Christmas Travels

Christmas seemed like a whirl wind for us this year, but I don't think we'd have it any other way. We drove to TN on the Tuesday before Christmas. We enjoyed lots of activities while we were there. We found some amazing Christmas lights like nothing we had ever seen. The kids loved to watch the lights dance. We visited with Nanny and Grandaddy and Grandpa Ed and Grandma Sue. We saw aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins. The kids got to play with their second cousin Will and Cole was so excited that he wasn't the only boy! We even went to Cookeville and had breakfast with Uncle Joe-joe and Aunt Amanda.







We drove home Christmas Eve so we could have Santa at home. Christmas morning we opened presents and then had a Birthday Party for Jesus. We read the Christmas story and sang Happy Birthday, then we had cupcakes, of course. The kids got bikes and pillow pets from Santa.





After eating some muffins for breakfast we packed the car and headed to Cullman. We had a big time there too.






We even found time while we were there to play in the snow. Jonathan's friend Jared got his car hood he bought last winter and they pulled it with the truck around the field. Summer drove and was good when the kids were riding, but not so much when Jared and Jonathan would ride. She of course made sure their life insurance was up to date first. I won't mention the fact that she almost ran over my husband. Anyeay, here's the snow.








Poor Cole didn't know what to think about the snow. He finally got to run in it and the next time we went out it was so windy that he was miserable. Sarah was too once her hands got cold.

We had so much fun over Christmas break that I think we need more break!

A fun day

Normally I would not call a day of driving to TN with my kids a fun day even if Shedd is here to help, but yesterday wasn't bad at all. We stopped in Decatur to eat lunch and go to the bathroom and Elizabeth was telling us about a friend who had pulled a tooth. She went on to say that it hurt to eat when you have a loose tooth. I asked her is she had one and she bent one of her bottom front teeth down to her lip. Sure enough it's loose and today it is still barely hanging on. I must however not forget to mention that her father tried to pull it while we were eating lunch at McDonald's. He would stop short every time because he was afraid he would hurt her. He does have a heart after all.

Once we got to TN we spent a little time with my parents before he and I headedd out for date night. We went to Murfreesboro to Red Lobster and then to the Vandy/Middle Tennessee game. Yes, we watched basketball, but we had fun. After we ate we were headed back to the van and Shedd went to the passenger side I of course asked if he wanted me to drive. He said no, so I asked what was going on. He said he was opening the door for me. I sweetly informed him that the last time he did that was on our wedding day. We laughed and then headed to the ball game. Vandy won, of course. It was fun. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get some stocking stuffers for the kiddos.

Everyone was sleeping when we got home.

Blessings

My kids (although very wild at times) have been such a blessing to me lately. Elizabeth has been wanting to learn how to fold clothes lately, so the other day she helped me fold the basketball laundry. She folded the girls' uniforms and all the basketball towels. The she asked if she could fold our towel. I let her fold as much as she wanted and I didn't fix it when it wasn't perfect because I was so touched that she wanted to help.
Sarah Grace has been singing up a storm lately and she has such a precious little voice. I'm not sure what songs she's been singing. I think she's making them up, but they are so incredibly sweet.
I'm not sure what was going on with Cole the other day, but he climbed up in my lap and let me hold him for a long time while we watched Shrek. It was really sweet. He's usually entirely too busy to sit with me for more than a second, so it was such a sweet time.
Today is Elizabeth's last day of school before Christmas break. She has a program at 11:30 and then we get to bring her home.
Jonathan has a boys' basketball tournament this weekend, so I see lots of basketball in our future this weekend. Just hoping to squeeze in a bit of family time too.
The kids are so excited about Christmas. We went to protablenorthpole.com and had Santa send them video messages to my email and the absolutely loved it. If you have young children it's really neat. He'll call them by name and talk about a special toy they might be getting. You just have to do the leg work when they aren't around. It's going to be a busy time with lots of traveling, but if we get to see everyone it will be well worth it.

Parenting Milestones

Children have developmental milestones, but it wasn't until the last week or so that I realize that parents have them too.
There's the first night you bring home your new bundle of joy home. If everyone survived you feel like you've really accomplished something. You feel the same way when that same bundle of joy reaches their first birthday. You've kept the child alive for a whole year!
There are other milestones too like the first time one of your children has surgery or your first trip to the ER.
Every person in the world has heard the screams of a child in Wal-Mart because they didn't get what they wanted. Everyone in the world has started at THAT mom and wondered what terrible act she has committed to make her child act so terrible or even worse what kind of mother is she that her child would act that way. Last week I got to be THAT mom. I was at Wal-Mart with Sarah Grace and Cole and Sarah pitched the worst fit in the entire history of Wal-Mart. I have proof from a friend that was there that she could be heard from the back of the store while we were in the check out line. It was the single worst parenting experience I have ever had. As soon as I got to the van I called Jonathan and proceeded to tell him how terribly HIS daughter had behaved.
Today I have reached another milestone. I received a phone call from Elizabeth's school and was told that she might have pink eye. So today I am THAT mom that unknowingly sent her daughter to school with pink eye in order to infect the entire student population at Verbena. We aren't sure if it's pink eye or not. She feel fine and says her eye isn't bothering her. She did wake up in the night crying because it was hurting. I gave her Tylenol and Jonathan took her to school and said he would have the nurse check it out. Since a nurse cannot confirm a diagnosis I had to go get her. This of course was upsetting to me because I was about to head to the gym.
Oh well, I'm sure I have many more first coming on my parenting journey.

