Snow....And LOTS of it!!!

What a week! We've had over 20 inches of snow this week so I have been out of school since Tuesday. We just got word that school is cancelled again for tomorrow (Friday) too. That's one of the bad, or good things depending on how you look at it, :) about working at a small district school. There are country roads that aren't safe for buses quite yet. Gwendolyn was out of school most of the week too, but did go back  today. It was kind of nice because I was able to take her and pick her up. I never get to do that so it was kind of a treat for us. Braelyn and I then were able to spend the morning together, just the two of us. We never get that opportunity. I actually do that more with Gwendolyn because I take her to appointments and things so we are able to spend one-on-one time together more often. 

Braelyn and I didn't do anything too special, but ran a few errands. One included going to Kohls to see if we could find something that Daddy was looking for. She had a great time. She wanted to try on all of the high-heel shoes so I let her. It WAS a girls day after all, right? ;) She did find some purple sparkley shoes that were her size I let her get. After we paid and were walking out the door to the parking lot, I turned around because she was walking behind me and she had a big green crocodile in her hands with a big ol' smile on her face to match. We were already in the parking lot and I did NOT pay for this crocodile. So, we had to go back in and pay for it. I believe this was our first little experience with shoplifting. ;) We had to have the little talk about asking Mommy if we can have something from a store. When the clerk asked her what she was naming her new crocodile friend she didn't even hesitate and said she was naming him "Scared". ;) That girl cracks me up.

The girls love lounging in what they call "Baby Shea's Room". All that's in it is her changing table and her dresser. But there is still our old tv in there also from when it was the guest room, so they ask to watch their Veggie Tales in Baby Shea's room quite a bit. 

I shared a sleeping Gwendolyn picture last time, so thought it was only fair to share my other sleeping angel's picture. Braelyn has started a new sleeping ritual the past couple of weeks. She insists on sleeping only in her panties. She always says her back is hot. So...this is how we always find her in the morning or after nap. She also absolutely needs her pink blankie, and about 6 of her favorite animals. They include (in no particular order), a pink unicorn, a white unicorn, a white sheep, a pink bunny, a ladybug pillow pet, and her MUST have Hello Kitty Build a Bear. I have to line them all up next to her at night and look out if any of them fall off the bed in the middle of the night. There will be crying at 2 a.m. It's happened......

Just hanging out one snowy morning. 

One view of the snow we got. This was actually after our first snow. We have gotten more since then. :/

I happened to have some wooden bird houses that we bought a looooong time ago for the girls to color and we never really got around to it. I was very happy to have them to entertain the girls one day this week. 

One of the shoe choices from our girls morning out at Kohls. At least she picked a pair that matched her dress!!!

And here is the crocodile that almost landed us in "Kohls Jail". She loves her "Scared". 

We took the girls outside to play last night. The first picture here is Gwendolyn asking if she could "sit in it". As you can see, she got her wish! :)

You would think an Iowa girl would have boots, snow pants and proper sleds for her girls huh? Well, in my defense, it really doesn't snow that much here! And if it does, it melts so quickly that we really wouldn't get much use out of them. But I AM resourceful! And luckily I have a child that will fit in a diaper box. And for the record....the diaper box worked perfectly as a sled. 

Snow Angels. Gwendolyn says..."No Thanks!"

"Mommy!!! I made a SNOW ANGEL!!!!"

Our very first snowman. They named him "Frosting". 

We have been promising the girls that they could go to Chuck E. Cheese again soon. So, we used it as a sort of bribery last week. Daddy had to go out of town for a few days so we told the girls that if they were good for Mommy all week we would take them to Chuck E. Cheese when Daddy came home. They really were pretty good so we spent a Sunday afternoon enjoying all that is Chuck E. Cheese. :) I wasn't feeling well the first time they were able to go so I was very excited to watch them play this weekend. Apparently last time (in August), Gwendolyn wouldn't really play any games, or ride any little rides or anything. Chuck would try and convince her but she would have no part in it. Well, this time she was loving life! It just goes to show you how much she has matured the past few months. There were times I had to chase after her because she was trying to go off on her own. It was a proud moment to watch. 

She hit a jackpot of 75 tickets on one game. You would have thought it was a million dollars to this kid! 

So, all in all it's been a different sort of week, but very enjoyable for me as I have been able to spend some quality time with my two girls before we will have THREE girls in a few months! 

Have a great weekend!!!!

