New York Trip

This weekend we went to New York for Heather's bridal shower.  Mom and I stayed with the Coulters on Thursday and Friday night, and with the Gilmans (my aunt and uncle) on Saturday night. We headed home after the shower on Sunday afternoon.

Learning to high five from Aunt Bethie, who also gave him two, TWO of his very own cell phones. :-D

 Squealing and laughing and having a grand time chasing Grandad's dog.

 Chilling out with Grandad.

 Refusing coffee from Grandpa.

 Wanting to chase Grandma's cat.

 Riding with Dillon.

 Meeting a very dear friend for lunch...love you M!

 Riding a horse for the first time at Aunt Alesia's, which is the first place I rode a horse as well. I rode Taffy when I was wee, and Shane is riding Troy here.

 "Helping" Aunt Heather at her bridal shower the church put on for her.

Dress Fitting and Father's Day

Heather invited Mom and I to go along to her dress fitting which was very kind of her.  Shane was very interested in the floor length mirrors! As well as everything else.  

 After the dress fitting we went to a cloth diaper store. As well as a wall of cloth diapers the store sold a lot of  natural type products. I was able to get Shane a baltic amber teething necklace, and was inspired by the store to have one similar someday. It was aweseome! We also stopped at a Christian cafe and coffee house. I can't remember the name, but if you're ever in Troy Ohio you need to go. I was fabulous!

 Then for Father's Day we took Dad to lunch after church. We went to this steakhouse last year as well and what was practically a brawl erupted between the husbands of two families. Also, my steak was terrible. This year, Dad sat in maple syrup in his brand new Men's Warehouse pants, and my meal was terrible again! It's the thought that counts, right? Haha.

Shane's First Big Boy Shoes

Since Grandma and Grappa Wilkins have missed so many of Shane's firsts, I decided to wait to get him a pair of good walking shoes until we got to Ohio. So, after church we went to the Stride-Rite store to get him measured and pick out a pair!

Getting measured. He measured at a 4 wide.

Grandma checking out the selection.

                                  Trying them on. These are actually the sandals we ended up with.

Checking out the fit

All done!

And here's a little video of him walking around the store.  We didn't buy the ones he's wearing here. ;) Do you hear that snuffly thing he did in the first few seconds of the video? He does that when he's excited. It's very cute.

Xadim Gay

Shane got an African name!

This weekend we went to a street festival in "hippie-town" as we like to call it.  As we walked past a booth we saw several things that looked like they belonged in West Africa, so we stopped to talk to the woman selling. It turned out that she was from Senegal (which borders The Gambia, where I grew up) and she spoke Wolof.  We spoke with her for quite some time, and as we left she said she wanted to gift Shane. (It is very traditional in our culture to give gifts.) Well of course, I was thrilled.

As we left, my Mom asked if she would be willing to give Shane an African name. And she did. His name is Xadim Gay.  I know it's probably hard to understand for those of you who didn't grow up overseas, but this was very special to me. I'm so excited for my little boy! Here is the lovely lady. I wish I could remember her name. 

 Then we finished off our day in Hippieville by watching belly dancers in the park. I want lessons!

Going to Ohio

We made it safely to Ohio! We flew from DFW to ATL, then from ATL to DAY. Mom and Miah picked us up at the airport. Of course we had to show off Shane's new walking skills for Gramma, but I guess his inner ear was a little messed up from the flight because he was walking like he just got off a boat, staggering and zig-zagging and falling. Super cute! He also said his version of "I love you."

At the airport waiting to board.

 Yes, I know that it's best for babies to stay rear-facing until they are two. And in my car, he will. But unfortunately this car seat doesn't do rear facing and it IS legal now to have him forward facing so that's the way it is. Miah found Shane a really nice car seat with lots of neat safety features and it's also the kind of carseat that grows with the baby (up to 100 lbs!) so this should work for a long time and many grandkids.



Happy First Birthday, Shane!

There was a family wedding on Shane's birthday so we celebrated on Sunday, the day after, instead. We had his birthday party at a park on a day that turned out to be 102 degrees! Thank you, Melissa, for taking such lovely pictures.

