Gymboree!!

Today was Shiloh's first official Gymboree class! She did so well! She was in a class with three 9 months old and she was up to par with all of them! In fact, the two little boys there aren't even crawling yet so she is one up on them....not that I'm keeping score or anything :)
There was actually one thing she could do that none of the other babies there could....clap her hands! I am so proud! Anyway, she did very well socially also. She kept giving kisses to the one litttle boy and patting his head. The other little girl, Ashlyn, is crawling as well and she and Shiloh crawled around a lot together, almost chasing eachother. It was so cute! Gymboree is awesome!! I know Shiloh is enjoying it but I think at this point I'm loving it a lot more than she is!

Wordless Wednesday

Shiloh sporting her new hat Grammy got for her while she was in Williamsburg!

One More Thing

I forgot to mention something about Memorial Day. I just wanted to take a moment to thank those who have given the ultimate sacrifice/served/are serving in the military. These people keep our great country just that, great! I made a promise with myself this year to really make Memorial Day a significant holiday from here on out for my family. I want Shiloh and any future children of ours to grow up with an appreciation for our military and what they stand for. I want them to feel the same pride I feel when I hear the National Anthem and I want them to have that same wave of thankfulness/humbleness/admiration come over them as it does in me when in the presence of military.

At church on Sunday they did a great job of honoring those who have served/lost their lives. They put together a really nice slideshow of the military members of our church (I sent in a picture of Richard) and the choir sang all of the "theme songs" for each military branch and at the end they even had these machines that shot out red, white and blue streamers above the congregation. It might sound kind of cheesy but it was pretty cool.

Shiloh showing off her patriotic side....

High Five!

Shiloh started doing the cutest (in my opinion) thing today! If I hold my hand up and say "high five" she brings her hand up to mine and we connect in a high five....and then we clap together!! It's so fun! Which reminds me of another "first" today! She finally got clapping down! She's been "clapping" for the last couple of weeks but when she would do it her hands would end up hitting her chest before coming together. She had the right idea she just couldn't quite get the execution down! Today she finally made contact with her hands! It's so amazing to watch her get things.

On a random note, Shiloh has started going to sleep around 8:30 the last few nights. She is still sleeping in as late as usual in the morning, just going to bed earlier. I LOVE IT!!! Any extra time to myself in the evenings is greatly appreciated! I'm trying to really take advantage of this time because I don't know if this is going to last or if it's just a phase. Oh how I pray it lasts!!

Looking Back

I'm having trouble falling asleep tonight so I've been sitting here looking at pictures of Shiloh from birth to present. It makes me so sad!! I see these pictures of this tiny little baby but I find I can't remember her! The first 12 days after bringing Shiloh home from the hospital (revocation period) were so amazing but we were so concerned with Kim changing her mind that it was hard to really take in this time with our new daughter. Even after that there wasn't the initial bonding that occurs between mother and child. I can honestly say it took 2 1/2 to 3 months for me to really feel like I was a mother and this beautiful little baby was my daughter. Before Shiloh was born I was constantly telling Rich it would be weeks before he would get to hold her because I was never going to let her go. Yet I remember during the two weeks my mom came to visit after Shiloh's birth not really feeling that sensation to want to hold her every moment and take in this amazing gift I had been given. When my mom was holding her (which she did about 50% of the time...Rich had trouble bonding initially as well) I was content for her to keep her as long as she wanted. The experience felt more like a babysitting job for basically the first month.
Anyway, I didn't mean to get into all of that. I just wanted to say that next time around I am going to do my best to just accept the situation. I want to focus more on the baby in front of me, keeping in mind that for whatever reason God has placed this baby with us to love, nourish and care for he/she....be it for a couple days, a week, or forever...and I want to cherish that time because when baby #2 comes our way I want to truly live those moments and not look back with any regrets.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

She refused to sit/lay down on the floor to

watch her baby einstein dvd. Guess we should

start saving up for eye care now!

Sidenote: Congratulations to the Stickle Family on the birth of Matthew Lawton!!

She's Growing Up Too Fast!!

Shiloh's first teeth (that's right, teeth, not tooth) are coming in!! She's generally a happy baby and has definitely had some fussy moments this past week so we thought something was up. Sure enough, we inspected her mouth tonight and her bottom two front teeth have already broken through her gums!! I know I have nothing to do with her teeth coming in but I feel so proud...yet so sad! She's growing up so fast. When she started talking, crawling, pulling herself up, etc it was exciting and great but this is on a different level for me. To me it's a big slap in the face that she is not going to be a baby forever (not that I thought she would, but ya know!). I feel like I want to jump up and down and celebrate and cry at the same time! Oh what children do to us!