Daddy's Home!!!

Yesterday was one of my favorite day's of this year. John finally arrived home after 6.5 months in Iraq. The smile is still plastered to my face. But I know you don't want to hear about all my mushy gushy feelings. You want to know how his reunion with Delilah went. Well...

Delilah was very happy to see her Daddy. She couldn't get enough of looking at him and feeling his face. When we were on our way home from the airport she kept turning her head looking for him as he spoke. Once home she wanted him to pick her up and play with her. The father-daughter bond is as strong as when he left. They are inseparable, just the way it should be. It is so wonderful having him home!

Sunshine

After last night's post, I felt we needed something a bit more cheerful. A bit of sunshine to break through those stormy skies. So, without further ado....

Delilah has just pushed herself up to a sitting position. This is MONUMENTAL! Before today, she could go from sitting to laying down, but not vice-versa. So once she was laying down, she was stuck that way until I picked her up and put her in the sitting position. Not anymore people. She can sit up all by herself! I am so proud of her! These developments are coming so fast now. I can't wait for her Daddy to see everything.

Speaking of her Daddy. I spoke to him this morning and it looks like he should be coming home sometime Saturday. He should be on a plane now. We won't hear from him until he makes it to Baltimore. We can't wait to see him again!

When it rains, It STORMS

Where do I even begin with this post? The last 24 hours have not been fun. Let's start with the most uncomfortable. Our AC decided to stop working yesterday afternoon. Leave it to the Fates to stop my AC on a cool, 95 degree day. (Can you hear the sarcasm dripping from my voice?!?) Luckily I called my Mom, who reminded me of the Home Warranty we received when we bought the house. Whew! I wasn't going to have to pay a fortune to get it fixed. But I did have to wait until today, around 6:30pm for it to be fixed. It made for a restless night and a very long day. I could definitely tell the heat was affecting Delilah. My usually active child was very mopey and tired. Who could blame her though? It reached 90 degrees inside this oven of a house. I tried to use a product called Chill Towels to cool her down, but she wouldn't keep it on. Not to mention her skin seemed to be a bit sensitive to it. Thankfully the repair man was able to fix our problem, but not before I received a very upsetting phone call.

Most of you know that my husband, John, has been in Iraq for the past six months. He was supposed to come home Friday afternoon. Well, he called me this afternoon to tell me the plane he was supposed to be flying out on had broken down. They were unsure when/if it could be fixed. So it looks like his arrival will be post-poned. Unsure of how long we will have to wait. Hopefully they can get it all situated soon, but knowing the Air Force, I won't hold my breath. It just really burns me that there isn't a backup plan for something like this. These men and women have been away from their families for a long time. Yes, some things happen that are out of our control, but when it comes to getting our soldiers home, there should always be an alternate plan. They should be a priority. It shouldn't be a "wait and see" type of issue. Not only does this disappoint the waiting families, but it really upsets the soldiers. John was really bummed when we talked. I can only imagine how the rest of the soldiers were feeling.

But I need to look on the brighter side of things. At least he will be coming home. And now I have extra time to get some things done around the house that I haven't been able to do with the heat; like laundry and vacuuming. Hopefully we will be reunited soon!

Pulling Up

It seems like in the past few days Delilah has had some major achievements! MAJOR!!!! One has been 'army' crawling up the ramp. She has made it all the way to the top. And when she gets to the top, she swings her legs off and stands next to it, holding onto the ottoman of course. This takes a lot of strength. Here is a video of the climbing. 

However, it was this morning that I notice her biggest achievement to date. As I was working on a photo editing class I looked up and I saw this:

That's right folks, Delilah pulled up to a standing position using her toy box. She did this from laying on her tummy!!!! What a ROCKSTAR! I was so excited I teared up. She was so proud of herself, and she should be. It takes a lot of strength to be able to do that. I believe we will be seeing even more amazing achievements in the days to come. Here is a video of her pulling up. Took me a little while to catch it!

