Lazy Weekend

Mother Nature's continued mild winter was fully taken advantage of by the Castellanos this past weekend.

Between the down right balmy temperature and the elongated weekend, Braelyn and Gwendolyn had quite the enjoyable go of things.

It began Friday afternoon with Gwendolyn getting her new foot braces. So far, they seem to be working fine... Although there is a little more to putting them on then merely sliding them into place and securing the Velcro strap. Still, they do seem in the few short days we've had them to give her more stability and she's not slipping out of either her foot brace or her AFO brace nearly as frequently.

Gwendolyn and her sister then spent a good chunk of their weekend visiting with Grandma as well as her Iowa visitors, Aunts Arletta and Julie. The girls always enjoy getting to see them... Especially when they can take advantage of the time by getting several stories read to them.

Of course, Grandma was able to get her typical time in with the girls also. That meant plenty of time spent on her lap playing whatever game struck their fancy.

Braelyn was in a hat mood all weekend long. Whenever she spied Dad with a hat on, she too decided that her quaff needed to be covered. So, she spent the weekend with a wide array of baseball and knit caps covering her melon while Dad's bare head was left unprotected.

Unfortunately, Tuesday came quickly and it's back to the daily grind for us all.

We hope you enjoyed yourselves!!! Catch you soon...

Not a Scary Friday the 13th... We Hope

It may be Friday the 13th but we are hoping that smiles continue to abound for the Castellanos. As has become a common theme on this blog, there isn't much drama to report. The girls favorite activity continues to be coloring. Luckily for them, Mom is always one step ahead of the twins. So, she took a small table and chair set she previously purchased garage-saling and gave it a makeover to produce the perfect "coloring center" for the girls. We placed it in the vacant corner once occupied by the Christmas tree to rave reviews by Braelyn and Gwendolyn.

Braelyn continues her quirky ways. Her "welcome home" greeting for Dad has gone from merely shouting "Dad" when he comes home to an entire song and dance of late. Yesterday, she kept chanting "Dad... Dad... Dad" as she hopped around and flailed her arms about. During various points, she'd take a quick detour to administer a Daddy hug before promptly picking up her "Dad dance" where she left off.

Gwendolyn is off to get her latest set of braces this afternoon. Unfortunately, the set she received about a month ago just aren't staying on and seem to be causing her to hunch slightly when she uses them. So, we are hoping that this new set can help to rectify that situation.

For some unknown reason, this week has also been a struggle for Gwendolyn in terms of sleeping through the night. Typically, the girls go down at 7:30 p.m. and tend to stay asleep until we wake them the next morning (We know... We're VERY lucky!). However, Gwendolyn has been getting up consistently around midnight this week and can't get immediately back to sleep. So as to not rouse Braelyn also, that means that we grab her and whisk her from their room.

Needless to say, we are hoping that the holiday weekend allows her to get back in the groove because both Dad and Mom are feeling the ill effects of sleeping with Gwendolyn. From time-to-time, she randomly rolls over in the middle of the night and wakes up from her sleep. Just to make sure you are there and she hasn't been abandoned, she'll caress your face or pinch your nose so she has verification of your presence, which inevitably wakes one from their own slumber. So, as you can imagine, sleep is at a premium for us right about now.

Well, that's about it for the time being... Enjoy your weekend!!!

And Away We Go

Braelyn and Gwendolyn have had a busy but uneventful start to 2012. Most of their time is consumed with their "cooolers" (as in "colors"), which is their way of asking for crayons so that they can color... Check that, it's their way of asking for crayons so that Mom and Dad can color. For some reason, the girls tend to get the most enjoyment out of watching an adult shade in a coloring book.

Gwendolyn did have her annual review with First Steps (the state agency that handles the majority of her therapy and aids until she turns three and can get them a school). When reviewing the notes from last year, it was a great reminder of how good 2011 was to her. She continues to do better and better in her walker... However, we will be happy when her latest braces come in as the current versions she's wearing still aren't fitting right. Gwendolyn always seems to slip a foot out of her sneakers when she's in them. As you can imagine, that can be quite a deterrent when it comes to walking, especially given her floppy ankles.

Braelyn received her first official "owie" the other day when she dropped a toy on her foot and it took some skin off one of her toes. Now, every time we go to either put on or take off her socks, she points to the toe with a shrill and asks Mom or Dad to kiss her "owie."

Ah the things parents do to ease the suffering of their children. (Or in this case, preceived suffering!)

;)

Have a great week everyone!!!

Ringing in 2012 with some steaks & ground beef

The holidays have come and gone. So too has Nana's visit with Braelyn and Gwendolyn. It's funny how quickly two weeks flies by when it's a happy experience and how long it drags on when it's a painful one. (No worries Nana, we were referencing how quickly your stay went this holiday... we PROMISE!!!)  

Regardless, Braelyn and Gwendolyn have spent their mornings since her departure asking for "Nana?" each morning. They no doubt enjoyed the extra story telling that came along with her visit... Especially just before bedtime.

