My daughter...

is an incredible little girl. Her smile can light up a room. Her hugs can warm a person to the depths of their heart. All she wants is to be included and to make friends. Unfortunately most kids her age who want to play with her can't really understand her. They get frustrated and simply walk away. Nicole's cognitive ability is normal but her speech and language abilities are about 2 years behind. She also has difficulties with short term memory, oral motor movement, fine motor skills, sensory processing disorder and some autistic tendencies.

Over the last few months I have come to realize that perfection come in all shapes and sizes. My daughter also has strabismus and required surgery to straighten her eyes to correct her vision. She is still perfect to me. I my not always understand what my daughter needs and she may hit me out of frustration but she is still perfect. I've realized that I have simply had to adjust what my idea of perfection is. It is whatever God wants it to be at that moment in time. He makes the rules not me.

Nicole Grace

Born on my brother's birthday in April 2005, she was my second miracle. My angle bug. She was named after my sister, Angela Nicole, who sadly went to see Jesus at 2 weeks old 26 years earlier. As any parent would, I love my daughter unconditionally.

This summer has been spent going an array of developmental testing for Nicole. Conerns on her development first arose when she didn't speak until she was about a year and a half. She screeched, screamed and pointed when she wanted something. When she wasn't understood she would meltdown. The meltdowns have continued and other sensory problems have been noticed as new things are introduced to her life. I have decided to start this blog to keep track of Nicole's progress in school, home and therapy.