My Sweet Valentines

The girls were very excited for Valentines Day this year. I really don't think they had any idea what it was, but Braelyn was just excited there was a "holiday" coming up. THAT she knew. She kept asking if she was getting a "holiday treat". I took the girls to Walgreens one night last week to pick out their Valentine cards, and to pick out a gift for their Daddy. I have to admit that this was the first time I took the girls anywhere by myself and allowed Gwendolyn to walk with her walker. Usually when we go anywhere without Daddy, I put both girls in a cart. It just made me feel better....and safer. ;) Well, I figured Walgreens is small enough that I should be able to contain them and Gwendolyn should be comfortable walking that far. I of coarse prepped them like crazy before we went in and they did really, really well. (With one minor exception of Gwendolyn's obsession with the gift card display.)  I'm sure we were quite the spectacle with me and my over-sized belly, and my two 3 year olds toddling next to me. (or ahead of me, as the case was some of the time) ;) Letting them pick out their own Valentine cards was an interesting experience. It went nothing like I thought it would. I would have bet big money that we were going to walk out of there with Hello Kitty, Dora, or Princess cards. But instead, Braelyn chose Chuggington and Gwendolyn chose Madagascar. ?????? Weird to say the least. But I couldn't talk them out of their choices, so that's what we went with. I also let them choose Daddy's Valentines gift. I tried to give them the speech that we were buying something they thought Daddy would like, not what they would like, but Braelyn chose a stuffed dog and Gwendolyn chose a Mickey Mouse cup and a doggy snow globe. Good times. :)

We surprised the girls that morning with a few small Valentine gifts. Their favorite by far was the big red heart balloons. They have had more fun with those than anything else. Lesson learned. $0.99 well spent.

It seems Gwendolyn had a few Valentines of her own at school this week! Her teacher told me that now there are THREE boys vying for her attention. They are rushing to be the one to pull out her chair and get her crutches or walker. I told her if she sticks with the boys that pull out her chair for her she's good to go. Gotta teach her early how a lady should be treated right?? ;)

Gwendolyn also had a stellar performance at PT this week. My mom is wonderful enough to drive to our children's hospital every other week so that Gwendolyn can get some decent PT. She's always been extremely quiet with the therapist even though we've been going to him for almost 2 years now. If you remember her swim therapy that she takes during the summer months, it's the same therapist she still sees. He's wonderful, but Gwen is her typical quiet around strangers self and refuses to talk to him. Apparently she opened up a bit on Friday. She also worked SO hard and was so cooperative with him that he gave her a medal for all of her hard work. She was very proud of this medal and we have really tried to make a big deal about it.

Braelyn is getting more and more curious about Baby Shea coming. We've had a few long conversations about it lately. She wants to know what Shea will eat, and how she can kiss her, and play with her. It's adorable to listen to and I'm very glad she's excited about the new addition. I know it's a long time for her to wait for something. Hopefully she will still be this excited with a crying little sister in the house!

My sleeping angel.

Here's Daddy and his girls with the very thoughtful gifts they picked out for him for Valentines Day.

Gwendolyn and her medal, standing proud. 

My favorite Valentines!

I worry about taking this one shopping as a teenager. She's got a very unique sense of style. :)

The girls kept busy today doing some painting. 

                                

Braelyn's finished product.

Gwendolyn's finished product.


P.S. Can I throw out a prayer request? We have recently put our house on the market and really, really, really would like it to sell before Baby Shea comes in April. We are in need of a house that is a bit more accessible to Gwendolyn. I hate the fact that she has to crawl, or be carried, up and down the stairs to get in or out of the house.  It's just not fair for her. She deserves better than that. Adding a third child to the family, it would also be very nice to have a bit more room for our growing family. 

 I know it's a long shot, but it only takes one person interested enough to buy right? It's tough having to keep the house all tidied up every morning in hopes of someone coming to look at it. Especially with two three year olds living here. :) I can only imagine what it will be like with a newborn here as well. So, any prayers for a quick sale would be GREATLY appreciated!! :)

Have a great week!!!

No Excuses...Just No Blogging Either. :)

One of my fellow SB mom friends posted on Facebook recently that she noticed those of us with children in the three year old range haven't been blogging as much lately. (Kimberly Dill) :) I wonder why that is? Other SB moms kind of weighed in with our opinions. One obvious reason is just time in general. Three year olds keep you busy! Yes, they are a bit more independent than a one year old, or a two year old, but with that becomes..... well......INDEPENDENCE! Which means I have to actually watch them more closely! They used to just pretty much stay in one room by me. But now they go downstairs by themselves, they put movies in the DVD player by themselves, they go potty by themselves, they flush random things down the toilet by themselves, they get snacks from the cupboard by themselves, they climb on couches, chairs, counters, railings.....by themselves! So as you can see life with two 3 year olds is pretty interesting.

Another opinion that came out from the Facebook post was that when our children were born with SB we were scared, we were confused, we needed support. Well, yes we still need support. But our lives with our children have just become our "normal". Especially when it comes to our Gwendolyn. If you have been following us from the beginning you know that our girl had a rough start! She had SO much going on. We had a lot to talk about. Well, now our days have pretty much (by the Grace of God) leveled out to "our" normal. I guess when either of us have thought about updating our blog with what's going on we've kind of thought to ourselves, "Would anyone be interested in our daily lives anymore? Does anyone care to hear about it?" Well, we've heard from several of you. You ARE! You do still care about our somewhat mundane lives. :) I guess if nothing else, you at least want to see pictures of our beautiful girls! :) So, we apologize for not updating much lately. We will try harder to keep you posted on all of us.

