I saw a blog post on Momastery about how she had to make homemade play-doh for her daughter to take to school and it made her feel like a total rockstar. I totally know that feeling! One of her comments was that, for the first time, she had to buy flour and salt at the grocery store (her husband usually shops and they don't often bake). It made me realize how fortunate we all are to have our own talents and that we should cultivate those rather than bemoaning the things we can't do well. I am so incredibly impressed by the moms who can sew, in particular. Some days I think I would like to learn how to sew but honestly, I think I am too impatient and can't imagine being able to do it. I'm also impressed by moms who vacuum every day, actually scrub their floors, or go running. If you've been to my house or know me, you know that's not what I do well. In my house, I am a good baker and I am good at validating and am fairly patient. Outside my house, I am pretty good at my job and I am magical at finding things on the internet. But none of those things make me feel like a superhero. Those superhero moments come at the funniest times. I imagine moms of multiple kids have them much more often. Here are times I felt like a superhero:
My first lunch date where I drove with a baby in the backseat. I drove. After a 6-week hiatus. And I had a tiny human in my backseat. We made it to Chili's alive.
The first time I roasted a whole chicken. Any time I magically *also* am able to carve the chicken in a way that doesn't look like a wild animal got a hold of it before it hit the table.
The day that I went to work, took A to get her flu shot, and made it back to work on time.
When I made baby food in the food processor.
Putting together toddler toys and furniture by myself.
Packing a tornado bag and getting a baby and 2 dogs out the door when there was severe weather.
Chad's first full week working out of town.
The moment right before the first guest walks in to a birthday party.
One time when every towel in our house was clean at the same time.
Almost every time I'm leaving the grocery store with a child who isn't screaming or crying.
Whenever a teacher or administrator suggest I am doing something right.
Those moments when A wants a snack or needs a wipe from my purse and I have one!
Thinking about these made me smile and also made me realize that I need to focus on them more in the moment! I mean, who doesn't want to feel like a superhero?
In case I don't mention it enough, we live in tornado alley. Our biggest Christmas gift this year was installing a storm shelter.
Back in 2011, we found out that the city of Stillwater was applying for a FEMA grant to help homeowners purchase storm shelters. We immediately signed up but then didn't hear anything about it until recently. The grant covers 75% (up to $2,000) of a professionally installed shelter. Ours was completed today and I couldn't be happier. It still ended up costing $800 but we consider this a wise investment and know that we will sleep more soundly at night.
As you can see, the shelter was installed in our garage. The process lasted approximately 3 hours and was relatively painless on our part.
I plan to put a couple of waterproof boxes in there with our tornado preparations (with some additional items like glow sticks, flashlights, batteries, towels, and a weather radio). Each spring, we will inventory what needs to be discarded and replaced. We thought our friends and family outside the state might be interested in the whole process so Chad took a few photos and videos. We have to wait 7 days for everything to dry/set, otherwise we would take pictures inside for you to see. The shelter we got "seats 7" though really I can't imagine hunkering down there with that many people. I think it will feel tight with me, Chad, A, and the puppies. And that's okay. Our hope is that we never really need to test it out. It'd still be the best $800 we ever spent. :)
For sweet pea, this week has been so up & down, health and otherwise. That's why it has taken me so long to get back to the blog. On Wednesday I got a call that A had a fever of 101 so I went to pick her up from school. She had been coughing since Memorial Day and had run a low-grade fever. We just thought it was a combination of allergies and teething. But when I got her home from school, she was wheezing as well so I made an appointment for Thursday.
Thursday, Alaina seemed great. Because of the school's "24 hour (fever-free) rule" I kept her home and we hung out. We even had lunch with Drs. Beasley and Wingate. :) She was so excited, she missed her morning nap.
We had a few hours before her doctor's appointment, so I stopped in work to do a few things and let A hang out. Let's be honest, the only real reasons I went to work was because there was a parking space open right in front of our building and it had been awhile since some of the faculty, staff, and students had gotten to see A.
