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. 

Organizing and Art

This week I have been focusing on re-organizing all of Delilah's "stuff". In her two short years, she has managed to collect quite a bit of stuff. With the new year approaching, it's the perfect time to cycle out the old for the new. It has taken me two and a half days, but I have finally managed to organize little girls room. Not only is it organized, but I also managed to move all her toys to her room. I know this doesn't mean she will keep the toys in her room, but at least I can re-claim the rest of the house (mainly the living room). 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that she keeps her room much cleaner now that it is organized. I was afraid she would dump all the new bins of toys all over the place, like she does her dresser drawers. So far, she has kept it pretty neat and returns blocks to the correct bin. This is not to say she keeps a spotless room. Little girls kitchen accessories are all over the place. 

I don't have any pictures of her room yet, but I'll take some soon. However, I do have a few of her painting on her new easel today. She really enjoyed herself. I plan to make a corner of the loft into her little art studio. Still thinking through some of the elements I want to add, like a place to hang her art work. 

On a side note, you may also notice that I redesigned the blog. New year, new blog design. I've finally figured out a way to make installing these changes much easier, so you may see her blog design change a lot. It's just so much fun. 

Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week. I will be getting ready for my Momma and Janet's visit this weekend.  Woohoo!

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning is so much more fun with a toddler. Her excitement is contagious. I could go on and on about how amazing this morning was, but I will let the photos do all the talking. Enjoy!

***Pictures are in black and white due to the unbearable lighting in my house, which lead me to use the flash.***

Maybe Next Time

Potty training was a bust. Delilah wasn't ready after all. During the middle of the second day things just got ugly. Not only were there accidents there were also huge meltdowns when I would sit her on the potty. It became a battle, one I'm not going to have. Potty training needs to be a positive experience, not something that scares her off. Back in diapers she went. 

At first, I was a little conflicted on how I feel about this. Did I stop too soon? Could I have done more? After dissecting everything in my mind, I came to the conclusion that Delilah just isn't ready for this step. The accidents never phased her. Pee or poop, she was content to continue playing without letting me know. She also viewed the potty as a toy chair. Nothing more than a place to sit, when she felt like it. 

One thing I learned from this experience is my daughter has absolutely no cues to when she is peeing or pooping. Zero! Makes it hard to set her on the potty in time without those. We definitely will have to wait for those cues before we start potty training again. It will happen one day. Today is just not the day.  

Day 2: Mid-morning

This morning I decided to try using Dora to keep her on the potty longer. I started by giving her some chocolate milk with breakfast, hoping to get her to drink it all. (She rarely gets chocolate milk, if ever.) We then played for a little while. At 8:30 I put on a Christmas Dora DVD and set her on the potty. She happily sat there for over an hour, wanting more Dora when it ended. She was halfway through the second run of the DVD when she got up from the potty. I didn't argue with her, since she sat there for over an hour. Within 30 seconds of getting up she peed in her panties. She had no reaction until I heard it and set her immediately on the potty, the she started to cry. I believe she was crying because she didn't want to sit on the potty anymore. I cleaned her up, put her in clean panties and let her go play again.

I know this is only day two, but I'm beginning to think I was a bit premature about potty training. I don't say this because I am frustrated (I am a little, but I don't show it to Delilah), I think she may not be truly ready. I gather this from her not having reactions to accidents. It doesn't seem to bother her. When she had a poopy accident yesterday, she was happy to continue playing. It didn't phase her one bit. It's the same thing with pee accidents. Also, she only sees her potty as a chair. 

I am going to continue down this path for today and possibly tomorrow, as I don't want to throw in the towel after only 24 hours, but we may return to diapers after that. I will keep the potty chairs accessible, should she choose to try again. I just think this may not be the right time for her. Hopefully I will have a clearer idea by the end if the day. 

Day 1: Evening

Well, it went almost exactly as expected. Lots of accidents, no potty success. No big deal, we will keep going.

Timeline of our day:
About 9:00am she had her first pee accident. Luckily she was standing in the bathroom when it happened, so the cleanup wasn't so bad.

Before nap I put her on the potty for 5-10 minutes while I read her "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!". No poop or pee, so off to bed she went. I checked in on her 5 minutes later, because I heard her playing, and she had pooped in her panties. Go figure! I cleaned her up, set her on the potty again and then off to bed once more.

She woke (if she really slept) from her nap nearly an hour later with a small pee accident. Again, I cleaned her up, set her on the potty, then off to play.

No more accidents after nap, but no using the potty either. She was dry until dinner and bath, and then we put her in a diaper for bed.

We have made a point to set her on the potty every half hour or so. Now I think we may need to keep her on the potty longer than5-10 minutes. I think tomorrow we will try watching a Dora episode while she sits on the potty. I think that once she actually goes in the potty, and sees how excited we will be, then maybe she will understand the concept better. At this point I think she thinks it's just a chair to sit on, bare butt of course.

Hopefully tomorrow goes a bit smoother, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Definitely could have been worse.

Day 1: Morning

It's a big day in the Unfried household. Today Delilah begins potty training. We have been noticing the signs for a while. Pulling at her diaper and saying diaper. Willingly leading us to the changing table so we can change her. Pulling off her diaper if it is full (which has led to some uber messes). She has also built up a large enough vocabulary to tell us when it is potty time.

Seeing how we have no class or appointments for the next 2 weeks, we decided now is the best time to try potty training. I say "try" because there is always a chance it won't take and I will not be discouraged. We will just try again. No biggie. 

