Ballet

Shiloh was mentioned in her ballet studio's newsletter for her hard work in class. I just wanted to record it for her. We are of course thankful for the grace in her life.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/142616da292f62b5?projector=1
It's on page 4 in the bottom righthand corner.

Mercy-a generous gift

I was driving Aggie to school this morning. She was in the back seat saying.... ready, set, go! Over and over and over. She "get's stuck" a lot. We joke that it's like an old record with a scratch.  It often makes us all laugh, and guess what...?? She keeps doing it. :) But this morning it was different, it was making me smile, because it reminded me of the silly games we play at home and allow her to determine when they start. It's one little way that she's included in our tomfoolery. But also I was reminded of a different morning in Aggie's life, where the weather was cool like toady. I looked up the date; February of 2011.  It was the morning we got the results of her MRI.  I remember aspects of it so vividly.  We saw a picture of her brain, it caused me to feel frozen. A later doctor likened it to a raisin instead of a grape. Even the untrained eye can see such a significant malformation. Not only was the size smaller, but there were 2 large holes in the middle as well. We all have ventricles in our brain, (holes) the problem was not with the space it's self, but rather the size. Anyway, Mike and I quietly listened to the doctor as he explained the picture. We maintained self-control and asked objective questions as if in a business meeting. We learned generally that these malformations would likely affect Aggies motor skills and communication.  So Mike and I took Aggie out to the van and got in, I looked and him and said, "this is pretty sad, right?" Finally... I could cry.  His eyes were welling up, "yes" he replied.  Our little baby... who would she grow to be?  How will this affect her?  Now..... fast forward a couple years. "Ready...set....go!"
God has been so merciful to us!!! I am amazed at the progress Aggie has made. She is a chatter box! Loves to talk about everything. We don't always understand her, or it may be the same thing over and over, but she can let us know if she wants something or does not want something. This is communication! I will forever be grateful for the sense of humor part of her brain; because it's on full throttle! She knows how to be funny and knows when we are being funny. And her motor skills are still progressing, she can crawl F..A..S..T! We call it her speed crawl. She has a turbo boost of sorts.  And here recently she has been showing good progress with assisted walking. There was a day that we didn't know if Aggie would sit up.  When I picked her up from school today she walked down the hall and out of the building holding my hand. Praise God!!! What a sweet thing it is.