HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Eight years ago, I had the biggest "Oh Crap" moment of my life. I'll never forget it. I was sitting on the edge of a hospital bed, holding the most perfect 6lb (5 lbs 15.9 oz) baby I had ever seen, when it suddenly hit me that not only were "They" going to LET me take her home, but they were going to MAKE me take her home. I was officially responsible for raising another human being. That's a pretty overwhelming feeling, but a task that Chris and I both welcomed.

It seems like just yesterday that I went shopping for her tiny little blessing dress. Today, I began shopping for her baptism dress. That's just crazy to me. Shelby is truly a joy to raise. She was a great baby. Even through reflux and food intolerance's, she was always happy and pretty easy going. Today, she's still happy and for the most part pretty easy going (although she has her moments).

I love her little sense of humor. A while back, she started laughing about something. Well, her laugh was really loud and obnoxious and quite frankly sounded a little bit like she belonged in the Special Olympics. I said, "Shelby, do not laugh like that." Without missing a beat she said, "Oh, ok. Would you rather me laugh like this?... Or maybe I could do this one..." and went through an entire list of different laughs. I seriously thought I was going to pass out from laughing so hard. Even though she currently has the gnarly toothed 8 year old smile I LOVE to see it. Her smile is contagious and it brightens my day!

Shelby is also the sweetest and most tenderhearted little girl I've ever met. She shows so much compassion for those around her and will do everything she can to help someone. A couple of weeks ago, she came home from school so upset because a Teachers Aid in her classroom was having car trouble and had been crying about it when she got to work. Shelby overheard her telling the teacher that she couldn't afford to fix it. All on her own, she told the T.A. not to worry and that everything would be ok. Of course, she came home that night and asked her Daddy to help the lady out. She even offered to do extra chores around the house as trade for Chris working on her car. How sweet is that?????

She's incredibly smart. She knows more about American history and the way that the U.S. Government works than a lot of adults do. Last year, the school librarian came up to me and said, "I just have to tell you, I love Shelby. She came in yesterday and said, 'Mrs. Aiken, do you have any books about the Holocaust?'" We all thought it was funny coming from a 1st grader. She loves to read!!! She's also quite the little author. She writes stories and puts together books all the time. She's a math whiz (although that's not hard with the schools math program) She's also learning to play the violin and seems to really be enjoying it.

From day one, Shelby has been a "Daddy's Girl". The two of them have certain TV shows that they will only watch together, and even though Shelby is the prissy one of the family, she loves to hang out at the auto shop and gun range with her dad.

There isn't a day that goes by that we don't thank God for the opportunity to be her parents.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHELBSTER CHECKLES