Sheffield Family Adventures, Thoughts, Pictures and More...

2009-04-04T21:49:00.004-04:00

So sorry that I haven't posted in a while. Samantha and I just got over another bout of sickness :( This time was much worse than the previous. We were definitely down and out for about a week and a half. No fun at all, but I thankfully Casey never caught what we had and Samantha and I are finally healthy again :)

More good news for the Sheffield family is that Casey and I will be driving up to Tally very soon. Initially we were just going to come up for a day trip so he could get our Honda, which will finally be fixed. But instead my AWESOME Hubby is allowing me to stay through Sunday so that I can get some quality time with all of my great friends, who I miss dearly! I could not be more excited. I am in deep need of refreshing and fellowship with my Tally family :) Thank you honey for allowing me to take this vacation. You are so good to me and you know exactly what I need to be refreshed.

Well gotta head to bed. Have a great week!

Workin it out baby!

2009-03-19T20:16:00.003-04:00

So today was day 4 of my work out routine and I feel great. Very sore, but great! With spring here and the warm weather here to stay, I realized that I am losing options for wardrobe. I am still not quite back into my old clothes yet, but at the same time my maternity clothes are way too big. SO something has to be done. Also I have been feeling more convicted about being a good steward of my body for God, my hubby and my daughter.

First and foremost, I am called to be a good steward of God's temple which is my body. If I fail to take care of what God has given me, there will be serious health consequences that effect not only me, but my family as well. Secondly, I do not want to be a hypocrite who doesn't eat right and doesn't work out, yet force my child to eat healthy and stay active. She will see right through that and more than likely my efforts to train her right in this area will be unfruitful. You can't give what you don't have. Also, my husband deserves a wife who cares for her body and desires to look good for him. I have an incredible husband who deserves my very best.

So all that to say. Since I have no car right now, I have committed to working out at home with fitness on demand that is free with our cable package 5 days a week. So far I have been doing mainly cardio aerobics and core strengthening, but today I was bored with that and did "Cardioke"...LOL its a dance work out with Billy Blanks Jr. and you dance and sing the songs. It is a good work out but totally cheesy and funny.

Have a great weekend!

Recent Sheffield Happenings

2009-03-15T23:26:00.002-04:00

OK so I have not been on a while due to a number of life events here is a recap of what you all missed :)

Last Friday we went to Savannah for the weekend to see Casey's family. On the drive up on Friday night Samantha developed a fever and then preceded to have week long cold :( We still had a wonderful time with his family, but poor Samantha was feeling so awful. So then I spent the whole week nursing her back to health, which i have discovered this past week that Samantha is totally different baby when sick. She starts off cuddly and then her sweet easy going demeanor is no where to be found. Nothing seemed to make her happy for several days straight. For a while there I was beginning to worry that it would last forever :/ But Praise God on Friday things started looking up again and by Saturday and today she was much more like her normal self. Saturday we spend that day having a BBQ with my family and Samantha had her first swimming pool experience. She had a blast and we had so much fun watching her kick and scream with excitement. Check out my Facebook photo album for some fun photos of the event:)

Well that is life in a nutshell. This week we will be spending the week preparing for our fun Disney adventure this Saturday for my Birthday. If you don't know, Disney is giving free admission to everyone on their birthday. All you have to do is register online and then bring your registration along with a photo ID on your birthday and you are good to go :) So we will have lots more to write about after Samantha has her first Disney experience.

Hope you all have a great week!

Samantha's funny video

2009-03-05T21:53:00.003-05:00

Ok so we took this video on Casey's cell phone while we were feeding Samantha dinner, and it is hilarious! Check it out!

