Shelby...was born March 23rd, 1994... 8 whole days past the due date. I declined to know the sex of this baby because I was certain it would be our last and I just assumed it would be another boy. I wanted a little girl so badly but knew that once they put that little 'boy' in my arms...it would be instant love. Imagine my surprise when the doctor said "Here She Is!"...I said huh? WAIT...what did you say? He put her in my arms and she was big, pink, healthy, a GIRL BABY, and oh so beautiful. The first few month were a little rough...she was a little fussy...especially anytime we left the house. Once we were home she would go right to sleep. She did everything fast...Walked at 8 months, potty trained pretty much on her own by 18 months. I had dreamed of dressing her up in pretty dresses, watching her play with dolls, having tea parties...but that wasn't my little girl. Well, I take that back she liked to be dressed up sometimes...but for the most part she was running around outside without a shirt, playing baseball, in the dirt making mud pies, collecting rocks and bugs (all of which I would finf in her pocket at laundry time) and climbing tree's just like her brothers. This one got into stuff even more than Stephen did...My mother called her "Little Miss Busy Body"...I just called her "sneaky" I could not take my eyes off of her for a second...the few times I did we ended up in the emergency room..having to call poison control TWICE, stitches, a broken finger. She would help herself to a little candy at her granny's house, hold it behind her back and do this little sideways slide past the adults...as if there was just no way we could figure out what she was doing. When she was four her grandmother bought her a beautiful pink Easter dress and white Patton shoes. She was so excited...we put her hair up in rollers, put of her frilly socks, a bow in her hair...she even put on a little bit of blush and lipstick... which really made her proud. Out she comes from the bathroom with her bruised and skinned up knees and her little purse on her shoulder....she stops and poses right in front of the boys with one hand on her hip...I say "Oh boys, isn't she beautiful?" She smiled at them with her little buck teeth...Stephen promptly said "NO!"...she marches right up to him...kicks him in the shin and says "YES I AM!" She went missing one day from my mothers home and I was borderline hysterical...after searching for over 2 hours we finally found her asleep under a bed. She closed her brothers inside the car trunk. We sent her to Pre-K in hopes that school would keep her busy and help settle her down like it had Stephen. But by kindergarten she was having problems staying on task. The teacher Mrs. D. called a meeting with us and we were informed that Shelby had ADHD and she told us that we needed to see a psychiatrist to have her put on medication. But!.... that is a story for another time! Today...We are watching Shelby inch closer and closer to womanhood. She is indeed the girl I dreamed of and more...I can think of many words to describe her...but if I were only allowed one...that word would be...Brave. She is not afraid to try...if she fails the first time...she tries again. She compassionate and tenderhearted...but if someone puts her down...she will stand her ground. She has great artistic ability...she loves to draw, painting, decorating, taking pictures...she and I spend a lot of time in the kitchen...he is learning to cook. She got a sewing machine for Christmas...I know she will enjoy making her own clothes. She can do anything she sets her mind to do.
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