My Little Chickadee has Chicken Pox


And it makes me really sad!


Cora had a mild fever on Monday and Tuesday, and then she woke up with red spots on Wednesday. I thought it might have been a reaction to a certain food she'd eaten, but they just kept getting worse. The picture is what today, day two, looks like. They just keep coming.
She got chicken pox from the chicken pox vaccine. I knew there was a small chance she could have a reaction, as there is with any vaccine. She got the vaccine on the 16th, and her spots showed up 9 days later. According to a bit of research I did, 3-5% of children who get the vaccine will get chicken pox from it, though it's supposed to be a milder case. And it's rare that any of the 3-5% are contagious. I hope that's true because I went to visit a friend who runs a day care out of her home on Tuesday.
Part of the rash on her lower back is eczema. We were going to try acupressure on the day her pox showed up to see if it would help clear the eczema up. We rescheduled for next Wednesday.
For now we're staying away from people, which isn't too unlike most days. ;) She's been really cuddly. I like that.

Sleeping Alone

Jake will be heading off to Chicago for an admitted student visit. He wanted Cora and I to come with him, but I didn't really want to make a quick trip with a one year old. I also don't want to spend money traveling until we for sure where we'll be.

So in one week, I will spend the first night of my married life at home without Jake. It has been over five years since I've slept alone, with the exception of three nights at girls camp the summer of 2007, which was the very first time we'd ever been a part. I spent one night with my cousin Megan the night before Kalli's wedding - also the summer of 2007. I keep thinking about what it will be like.

I'm not afraid of being alone. I've just never really done it before.

I feel like a little girl wondering if I'll be brave enough to make it through the night. I keep trying to squash the little bit of anxiety that keeps bubbling up with the thought of stretching out across the whole bed. And then that brave voice in my head gives a loud confident laugh followed smugly with "the whole bed all to myself." There might even be some thumb twirling, like I'm hatching an evil plan...like jumping on the bed for an extended period. [Except that our bed is really old, and occasionally makes popping sounds when I jump on it not in evil plan mode.]

Don't judge, you're not living if you're not jumping on your bed. And that's a fact, not a judgment. ;)

A Special Treat

Cora's 12 month check-up was on Monday. She got five shots and had some blood drawn to check her iron level. Two days later, she is still running a low grade fever, and has the runniest nose I've ever seen. She's also drooling a lot, so I'm sure we're in for another tooth. We have the best timing when it comes to immunizations and teething. ;)

She weighs 19 pounds 14 ounces, and she is 30.5 inches long. The nurse came back in to make sure she'd measured her right because of how long she is in relation to her weight. Her weight is in the 10-25 percentile. Her height is in the 75-90 percentile, but when you combine to two it puts her in like the 5th percentile. Weird. She has always been long and skinny.

Practically perfect in every way.

I was long and skinny as well, until I stopped growing in 7th grade, and everyone got taller than me. I love seeing how we're the same. I can't wait to see if she gets taller than me. She's already a little less than 3 inches shy of being half as tall as me. I used to want to be 5'11", and if you can believe it, people used to call me long legs in elementary school. When I ended up at 5'3 1/4" I was a bit disappointed, but I was glad I wasn't average. I hate being in the middle somewhere.

At any rate, Cora has come a long way from her itty bitty 6.5, [5.8 when we brought her home, mind you] 19 inch size at birth. I will never forget the feeling when I saw the little blueberry body go passed me in the operating room. I was so overwhelmed with joy, disbelief, and a hefty amount of fear. She had arrived. You can read more about How Cora got Here - HERE

Time has been a whirlwind. I don't expect it to slow down. I can only hope to live each moment to the fullest because I know I can never get them back. I am blessed beyond measure to be a mother. Nothing, absolutely nothing in this world could ever top it.

Now for the special treat: This video is of Cora's birthday party at Gram and Offey's [Jake's parents]. She's waiting for her cake. The cake that I made her. ;) We sing her a song, and watch her for a few seconds as she tries to figure out what to do with it.

PS: Did you know that Cora has a birthday twin? She does! Her name is Haylee Nave. Haylee's mom and I went to high school together. We both enjoyed sharing our pregnancies together via myspace, and by miraculous chance, our daughters were born on the same day. You can see Haylee's first birthday festivities HERE

Shadows in the Sky

This evening was exceptionally beautiful.

Cora got five shots and had some blood drawn at her 12 month visit to the doctor. She weighs 19 pounds 14 ounces and is 30.5 inches long. Long and skinny, just like always.

I was holding her while making dinner - quesadillas. I glanced outside and saw a few clouds as the sun was starting to fall. They were wide and flat. The side facing the sky was glowing golden bright. The side staring at the ground reflected a bluish grey - the shadow of itself. It was stunning.

I can't believe my baby is one. It's weird how an unimportant date becomes so significant. February 15th. Her party was sweet. It included friends, family, cake, presents, and a new red wagon. This girl is going places.



A Thought Before I Lay Me Down to Sleep

I really love the way my backside looks in a great fitting pair of jeans.


It's too bad great fitting jeans are a rare find.


Preferences

I just finished categorizing my preferences for the University of Chicago's graduate housing. We heard from them so early! I need to hear from another school so I can divert some attention. I've invested hours looking through the list of buildings, studying their floor plans, comparing rent, included utilities, location, amount of windows, trees, on and on and on! I know Hyde Park like the back of my hand from seeing it on Google maps. I wish I could go on street view through all the streets...maybe. Satellite view doth suffice.

