Impending Storms

     I'm not sure if I'm the only one freaked out by the possibility of really serious storms tomorrow and on Sunday, but just the rain today has really freaked me out. I never used to be scared of storms before the May tornado. I actually used to love them. When I was a kid, a storm meant going to sleep over at my grandma's house who had a basement. My grandma always had a lot of snacks on hand and games to play while we waited out the storm. I can't believe I was so brave as a child because I was scared of everything else. Now as an adult with children to care for, my mother bear feeling comes out when there's a storm going on. I'm constantly trying to think of ways to keep my family safe if something were to happen. It doesn't help that we don't have a basement or any middle room without windows. We live in a ranch style house that is on top of a hill. I feel like we're just sitting ducks when a bad storm comes along. Anyways, with all the hype today about impending storms I've been trying to find different tips online about ways to stay safe during a tornado. Here's a great site with tips on what to have ready and where to go.Tornado Safety
    Lately, my husband and I feel as though storms are getting worse all over the world with hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and tornadoes. So we are very much into the idea of getting a storm shelter. They are expensive and we can't afford one right now, but we are going to start saving for one very soon. Here's a good site if you want to start looking into buying one for your family. Storm Shelters
    Anyways, if anyone hasn't watched TV at all today and hasn't heard of the possibility of severe storms this weekend then you should probably be ready and have a survival kit packed and on hand and avoid going out for a long period of time. I already have plans on bringing my family to my grandma's house, yes, the same house I went to as a kid. Sadly, this time won't be to have fun, but to keep my family safe. Here's a site that shows the weather alerts for today and the next couple of days. Weather Forcast I just wanted to warn everyone that I possibly know about this. I know I sound like I'm crazy, but I don't think I'll ever be normal again after the tornado that hit Joplin. I still remember everything that I did that day, including the whole morning when the weather looked completely normal to that night when we raced our car to my in laws house for safety. It was scary and I really want to move out of this area once I graduate.

Finding the Key to a Strong Relationship

As a kid my first example of a relationship was my parents, which wasn't a good one. If my parents were in the same room they would be yelling at eachother and tearing eachother down with every word. It was a horrable environment for me and my siblings. There were six of us kids all together. So early on we learned that relationships equalled a lot of fighting and stress. We carried out our fighting with one another and never got along. Most parents know that when kids get older they will mimic their parents behavior and words, and that's exactly what we did. As I got older I realized that our whole family was dysfunctional and I took it upon myself to help my family get closer. I read every book strong families and relationships that I could get my hands on. I even watched a tv series about mending relationships. So, after I made a decision to try and change my family I was found in the middle of every fight that went on, including the fights between my parents. I was never able to help my parents, but my siblings started to see the same thing that I saw and one at a time changed their behavior. Finally, I got to the point where I was engaged to my husband and really saw how much my family had changed. I felt accomplished even though my parents were the same, but I was scared of my family going back to their old habits once I was gone. I was gone for only one year when I had found out that things had escalated since I got married. My parents ended up getting divorced and my younger brothers were physically fighting and beating the crap out of eachother. I felt as though it was my fault that things got so bad, but I realized that I can't babysit my family forever. Eventhough things got bad for my family, I realized how much I had changed over the years with how I reacted in my marriage from the very beginning. I finally found the key to a good, strong, and enduring relationship. It's respect for one another and honesty. To this day my husband and I have never yelled at eachother. We do argue, but we respect and love eachother to the ends of the earth. So I wouldn't change a thing I went through growing up because I learned how to love and respect through the mistakes that occured in the beginning of my life. It made me who I am today.

I Love Easter!