I accidentally left my phone in the car and right as I was about to head home so that A could get some rest, a friend stopped me to say Chad was trying to get in touch with me because there was a storm moving in our direction. His work was sending people home so he was going to pick up the dogs and meet me in my office. The psychology building is a safe building during storms. We hung out in my office until the coast was clear. Our county got a tornado warning but fortunately, the storm was about 20 miles from us. Baby A took the time to explore my office and take a good nap.
Following the storm, we had just enough time for Chad to run the dogs back home and make our appointment. A's fever had gone down the night before but I was still a little concerned about her wheezing. The nurse and doctor were also wary. Her pulse-ox was a little low, but wasn't terrible. They started her on a breathing treatment right away, though. At first A didn't really mind the nebulizer but she started getting antsy and nervous. We explained everything that was happening and validating her concerns, which I think was helpful.
The pediatrician came back and said that it could be a viral infection, walking pneumonia, or asthma. We talked about what to look for in her breathing and were prescribed an albuterol inhaler. She also ordered a chest x-ray and a blood test. As you can imagine, A was not a fan of either of those things. By the time we got home, poor thing was pretty exhausted.
However, the next morning she seemed to be doing a lot better. The nurse called and said the results were all negative and they thought it was probably just a virus. However, they were concerned that she was still wheezing and coughing so, in addition to continuing the inhaler, we also started a round of prednisone. Both of those can cause yucky side effects like irritability and nervousness. I had heard they can also increase a kid's appetite but A wanted nothing to do with food once she started them. So she pretty much vacillated between extreme grumpiness and sunniness.
Here are a couple of adorable videos of Miss Sunshine.
Speaking of sunshine...mine & Chad's 10 year wedding anniversary was Friday night. Unfortunately for us, there was more bad weather predicted and this time we heard that Stillwater was in the "crosshairs". As soon as we got home from work, we loaded up the car with our tornado preparations, got the dogs together, and quickly cooked a frozen pizza. It was kind of a mess--2 dogs, 2 adults, and a baby have a lot of stuff and a lot of logistics had to be worked out (finding a spot in the basement, keeping everyone happy, accessing weather information online, etc.). Every May/June, I think long and hard about starting to save for a tornado shelter in the garage! By the time tornado season ends, though, it's generally not on my mind. Maybe someone should remind me in January. :) This year, I had the added concern of having family living in Oklahoma. The tornado that hit El Reno got a little too close to Yukon. I am glad Kris is at least smart and is getting a shelter installed this August. We were all very fortunate that the storms bypassed us. I am always so thankful.
We had a good weekend, though. On Monday, A started her first day of the 1-year classroom. She has been going to visit on occasion but this was her first full day. They said she did really well. Her mid-day nap was short and she ended up falling asleep outside on a bean bag chair. Poor thing. On the drive home, my usual chatty little girl didn't make a peep. Chad and I were chuckling because she was just so tired. However, then she proceeded to throw up all over Chad's shirt. I kept her home from school again today and she seemed perfectly fine. She ended up sleeping a lot yesterday evening and today but it's still unclear if this was just a quick virus or if it was the stress of the new class and new food (she had some sort of breakfast pizza that we wonder about along with a salad and crackers with cream cheese and raisins...). She slept until 9 am and then had a 2.5 hour nap so hopefully that will help her recover. I was hesitant to feed her much at first. We started with pedialyte and then moved to crackers but she was pretty mad I wasn't feeding her fast enough! We ended up having a really nice day today. Hopefully we can get back on schedule tomorrow, though. I've been out from work for basically a week.
I can't really post today without getting emotional. It's a sad day in Oklahoma as we watch our neighbors in Moore deal with the devastation from the very deadly tornado that hit. If you want to help, there are lots of ways--even if you aren't in Oklahoma.
