The Graduate

Yesterday, Delilah graduated from The Bell Center. For those of you not familiar, The Bell Center is a wonderful Early Intervention program that Delilah has been attending since January 2011. The staff and volunteers are some of the most amazing people I have had the pleasure of meeting. They truly love their job. We are so lucky to have such an amazing program in Birmingham. We are also lucky that Graduation doesn't mean goodbye...just yet. Delilah will be attending a summer session. Here are some pics from her big day:

Singing at the beginning of the ceremony.

Delilah with Ms. Betty Bell, the founding director. 

Mommy with one super cute Graduate!

The best God Parents a girl could ask for!

Enjoying a cupcake at the reception. 

 To learn more about The Bell Center, please visit their website: www.thebellcenter.org.

3 more layouts!

I was on a roll last night and completed 3 more layouts. Enjoy!

SO BEHIND!!!!!

Dude...Delilah will be three in a little over a month. You know how I always create a scrapbook for her, and have it printed in time for her birthday. Well...guess who dropped the ball?!?! This girl! In the past 11 months, I have completed 3 layouts. That's right. ONLY 3!!! AHHH!!!!! (Please excuse the excessive punctuation.) Tonight I finally got the motivation to get to work. Nothing like a tight deadline to get the creative juices flowing! Anyhow, here is the layout I completed tonight:  

11 months after the fact, I finally created her birthday layout. Pathetic! 

4 down. Only 24+ to go! Hopefully I can finish in time. Wish me luck!

Sassy Sitting

This week, Delilah and I took care of Addie's dog, Sassy. Basically, we went over to let her out, love on her, and give her treats. Well, at least, that is what I did. Delilah took it upon herself to keep Addie's playhouse and trampoline in tip top shape. She couldn't decided what she wanted to play with most, so she kept going back and forth between the two. Sassy and I just sat back and watched the action. 

Cutest playhouse ever!!!

Being silly!

This girl is always on the phone!!!

Obviously she is in love with both. They are both conveniently available for purchase at Sam's. Thinking one or both may have to be her birthday present this year.


Don't forget, May is Prader-Willi Syndrome Awareness Month. Help us make a cure a reality by donating to my Virtual One SMALL Step Walk today!

Click on the picture or this link to be taken to our donation page:

http://onesmallstep.fpwr.org/dw/users/unfriedoss/2012-virtual-walk

PWS Awareness Month

It is May 1st, which means the start of Prader-Willi Awareness month. I wanted to do something special to help bring awareness to PWS, and possibly some much needed Research funds. I had originally intended to plan another One SMALL Step walk. Unfortunately, with John's TDY and other circumstances, it just wasn't in the cards. Luckily, I have the option to host Virtually. That's right, folks. From the comfort of your own home, you can participate in a One SMALL Step walk. Can it get any better than that? 

So my challenge to you, during the month of May, help me spread the word about PWS. Let people know about our Virtual Walk. Facebook, Twitter, email, and Blog about it. If you have the means, please donate, even if it is only $1 or $5.  Every dollar counts! 

Click on the image to go to our fundraiser page or on the link: http://onesmallstep.fpwr.org/dw/users/unfriedoss/2012-virtual-walk

Backyard

Today was spent out in the backyard. I desperately needed to clean the sunroom, so I pulled out all the furniture, set Delilah up at her sand table, and I got to scrubbing. Just so you know, I HATE spiders. (shivers) Even with all the little creepy crawlies, I'm glad I got it accomplished. D and I need a lot more fresh air in our lives. I'm getting a bit of cabin fever in my house. 

I am hoping to do a little yard work this week, as well. The back yard it in rough shape, and not really child friendly. Luckily I have someone coming to mow every 2 weeks, but I still need to do something about all the weeds and such. The biggest issue I have is with the little ball things (sweet gum?) that cover the ground. Makes it tough to walk around out there. But I refuse to let them stop us from enjoying our yard. Besides, I figure they will help D with her balance. 

My main motivation for cleaning up the backyard is for D. I really want to get her some fun outside equipment. Things to keep her moving. I have my eye on a Tiny Tots Trampoline and a dreamy Swing Set. The trampoline is most likely joining our family soon. The swing set will take some planning. You see, it's one of those massive, wood ones, that takes A LOT of time to put together. Oh, and bodies. Not a project I could accomplish alone. So I have to think on it and plan. It would make a hell heck of a birthday present for one amazing little girl.  

Seeing how no post is complete without pictures, here are a few I managed to catch while playing out back today. Enjoy!

A Reflection

Wow! It's been so long since I've posted to the blog. What can I say? Life just gets in the way. Unfortunately it is about to get even more in the way. I start summer classes at the end of May. Yay! But I will be busy. I will try to keep the blog updated as much as possible. It may be just pics. Something is better than nothing, right? Speaking of, here is a pic I took about an hour ago. I was just practicing with my camera (working on focus) and I happened to get a very lovely shot of D in front of the window. Notice the reflection. I'm a bit proud that I managed to capture it. 

I really should talk some about how things have been around here, but that could take FOREVER! SO here's the short and sweet version. D is great. She is very strong willed, so I am working on managing some behavior issues. It was a bit rough for about 2 weeks, but I think we have found solid ground again. After struggling through several different discipline techniques (which she pretty much just laughed at), we found that a reward system, of stickers, works best. Now we don't go anywhere without a pack of stickers.

Well, that's all for today. No promises on when the next post will be. Hopefully sooner than later.

Happy Valentines Day!

