Take Me Back Tuesday | Sweet Shepard West

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Being an aunt is by far one of the greatest privileges of my life. Last week, my twin sister and brother-in-law gave me one more to add to the list of little ones to whom I get the joy of being Aunt Mae Mae. They found out they were having baby number two right before Jimmy and I got married and announced it with my oldest nephew wearing a ‘Best Big Brother’ shirt. You might say that I squealed with delight. You might.

They decided to wait and found out the gender until the baby was born so we needed a name for him/her in the meantime. Since big brother Jude would need a ‘side kick’ to all of his future heroic adventures, they lovingly named this little one, Baby SK. So, for the last several months, we have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby SK!

Well, Beth went in on a Sunday night to be induced but miraculously she started labor on her own. I guess SK just needed to know he was in a hospital before he would feel comfortable starting the process! Beth had asked me if I would take a few photos of the baby right after he/she was born and of course I was thrilled. I went to bed around 11 pm thinking that it wouldn’t be until around 5 or 6 am until I got the call but no, David called me at 1:50 am saying, ‘well I think you better hurry.’ I hopped up in a somewhat sleepy stupor, jumped in the car and raced to the hospital. Sidenote: Let’s just talk about how eery the roads are at 2 am in the DFW metroplex! It was wide open (which never happens) and the few cars that were on the road, I kept thinking…’now, why are YOU out here?!’ Anyway, my mom met me at the hospital and I was all prepared to run in and be ready for baby. Well, Baby SK decided to slow down just a bit and so we sat in the waiting room for the next six hours. Ha! Totally worth it…but comical. We entertained ourselves with chatter about whether or not it was a boy or a girl, what the name would be etc. A little before 8 am they called us in and it was time. I’ve never been so proud of my twin sister. She is a champ and though I like to blame it on lack of sleep, I cried in the corner out of pride and joy. When they placed Baby SK on her chest, the tears continued to well in my eyes and I heard them say, ‘It’s a BOY!’ What an incredibly precious moment! Since Baby SK would no longer suffice, they announced that his name would be Shepard West. I will have to explain the wonderful name in a later post as there is such a strong and beautiful meaning behind it. A name I pray he grows in to!

My mom and I left the delivery room just laughing. Another boy!!! You see, I am one of four girls and all my life, my dad has joked that since he didn’t have boys, we each had to have four boys to make up for it. 16 grandsons! The first three grandchildren have been boys and now the fourth!? Well, I don’t know about four each, but four in a row when we were a family of four girls is pretty crazy! Maybe God heard his prayer! Looks like I will definitely need to be brushing up on my destructo skills, my athletic abilities (yeah right), my knowledge of cars/legos/superheros/trucks and all things boy… and so much more. Not sure how Aunt Mae Mae will pull that off but you better believe I’m gonna try!

So, in the name of being Aunt Mae Mae to four BOYS, 2 am wake up calls that are totally worth it and the absolute gift of new life,

I Say, Take Me Back!

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Gilland_0002 Gilland_0003 Gilland_0004 Gilland_0005 Gilland_0006 Gilland_0007 Gilland_0008 Gilland_0009 Gilland_0010 Gilland_0011 Mae Mae and Uncle Yimmy love you little Shep!!! Gilland_0012 Gilland_0014

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