I made cupcakes for Shane. Chocolate and vanilla, with cream cheese filling and whipped cream frosting. The chocolate were awesome, and the vanilla were dry and heavy. That's what I get for trying a new recipe!

 I asked Nathan to put the letters on Shane's banner, so he used some creative license and wrote "Happy 1st Birfday Shane!" You should be able to click on the picture to see it bigger to see the letters.

 Shane LOVES water.

 It was very hot. And Shane was very, very tired. Poor sweet boy.

 I made Shane a birthday onesie to match the party decorations.

 We skyped a little bit with Grammy Wilkins in Ohio so she could see Shane's first bite of cake and a present or two.

 "What IS this, Mama? I'm not too sure about it." Poke, poke.

 Not too bad, once you try it.

 Daddy's goatee is quite overgrown. Don't worry, he didn't help with the cupcakes! 

 He liked it. ;)

 We were really blessed--so many family and friends showed up! Despite the heat, it was great to celebrate with so many loved ones.

 Grammy Vines did the cooking (burgers and dogs) and then helped Shane open his presents. She was SO hot--what a trooper!

Happy first birthday, kiddo!

12 Months

You're a whole year old, baby boy! We made it!

At 12 months, Shane:

• Wears 18 month clothing, and size three shoes. 
• Wears his diapers on the medium snap.
• Weighs 23 pounds and is 29 and 3/4 inch tall. I think that was 75th percentile, which is down from the 95th when he was born.
• Is working really hard on all of his sounds. He likes to sing and dance, and try to talk. He does a lot of babbling but there aren't a whole lot of real words yet.  
• Thankfully, he started sleeping again. I was getting worried this past week! Two naps, down at 8 or 8:30 and up about 8:30.
• Repeats "I love you" when you say it to him.
• Walks pretty well. He can even bend over and pick things up and stand up again without falling over every time.

This is a video of Shane from this morning when he got up. He's a birthday boy with crazy hair!

A year ago today...

A year ago today, my life changed irrevocably. And I would not have it any other way.

A year ago today, I looked like this:

And then, I met you:

 And I fell in love more deeply than I ever knew I could.

And then today, I woke up with you nursing contentedly by my side.

And I thought back over the past year, with all the memories; all the joys and yes, all the struggles too.
And I thought of my love for you, my hopes and dreams for you, and I thought of how much more God loves you, and the hopes and dreams He has for you.
I loved you before I met you, I loved you yesterday and today and tomorrow and forever, sweet baby boy.

Dear Shane,

Today you are one year old. A whole year! I can't believe we've been together this long, baby.  I love you so much and I'm so proud of how you've grown and changed and all you've accomplished in your short year of life. You've learned to roll, sit, crawl, walk, say a few words, sign a few words, laugh, smile, scowl, and more. Your personality develops more each day and it's so much fun to watch you become your own little person. You have a sweet laugh and smile and are generally happy and laid back. You've learned to scowl recently, and it's like looking in the mirror. You look like Daddy, but you scowl like Mama. It's very cute on you, though. You sign "more" which really seems to mean "I want" as well as signing for mama's milk.  You're working on "all done".  You love to clap for yourself when we praise you, and you give me the most mischevious over the shoulder grin when I catch you being naughty. Which is usually climbing up on the couch or trying to touch Daddy's TV.  In fact, we call you a little billy goat because you're either climbing on something or eating something, anything. You just love to play with Daddy and it melts my heart to see you laughing with him. And of course you love Mama; I can't even leave the room without you crying.  Like I said, you're pretty easy going and happy; you play very well by yourself and I think you have a big imagination already. You like to look at books and pull all your toys out of the bucket. You've learned how to put your rings on the stacker and lids on boxes, and you like to wear Daddy's hats.  I think you're a little advanced in your motor skills and probably normal in speech. You say Mama, Dada, dog, ball, hi, and bye. It's just incredible to me how your personality is coming out even just in the last few weeks and I can't wait to see what you will be like as you continue to grow. I imagine that you will be easygoing but persistent, sweet and funny, but definitely know what you want. I hope that you will be honorable and honest, a man of integrity. And I pray that you will love the Lord with all your mind, heart, and soul. I love you very much baby boy, and I hope you always know it.

Mama