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.