What We've Been Up To

Grace has started eating baby food

We went to the pumpkin patch

Grace is still not sitting up unassisted (at least not for more than a minute), however, she has started getting up on her hands and knees.  I'm curious to see if crawling or sitting up comes first.

Richard, Grace, and I went to pumpkin patch day at Shiloh's preschool

Shiloh attended ribbon day in gymnastics.  She was the only one her class who received a red ribbon, which means she gets to advance.

Shiloh had picture day at preschool

5 Months

I'm going to make this quick since Grace will be waking up soon.

My favorite accomplishment (although it's not really an accomplishment) from month 5 is that we beat your cradle cap!!  This was our first experience with cradle cap, since your sister didn't have hair until about age 2.  It is kind of gross looking, definitely embarrassing, and we will not miss it. 

Moving on to a much cuter milestone, you laugh now!  You don't have a big, loud, belly laugh.  In fact,  if the person providing the comedy isn't paying attention, they are likely to miss it.  Your laugh is more of a low almost grunt like noise, with some gurgling noises thrown in.  It's cute.  I promise.

There is no 5 month check up, so I'm not sure of your height and weight.  You are definitely continuing to grow though.  Your 6-9/6-12 month clothes fit you far better than your 3-6.  You've actually wearing more clothes in that size range since you turned 4 months old.

5 Months Old

 

Where's The Pause Button?!

Five years old.  Five.Years.Old.

If I close my eyes I can put myself right back in the hospital room where Shiloh was born.  I can return to the backseat of the Jeep during our drive home as a family of three.  Richard driving down 316 towards Athens, commenting on how it really is a lot of pressure driving with your newborn baby in the backseat, not daring to drive above the speed limit.  I sat in the back staring at Shiloh, wanting to never forget that tiny face.  I snapped picture after picture of her while Richard ran into Target briefly to purchase a diaper bin.  The last baby item on the list to be checked off.  It truly does feel just like just yesterday.  

I think I can safely say that five was a good one for you, Shiloh.  We stretched the celebrations out over one week; starting with your birthday party, and ending with a trip to the beach.  There was also an awesome visit from Auntie A squeezed in the middle.

Five years, Shiloh.  I can't believe you're five years old.  At the same time though, it's hard to remember life without you.  You are so smart, sometimes too smart for your own good.  You have a memory that has caused your daddy and I to refer to you as an elephant from time to time.  Your memory is one thing that amazes me about you.  As someone who can only remember bits and pieces from my childhood, I'm always blown away when you start describing places or events to me from when you were 18 months old.  I truly hope you always stay this sharp.

Your artistic ability has grown in leaps and bounds over the last few months.  I recently purchased you your own special pink pen and matching notebook to draw, and eventually journal, in.  One of your favorite activities is to have daddy and I take turns asking you to draw something (a flower, car, tree, our house) in it.  You may not be the next Picasso, but daddy and I love that you seem to be taking an interest in drawing.

You're also becoming quite the little athlete.  I signed you up for soccer this fall.  I had a feeling you would take to it pretty easily since you've been kicking the ball around in the backyard since you were 18 months old.  I was pleased to find that I was right.  Once you got over the fact that the other team was trying to take the ball away from you, you were really good.  You scored at least two goals every game, and I'm pretty certain that if they named a team MVP, it would have been you ;).

You've also recently taken on some chores to help out around the house.  We're easing you in.  You make sure you bed is made every morning, feed the dogs and fish, and keep your room clean.  Still, I'm proud to say that you have accepted your new responsibilities like a champ.

 I truly do feel honored to be your "mama", Shiloh, and to be able to watch you grow into this amazing little person you've become.  I am so excited to see what all you achieve in this life.  I know you're only 5, but I have a feeling you're going to blow us all away.  (No pressure ;))

 The kickoff of the Allstars last soccer game. (the same day as her birthday party)

 Ella came all the way from Alabama for Shiloh's party.  Shiloh was so excited to have Ella there.

 Since this was the last game of the season, the church had some inflatables for the kids to play in.

 Shiloh receiving her trophy from Coach Matt. Matt did such an awesome job with kids. 

 Shiloh's birthday party at AMAI Karate.

Cutting her cake with a samurai sword.

 First time in the ocean.

 This girl LOVES the ocean/beach.

 Shiloh's birthday rainbow.  This was in the sky the morning of her birthday :)

 The one picture I took of her on her birthday.

Playing Catch Up... AGAIN!

Grace turned 5 months old on Saturday.  5 MONTHS OLD!!  The last time I updated my blog, Grace was 3 months old.  Yeah, I'm not very good at this anymore.

So, let's back track a month (or so)...

Grace is 4 months old!!  Let's see...  Month 4...  The one similarity that I've found between you and Shiloh is your nighttime sleeping habit.  (Praise the LORD)  You now sleep 12 hours straight at night.  I can't get you on a regular nap schedule, but I'll let that slide as long as you keep sleeping good at night ;).

 Your greatest accomplishment this month was rolling over from your back to your belly.  You can now roll over both ways!  It was fun watching you conquer this challenge because Shiloh was so proud of you.  For a month now, you've been getting yourself up on your side, but you just couldn't push yourself over.  Every time you did this, Shiloh would sit there and cheer you on with so much genuine excitement.  When you did roll over for the first time, she could not have been more proud of you. 

Another notable difference I see in you, is how you grab things with a purpose.  You now grab your paci in order to pull it out of your month.  You purposefully grab the toys hanging from your play mat and push them around.

Overall, it seems that you spent month 4 showing me that you are definitely not a newborn anymore.  Gone are the days of long naps and just laying around for you.  You are very alert, and determined to not miss a thing.  I must also note your sweet demeanor.  It's amazing to me that you are the same baby we brought home in May.  Our first month together was... hard.  I've wondered lately if maybe we missed out on your first month because, well, God never gives you more than you can handle.  Anyway.  A flip was switched when you hit 3 months, and I believe that you've become a little sweeter every day since.

One last thing before I forget.  You also hit a crazy growth spurt this month.  I was excited for your four month check up because it was obvious you had done some growing, proven by the nickname "chunk" that your daddy has lovingly bestowed upon you.  At your 4 month check up you weighed 16 lbs .5 oz and you were 26 inches long.  You are definitely a "healthy girl", as a random stranger once nicely put it :).