Our method will be sort of cold turkey. We got her a ton of the thick, cotton, training panties. She will wear these, and only these from the waist down, during the day. No diaper and no pull-up until bed time. We will set her on the potty every half hour, or so, during the day. We set up a potty in her bathroom and one in the living room. Why the living room? Well, we have a multiple level house with only a bathroom on the top floor. We figured it would be too soon to expect her to rush upstairs if she needs to potty. When she is fully trained with minimal accidents we will retire the living room potty. 

I plan to use this blog as a journal of our experience, so plan on lots of updates, possibly multiple times a day. Hopefully, by doing so, I can have a reminder of what works and doesn't work, just in case we ever have to do this again. 

Now to discuss Delilah's reaction to her first pair of panties and the potty. As soon as she woke up this morning I removed her diaper and put her in panties then on the potty. She was a little confused at first and tugged at them. Once I showed her how to pull them up and down at the potty they became a novelty. In the last hour, since she has been awake, she has pulled them down and up to sit on the potty. She always says "potty" before she does it. I know it's the novelty of something new, but it is nice to see she has grasped the concept. Now to see if she will keep it up and actually pee in the potty. Wish us luck! 

Christmas Card Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago my friend Lindy and I took our little princesses for a little Christmas Card photo shoot. Believe me when I say it takes 2. I honestly went into it thinking it would be a challenge to get Delilah to look at the camera, let alone smile for it. Thank goodness for Lindy. She has the magic touch...lipgloss. Ha! Why didn't I ever think of that? Anyway, we got a ton of cute photos to choose from. Actually, Lindy got a bunch of great photos to choose from. Apparently my camera decided to act up during the entire shoot. Now that the cards have gone out in the mail, I can post some of the pictures for you to enjoy. (Sorry for those who didn't receive a card. I seriously miscalculated how many I needed. Whoops.) Delilah and Addison were too adorable, especially when we let them run. I love the pic of them holding hands. 

Happy Belated Thanksgiving

This past week/weekend was full of fun, family and fantastic food. However, there have been a few bumps in the road, hence the late post. Up first, the need to replace the brake pads on the Tahoe. Thank goodness I had the good sense to get an oil change and have the brakes checked before we left for Florida. I knew there was a reason I could hear them while backing out the driveway. Next up, the extra long drive home from Florida. Not really unexpected, but not welcome either. Delilah is usually a great little traveler, but I65 on Sunday was really pushing her limits. Finally, the straw that broke the camels back, was returning home to the power going out. Seems to happen everytime we return home from a trip. However, this time it wasn't the power company (who was very rude to me in my distressed state). Apparently the main breaker was fried. How? No idea. Even the electrician was stumped. He says we were lucky it didn't cause a fire (silver lining). As I type this it doesn't seem very dramatic, but I was a bit of a stress ball with it all.

On to what you have been waiting on, news on little miss Delilah. She is absolutely amazing, as usual. She really enjoyed her time with family. She is always treated like the little princess she is. Which is to say, she gets spoiled rotten. One major event of note, Delilah said her first, clear three word phrase/sentence. It happened when we put her up on a horse with her Aunt Danielle. She said, "I want down." Clear as day. Multiple times. I was elated. 

A quick pic on the horse. 

Since then, I feel liked am hearing more and more multiple word phrases, like "I want milk". It's really really nice. 

Thanksgiving was a great day. We spent it at Grandma and Grandpa Barrow's house. The food was great. I really could eat Thanksgiving dinner every day. So good. While we were waiting for dinner, Delilah, my mom and I went outside to expel some energy. Delilah loves her Nana. She kept running and jumping into her arms. It was adorable. It also helped wear her out a little. She nearly fell asleep eating the stuffing! 

On Friday we went to spend the weekend with Janet. Delilah had a blast sitting on the deck watching the water. We learned she likes Smoked Tuna Dip, a favorite of mine. Also, she isn't a fan of spicy food. We had a shrimp boil Saturday night, which had a bit of a kick to it. She bit into her corn on the cob and immediately put it down. Her nose started running and she was scraping her tongue. (I promise I didnt think it was that hot. Lesson learned.) She was fine once we made her some new, non spicy corn. 

Now that we are home, and no new major issues seem to have creeped up (knocking on wood), we are getting excited for John's return home. He should be home sometime tomorrow evening and we can't wait. Now to just get the house in order. Once he gets home, I will finally be able to get the Christmas decoration out of the attic and put up.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Growing too fast!

Two days ago, Delilah climbed out of her crib for the first time. Actually, she kind of fell out of it. At least, that is what I assume, considering the big thump I heard coming from her room. I thought she had just thrown her baby dolls out, but then I heard her banging on the door. I cannot say I was excited about this new development. All I could picture was nap time flying out the window, and bedtime becoming a struggle.

Instead if immediately taking the front bars off her crib, I decided to wait and see if she would do it again. I was hoping the fall would deter her from doing it again. That night and the next day and night she didn't climb out. I was sighing with relief. Until today, that is.

Little girl has climbed out of her crib not once, not twice, but three times during nap. Oh no! Looks like she will be graduating to a toddler bed now. Hopefully night time won't be such too difficult.

On a completely different note, the other day, my friend, Lindy, and I took our two little princesses out for some photos. We both needed to get some good shots out Christmas cards, and it is always fun to get Addie and Delilah together. Let me just say, the photos turned out ADORABLE! The girls were much more cooperative then we even imagined. Apparently the secret weapon is lipgloss. Who knew? I am dying to show you all the pics, but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Once the cards are mailed, I will post all the cuteness. Until then, here is a tease.