I'm Thankful

I am always thankful this time of year. I am thankful for my friends, my family, and all the other things God has blessed me with. I think most of all though I am thankful for my Coley Bear this time of year. It was around Thanksgiving 2 years ago that we almost lost him.
I can remember when he was born looking at his tiny hands and telling Jonathan that I don't see how nurses can put IV's in those tiny little veins. I did't know it then, but I think God was preparing me for the sight of an IV in my tiny baby's hand.
The week of Thanksgiving 2 years ago Cole got really sick. After each bottle he would vomit. This was much more than just "spit up" it was the absolute real deal. We did lots of traveling that weekend. We saw family in GA and after each feeding we would get towel and wait for "Old Faithful" to blow. He did it every time and would cry a terrible unconsolable cry.
We took him to the doctor on Monday and she said she thought it was just reflux and wanted us to change his formula, but she sent us to Children's South for an ultrasound of his stomach just in case it was something else. The first time we went in for the ultrasound we were told his stomah was too full. We couldn't figure that one out since he's just tossed everything he had eaten. We went to McDonald's and had lunch for us and the girls and went back to try again and they confirmed that Cole had Pyloric Stenosis. The muscle flap that allows food to go into his stomach was too thick, so it couldn't move to let food in. He wasn't getting any nourishment.
We were told to go home and wait for the doctor to call. We waited forever. Jonathan went to a basketball game and I had all the kids by myself at home. I called my mother-in-law and had her to come stay with the girls since we would get the call to go to Children's at any minute.
He sat in his carseat the entire time I packed and prepared for the trip. I was told we would be there for at least 2 nights. My mother-in-law got there and Cole was still in his carseat. It had been several hours and there were no wet diapers or crying. He was getting very dehydrated. We never got a call from the surgeon telling us to come in, but our doctor told us to go on. I took Cole to Children's by myself. I tried to stay on the phone the whole way because I didn't want to think about the possibility of losing my son. When I couldn't get someone on the phone I prayed. I know that I hadn't wanted another child when I got pregnant with Cole, but now that I had him I didn't want to lose him.
We registered and they took us to a room. A nurse attempted to do his IV, but had trouble. They sent for a NICU nurse who still had trouble because he was so dehdrated. He never cried the entire time at that point I don't think he could cry. They finally got the IV in, but didn't start fluids. It was 10 pm before they started getting him fluids. His last feeding had been around 11 am. We didn't see the point in feeding him since he wasn't able to digest anything.
The next morning we got up and got ready for surgery. It was around noon before they came and got us. I carried him to the surgical floor and we went to a room where they explained again exactly what would happen and they said it was time for him to go. My heart broke. I had to hand him over to complete strangers and trust that he would be ok. This was my baby. He wasn't even 2 months old. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I handed him over and we headed to the waiting room. There were times I felt really bad for being at Children's. Although he was very sick it was just a simple surgery and there are kids there that are going through things that are so much worse. In the waiting room they gave us a pager like they do at restaraunts. It went off about 45 minutes later. They were through and the doctor said he had done very well. We stayed another night to make sure he could hold down food. He did well. He had been sleeping through the night (he did that at 6 weeks), so getting up every few hours was difficult.
We went home the next day, but this time every year I think about that experience a lot. I guess I am thinking about it more this year because of the seizures he had a few weeks ago. I think that makes me even more thankful for him than ever.
He may be a boy and get into everything. He may try to beat up on his sisters and push babies down in the nursery at church, but he's my baby boy and I am thankful to my God for giving him to me and allowing me to keep him.
I like my girls too by the way!
Happy Thanksgiving!

New Normal and life in General

Since Cole's seizures there are things that I do regularly that were not a part of my regular schedule. I check his temperature before we leave to go anywhere and I always carry a thermometer and Motrin in the diaper bag. When we're at home I check his forehead every time he runs by me. It's just part of my routine now which seem strange because it's not something I used to think about on a daily basis.

In other news he's been fine. No fevers or seizures in well over a week!

