Good Times!!

We've been pretty busy with lots of fun things going on.

But never too busy to enjoy some sister love and conversation on our favorite Dora couch.

Gwendolyn has also started her swim therapy again. She did this last summer as well and it was kind of fun when the therapist looked back at his records from just a year ago. The goals she had last summer actually made me chuckle. We were working on "crawling" and "cruising". Really? Wow! Those things have been mastered for so long that I can't really even remember working on them! We are so proud of how far she's come. Her therapist actually said that she probably made 2 years progress in just a year! He was extremely impressed.

Here she is practicing walking. The water is great for her to practice in. It gives her a little sense of support without actually holding onto her. 

Another new thing in Gwendolyn's life was the arrival of her brand new wheelchair! We debated about getting one for her for quite awhile. We didn't want her to rely on it too much and lose her drive to walk. But after talking to several parents of children like our Gwenner, we decided it was a good idea to at least have one. We only plan on using it when we are outside the house and for long distances. For short distances like walking into restaurants and things she will still use her walker. (we are also working on forearm crutches which I will post more on later) But for outside the house and longer distances we thought it would give her some more independence. Yes, we can still put her in a stroller and push her around if we need to and yes, that is probably the easiest thing for us to do. But, she has no control over where she goes with a stroller. It is completely in our control. I just didn't think that was fair for an almost 3 year old. I will hopefully post better pictures once I get some, but this picture was taken literally 2 minutes after putting her in the chair for the first time. She went directly over to our kitchen drawers and started taking things out. This is one of Braelyn's favorite things to do, but I honestly never knew it was something Gwen was missing out on! But, she obviously was just patiently waiting until the day she could reach that top drawer. :) She loved it! She is really the same height as Braelyn is in this wheelchair which is kind of nice.

Not sure what they are doing here. Braelyn is big on feeding people fake food lately so that's my best guess.  ;)

This is one of those ride-on toys that completely rip gullible parents like us off by charging 50 cents a pop for a 30 second ride. :) BUT, my girl loves it so ride away my sweet girl....ride away.
 She looks like a pretty serious bus driver here huh?

Grandma went with us to the library where they had a little musical show about animals. They had a real snake that they allowed the kids to touch if they wanted to. I didn't think either of my girls would volunteer for that one, but brave little Braelyn stepped right up! That night Gwendolyn was telling Daddy all about how SHE touched the snake too. hee....hee....



I had to include the following shots just because I think they are funny. Braelyn got a hold of my phone and spent a good 15 minutes taking her own picture and laughing her little head off. It was hilarious to watch. I probably had 30 pics of that sweet little face on my phone. I chose a few to share with you. 

Gwendolyn drawing on the steps.

      Our lousy washing machine broke last week so we took Saturday and drove around pricing new ones. We went to the T-Rex Cafe for lunch because the girls had never been there before. Braelyn was totally into it. Gwendolyn on the other hand....not so much. She was a bit afraid of the dinosaurs. 

On Father's Day we went to the amusement park for Daddy's staff appreciation day for work. The girls LOVED the carousel! Gwen flat out refused to ride on it the first time, but Braelyn jumped right on! The whole way around she just kept saying, "Mommy, it's sooooo fun!!! Ooooooo!!! It's soooooo pretty!!!" She was a trip.

Here we are riding the Snoopy bus. 

She loves to give kisses. And I love to receive them. :)

I feel kinda bad we didn't get any pictures of Daddy with his girls on Father's Day. But,  hopefully he knows just how lucky we are to have him in our life. He is hands down the best Daddy and husband anyone could ask for!!

Love you Babe!!