Another departure that left the girls perplexed is that of our Christmas tree. Mom is a stickler for getting the Christmas decor put away quickly after New Year's (which apparently is something she inherited from Grandma much to Dad's chagrin... but we digress). As the girls continued their morning ritual of sitting on their potty and eating their breakfast (sorry if that grosses you out but with twins, we've learned to multi-task as much as possible) today they just knew that something just wasn't quite right. Finally, Braelyn looked over her shoulder and pointed to the vacant corner of the room asking "tree?" Shortly thereafter, Gwendolyn joined in the inquisition and all Dad could think to say it that Santa took it with him to the North Pole but will bring it back next year. Sorry to throw you under the bus St. Nick but it actually met with approval from the members of our jury so we're sticking with that story for the time being.

As for the twins New Year's, they celebrated with a pizza party at Grandma's alongside their cousins. Earlier in the day, Mom and Dad took the girls grocery shopping. They had New Year hats and noise makers in a big display smack dab in the middle of the meat department... Because when one thinks of New Years, they apparently flock to pick up some freshly butchered meat? Of course, Mom and Dad took the opportunity to snap a video of what transpired.

Click here if you'd like to see the goofiness that is the girls on a trip to Hy-Vee. (And we aren't kidding when we say goofiness)

Regardless, we hope that you too enjoyed your New Year celebration and that you have a blessed 2012!!! 

Some Christmas Memories

With the Christmas break nearly over, we thought we'd take the time to share some photos from the holiday weekend past.

As you can see, Braelyn and Gwendolyn spent their Christmas morning with Mom, Dad, Grandma McKee and Nana Castellano at home this year.

All in all the day was quite a hit for our little twincesses:

On Christmas morning, the girls wore the cutest Santa pjs we saw this season (not that we're biased or anything)

Braelyn got a Mini-PillowPet in her stocking... Maybe she should have got some hair ties in there as well

Gwendolyn just knows there's got to be one gift left in her stocking

Out of our pjs and into our reindeer shirts for gift opening. Ooooooo... It's a Minnie Mouse doll!

Gwendolyn gets some unwrapping tips from Daddy

Braelyn opens a new doll from Mom

Nana shows the girls how to play their new MobiGo electronic games

Grandma McKee opens some holiday socks

Nana shows off a new wall hanging featuring photos of her four favorite subjects (Braelyn, Gwendolyn, Ava & Anthony)

The Holiday's Right Around the Corner

Well, the holidays are so close we can just taste it!

The resulting time off from the office has given Mom and Dad some extra time to spend with Braelyn and Gwendolyn.

Of course, there are moments that the additional time together has been a little more productive then others.

Gwendolyn is continuing to make great strides in her development. She spent her P.T. session earlier in the week walking back and forth from the living room to the end of the hall without much fuss. Dad was even called into service for this exercise session as he baited Gwendolyn by helping to hold items for her doll's dress up. Each time Gwen needed a new item of clothing for her doll, she'd have to walk to Dad on the opposite side of the house to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, her new braces aren't quite fitting as well as we'd like. Mom's packing her up and bringing her back to have them looked at today so hopefully they can be adjusted.

Nana and the girls made some more holiday cookies earlier this week... Needless to say, Dad was quite excited with this turn  of events while Mom joined his waistline in disgust.

The approaching holidays have also meant a few extra trips to the store than we'd normally make. Much to their credit however, the girls have pretty much taken this interruption in stride.

As a result of that corporation, we are proud to report that all the holiday gifts have been purchased, while physically wrapping them of course is a different story. Even more importantly (to Dad that is) is the fact that the ingredients for our Sunday feast are at home and ready to be called into service.

With that said, we'd better scram...

But before we do, we wanted to thank everyone again for all the support you've given us this year. We feel more and more blessed as our two girls grow and mature. Friends like you are a big reason for that! 

A Busy Weekend of Tears and Smiles

Braelyn and Gwendolyn had quite a busy weekend.

It began on Friday evening as Nana came for a holiday visit from Florida. The girls were instantly excited for obvious reasons... Although one of the least obvious was because it meant that there was one more person on hand to read them books.



Poor Santa's going to get a complex soon



Before Nana arrived, the twins decided to give their good buddy Santa another go at the holiday party Dad's work threw... And predictably, things did go much differently than they had in the past. Here's hoping that he doesn't take it personally next weekend!

On Saturday, we celebrated our McKee Christmas. It began with breakfast at Grandma McKee's. After that, the girls joined their cousins at Build-A-Bear for a holiday treat complements of grandma.

Braelyn picked out a pink Hello Kitty as her plushy of choice while Gwendolyn went after a "Happy Feet" penguin with a light up bow tie.



Grandma McKee helps dress Braelyn's new Kitty



Gwendolyn loves her new penguin

After a brief pit stop for some Zzzzzzzzzzs, we went back to Grandma McKee's for our holiday dinner and (most importantly) to open gifts. Pretty much everything they received was a hit... Especially the toy blender (which Braelyn immediately used to "blend" her sister's arm with) and toaster for the girls' play kitchen.

Now how can I turn this blender into a weapon?



Mmmmmm... Toast

Well, we'd better get going... There's still a lot of tasks that we've got to get taken care of before next weekend.

Talk to you soon.