Samantha's Prophecy

2009-03-01T22:28:00.007-05:00

So today was baby dedications at High Point and it was such an amazing time. Having already done this in Tallahassee, initially we didn't see the need to do it again. But as we were praying and seeking God for Samantha we really felt like God wanted us to do it again and that he had some very specific words he wanted to speak over her. The dedication was really neat. The pastors went through each child one by one anointing them with oil and praying a prayer over them and they followed that up with a prophetic word that God had been speaking to them since they started praying for them a week or two before today. Each baby had such a strong and encouraging word. Here is what they felt like God was saying about Samantha Grace:

He first said that when he was praying for her he got a picture of Samantha spinning about in a flowing long skirt and a flower in her hair...like a hippy but sanctified. She has all of Casey and I's best qualities, yet her personality will be like nothing we have ever seen. She is going to be a whimsical yet very intense and competitive child. She will be the type of child who challenges her Dad to a staring contest and will not give up until she wins. Although that would make it seem like she would be a difficult baby, she won't be. She will be an easy baby in regards to her obedience and love for the lord. She is joyful and will thrive in freedom. We are to give her boundaries as parents, but within those boundaries we are to give her much freedom. We will sometimes wonder if she is trying to be disobedient but in fact it is her just being her whimsical self. Where we will have some difficulty in training is that she will not be the type to just sit down and read her bible, she needs to be able to have fun and find joy in what she is doing in order to see the benefit and learn. Learning about Jesus will have to be fun for her. So in that respect, if we are too administrative in our parenting style, that will not really work with how God has made her. Sometimes we will wonder if she is getting it, but she is. And we will know by her intensity and joy in Christ.

In addition to Pastor Keith's word, the worship leader also got a strong sense that Samantha just as she strongly resembles me, she will look to me, to be the example of how she is to be. She and I will have a very special relationship and I will be who she models her life after essentially. It was an encouragement, but also a word of warning because she is watching everything I do and will believe and value what I do. He also encouraged me that she will be passionate about Christ just as I am and that she will serve the Lord at a young age.

So praise God, we are very encouraged by her word and can already see much of what they are saying in her. I feel like a lot of this lines up with a previous word we got before she was born and agrees with much of what I have heard from God when I have been praying for her. I feel like worship and dance will be the main venue in which Samantha really connects with Jesus. After hearing this word I also feel like we will be singing scripture to her and making up our own worship songs, in order to keep her engaged and in his word:) I look forward to watching her walk with God unfold, and seeing her become all that god has called her to be!

Now a video of our whimsical daughter on the swings!

Honey-Cinnamon Results

2009-03-01T21:36:00.002-05:00

So we used the honey-cinnamon concoction for a few days with what seemed like no results. And feeling very discouraged, I went back to the Desitin to protect the area, until I could come up with another course of action or just give into the $60 prescription. To my pleasant surprise, after the day of using the Desitin following the honey and cinnamon treatment, the rash began to clear up considerably. And now, a few days later, it is practically gone. Now for the record, I had tried the Desitin several times before the honey-cinnamon treatment and it seemed to do nothing.

So given these results, I am (loosely) concluding that the honey and cinnamon probably killed whatever bacteria/fungus was causing the rash issue and that the Desitin then just kept the moisture out until the skin healed. Other variables that may have also influenced this experiment were 1. we didn't bathe her for the week, so that no moisture would cause the issue to come back and 2. we gave her some no diaper playtime, so that she could air out a bit...LOL. I only reccomend this if you have plenty of towels to lay down on the floor because they will pee at random, let me assure you :).

So praise God, her bum is feeling much better. I hope this medical testimony helps someone else :) I knew there was a reason we did science experiments growing up...I so would have placed in the science fair...LOL

Oh and I forgot...Sam's growth update!

2009-02-26T21:31:00.004-05:00

Samantha, now 7 months old, is weighing in at 17 lbs 10oz and is 26 1/2 inches long! Since she started solid foods, her growth has kicked into overdrive! LOL. We are so thankful for a healthy and happy baby girl. She is such a joy to be around and I love watching her become more of who God has called her to be every day!

The Honey and Cinnamon Experiment!

2009-02-26T20:51:00.004-05:00

So poor Samantha has a serious diaper rash on her booty that just won't go away. Our new doctor prescribed us a stronger ointment and we were ready to try it until we found out that it was $60 for 2 oz of ointment. So before we go spending that amount of money, we have decided to try a natural remedy of honey and cinnamon. According to several different natural remedy/holistic doctors, honey and cinnamon can actually treat many different health issues.