Disney

Not sure how I did it, but I managed to get my Husband to agree to a trip to Disney when we visit Dr. Miller in December. For all of you who don't know me very well, I love all things Disney, especially the Princesses! I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Disney World decorated for Christmas. I know that Delilah will still be so very young, but you are never to young (or old) to visit Disney. I want her to grow up to love Disney as much as I do. I especially want to get pictures of my Princess with the Disney Princesses. Luckily, Magic Kingdom really caters to kids of all ages, so I truly believe that she will have a great time. John and I aren't big on rides, so there is no worry about missing out on all the 'height requirement'  rides. There are rides that she will be able to participate in, on our laps.

So now to start planning our mini vacation. I would love to here anyone's opinion on how to make the best out of our trip. We will only have 2 days at Disney. Is it worth it go to any of the other parks? I was thinking Animal Kingdom. Do you have any secrets to spill about Disney? I haven't been in 8 years so any tips would be greatly appreciated. (Just realized it has been 8 years since I graduated High School. Time sure does fly!)

She Will Be Missed

Today was Delilah's last therapy appointment with Sally. If you have been following this blog from the beginning, you know how important Sally is to us. She has been Delilah's therapist from the very first days in the NICU. Sally helped us teach Delilah how to eat from a bottle, which saved her from the dreaded G-Tube. After Delilah was discharged, we continued to see Sally weekly. I truly believe that Delilah wouldn't be where she is today without the help from this wonderful lady. It is sad that we will no longer be seeing her for therapy, but we are happy for the opportunity we had with her. Sally will truly be missed.

New Carseat

This may not be a major event, but it certainly seems to make Miss D a happy girl. This past week we got her new carseat. She has just about outgrown the infant carrier. After asking around to all the other PWS moms and our specialists, we bought the Britax Advovate. This is one of the highest rated and safest convertable carseats available on the market. I have yet to read a bad review. I don't count issues with its size because I have an SUV and knew that wouldn't be an issue for me. (It is a beast!) Even though Delilah is a year old, she will be rear facing until she is 2 or older, due to her low muscle tone.

Delilah really seems to like her new seat. Now she sits up more and is higher to see out the window. Just look at that grin!

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The Amazing Delilah

Delilah has been doing amazingly well. She has more energy and is all over the place. She has been working very hard on getting up on her hands and knees. She actually did both at the same time, and moved forward about an inch a couple of days ago. I really wished I had my Flip right next to me when she did it. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. But it did teach me a valuable lesson to keep it within reach from then on. Am I ever glad I learned that lesson, because I had the chance to catch this wonderfulness!

In the following videos she is working very hard to get to my notebook. (She loves paper, hence the magazines and ads all over the floor.) She managed to use my computer lap pad as a makeshift ramp to pull up on the fireplace hearth. A very amazing feat! In the second video she is using one of her therapy tools. It takes a lot of work to climb that ramp, and she is very, very determined.

I am unbelievably PROUD of my little girl! She is getting so strong and making so many advances! I can't wait to see what she does next!!!

2 Weeks

We are 2 weeks away from Johnny's return home! WOOHOO!!! I am super excited to be getting my husband home. While I am looking forward to some help around the house, daily adult interaction, and a full time bug killer, I am most looking forward to watching him play with Delilah. Before he left, Delilah was still working on her low muscle tone, so play time was very limited. Now she is at the perfect age and development for some good play time with Daddy. And how she loves her Daddy! She may not remember him all to well right now, but it won't take her but a moment to fall for him all over again. (He is so easy to Love!!) He was the first person to get a good smile out of her, and I can't wait to see him bring that smile to her face again. I long to see their relationship blossom. I want her to be a Daddy's girl! She is so lucky to have Johnny as her daddy. He might not realize it yet, due to not having had a chance to grow into his roll as Dad, but he is an amazing father. Thank you to his Dad for being such a great example!