One bit of excitement is that we have only a few more months until we welcome our third baby girl to this quirky family! We have decided to name her Shea. We had thought that we had also chosen a middle name. One that I picked out and loved. We even shared it with family. But, we have since decided that because Braelyn and Gwendolyn both have middle names that reflected one of our families in some way, it was only fair to give the same to Baby Shea. I think we have now decided on the middle name, but are probably going to wait until she's born to make the final decision and reveal it to everyone. The girls are extremely excited to finally meet Baby Shea. They talk about her daily. They hug and kiss my belly and tell me how much they love Baby Shea. Not sure that they are aware yet what they are wishing for, but hopefully they will still love Shea as much when she gets here and takes up a lot of Mommy and Daddy's attention.

Things with Braelyn have been pretty much the same. She is so darn creative and smart. She has invented a dance that she has named "The Macaroni Dance". It's a family favorite to watch. I will see if I can get some video sometime to share. She (speaking of independence) now insists on reading her and her sister's bedtime story. She is very fluent in reading the classic Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See? She enjoys going to her new daycare where "her people" are. She is able to play with her cousin Lindsay there and has made several other friends as well. I think she is going to be our outside loving girl though. Every day when we pull in the garage at the end of the day and she sees some of her outside toys she asks if we can play outside. I keep telling her we can when it gets warm again. The other day I think she had gotten frustrated with that response and she said, "Mommy, when I am in college will it be warm outside finally?" I of coarse told her that it depends on if she goes to college where Mommy did in Iowa, or where Daddy did in Florida. (I'm thinking she will lean more towards Florida weather, so watch out Nana) :) I have no idea how she comes up with this stuff.

Gwendolyn has been doing pretty great as well. She also goes to preschool at our local Early Childhood Center which she LOVES. She adores her teacher, Miss. Loretta. She even gets to ride the bus from her Grammies house which she is now a fan of as well. One day last week Gwendolyn was sitting next to me and she said, "Mommy, know what I have at school? .........a friend!" Makes me tear up just typing that. She is still extremely shy around strangers. And has proven to still be extremely shy at school even though she's been there for a little over 3 months. But it makes my heart swell to think that she feels like she now has her own friend. I was not able to get a name for this friend from her, but I did get an email from her teacher that said there is a boy at school that has taken a certain interest in her well-being. He apparently gets her walker and her crutches for her. He also takes every chance he gets to sit next to her. I guess she hasn't warmed up to him enough to talk with him yet, but she does smile at him from across the room. So, we are thinking that the feeling between the two must be somewhat mutual. ;)

Gwendolyn also went through her third sleep study last month. This was just a follow up from our previous studies that had horrible results.We were absolutely dreading this test. We hate them and Gwen hates them. But it was a bit easier this time because we were able to explain things to her a bit and prepare her to be wrapped up in monitors and bandages. And we are so very grateful to sat that this test went WAY better than the previous two. The results came back and she went from having over 30 apnea spells an hour, down to less than 6 an hour. That's a HUGE difference! So the doctor said we are finished with sleep concerns. If nothing else pops up as a concern we have graduated from the Sleep Clinic. Yay!!!

Gwendolyn is also getting around on her own pretty good lately. She wants to walk more which we have been overjoyed to see. She can practically run in her walker and feels extremely confident with it. Now we are just trying to get her to feel as comfortable with her forearm crutches. She walks well with them, but is obviously much slower, which just doesn't satisfy her one bit! :) She has had a little issue with her right leg as of late. It's been getting in some awkward positions when she walks. Her Children's Mercy PT has thankfully been very good with her as we don't hear much (or anything)  from her PT sessions at school. He's very proactive with her and notices things I may not notice in our everyday. I had noticed that her knee was jutting out a bit when she walked and he brought it up to me as well. I noticed over the past couple weeks that it was getting much worse so  I took her in yesterday to have it looked at. She ended up having an x-ray when thankfully turned out normal for both her knee and hip which is what we were most worried about. Unfortunately, the x-rays do not show tendons. So this is where we think her problems lie. As of now, they tweaked her braces a little bit to try and bring her foot in. It has helped a bit but we are continuing to keep an eye on the situation.

 Ok, I think that may pretty much wrap up our update for this time. Hope this finds you all well! And hopefully there are still some people who haven't given up checking on our blog and will be happy to see that  we are back! (again) :)


Well, because we had some catching up to do, some of these pictures are from Christmas. Hope you don't mind. :)

All wrapped up for Sleep Study Number 3!! And still smiling! 

Our Elf on the Shelf that the girls named "Jen". No idea where that name came from, but they LOVED Jen and still talk about her. 

Mommy's attempt at baking Christmas cookies. 

Nana visited for Christmas.

This was actually a hand-me-down easel from a friend of mine.  We  saved giving it to them until they got a little bit bigger. Santa brought it for Christmas and both girls have loved it. 

Just hangin' out like sisters do. 

One of our fellow SB friends was featured on the cover of Parents magazine! It was awesome because the issue was not about special needs, or Spina Bifida, it was just an adorable picture of an adorable little girl. 

Gwendolyn gets to pick from the treasure box at school on Thursdays if she is good all week. She  is sweet enough to share with her sister (usually) when she brings her goodies home as well. 

Our newest addition, "Baby Shea"