The following is list of building numbers, in numerical order, kind of, with my preference number at the very beginning. The other letters and numbers are useful comparisons for me. All of it will be meaningless without following the link. You can click on the numbers that correspond with the building number.

The Link

1. 15 - H,W,G – 964-1072 [2 bed] unit 1100
2. 16 - H,W,G – 943-966 [2 bed] unit 5418E or 5410E
5. 21 - All – 956 [2 bed] unit 302
3. 22 - H,W,G - 981-991 [3 bed] unit ANY
3. 23 - H,W,G - 981-991 [3 bed] unit 1322 or 1323
3. 24 - H,W,G - 981-991 [3 bed] unit 1336 or 1337
4. 25 - H,W,G - 931–1076 [2 bed] unit 1

Thunderstorms in February

Yesterday was quite, eh, eventful?

It's February 10, Jake and I are at Crown Heights Christian Church doing our civic duty, voting for chair of the Oklahoma City Public School Board. It's stormy, the kind of weather I love. Really I just love the way cool humidity feels. Jake has the car started and is listening to NPR. I'm buckling Coco in her car seat. As I close her door I hear the emergency signal come on the radio I walk around and get into the car, shut the door. Oklahoma County is under a tornado warning. Jake puts Fit in reverse - and then it happens.

The tornado sirens go off.

I don't really know how to describe the swell of tornado sirens going off throughout a large city. I love listening to it at noon on sunny Saturday afternoons when they test the system, but when the sky is dark and the clouds are rolling, it's eerie. Everything stops for a few seconds.

When our few second pause was over, Jake put Fit into drive and pulled back into the parking spot to go into the church if we needed to. That's when "the radio" said where the tornado would potentially touch down. It was about 10 miles from us. We decided to go home, about a mile away. It was 2:12, 2:17 according to Fit, which runs five minutes ahead of schedule. I kept thinking about Oklahoma City high schools releasing at 2:10.

When we were driving passed the pedestrians, I wondered what it would be like to hear the sirens but not have anything telling you what was going on. Almost every car had their windows down - watching and listening.

We got home and turned on the news. The first tornado hit 10 miles away. Two tornadoes would follow the same path as the first. Edmond, a suburb to our north, was hit the hardest in the metro area. Not long after the third tornado went through, we lost power. It was out for about three hours. We brought our battery powered radio out to the living room, tried two different batteries in it, no luck. I called Vaughn, my father-in-law, who was at the fire station getting ready for a fire drill [he's a volunteer fire fighter], to see if we could get an update. He said it just looked like lots of wind and rain, but no tornadoes in our area. Phew.

Tracey, my mother-in-law called a little while later to give us an update. She kept us updated...not just on the weather, but, of course, The Biggest Loser as well. She also told us that some people had died as the storm went through Lone Grove, OK. This morning the total number of casualties is 8.



Photo by David McDaniel, The Oklahoman

Photo by David McDaniel, The Oklahoman

Photo by Bryan Terry, The Oklahoman


Hit the Road

I started running again. I thought I would start a long time ago, but alas, I have three days under my belt. It feels great. I didn't get out today. The wind was brutal.

I got out the running shoes I got for track my senior year of high school. I missed them. They're mostly white. I think all running shoes should be mostly white because of the way it looks - like lightning when one's feet are in motion. They've been good to me. My legs feels great.

It's nice to not run competitively, especially because I'm not very competitive. When I ran cross-country and track, I would have been completely content going to all of the practices without ever having to run in a meet. I was always terrified of coming in last place, which only happened once, my freshman year, in an 800M race, with only three girls.

I look forward to the rhythm of a run. I don't have a long, gorgeous stride. I take small, quick steps. I hate to run slow...or next to anyone. I believe I either inhale or exhale on every fifth step.

PhD Programs

Jake applied to nine different PhD. Programs. We've heard back from one of the nine, and it was good news. This is a list of where he applied, starting on the West Coast and moving east.

UCLA: Musicology
University of Minnesota: Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society - Not Accepted
University of Chicago: Musicology - ACCEPTED with 2/3 fellowship
The Ohio State University: Comparative Studies - Not Accepted
Yale: American Studies - Not Accepted
University of Pennsylvania: Musicology
University of Virginia: Critical and Comparative Studies
University of North Carolina: Musicology
Emory: Interdisciplinary Studies - Not Accepted

I'm really excited about Chicago. It's one of the top programs in the nation. We're still waiting to hear about funding, which is super important. They have totally decent graduate housing. It's all in Hyde Park, which just so happens to make me giddy.

Which is odd...

I don't like it when it's not sunny. I'm not a huge fan of cold weather. I'd like to love on a farm.

But...

I love old houses. I'm obsessed with public transportation. Diversity rocks my world.

And...

There's an LDS church in the middle of the neighborhood. Walk to church? You bet! Except for maybe in the freezing cold.

And...

Free museums, a farmer's market in summer, one of the largest art shows, TWO major airports. Did I mention public transportation? And an endless amount of stuff to figure out. I haven't been able to stop looking at neighborhood reviews, things to do, housing, etc. I hope I'm this excited about every school he's accepted to, but I instantly fell in love with Chicago. I can't imagine being as excited about Minnesota or Ohio or Philadelphia. Maybe though.

My Coco just woke up. Have fun day dreaming with me.

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