A Month Has Passed Already?!?!?!

Wow... So I just realized it's been over a full month since last I wrote... I guess hopping back on "the wagon" is more difficult than I thought!

Since both Thanksgiving and Christmas has passed since last I checked in, I thought the best way to update you on the Castellano Family's going-ons is in a mom-styled photo listing. I also FINALLY added poor Shea to the photo header of the blog so she's represented (nothing like waiting eight full months just to be sure she made the cut)!!!

Anyway, enjoy these photos and I'll try to do better in 2014... Sorry again!!!



This ALMOST became our Holiday Card photo this year... Unfortunately no one would have likely understood the humor except for us... But this is our life!!! (Note the facial expression of all three of our "angels". Now that's priceless)

Both the twins got a Daddy-Daughter Date Day this month. Braelyn choose lunch with two of her favorite foods - mac & cheese along with mashed 'taters (but NO gravy!!!).

Mom & Dad brought the twins to the movie theatre for the first time so they could see Frozen. ..They did surprisingly well as their Princess Anna dolls will attest!

Daddy, this is what happens when you leave me alone with Mommy...

And this is how I end up getting dressed when I'm left alone with Daddy!!!



Braelyn and Gwendolyn prep for their first church pageant by singing "Away in a Manger" for Mommy & Daddy. 

Shea Frances discovers just how soft Daddy's belly is.



Santa got the twins a doll house this year stocked full of dolls and accessories.

Gwendolyn was excited to say the least when her cast was finally taken off!!! Now we are working to strengthen her leg and getting her acclimated again to her walker and forearm crutches. Let's just say that the former has been an easier task than the latter thus far.

 

A rare moment of cuddles for the twins... They must have remembered that Santa would be coming to town soon.

Since you can't quite make it out, Shea's shirt reads "My First Christmas"



"What's the deal with all these lights?"

 



(L-R) Cousins Anthony & Ava join Braelyn & Gwendolyn on a train ride at Union Station. We had our whole family in town for Thanksgiving this year.



Ah, this really is the perfect bookend to this conglomerate of holiday photos... The Castellano trio meets up with Santa at Dad's holiday office party. As you can see, Shea doesn't quite know what to think, Braelyn is happy to smile as long as she can get her hands on whatever Santa's got for her in that gift bag, and poor Gwendolyn just wants a hug from Mommy and/or Daddy... As long as the team's mascot KC Wolf is no where in sight that is!!!

Gwendolyn's Doing Well

Just wanted to update you all that Gwendolyn's been doing well since her discharge from the hospital and return home.

Her biggest complaint thus far is that her cast is "too hard" so it is difficult for Gwendolyn to crawl (and, consequently move).

However, we set her in Uncle Verdell's personalized "star car" and she's been tooling around in that sporting a big smile.

She went back to school yesterday and all seemed to fall in line with her typical day there. 

Luckily, her cast is due to come off before Christmas so she'll only have it on for one holiday we suppose.

So, all things considered, things aren't too bad at all!!!

Gwendolyn on her way to the O.R.

A Status Report on Gwendolyn

Sorry for the lack of notice on this but Heather and I wanted to share an update on Gwendolyn. She is going in for an out-patient procedure this afternoon.

She needs to have her Achilles lengthened as her right foot has tightened to the point that it is pretty rigid and nearly transfixed in a type of ballerina toe-tap.

By snipping the Achilles, it will give Gwendolyn 10-15% more range in her foot, thereby allowing her to stand more flat footed and assist with her mobility while in her braces.

After the procedure, she will have a cast placed on for a majority of the length of her leg above her knee. They will also insert a pin through her foot in a perpendicular manner to eliminate the cast from slipping. Gwendolyn has requested "Chiefs red" as her cast color... Smart girl!!!

;)

The cast will remain on for approximately a month. She should be able to crawl once it's on but, other than that, she'll still be wheel chair bound until the cast is removed and she gets her new braces.

This procedure was initially planned for next Wed. but they had a last-minute opening and we thought it would be better not to try it the day before Thanksgiving if we didn't need to.

I would have posted this update in the morning but (Murphy's Law) Heather's car died on her way to drop off Shea and Braelyn at day car... So, we got to deal with that also. (When it rains...)

They are about to take Gwendolyn to the O.R. shortly so hopefully she won't be in too long!

Anyway, we'll update you all but anticipate (and pray for) a drama-less procedure.