I have two kids, as everyone who reads my blog knows by now, and having kids makes holidays so much more enjoyable. Easter is an especially fun holiday for me. Remembering back to last Easter, my son had finally understood that he must pick up the egg and put it in his basket. This year I'm hoping to see a little more of his competitive side. I believe that my son's personality is very similar to mine growing up. As a child I was very competitive, hyper, and just loved to have a good time. Is it bad that I want my son to find the most eggs and get the best goodies? I love to see him succeed and it would be so great if he could beat his older cousins to the eggs this time. I was telling my husband that we need to have a mock Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter so we can train him to win. He kind of snickered and looked at me like I was crazy. He just doesn't understand the fun of beating others. My husband obviously doesn't have one competitive bone in his body. He lets me win with everything, which I do like. I think it's so sweet of him. Anyways, I got him to agree to the Saturday Easter practice! It's on baby! It's on! Just thought I would let every parent know to watch out because my three year old with obliterate the competition! Also, I do want to say that I love the reason why we celebrate Easter too. It's just that I finally enjoy the Easter egg hunts and chocolate bunnies part of Easter now that I have kids. I definitely find Easter one of the holiest holidays of the year besides Christmas. I just can't wait to see Joey having fun with the other children. I especially can't wait until Kaitlyn can get in on the action too!

What are your views on Trayvon Martin

I kind of want to put in my two cents on this subject that was so widely spread by the media. If anyone hasn't heard of him, he is a 17 year old black male that was killed by a neighborhood watch. The neighborhood watch, George Zimmerman, pursued the young teenager and then shot him after an altercation. Full Trayvon Martin Story I know everyone has mixed views on what actually happened, but I believe that this child was innocent of any wrong doing. They have yet to arrest Zimmerman for killing Trayvon because he claims it was in self defense. In my point of view, Zimmerman shouldn't have followed Trayvon and this said altercation would have never happened. I'm definitely on the side of the parents in this case. Trayvon was not carrying any weapon with him, just skittles and a tea. Yet Zimmerman had a gun. It is possible that Zimmerman started the altercation just to use as a reason to shoot Trayvon. I believe that what really went down was a hate crime toward the fact Trayvon was african american. The FBI have even started their own investigation because they believe it to be a hate crime also. FBI Investigation Begins All I know is that if I were the parent of the child shot that I would be beside myself right now. The person who shot their baby is free right now to do whatever he wants. I mean what kind of neighborhood watch carries a gun with them. Zimmerman seems like someone looking for the kill. On the other side, he might just have a major paranoia disorder. Maybe paranoia is what led him to follow Trayvon in the first place. The sad thing is that we can only take Zimmerman's word for it. The only other witness is dead. You'd think our justice system would do more about this tragedy. Here's another little piece of information I found on a newspaper website: Zimmerman has already escaped arrest for the Feb. 26 killing because of a Florida self-defense law that "grants people more leeway to attack and even kill someone who is threatening him," wrote the Wall Street Journal. This law is absurd that you can attack someone and kill them just from a threat. This needs to be changed! Hate Crime? Anyways, I feel this law allows for too many loopholes for a killer. Trayvon deserves justice and isn't getting it

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/04/3530435/commentary-ethnicity-is-a-red.html#storylink=cpy

Update on the Daycare Problem

So, I just wanted to give an update on my son and daycare. Obviously I made the decision to take him out of  the daycare where I found him playing in the road. I decided for the rest of the semester to have him home with me since most of my classes are online. I remember how stressed I was at the beginning of the semester with him, but it's actually better now. I have all my classes organized and know exactly what I need to do and when I need to get it done. So this week went surprisingly well even with the three exams I had to take. I also have a 5 month old daughter Kaitlyn, but she has always stayed at home with me since all she does is sleep anyways. It will be sad when I have to take them to daycare in the fall, but at least they will be together. I also have the slight chance that their granny might watch them. She kind of hinted the other week that she was thinking about quitting her job and watching them while I was in the respiratory program. If she does decide to I will be one happy mom! She is one of the best mother in laws I could ask for and if she would watch them I would have no worries whatsoever. Although, before I started college I did work and had to bring my son to a daycare since he was three weeks old. So, I can handle it if I do have to take them. It is just more stressful to trust someone that's not family with the most precious things in your life. I'm probably really paranoid, but I feel like all mothers feel guilty for leaving their babies with someone else. It's just in our blood to care about the well being of our children. You may say why not just stay home if it bothers you that much, but I need to do this for myself and my family. My husband just makes enough for us to get by, but when I graduate he will be able to go to college and we will be better off financially. I want my children to grow up being able to be invlolved in whatever sport they want or have that extra help when they go to college. I never cared about going to college until my children were born. Many things change when someone is counting on you for their future. I hope someday my kids will understand why I chose to go to school and I hope they will be proud of me for making that choice.