Money is always needed and disaster relief organizations could use your help. One of the easiest ways to help is to text "REDCROSS" to 90999 for a $10 donation to the Red Cross or "storm" to 80888 to donate $10 to the Salvation Army (you will then receive a free message that asks you to confirm your donation). The donation is then charged to your phone bill. Feed the Children is another non-profit organization, actually based in Oklahoma City, that accepts donations online.
For those in or near Oklahoma City, Feed the Children has locations (29 N. McCormick and KOCO 5 News station) accepting donations of bottled water, sports drinks, diapers, canned food, boots, work gloves, and tools. The Salvation Army will be collecting donation at the KFOR-TV station.
For those on campus, you can stop by the OSU Campus Life office Tuesday-Thursday to drop off personal care items (e.g., toothbrushes, baby diapers/wipes/formula, soap), batteries, hand sanitizer, and other necessities. Other companies in Stillwater are also arranging donation drives. For example, the 19th Hole has already loaded up a truck of supplies and taken them to Moore.
All evening I have struggled. I am so heartbroken and am also so very grateful for my family and friends who are safe. We are especially thankful for our precious little girl--who loves the wind as much as her momma. She doesn't yet know the damage the wind can cause.
So many of our friends and family get nervous when they see tornadoes in Oklahoma so I thought I would take a little time to talk about our preparedness. Around this time of year, I get a lot of texts and emails asking if we are safe or paying attention to the weather (and thank you so much! It means a lot that you care!). We are very "weather-aware" and don't take storms lightly. The one thing I think most people don't realize is that, out here, we get a lot of lead time before a tornado outbreak occurs. I knew last Thursday that we would be glued to the weather on Sunday and Monday. We typically even have a good idea of what time bad weather may hit, for example, I knew to watch the weather today between 1-5 pm and around 9 pm. I am very, very amazed with meteorology. While I sometimes complain about rain predictions, having the NWS in your state makes you pretty spoiled to good estimations for severe weather. Chad and I are pretty prepared for various scenarios. If we are both home, we would load up Alaina, the dogs, and our supplies (more about that below) to take to the university. If we are at work, Chad would pick up Alaina and I would pick up the dogs and we would meet back at OSU. My office is in a building that is a "shelter" so it's one of the safer places to be in Stillwater. It only takes about 8 minutes to get there so we generally have plenty of time. We would huddle (/have huddled) in the lower level/basement in an interior hallway.
Every spring, Chad and I have discussed having a storm shelter installed. People (including us) have been surprised to hear that most homes in Oklahoma don't have basements (clay soil/water line = bad combo for basements apparently). However, you can get a storm shelter installed fairly inexpensively. We have looked into getting one put in our garage. This is nice because that way you don't have to actually leave the house and you are less likely to have "critters" taking up residence in your shelter in the off season (I would imagine they are less likely to get leaks and such as well). The only downside is that you could be stuck under the rubble of a house. But that seems worth it to me. Now that we have Alaina, this seems like it may be more of a priority.
As part of our tornado preparations, I like to get things ready so that we can just grab our bags and get the family in the car in just a few minutes. This includes some water, granola bars, raisins, and other snacks, the iPad or laptop, our phones, and the chargers as well as the dogs' food and a couple of bones. I keep a spare kennel in my office closet that is big enough to fit Jasper and Madeline. I should note, we have been fairly well insulated from severe storms where we live so I tend to just take enough for us to spend an evening at the university. Most emergency kit tutorials suggest packing 72 hours worth of supplies. This year I created a mini-bag for Alaina as well.
We included:
Water
Sippy cup
Snacks (baby goldfish and puffs)
Diapers
Wipes
Easy squeezable pouch food
Toys
Bib
Spare sleeper
Blanket
Wash cloth
Baby tylenol and medicine dispenser
Bottles for milk
I'll keep the bag packed for the remainder of tornado season and hopefully next year we can just store some supplies in our new shelter. If not, I'll rotate things to make it more developmentally appropriate.
Again, we are so thankful to be safe and are grateful for all the thoughts and prayers for us and for Oklahoma.