Pelé She's Not

***Warning... Please use extreme caution while reading... This post is dripping with sarcasm and was composed by one of the least athletic individuals known to man!!!***

So, as I intimated in my last entry, Braelyn mercifully played her final soccer game of the year this weekend. Let's just say that she wasn't a fan of the whole experience. Our daughter was the one that spent most of the game crying for mom and dad. Her favorite complaints used during the year to get out of playing centered on the fact that her legs hurt when she runs followed closely by the fact that she misses us too much to play out on the field and (truly one of my personal favorites) but nobody gives me the ball.

Obviously, this is was an experiment gone awry, but it was also a lesson learned (for the adults that is)... Maybe the old adage that they're never too young to give something new a try is just crazy talk. Or (more likely) maybe the whole debacle already helped to enlighten mom and dad both that perhaps Braelyn has a higher likelihood of obtaining a college scholarship in the arts as opposed to on an athletic field.

Regardless, I thought I'd share some of our favorite photos of the season if for no other reason then you won't see anything resembling this again anytime soon.

Please enjoy (because in most cases our oldest certainly didn't!)...

One of Braelyn's best soccer moments... Playing goalie (Yep, they actually kicked the ball to her that game so all was good... At least until the of the period when she wanted to go because she was hungry!)

What do you mean I can't use my hands?!?!?!

Two things that were rarely together this season... Braelyn & the soccer ball (followed closely by Braelyn with a smile on her face while on the soccer field!



So, it's tough to tell here but this is Braelyn executing one of her patented  soccer moves this year... Running around in circles.

I honestly believe that this conversation between Braelyn and her coach entailed our child explaining that she couldn't play that day because her ears were too cold... And yes, this is during the game on the field itself... Good times!!!

And finally, this is dad's favorite shot of the year. That's Braelyn picking grass while her team and the opponents are off to the right... You know, playing a game of soccer! (and they said four was too young to start her in sports.)

Halloween Giggles

Wow... We're so glad to hear that there are still folks interested in our girls. After that last post it looks like the traffic on the site spiked at about 80 views and the five comments we had were more than we've had in quite some time so I'd certainly say that people are still reading in spite of the gaps we've had over the past year.

So, as promised, here's an updated:

The biggest goings on since my last post was of course Halloween. We had quite the triumvirate dressed to impress that night.

There is our (L-R) mermaid, lady bug & friendly ghost.

I don't think Baby Shea still knows what to think about that lady bug hoodie that was on her head!!!

=)

We spent the witching hour at Grammy's along with the twin's cousins. It was fun to walk around the old neighborhood for a while (especially since the girls were content heading back after 45 mins. or so). While there are some expectations, a lot of the houses there have minimal to no steps, which is a plus when trick-or-treating with a kiddo in a wheel chair. Still, Braelyn did an awesome job of asking for a candy for her sister "GiGi" when we went to houses that had a large amount of steps. Shea decided to sleep off her first Halloween on Grammy's floor (until the girls returned hopped up on candy running amok that is).

Shea keeps growing. She's been in her own crib in her nursery for weeks now and is making the transition to baby food (she LOVES sweet potatoes, which often means we have to get her a bath ASAP to clean her up).

Today is Braelyn's final day of youth soccer... In fact, given her extreme lack of interest and disgust (unfortunately, not too strong of a descriptor) thus far for going out and actually playing, it might be her final game for a long time.

Gwendolyn is readying for a Achilles surgery a little later this month (we'll get into that a little later but it's going to happen the day before Thanksgiving and she'll be a cast for about a month after that). Still, she's been strengthening that leg by walking in smaller intervals with her walker and her leg brace only on her right foot as her left is the one that will be corrected.

What's this, a moment the twins are playing well and not screaming at one another... Now THAT'S photo worthy!!!

Well, that's your Castellano update for now... Talk to you soon.

The Delinquent Daddy Returns

So, here's the deal. After a long, long hiatus, Daddy is coming back to the blog.

Firstly and foremost, I want to thank Mommy for taking the time to try and at least post pictures every few months.

With that being said, I had to step away from the blog for a while to refocus on things. (Perhaps running ones self over with their car repositions their previous perspective... I don't know)

However, my goal is to try and get back to providing updates on my favorite topic... Our three girls.




I'd give quite a sum to know Baby Shea's thoughts right about now!

Quite honestly, I'm not even sure people out there still look at this blog... It's kind of like after a few months of refreshing and refreshing the page hoping a new photo will pop up, I can see how one might just give up.

