The Castellano Girls

Mom and Gwen get ready to fly a kite

Well, a lot has been happening in the Castellano household! We just haven't had the time to write about it apparently. :) You will probably get me (Heather) writing a bit more often from now on. Chuck has been extremely busy with work lately and I am almost done with school for the summer. YAY!!!! But, that will give me some more time to keep up with the blog again.

Uncle Kyle helps Braelyn get her kite in the air.

We've been trying to use the free time we do have doing some fun things as a family. Here are some pics of a kite festival that we went to with our Aunt Susan and Uncle Kyle, cousins, and Grandma. It was a great time, but wasn't very windy that day so it was a little tough to get a kite in the air. But Uncle Kyle really spent a lot of time helping our girls fly their first kites. It was a great day!

Now it's Gwendolyn's turn

Another wonderful weekend was Mother's Day. The girls' Nana was just getting back from a cruise and stopped by our neck of the woods for a visit over the weekend. It was great to have her here to celebrate Mother's Day. 

Nana spent Mother's Day in Kansas City with the twins

I always get a bit sentimental during this particular holiday. It was not easy for me to become a mother, but it was something I have always wanted for as long as I can remember. My very favorite doll that I carried with me everywhere as a little girl I named "Daughter." Does that tell you anything? I love being a real mommy to my two "daughters" more than life itself. It truly is what I was made to do. That is why I love this holiday so much. And this weekend didn't disappoint. On Sunday we went to early church and then went to the Plaza right after. 

Mom and her "daughters"

Nana, Gail and I both enjoy going to the Plaza so it was a win-win I think. We had a wonderfully HUGE brunch, did a little shopping and posed for a few pictures next to our favorite fountain. This fountain always makes me think of the girls because I would drive right by it several times a week while I was pregnant and going for all of my high-risk OB appointments. In fact you can see the hospital where the girls were born from this fountain. So, my Mother's Day was complete!

Gwendolyn rides "Numbers"

Gwendolyn also started horse therapy last week! I was so excited for her to start this as I've heard great things about it. But, I was a bit nervous at how Gwen would react. She's a bid of a timid child and I figured the big animals would freak her out. They kind of did....but not for long. It took us about 20 minutes just to get the helmet on her head and belt around her waist. It probably took us another 20 minutes to just get her to touch the horse. She would hold the reins and let me hold her while I walked with the horse (Horse Phil), but she would freak if I tried to set her up on it. The program that does the horse therapy is amazing! They work primarily with special needs kids, but believe highly in peer models, so they let Braelyn ride the horses too! She loved it from the get-go. She got right on like she'd been doing it her whole life.

Even Braelyn gets into the fun at horse therapy

Well, this week we took the girls for their second horseback riding experience. This experience was so much better! I really talked up what she should expect when we got there and kept telling her how we don't cry on horses and she just kept saying "Ok, Momma, No Cry". And we also took a Dora doll with us and Gwen got to show her how to ride the horse. That actually worked! She got on after a few short tears and took off with her helpers! As long as she wasn't anywhere near me, she rode all over! It was an awesome achievement for her!

The girls riding side-by-side

We also got some results back from the preschool screening Gwendolyn went for last week. I was extremely nervous about this entire thing. I'm still not overly excited about leaving the comfort of our FirstSteps program and entering our little girl into the school system. All of our FirstSteps therapists have been wonderful for Gwen and it's obvious they love and care about her so much. They have really all become a part of our family. That's why it's been hard to think about this next big step for Gwen. 


She really did very well at her evaluation. All of the things that came up as concerns were things we really already knew. To make a long story short, she has qualified for some OT and PT, but really will not be needing speech therapy which we are happy about. We toured the school she may go to and met the teacher she would have. I really, really liked all of the people we met with today and her teacher seemed extremely sweet and caring. Gwendolyn got to see the classroom and the playground which is a completely accessible playground for her which I love!! I was able to snap a little picture of her sitting on the carpet in her classroom. She loved it in there! She actually didn't want to leave. It was the only time for the hour and a half we were there that she would get off my lap. She felt right at home I think! Now we need to figure out what to do with Braelyn. 

What to do with Braelyn indeed!

They don't really have "peer models" at this preschool so if we decide to send Gwendolyn to this school we will have to find a different preschool for Brae. It makes me kind of sick to my twin-momma's stomach to think about separating them this early, but I also know we need to do what's best for both of them.  So hard to believe our girls are at preschool age already. How did that happen??