Sarah Grace Shedd

Exactly three years ago I was sitting in a hospital room in Cullman, AL starring at my second beautiful daughter. It all started when we were living in Auburn. I wasn't feeling good and thought I'd take a pregnancy test. Sure enough we were pregnant. Honestly I think those stinking tests are positive when I take them out of the box. I wasn't sure what to think Elizabeth was 2 and she and I were starting to get a routine of our own having just moved to Auburn. Jonathan decided not to go back to Smiths Station where he was teaching and coaching, so it was on with the job and housing search yet again. He was offered 2 jobs one at Verbena and one at Rudd Middle School. He took the middle school job and we found a house to rent in Cullman so that we would be close to family.We moved to Cullman in August and we had Sarah Grace in October.
Mom and Dad came and spent the night with us the night before we went to the hospital. We let Elizabeth spend some time with them before we took her to her Nanna's house. I cried like crazy when we left her. I felt terrible. I'm not sure why. I think I was a little scared about being induced and I guess I felt guilty for leaving her and changing her life. I knew the next time I saw her our family would be different. We were at the hospital before 5am the next morning. I went in and told them that I was checking in to be induced. I think I remember telling them that I was their first victim. We went back and I suited up and got all hooked up then they started the drugs. Everything went so fast that it's really hard to remember. I know that I went from 4 cm to 8 cm in 30 minutes and from there to delivery in about 15 minutes. Like I said it was really fast. I was glad it was fast because I remember them telling me to roll over. The combination of the petocin and the epidural caused her heart rate to drop. When I rolled over the epidural came out, so from there on it was a very painful experience. I remember thinking that it probably wouldn't be bad if I had prepared for child birth without drugs (You'll see how ironic that thought was next Saturday.) Sarah Grace was born on October 23, 2007 at 12:07 PM. She weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was beautiful! And once she was born her dad almost passed out. Instead of my mom taking care of me she was taking care of him while I was getting stitches. I do remember that part being pretty funny. I remember Nanna bringing Elizabeth after she took her to the doctor. She had a bad ear infection. Elizabeth held Sarah and fed her a bottle. She was a good big sister from day one! I was so glad to have my two sweet girls!
Here's a picture of my Sarah girl the day she was born and today on her third birthday!

Everyday life

Everyday when I go to work I get hit, kicked, stepped on, bit and even called a poo poo. I work 18 hour days and sometime a few hours at night, but I wouldn't change my job for anything in the world because I get to be mom. I have stayed at home with my kids for the last 4 years and as time for me to find a job (if all goes well I should student teach next fall) I get sadder and sadder. Even though I have LONG hours and don't ever really have time to relax I have thoroughly enjoyed most all of the last 4 years. Although they are not always little angels I think I have 3 of the best children in the world.
With that being said here's a glimpse of my every day life.
The alarm goes off at 5:40 am and slowly we roll out of bed. I make muffins or fix some type of breakfast for the kids. Sometimes I fix something for Elizabeth to eat when she gets to school since she goes so early (she's usually there by 6:45 because she rides with her dad).
I try with all my might to get them out the door without waking Sarah, but that doesn't always happen. Most mornings she's up between 6 and 6:30. We wave bye to Daddy and Elizabeth and we crawl back in bed for a few minutes of rest ( I rest she watches the Wiggles). When it's time for us to get up we get Cole and feed him breakfast. We get ready and on Tuesdays and Thursdays we take Sarah to preschool and head to the gym. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we go straight to the gym.
When we get home it's time to clean then lunch and naps.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays we pick up Elizabeth from school, so we postpone naps till we get her home. That way all the kids can rest. Nap time is my time to shower, clean and do a little school work. If nobody naps there's no time for any of that.
When nap time is over it's time to work on supper. After supper it's time to have quality family time for a while before baths and bed.
Of course there's never a dull moment here. The three little monkeys make sure of that and sometime routine is sometimes thrown right out the window, but that's our day. In between are times of giggles, cries, shouts, and of course whines, but somehow or another we always get through it. There are of course days where I watch the clock and wait on time for Daddy to get home so that I have some help, but there are other days where we are absolutely fine, but we still miss our Daddy.

Picture time

I remember how hard it was to get a picture of Elizabeth when she was smaller. The truth is the more kids you add to the mix the harder it is to get the picture you want unless you want kids with thumbs in their mouth and sippy cups in there face. Here's proof! We work so hard to get one good picture of the kids! I usually shoot videos and then pull out still shots.

Dolphin Cruise

We went on a Dolphin Cruise with the Cold Mil Fleet. They took two ships out and when one ship found dolphins the other would come along beside it and the dolphins would jump and play in the wake of the boats. It was absolutely amazing. The first dolphins we found did beautiful jumps and while we were trying to find more Cole and Sarah fell asleep. The second set of dolphins did belly flops in the water. I kid you not on the video you can hear the dolphins hit the water! It was the most amazing thing I've ever done at the beach! I would recommend a dolphin cruise to anyone going to the beach.

Orange Beach

We went to Orange Beach for 3 days and 2 nights. It was so much fun. The kids loved playing in the sand and the gulf. My favorite thing on the beach was watching them sit in the sand right by the shore and squealing with delight as the waves washed over their laps. It was a beautiful few days and we did not want to leave.

Tinkerbell Cake

For almost a year now our Sarah has been saying, "I had a Tinkerbell cake. I was a little baby." She's never had one and she has prayed for one since last Christmas, so today we went to Publix and ordered her a Tinkerbell cake for her upcoming 3rd birthday. I'm excited for her, but sad that all my little babies are growing up.
We took Jonathan to the doctor and then went to get something to eat and we put Cole in a high chair. I thought about it and then told Jonathan that this time last year Sarah was in a regular chair. We talked about wanting him to stay a baby for a while, but with his 2nd birthday coming up I don't think that's possible. Truth is all my babies are growing up. That's a sad thing for this momma to admit. I want them to grow up and be men and women of God, but at the same time I want them to need me. I don't guess I can have my cake and eat it too this time.