So, assuming any of you out there are still following the blog, if you can throw out a comment on a post from time to time I'll know what it's worth continuing.

Also, I honestly don't know that I'll be able to update this twice a week like I did previously.

However, what I can promise is that, assuming people are out there interested in following along, I will provide updates quicker than four times a year.

Sound like a deal?

I hope so.

On to the important stuff.

The most important goings on since Mom was able to post last is that the twins turned four and Baby Shea (poor kid is probably going to be Baby Shea all her life!) got Baptized.

How can we be sure?

Well, of course there's visual evidence.

Here's Braelyn, Gwendolyn (and some CRAZY "bed head" mops) on their fourth birthday with their special cupcakes. (and they never once offered a bite to Daddy... Go figure!)

And here is Baby Shea in all her Baptismal glory. (have I mentioned what a smile-filled kid she is?)

Mom and I say it all the time... We don't know how but by George we make some cute kiddos.

Anyway, since Shea is the one that has really been neglected on this blog (mainly because she hasn't been around as long as the twins) I figured I'd close with a couple of other shots of our youngest that I just LOVE.

Here she is in her Mets finest. (now which parent to you suppose subjected her to that?)

And this is our girl getting in the Halloween spirit.

Not sure if she will officially dress up for the occasion (I'm sure she will if Mommy has anything to say about it) but I can guarantee that she'll be wearing more than a diaper, pumpkin hat and bib outside that night.

Well, it's good to be back at it again... Thanks for caring about our family as you have!!!

The past 3 months....in pictures!!!

Well, obviously it's been a loooong time since we posted last. It's no exaggeration when I say that the past 3 months have been some of the craziest of our lives. So in order to get a quick blog post out there I simply uploaded a bunch of pictures that I've been holding onto for awhile. It's kind of a random mix of pictures and they are in no particular order. Here is kind of a run down of what is included. :)

1. Last day of school
2. Mother's Day
3. We sold our house!
4. We lived with my mom for almost 3 weeks
5. Chuck's accident where he broke his collar bone and a rib. He had surgery to fix his collar bone.
6. We bought a new house!!
7. Vacation to St. Louis
8. All of the randomness that happened in between.


I also apologize for the graininess of some of the photos. I have no idea why they came out like that on here this time.

Packing up the old house!

Breakfast in St. Louis

Getting ready to go to our new subdivisions pool.

Daddy teaching Shea all about baseball.

Gwendolyn got an Amtryke bike!! These are great little trikes that are donated by the Ambucs.  We  were very blessed to have one donated for our girl. They are great because she can move it by pedaling with her arms instead of her legs. It even came with a helmet which I think is her favorite part. :)

My mom had helped me set up the bookshelf in the girls' room. I couldn't find Braelyn for awhile one day and finally located her here, doing this. She loves books!

This was Shea shortly after her 2 month shots.

We have to keep ourselves busy during these summer days so we made a dollhouse out of a shoe box. 

Seriously....how cute are these two?

Our new house has a neighborhood pool!

Last day of school. Last bus ride.

Meeting some players with Daddy.

Daddy on Father's Day.

Meeting a cheerleader!

Playing with cousin Lindsay on our deck.

Butterfly House in St. Louis

Gwendolyn on the 4th of July. She started out scared to death, but really ended up enjoying herself. She was very proud to overcome her fears. 

Riding on the tram at Grant's Farm in St. Louis..

A little dinner on the deck.

Braelyn has been refusing to take a nap lately so she couldn't quite stay awake for fireworks on the 4th. Somehow she slept through them all! 

Looking very studious. She said that she needed her glasses on to do her "work".  

Park in St. Louis

My date for the fireworks show.

She loves her Daddy!

She chose her own attire for breakfast. 

Butterfly House

Breakfast in St. Louis

All of our family of 5 on the carousel at Grant's Farm. That's Shea's little head in my baby carrier. 

A much needed haircut.

Shea enjoyed the park too!

She LOVES her baths.

They insisted on being together in the stroller. Pretty sure they won't fit like that long. 

No, she did not actually sleep this way. But she looked so cute! Vacation can wear a baby out!

Much needed haircut.

Mother's Day Picnic

Daddy after his accident with his broken collar bone. :(

Saying goodbye to the old house and ALL those stairs!!

Saying goodbye to the cute mural on our wall that has been there since before we were born.

Poor Daddy in the ER.

We have a picture of Daddy like this with Braelyn too. 

My sweet, sweet Gwendolyn