Tonight is night one of the experiment and I look forward to sharing the results with all of you! Not to mention if it works it is super inexpensive!!

The Secret Life of the American Teenager...what do you think?

2009-02-24T10:24:00.002-05:00

So I am totally hooked on what would have been called back in the day a "teeny bopper" show! lol... Every Monday night Casey and I sit down and watch The Secret Life of The American Teenager. While some of the acting can be a bit cheesy at times, overall the show seems to really hit the nail on the head as to what today's teens are going through. Additionally, the show also highlights the issues that the parents are dealing with as well as, which makes the show enjoyable for all audiences. This is the first show I have seen in a while where they actually show that sexual sin has true consequences in many different areas of life. From teen pregnancy, to causing divorce and family breakdown the writers demonstrate how we as a society use sex as a way of filling the emptiness inside, that only God can truly fill. I am very hopeful that this show might actually give some teens as well as parent perspective on life.

I also really enjoy the fact that they have some Christian representation in the characters as well. Not that these christian families are perfect by any means, but I appreciate that they are not a 7th heaven version of the christian families either. They all have issues just the same, but you see how the parenting and child's response to the discipline and/or conversations differ from those families who are not serving God.

Finally, although they don't talk much about whether Ben has a faith background or not, he in my eyes is the hero of the storyline. Despite Amy's situation, he loves her and is willing to lay down his life for her and her son no matter what. He is a very humble guy and extends a lot of grace towards Amy even when she allows her bad attitude and hormones take over how she treats him. Every week he steps up to the plate no matter what opposition seems to be standing in his way and does the honorable thing. I feel that his character, although a little naive at times, does a great job of demonstrating what it is to be a man at his age. That it doesn't mean you are the cool guy with all the ladies fawning over you, which is what so many highschoolers think is the key to being a man. In fact in this show, the writer exposes the cool guy for who he really is and the truth is he has just as many issues as the other guys if not more at times. However, the writer of the show does not allow him to just be the jerk everyone hates although that is naturally a by product for some because of how he acts and treats others. Instead the writer shows his humanity and does a great job of informing the audience of where his issues stem from and how he needs help rather than judgement.

Well I could go on about all the things I enjoy and take away from this show every week, but have you ever seen the show before? Do you like it? Who is your favorite character and why?

update to our electicity situation

2009-02-19T22:57:00.003-05:00

So yeah we have basically totally caught the electric company in a lie! We turned off all of our breakers and went out side to make sure nothing else was sucking electricity from our meter and nothing was. Then we took a reading to see how much electricity we had used in the last 10 days to see (with no habits changed) if we were using the same amount and sure enough the reading was not even close. In the last 10 days we have only used 309 KWH. Talk about a drastic difference for not changing habits.

Casey said that when he talked to the company they claimed to have read the meter in Dec and that when they checked in Jan the reading was exactly the same. However, that would be impossible because there was electricity on the day we picked out the apartment a week prior. I can prove it beause I asked the guy showing it to us if he would turn on the air conditioning unit so we could see how loud it was by the baby's bedroom. It was also on the day we moved in which was 2 days before they were supposed to turn it on in our name. So basically, we are paying for all the electricity used from December to mid February (that was never turned off) and the person who claimed to have read the meter again, lied! They are so going down tomorrow (in a Godly way of course:) ) I feel like Chloe on 24!

Please pray for us to have favor tomorrow with them!

Argh! The Electric Company

2009-02-19T16:31:00.002-05:00

So as many of you may have seen on my facebook status a few days ago, our electic company is claiming that we used over 1200 KWH of electricty in 14 days, which is absolutely ridiculous! We looked back on bills from Tallahassee and we have never used more than 850 in a month . Therefore it is impossible that we would have used even more in half the time...

So we call them today (now that we finally have new cell minutes) and they basically said that we had to pay it and that there was nothing they could do until the next bill comes out. How crazy is that?!? Isn't the fact that they are saying we used that much in 14 days a red flag that something is wrong? Why would we have to wait a whole new billing cycle? And how does that make this bill fair and worth paying?

