It Wasn't THAT Type of Strike

Wow... We didn't intend to use that last blog entry title to tell you subliminally that we were going on "strike" from making any further entries for a week. Unfortunately, it just kind of worked out that way.

The good news is that there was no dramatic reason behind our absence other than another bout of being very, very busy. (We know... Get our priorities straight, right?)

The better news is that since there isn't a lot to update you all on (a theme we are enjoying of late - knock on wood!), we can again let pictures do most of the talking for us. And with subjects like Braelyn and Gwendolyn, photos often can speak a thousand words.

Enjoy!!!

Braelyn's latest pastime is block stacking... You just don't want to be around when they fall... TRUST US!!!


Gwendolyn has already nailed down her retirement attire... Over sized purse to match a majestically crooked sunhat.

Braelyn has mastered multi tasking at it's finest...

Although Gwendolyn does one-up her sister as she often makes calls during her potty breaks!

Unfortunately, Brealyn misses her lazy summer mornings where she could wake up at her own speed.

At least Gwendolyn doesn't let the lack of sleep get her down!!!

Strike!

Recently, Braelyn and Gwendolyn had some fun at the bowling alley with their McKee cousins. As you can see, we aren't expecting a bowling scholarship for college to materialize anytime soon! (And for those keeping track at home Mommy beat Daddy... AGAIN!!!)

Oh well... On to the next sport we suppose!!!

Back at It... Again

Unfortunately, the school year has begun. So, the Castellano girl triumvirate of Mommy, Braelyn & Gwendolyn has been separated from their day-long summer adventures.

Actually, the worst outcome of the school year starting for the girls has become getting back into the morning routine. No longer can The Gwenner lounge around until she's ready to officially start her day. Nope, sleeping in is a thing of the past for her. Always an early riser, Braelyn is having to remember that a casual breakfast stretched out for 90 minutes is a thing of the past. She's back to eating at a more typical pace... With some prodding from Mom and Dad that is!

For her part, Mom continues to be a trooper.

She's up very early to get herself in order so that she can help the girls get ready to begin their day.

We can only imagine how crazy things will get when the girls actually start going to school themselves!

A Fabulous Photo Friday Entry

Well, as Mom alluded to earlier this week, we are so sorry if we've been falling behind on updating the blog of late. In fact, a big note of thanks goes out to Mommy for picking up Dad's slack and getting some new bragging material up on the blog about Brae Bear & The Gwenner. Obviously, we've both been a little busy but the lack of activity here can also be attributed to the fact that girls doing so well that there's not a lot of pressing updates to share.

Speaking of Braelyn and Gwendolyn, they are about to have their daily field trips come to an end. Shopping with Mom as a way to break up a lazy weekday afternoon has concluded for the next nine months. It won't be nearly as casual of an experience to go shopping with Mom from here on out.

But for their part, the girls really do continue to make life easy for us. As Mom declared the other day, there aren't too many kiddos that are nearly two (GASP!) and can sit for a couple of hours in a classroom entertaining themselves while Mom frantically gets ready for the school year. Outside of Braelyn "accidentally" locking Gwendolyn in the classroom for a couple of minutes (which The Gwenner was none too happy about might we add) they've provided no distraction whatsoever.

Scattered throughout this blog entry you'll find some photos we've taken the past few weeks but that we haven't had a chance to share with you all yet. As you can undoubtedly tell, Braelyn is still being her crazy self and Gwendolyn is still making marvelous strides in her leg development.

On a sidenote, luckily the heat has broke in Kansas City. However, with both the school and football seasons upon us, there won't be much time to take advantage of it.

Oh well! Have a great weekend...

It's Video Sharing Monday!!

Happy Monday!! Sorry it's been awhile since we have posted. I'm busy getting ready to go back to work again. Blahhhhh..... I'm SO going to miss spending every day with my beautiful girls. I know how lucky I am to have the type of occupation that allows me these three months, but it's still very hard to get back into a routine that doesn't include spending all of my time with the girls. Dad has also been extremely busy with work lately so we haven't had much time to update our beloved blog!

There really isn't a whole lot to update which is always a good thing. :) Braelyn is still her little spunky self! She's getting a lot more vocal and says things and does things that make us laugh all the time. She's also getting to be quite the little care giver for her sister. She goes and gets her diapers and her wipes and lays down the diaper on the floor all ready to go. Then she will wrap her arms around Gwen and say "Up!". She tries her hardest to pick Gwen up to change her diaper. It's hilarious. She's also really starting to remember songs that we sing with her. She does this a lot when we are driving in the car so I decided to try and catch it on film. (Don't worry, Daddy is driving.) This video makes me laugh so hard I cry so I hope you enjoy it as well. I like to call this one: ABC...BOP!

And that brings me to The Gwenner. She is an amazing, amazing child. Have I mentioned how AMAZING she is? She has made so much progress this summer. It's hard to think back just 3 short months ago when we were working so hard to get Gwen mobile. She worked so hard getting the crawling thing down and now she totally has it!! She is quick too! She loves to crawl away really quick when she sees me coming at her with the comb and hair ties especially. (Not a big fan of getting her hair done.) ;) We also have started working with a type of walker called a gait trainer. She's slowly but surely getting the hang of that. But she has always really needed a lot of support with her upper body in order to take any steps. She still relies on some support but has gotten SO much more confident taking steps on her own. This is proof that our Gwenner is: Getting So Much Stronger! (You can also see our amazing PT, Amelia in that video.)

Hope you all have a great week! We will definitely be taking advantage of every moment of our last week of vacation together!

Yep...

...Those sure look like a pair of Monday morning hairdos to us!