Now for a few pics of Johnny while he has been overseas. Look real close, he is the one with a 'cheesy' smile and white blonde hair. Can't wait to see that smile in person!!!

Blog Book

I just realized that I have been blogging for over a year now. My first blog post was on June 30, 2009. It's amazing how fast the time has just flown by. As with all things I do, I want a hard copy of this blog for Delilah. The best way to accomplish this was to turn it into a book. So I decided I am going to make a book for each year, otherwise it would be one really thick book. I used Blurb.com to accomplish this task. It was quite easy, just a bit time consuming if you do it all at once. (For future books I will upload the posts as I blog them.) I will let you all know the quality of the book. The pricing is wonderful, especially if you use coupons available on the web. ***If you are interested in this, I have some FANTASTIC codes for you.*** Anyhow, below is the book. Can't wait to get it in!!!

Delilah's Journey by Created by: Mommy | Make Your Own Book

A Wonderful Forth

I hope everyone enjoyed yesterday as much as I did. You can never go wrong with hanging out with friends and grilling "the world" (as Brad put it). Delilah was able to enjoy some fresh air with some much needed 'outdoor' play time. We put down a blanket and some toys for her to play, but instead she wanted to explore the grass. After her dinner of a hotdog, potato salad and fresh peas, we lit some sparklers. I thought I was being the cool mom by getting the 'extreme' sparklers instead of the traditional ones. We found out quick that the 'extreme' stood for extreme smoke and extreme flame. Lesson learned. Must stick with tradition! I'm not sure that Delilah really cared for the sparklers. She seemed more eager to play with my earrings. I still managed to get some pics.

After Delilah went to bed, we stayed up talking and playing Cornhole. For those of you not familiar with this game, it is essentially a bean bag toss game. Sounds lame, but it is a TON of fun! (Google it if you want to know more, they have an Association.) Around 11 we had a new visitor join our little group. A cute, black kitten stuck her head up out of the Cornhole game. Shocked us all. She was obviously a stray, so we picked her up and started checking her out. About this same time Johnny called. I told him about the kitten and he said to take it home. So, without further ado, I am pleased to introduce you to Mango, the newest addition to our family. 

I know what most of you are probably thinking, "Another animal?!?!". We must be masochists, but how can you not look at that face and turn into goo. Bonus: cats kill bugs, something that I am too scared to do. I'm a wimp. If you are curious about the name Mango, it is mainly due to her eye color. You see, Jenn and Brad already have a cat name Kiwi, and Bobert thought it would cool for them to have another with another fruit name. So he named her Mango after her orange-ish eyes. However, there was NO WAY Brad was going to allow another cat in the house, so that is how we ended up with her. And Johnny being a sucker for kittens! So far she is super sweet and the dogs get along with her. We will be going to the vet before she gets to spend too much time around Delilah, but Delilah is already in love with her. She tries to chase her around the living room. Hopefully they will grow up together as buddies. Anyhow, hope everyone who is off today is enjoying it. Rest up! 

What A Week

Poor Delilah has had her first cold this week. She has never been sick before, so it was a new experience for both of us. She was constantly crying and would only settle if she was laying on my chest. Her coughs were so rough she could barely get them out. There were also several sleepless nights. Luckily, she seems to be doing much better today. She is happier and playing with her toys again. She still has a slight cough and her voice is hoarse, but she seems to be it good spirits. I think all the excitement from her birthday party just wore her little body out.

Before her cold, she was able to play with a few of her 'outside' birthday presents. One being a Splash Pool and the other a swing. I think she really liked them both.

And just because it is so cute, here is D eating some watermelon, her new favorite snack!

We are looking forward to celebrating Independence Day with Brad, Jenn and Bob. It's gonna be a fabulous day, and Delilah will get to see sparklers for the first time. Can't wait for the photo op!!!! Happy 4th of July to everyone, especially to Delilah's Daddy. He will be home in about 20 days!!! Woohoo!!!