As a mom of 2 girls before I had Cole there are certain things I haven't had to deal with. The girls pitch their share of fits, but Cole tends to become a bit violent (biting and hitting) when he doesn't get his way and it's not just at home. He's started doing it other places too. Up to now we've been spanking him, but I think I'm going to start trying time out if I can keep him there. We'll see how it works. He can be the sweetest child, but not when he's mad. I think it started when preschool started for Sarah. I kinda think he's having trouble being by himself. Hopefully he'll get out of that soon. He got a haircut yesterday and he looks so cute. He looks so sweet. He's all boy though, so he's into EVERYTHING. I've never dealt with a child that climbed and jumped quite as much as he does. He loves to help. His favorite thing to do is help empty the dishwasher. He is quite the helper when it's just me and him. He loves to watch Elmo. Not Sesame Street just Elmo, so we have to record it and fast forward to Elmo's world at the end. He had ADD just like his mother.

Sarah is doing great. She absolutely loves preschool! She really seems to be doing well. Her first preschool Sunday is coming up and I can't wait to see her up on stage. She's such a ham! She's full of all kinds of personality and is never afraid to show it. Sarah loves to watch the Wiggles. They tend to be too much for me after a while though.

Elizabeth is loving kindergarten. She calls me Mrs. Pike and she raises her hand to ask if she can go to the bathroom. The discipline sheet in the folder she brings home is full of green smiley faces and we like green. She says she's the smartest in her class (she's so very humble) and she told me the other day that all the kids in her class need her help. She says she even has to help the teacher some times. I really think we have a future teacher on our hands. She has OCD. Toys have to be in just the right spot and if things aren't just so she can't handle it.

That about sums it up for now. Jonathan has started basketball and I am attempting to continue my Master's. He's working on his too, so life is pretty busy.

Seizures suck

For those who are wondering here is the full story of what's hapened over the last 24 hours or so here at the Shedd house.
Yesterday was a normal day. We went to church. Came home. Took naps (my favorite part of Sunday afternoon). Just had a restful family day.
Last night around 8:00 Cole was jumping like a mad man which is completely normal for him. He fell and hit his head on a table leg. He laid in the floor and cried and I picked him up and held him. He fell asleep almost immediately which is quite strange for him. He's slept only in his bed from day one. I held him since I am having a hard time with my baby growing up. I just though he was tired and wanted him Mommy to hold him. We got the kids ready for bed and resumed our normal routine. I went to the bathroom and Jonathan took the kids upstairs to put them to bed. Mr. Cole climbed up on his rocking horse by his bed in an attempt to climb in while Jonathan was helping Sarah. He fell and hit his face on his bed. He has a cut on his eyebrow and one on his cheek. He was really sleepy again then, so we prayed with him real fast and put him to bed. He went right to sleep.
Around 10:15 I heard him cry out real loud and start making a really strange sound. I went upstairs to check on him and he was having a Grand mal seizure. I rubbed his back and called his name while Jonathan called 911. When the seizure was over I picked him up and brought him downstairs. We noticed then that he felt feverish. The EMTs arrived and suggested he be taken to Children's in Birmingham, so he and Jonathan hopped in the ambulance and away they went.
I stayed and waited on someone to sit with the girls so they could rest. I had to get gas before starting to Children's. I drove faster than normal especially in construction zones, but I didn't go over 80. I called a friend that is a Respritory Therapist at Children's and she was waiting for me when I got there. She took me straight to the ER. Jonathan and Cole had been there for a few minutes but hadn't seen a doctor. She came in and we told her the whole story. She said that normally she would say this was our "freebie" febrile seizure and let us go home, but since he hit his head 2 times she wanted to do a CT Scan. She asked a supervising doctor and they began to get the CT ready. I went out to make phone calls (it's about 12:30 am). When I got back to the room they were already gone to the CT. I asked the nurser where I could go to be with them and they told me that they would be back in a few minutes that I could wait in the room. As hard as it was that's exactly what I did. I sat and sang and prayed and tried to keep the thoughts of brain tumors and other terrible things the devil was putting in my mind. Sure enough they were back in about 15 minutes.
We waited till about 2:30 am to get the results of the CT. They came back normal and they let us come home. We got home around 4 am.
This morning was as normal as possible. He ate breakfast. Watched Elmo and hit his Sarah in the head (normal morning). He still had a bit of a fever, so I gave him more Motrin. Everything was fine until after lunch. He ate, had more Motrin and while I was holding him he started another seizure. It lasted 4 minutes. His temperature after the seizure was 100.8 just like it was when we got to Children's. I called the doctor and she told us what the told us at Children's. Really there isn't anything to do unless he has 3 or they last more than 10 minutes.
This afternoon he and I took a nice long nap. I was on the edge of the bed and he was laying across the bed with his head right at my stomach. I couldn't move, but was so tired it really didn't matter.
This evening has been ok. He's running wild and playing. Hoping tonight will stay "normal".