another class at the gym that according to a lady in the class we went to is more "white girl ish" for us girls who can't really shake our hips lol. I can't tell you enough how fun zumba is and would definitely recommend it to anybody who wants something fun and creative to do for a workout or stress reliever :)