So all that to say...how would you handle this situation? Would you pay the bill and wait for the next cycle or refuse to pay and demand they get someone out now? It is so hard to deal with a company, that is not operating with Godly Excellence, in a Godly way. Let me know what you would do or if you have had a similar situation before that you can share some wisdom from.

Thanks!

Valentines Day Shout out to my hubby!

2009-02-17T12:14:00.008-05:00

This past Saturday my hubby and I had an awesome Valentines Day! I woke up to breakfast in bed. Casey bought me a Panera pastry and made me some scrambled eggs with a cup of coffee, just the way I like it. Then we went out to run some errands and took a walk at our version of Lake Ella, Cranes Roost at Uptown Altamonte. I must say it is a few steps up from Lake Ella. It was a perfect day for a walk. Then we came home and had a wonderful visit with the Rios Fam (who we will get to see again this weekend! YAY!). Finally, the day wrapped up with a homemade dinner by my hubby. On the menu was Chicken Marsala by candle light and a bottle of Italian red wine, followed by some cheesecake, that I made and a movie from the comfort of our own couch. I am so thankful for my wonderful hubby who knows how to speak my love language, Service :) Thanks honey!!!

Some fun Samantha Randoms!

2009-02-09T21:52:00.007-05:00

Rub a dub dub, I love chillin in the tub!

Samantha in awe!

Samantha and daddy being silly!

Always a happy girl!

Hanging out at the Middleton's a few days before we moved. It so fun how interactive she is now with other kids!

The Sheffield residence in Longwood!

2009-02-08T19:57:00.010-05:00

I just realized I didn't take pics of Sam's room yet. Unfortunately every time I get the chance to take some it is when she is taking a nap. But I will get some taken soon.

Also, the pics are a little bit out of order, but you get the gist.

Miss you all lots!

Pediatric Urgent Care

2009-02-06T23:19:00.002-05:00

So today was quite a day. It started quite normal and everything was going well, until my daughter ran her eye into my thumb (literally). It was so sad, she cried so hard and there was nothing I could do but rock her and love her till she stopped. About 10 minutes later, which felt like eternity, she finally calmed down but her eye was so puffy and would not stop watering. When I looked at it everything appeared normal , but for some reason after her second nap it started watering all over again. Having no doctors here in town yet and no insurance card that covers here, we had no idea what to do. Thankfully, through several local friends and a referral from an adult urgent care we found a pediatric after hours urgent care center that was able to check her out. They were really nice, but our poor daughter was screaming as they put the solution in her eye to see if any damage was done. Thankfully everything turned out fine, but we will still have to apply some antibiotics just in case for a few days.

It is so hard to watch your child be in pain. Thankfully this wasn't as serious as it could have been, but even so it is never easy. All I could do was lay hands on her and pray for healing. It's moments like that, that remind me how thankful I am to be a parent serving God. Only he can calm you when you don't have all the answers or a quick fix to your child's pain.

In other updates... today before all this went down I was able to take some pics of the place, but still want to take more. Pics are coming soon. Also, Casey had a great first week of work and we are going to the HighPoint new members class tomorrow.

Have a great weekend! We miss you all so much!

P.S Please pray that Sam's eye goes back to normal quickly and that no infection sets in.

Thank you and yesterday's update continued!

2009-02-02T00:09:00.005-05:00

Thank you so much to everyone who commented. I cannot lie it feels good to know we are missed just as much as we miss you all.

Today was our first Sunday at HighPoint and it went very well. Everyone was very welcoming and accepted us with open arms. We definitely feel like God is calling us to the church and actually will be attending the membership class on Saturday. We are very excited to get plugged in quickly. Also to get to know more people we went to the church's Super Bowl party. It was just over an hour from our house, but worth the drive as we got to know many more people. God has really set us up wonderfully here and has totally made this transition easier than I expected.

