Happy Birthday Shantell!

I had such a wonderful journey down memory lane last night as I looked through hundreds of family photos. I am so blessed to have each of my children in my life. All of them with the exception of the oldest and youngest have been fertility babies, so we feel greatly blessed to have the children we do. What an honor it is to be their mother.

When I was expecting Shantell, I was so excited to learn that we were having a girl. We had already had one daughter and then came three sons. Don't get me wrong, I love my boys, but I was ready for another girl. Shantell weighed in at a whopping 9lb. 9oz. and she was two weeks early. She had a difficult start because her blood sugar was zero.(I had gestational diabetes during her pregnancy.) This prompted an immediate transfer to the Intensive Care Unit where she remained for a week. She looked so odd next to all of the preemies.

We did not know at the time how inspired her name was. Shantell's name means "song". She has been blessed with a remarkable gift. She sat at the piano at the age of 2 and began to play. She has been playing ever since and will be featured at the end of this month with the Tucson Civic Orchestra playing a Concerto written by Robert Schumann.

Here are a few pictures of our Shantell.

Greeted by Brianna, Tyrone, Grandma,
Aunt Desiree and Cousin Darla.

Peacefully asleep.



All of our children were brunettes until Shantell came along.
We called her our 90's model.


Shantell and Kendrick at Disneyland.



Frontier Land

Shantell at 5 years old playing at the Tuson Mall at Christmas time.

A few interesting facts about Shantell.

• She literally slept for the 1st six weeks of her life.
• She gave herself a middle name, Rose. She would often introduce herself as Shantell Rose Petty.
• She could play songs by ear in different keys at the age of 3. By the time she was 4 she could read music at sight without instruction.
• She was reading books by the age of 4.
• Again at age 4 she memorized phone numbers and would hide in the closet and call her grandmother, LONG DISTANCE. We didn't know about it until we started receiving bills.
• She had a love for baby dolls and named each of them after flowers.
• At the innocent age of 4 (I never noticed how important the number 4 is to Shantell) she called all of her primary age friends up and invited them to a party. I did not find out about it until the mother's began calling to find out a few more of the details. When I asked Shantell where she got all of the phone numbers she said she just went through my notebook and found them. I was the Primary President at the time.
• Shantell was incredibly shy and would stare at her hands when any adult or stranger approached her. It wasn't until the age of (you guessed it) 4, that she would acknowledge other people.
• Shantell had a hair cutting fettish. By the time she was 6 she had dramatically cut her hair 4 times. I'm saving those pictures for blackmail purposes later. :)
• Shantell loves to text! Her record month for texting stands at 14,850. Thank goodness for unlimited texting. If you are reading this Shantell, this is not a challenge to try and beat your record!
• She is a peacemaker and a help to everyone.
• She does not talk back, however, if there is something she does not want to do she will just silently not do it.
• Shantell is a special young woman and an amazing addition to our family. I can't imagine where we would be without her.
  
  

The loving big sister.

Always cheerful and smiling.



Not quite ready to grow up.

It's unbelievable how much these

three are alike in personality.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHANTELL

WE LOVE YOU!