 

 

Moving on Up

So some news on our little rockstar. She is moving to a new class at The Bell Center, called Explore Everyday. Here is the description off their website:

Explore Everyday

Toddlers in Explore Every Day participate in center-based activities that are designed to promote independence in a structured therapeutic environment. A team of therapists lead children, and their typically developing “friends” through preschool routines and activities. Activities are modified accordingly to provide opportunities for children to work on individual therapeutic goals while becoming more independent in a preschool environment.

One of the main differences between Explore Everyday and her current, All About Me, class, is she will no longer have a one-on-one volunteer helping her. As it states above, this new class is geared towards preparing the children for preschool. She will also only be attending this class 2 days a week, instead of the 4 days a week for All About Me. (Definitely gonna help the gas budget.)

I am both excited and a little sad about this change. I'm obviously excited because it shows how much progress Delilah has made since she first started The Bell Center, last February (if I remember correctly). She just isn't a baby anymore, she is a little girl. (Small tear.) This is also a great opportunity for her to build her speech skills. She will now be surrounded by peers who will have similar communication skills and who will help her build hers. We will miss her friends and fellow mom's in her current class. Luckily, we will still see a few during Kindermusik, and hopefully we will see the others in passing.

The only downside to the new class...the time. 8:15 a.m. Birmingham Drivers: Keep a watchful eye out for the Zombie Mom while commuting on Wed and Fri mornings. With John's current work schedule of swing shift, sleep deprivation may roar its ugly head.

This month also begins the process of transitioning out of Early Intervention programs and into the school system (should she qualify). We have our first Transition Planning Meeting on the 13th. Basically, we go sign a bunch of paperwork and set up appointments for her evaluations with therapists. The real fun doesn't start until the evaluations are completed and we sit down to discuss the results. Don't worry...I plan to keep you all up to date as it happens.

One last thing...I shared this video on Facebook, but though all you non-facebookers might enjoy it as well. My favorite part is when she sings "hey, hey, hey". So stinkin adorable! Enjoy!

January in Review

I cannot believe January is almost over. Where is this year going? It's been relatively busy around the Unfried household. We have been getting back into our routines. John's work schedule has thrown us off a bit. Swing shift is really messing with our sleep, but it is nice to have him home in the mornings. 

I have officially submitted my application to the University of Alabama. All my transcripts have been ordered and Financial Aid paperwork has been completed. Now to just wait, and hope, that everything goes smoothly. I am hoping to be enrolled in distance learning classes by summer term, which begins in May.

I want to point out that I am still an Auburn fan. Becoming an Alabama student will not change that. I choose Alabama because they have the degree in Food and Nutrition, which I can complete online, that will set me up for becoming a Registered Dietician. If Auburn offered the same opportunity, I would have jumped on it in a heartbeat.

Enough about me. Let's talk about the star of the show. Delilah has been hilarious lately. She copies everything we say and do. She recently (more like a few weeks ago) learned the art of the 'knuckle bump'. She was taught this fun way of saying hello by some very good friends of ours. Now she is constantly coming up to us to 'bumb' hello. So adorable!

She is also building her vocabulary. Girls got a ton of words these days. What's fun is to hear her learn to put them together in 2-3 word phrases.  The most common phrase in this house these days is "I Dora On". The moment she wakes up in the morning she is screaming this through her door. Mommy and Daddy are getting very tired of Dora.

I have finally started to work on her next scrapbook. I'm only 7 months behind:) Hopefully this new creative burst I have can get some much needed layouts done. Here are the two I have done in the last few days.

One thing I have realized while working on these pages...I have been really bad about taking photos lately. There are barely any in my January file. Time to start picking up the camera again. Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

Happy New Year

The Unfried family rang in the new year low key this year, with Nana (my Momma) and Janet. It is always nice to have family in town, especially when they spoil my beautiful girl. We spent the weekend doing a little shopping and eating some good food. I am shocked to say we did manage to stay awake (all except D) until Midnight on New Years Eve, mostly due to playing games on our iPads or computers. 

Delilah was her adorable self, for the most part. Yesterday, while browsing the outlet mall, we experienced her first, true meltdown. Little girl was not happy. At all! It seemed everything was making her mad. It wasn't until after we had been home a while that we figured out the reason. Delilah had a fever and wasn't feeling well. We think it may be some teeth coming in. I should have known something was up when I saw this:

And this:

Delilah NEVER falls asleep on people, no matter how tired she is. She will always continue playing or talking. This only happens when a fever is involved. Luckily, a little medicine and she bounced back. This morning there were no signs of a fever.

Now for some New Year Resolutions:

1. Take more pictures of our growing girl. I can't believe how few I have taken in the past few months. I've been such a slacker and her 3 year scrapbook is going to be short if I don't get in it. 

2. Speaking I'd scrapbook, catch up and keep up with her scrapbook as the year progresses. I haven't done a single page for this third year, and it is half way through. Better get on it. 

3. Be more patient. I seriously lack in patience, but I am trying to work on it. 

4. Be more frugal. Not by clipping coupons but by using what I have or making things from scratch. Did you know that you can make your own laundry detergent? Not only can it work better but it is much, much cheaper. 

5. Go back to school. This is something I am eagerly working toward. I have done some serious thinking and finally decided the degree/career I want to work for. I want to be a Nutritionist/Dietician, a career choice directly related to Delilah's diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome. I have also done my research and found that the University of Alabama offers this degree program via distance learning, which is essential considering Johns many TDY's with the military. At this time, there are a few obsticals in my way, which we are working on, but I have faith that I will be back in school at some point this year. 

I hope that everyone had a great New Years Eve and an even better New Year. Here's hoping 2012 brings us everything we are hoping for or need.