Don't Give Up Baby Payton!

I thought I had been through some really rough times when Noah and I were starting our family, but one week ago I found out I was very wrong. One week ago my best friend growing up was pregnant with her second child, she had a previous miscarriage around the same time I had one. Little did she know that she would be the small percentage to have her baby girl early. Actually, early is an understatement, her baby was born at 24 weeks old exactly. That the age when only 50% of the babies born survive. I was scared and worried for her, I knew she loved this baby more than anything else in the world. Premature Birth Information To doctors, 24 weeks is the age of viability. So if the baby were born just the day before it wouldn't have survived. It's even a miracle that Lauren found out she was in premature labor. The day she found out she put an pregnancy app on her phone and the information for the day was about when to call your doctor. She only had one of the symptoms, but decided to call just to be safe. The doctor was worried and immediately called her to come in to be checked. When she had gotten there she was 3 cm dilated and the sac was coming out. Lauren was promptly sent to the main hospital to be put on bed rest, but nothing could stop this little girl from coming into the world. Luckily the doctors were able to keep her inside for the night. At midnight she was exactly 24 weeks and then the baby came. I was constantly checking my facebook to see any updates, but the updates stopped. No one knew she had her baby and right after started to hemorrhage. In the morning she updated everyone she knew that she was okay and so was the baby. They both had a rough night, but they had survived. She named her girl Payton. Payton This is my friend's facebook page and it has several pictures of her baby girl. She is one week old and a day now! The doctors are very hopeful, but she's still in the critical time of survival. They said if she could survive one week then her chances are great. This little girl is a fighter. She's at the Freeman Nicu right now and I can't wait to see her in person. Before this I always thought premature babies were from moms drinking and doing drugs, but now I see someone perfectly normal and doing everything right can go into premature labor. Here are the signs, so if you know anyone pregnant you can pass the word and maybe save a life like the pregnancy app did for Lauren's baby.Signs of Premature Labor

The life of a Mom.

 Today is one of those days that really shows what it's like to be a mom. This day is special because it was errand day. That means I run as many errands that I can squeeze into one day. This morning I dropped my husband off to work in Joplin then right after drove straight to Neosho to pay our car bill. While I was driving to Neosho my 3 year old figured out how to unbuckle his carseat. I turned around when I heard him whispering to himself, that always means he's doing something he knows is bad. When I saw him sitting up in the seat I totally freaked out. I started yelling at him to get back into his seat while he was laughing at me. He knew I had no power because I was driving. For the first time I wished my son wasn't as smart as he is. Finally, when I threatened a spaken he jumped into his carseat and buckled himself up. That was the first incident of the day. After paying for the car we leave back to carthage. Josiah somehow got into his chex mix snacks and starting chewing them and spitting them out as far as they could go. Of course I tried to stop him, but there's only so much you can do while driving on the highway. I pulled into the carthage wal-mart for my next errand, oil change. When I opened the door to his sister's side she was covered in chewed up chex mix. I was extremely mad at this point because she's only 5 months old and could have choked on those little pieces. So, I get the kids and go inside to find that the oil change will take 2 hours. I really needed one so I agreed to wait...it was a BIG mistake. Found right beside the car garage area were the toys! As soon as Joey spotted them he went bazerk! He started screaming and crying the loudest I've ever heard him. This continued for 2 hours. When I went to pick up the car I was practically in tears. I go up to the register to find out that they hadn't even gotten to my car yet and it would take another 45 minutes. So I left crying. Then I came home fed the kids and went to lay Josiah down for his nap. When I layed him down he looked at me and smiled and said, "I love you mommy." At that moment everything was ok again. Just one moment with my kids in a hecktick day can change everything. All the stress just melted away as if it never happened. I love my kids. Oh and I want to reccomend some other places where you can get oil changes because wal-mart is the worst place to go. Speed Lube in Carthage If you live in Carthage it has way better service than wal-mart ever had. I also wanted to post some tips on stopping tantrums because I googled it as soon as I got home.Ways to avoid Temper Tantrums And lastly I wanted to give any other parents in my class some ideas to reduce daily stress.Great tips to relieve Stress! To sum it up, days can be filled with stress, but it's how you look at it that really makes the difference in your attitude.