As for developments with Samantha she is already doing more than she was even a week ago. She has started rolling as a purposeful mode of transportation along with turning herself around on her stomach using her arms to propel her. She also is starting to talk a little more now and then. And finally today for the first time she was much more responsive to worship at church for the first time. Rather than just watching, she was flailing her hands and legs to the music. It was so precious and rewarding to know that the music excited her and I will just keep praying that she is feeling God's spirit as well :)

Well it is late and I must hit the hay, so that I will have enough rest to take on the day tomorrow, my first day of being home alone with Samantha full time again.

Have a great night and stay tuned for pictures of our new place. I hope to post them in the next day or two once we get the final touches done :)

An update on our move and Tallahassee Reflections

2009-01-31T22:10:00.003-05:00

These first 6 months of life with a baby, have been even more of an adventure than I ever could have imagined! Everyday is new and different and always holds opportunity for a new learning curve. And now having just moved to a new city (Longwood, Fl), away from the comfort of a familiar place and away from many people that we know and love, our adventure has soared to new levels!

My initial reaction to the move was that of peace amidst the storm and stress of the actual logistics of moving. Then there was our last church service at ENT, while I still had peace that we were following God's will, i felt my first rush of sadness as I realized that our time in Tally, was quickly coming to an end. Our years spent in Tallahassee, both together and apart, were some of the most amazing years of our lives. It was the place where we both began wholeheartedly serving Jesus, the place where eternal relationships were built, the place where Casey and I found each other, the place where we were married, the place we me made our first home and the place we had our first child. So many firsts and all of them miraculous and life changing. Tallahassee will forever be a place we call home.

Although my heart is now starting to feel sad as I reminisce on all of our wonderful memories of our lives in Tally, I have an excitement for the adventure and blessings God is bringing our way. I know that our obedience to move was not in vain and that God has a purpose and destiny for us in Orlando. I am thankful that I am now able to stay home with Samantha and that I get to play and active full time role in her life and development. And beyond that I am not sure what God has in store for us, but whatever it is I know it will be great because He is so faithful!!

To everyone in Tally we miss you so much and love so much! We were sad to leave, but we look forward with excitement, because we know our relationships are going to grow even stronger in the years to come!

OK now that I have gotten that off my chest, our current status in Orlando is: almost everything unpacked and put into place, grocery store, target, mall and a few yummy restaurants located, cable and Internet set, Queen size blow up mattress for our future guests, got it! And as of tomorrow , we will have attended our first Sunday service at HighPoint and our first get together, a Super Bowl Party!

Well that is all for now, but I do plan to be more faithful to this blog. So please check back for more updates !

38 Weeks and still waiting...

2008-07-10T11:29:00.003-04:00

So today I am officially 38 weeks and could not be more ready for Samantha's arrival. Depending on the mood you catch me in these days, I could either be having my emotional "I want to meet her" breakdown (Sorry Casey, you have had to witness that a lot lately), or I could be having my usual "Samantha, you are are hurting mommy, so please come out now" pep talk. I have discovered the more you know how close you are to going into labor, the harder it is to wait. Plus there is just that fun fear of the unknown...like where will I be when I go into labor? Will my water break? How bad are my contractions going to be? etc...the list of unknowns goes on and on. But one thing I do know is that God is faithful and has heard my prayers and in the end he knows what is best for me and the baby. So I will stand firm in knowing that the Creator is the master and his plans are best. I just pray that my desire for Samantha to be born tomorrow lines up with those plans :)

We appreciate all your prayers and support during this time and cannot wait to announce that she is finally here!

Any Day Now!!

2008-07-09T08:56:00.004-04:00

So we went to the doctor on Monday because I was experiencing lots of pressure and some lower abdomen pain along with some contractions and wanted to make sure everything was OK. It turns out everything was great and I am in fact closer to labor than even the doctor thought. He even said before he checked, that he wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't dilated at all. Well, thankfully that was not the case. I was actually already 3cm and 80% effaced...YAY! It is almost time for us to have her. The exciting thing is I have been praying and asking God to have her by this Friday, July 11th and more and more it's looking like that just might happen :)

Please pray for us that Samantha would continue to be healthy and ready for delivery and that my contractions would start to pick up and become real active labor contractions. Also please pray for us in the area of finances. These are probably my last couple days at work, which means only one more full paycheck for me and then we are solely on Casey's income. We are believing God for great things and his provision, but would love for you to come in agreement with that as well.

Thanks for all your love and support. We will keep you posted on our progress!

Shout out to my Hubby!

2008-06-30T13:18:00.003-04:00

So I cannot believe that I forgot to mention just how great my hubby was yesterday when the False Labor (or "Fire Drill" as I now like to call it) went down. He was so helpful and supportive! God has blessed me with an amazing man and I am so proud to be bringing a child into this world with him!! I love you honey and great job with the "Fire Drill" last night :)

False Labor!

2008-06-30T10:44:00.003-04:00

So last night I woke up from a nap with some contractions. The first one was intense and then it varied from there. But the crazy part is they went on for almost 5 hours and were between 2 and 6 minutes apart, with the occasional 10 minute break. However, because they were not growing in length and strength, the nurse at the hospital said it wasn't quite time to come in yet. Well, eventually I fell asleep and woke up with no contractions this morning. So it looks like it is not quite time yet. She has definitely dropped even more though, so it looks like progress is being made. We will keep you all posted and please pray for us and Samantha as we get closer to delivery. I wonder when she will come?!?!?

36 Weeks!!

2008-06-26T10:53:00.002-04:00

We are officially 4 weeks out from our estimated due date and could not be more excited. Of course now that everything is ready for Samantha's arrival, the days seem to creep by slower and slower. Our doctor's appt. yesterday went great and she is a very healthy 6lb baby already! So as you can imagine, I am hoping that her delivery is a bit sooner than the 24th of July. In fact I am having faith to go into labor on July 10th and to deliver on the 11th (as long as that is when God is ready to bring her into the world).

We didn't get to take any pictures this time, but we did get to see her heart beating and her lungs moving. And no longer shy, she is faithful to show her girl parts every time now...LOL So there is no doubt that she is in fact a girl.

We are definitely anxiously awaiting her arrival! And will keep you posted with any new developments.

Some Sheffield Family Photos

2008-06-17T11:23:00.013-04:00

A recent photo of the Sheffield family!

The boys...Ochie loves being a big brother :)

My Honey's first Father's Day at Outback!

Happy Father's Day!

34 Weeks!

2008-06-13T10:51:00.004-04:00

So this weekend the bags are getting packed and the finishing touches are going to be put on Samantha's nursery stuff. Yesterday's appointment went great, and the doctor informed us that as long as we go one more week with her, we will be good to go. They don't stop delivery after the mother reaches 35 weeks, so he told us to get our bags ready to go! As of right now, Samantha is looking to be between 5 and 5 1/2 lbs, which is definitely a good size baby...slightly bigger than average. Also everything else is looking great. We didn't get any pictures though, so no visual updates as of right now. One cool thing we got to see, was her hiccuping...LOL. I know they do that, but it was really neat to watch.

Also in this blog I want to thank everyone who has been blessing us with their support and gifts for Samantha! Seriously, she wouldn't have much if it weren't for you all. So thank you so very much. We knew God had a plan for provision, but there is something so special about him using the ones closest to you to do it. It really does take a community to raise a child, as they say.

My hubby is the clothing and diaper changing champ!

2008-06-05T11:31:00.004-04:00

So last night we went to our second to last child birthing class and praise God, all of us mothers are doing well. Thank you for your prayers and please still continue to pray. In other news, our class had a little competition to see which father could change the baby's clothing and diaper the fastest and with the best technique. I am proud to say that my honey blew everyone out of the water with a record time of 1min and 17 seconds and he had the best technique! As a result of the contest, we won a free diaper bag (which I am referring to Casey as his man bag because it is very simple and black) filled with a free pack of diapers, some magazines and some coupons. Way to go hon! You are going to be a great father and a super diaper changer. Now that I know you have skill, I will use that info to my advantage...LOL