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!!

Summer Fun!

It's been another busy and fun week for the girls and I! We've been busy doing all sorts of fun stuff. Here are just a few:

(Ok, these first two aren't really from this week, but I found them again on my phone and had to add them.) ;)

This was the picture I was talking about of Gwendolyn visiting her new school. I was so hesitant about her making this step into the school system, but every time I look at this picture I know we are doing the right thing. (And her sweet teacher even read our blog to learn about Gwendolyn and all she has been through. That means a LOT!)

This is Gwendolyn from my last day of school and her last day of daycare for the summer. I thought it was too cute not to post. Such a big girl!

This was an unusually cool morning so I decided to take the girls for a walk. They had a great time, but Mama needs to work out more! Those hills were killer! :) 

Gwen continues with her horse therapy and is  getting more and more comfortable. 

They are very nice to allow Braelyn to ride too. But here she is just cheering on her sister in the basketball game.

We've had quite a few days spent at the park. The swings are still their all-time favorite. There is usually a fit to be had when swinging time is done. 

This was a bit of arts and crafts we did yesterday. We made frogs on plates and put pasta inside so that it made fun noises. The girls had a good time with that. This was the first time I allowed them to do their own gluing. :)

Gwen got some glue on her finger. She was not a fan. 

Braelyn's finished product. 

Gwendolyn's finished product. 

Uncle Kyle and Aunt Susan were cleaning out some of their girls' old things so we "inherited" a lot of it. (much to Daddy's dismay) One of the items was this costume that my niece wore for Halloween when she was one. Braelyn is such a shrimp it fit her perfectly! And she wore it all morning until she finally came to me and said, "Mommmy, I sweaty!" Yeah....I wonder why. 

Different park, different day. :) 

Gwen is pretending to eat a wood chip. Little stinker. 

We went to story time at the library! See those two cuties listening intently right in front there?
Yeah...those cuties are mine. :)

I let the girls each pick out one book to take home. Guess what they chose? 

And we have read these two books before every nap time and every bed time for a week.
Time for another trip to the library!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

We had a fabulous weekend! We took a little family vacation back to my home state of Iowa. It had actually been a couple of years since I've been there, so it was very nice to get back for a little while. We like to get back for Memorial Day as often as we can to visit the cemetery where my dad and my grandparents are buried.

It's almost a 5 hour drive from here to my home town, so we decided to take a stop for the night about half-way in Des Moines and visit with my Aunt Arletta and "honorary" Aunt Julie. We had a great time. They took us out for a great dinner on Friday night and then on Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market and walked around eating food that was terribly bad for us. (aka ---mini donuts and breakfast burritos) ;) It was a great time though. We then went to a sculpture park and walked around a bit. Julie took some amazing pictures.

                           

 It was a great place for Gwendolyn to walk around. She walked SO far in her little walker. It was a pretty hot day that day and I could tell she was getting a bit flushed and tired, but she refused to let me carry her or ride in the stroller. I kept asking her, but she kept saying, "No Momma, I walk!" We were so proud of her and I think she was proud of herself too. 

Then after eating a delicious lunch it was time to make the rest of our journey. We had a hotel room reserved in Waterloo for the next couple nights. This was the girls' very first stay in a hotel so we were a tad bit nervous on how that experience would go. We made sure we got one with a pool of coarse. :)

The girls had a blast. Even Grandma McKee came over to our hotel and went swimming with us! There was a little toddler area where the girls could cruise around in, but their favorite thing was to sit on the side of the pool and jump into our arms. Oh, to be a kid again right? 

The entire hotel stay went really well actually. I was concerned about the sleeping situation, but they adapted really well. It was a pretty good set up for us. There was a king side bed and then a pull out couch. Poor Chuck kind of drew the short stick because the girls slept on either side of me in the big ol' king bed, and Daddy slept on the pull-out.

On Monday it was time to head to the cemetery. It was wonderful to drive through the back roads of Iowa on the way to visit my dad's final resting place. I could really feel his spirit there. His very favorite thing to do was to drive those very roads that my little family was driving on right at that moment. It was a great feeling to be there. The girls helped me decorate his grave site a little bit. We put 2 little beaded flowers out from each of them and 2 little birds on my grandmother's site. There is always a small Memorial Day ceremony at this cemetery. I was sitting on a bench next to an older gentleman at the ceremony and little Braelyn came over and the gentleman helped lift her up on the bench. She just sat and looked at him and  was reaching over and touching his hat. Eventually, she looked at the man, looked at me, and said, "Momma, Papa's back!" I didn't quite make the connection at first, but then she looked at me and at the man again and said, "Why Papa not talking?" It broke my heart to have to tell my 2 year old that that was not her Papa sitting next to us. I wished so bad that it could have been her Papa. 

After the ceremony we went back to my Aunt DeAlta's house for lunch and to visit with some of my dad's side of the family. It was great to be able to see everyone. My girls tend to be on the shy side around people they don't know. They tend to stick pretty close to Chuck and I. However, there was something different about this day. I could just tell that they were immediately comfortable. Braelyn ran all over and was at one point bringing all kinds of toys over to my Uncle Harold. 

And Gwendolyn has ALWAYS been our little wallflower. She won't go to anybody she doesn't know without freaking out. But there was something about my Aunt Irene that our girl found quite comforting. This moment almost brought me to tears. 

I think my girls were able to feel their Papa McKee's spirit this weekend too. :)

And then it was time to go home. I drove, and pretty much everyone else did this.....

Praise God for a wonderful weekend of time spent with what is the

 most important thing in this world.....family. 

Mom and Gwen get ready to fly a kite

Well, a lot has been happening in the Castellano household! We just haven't had the time to write about it apparently. :) You will probably get me (Heather) writing a bit more often from now on. Chuck has been extremely busy with work lately and I am almost done with school for the summer. YAY!!!! But, that will give me some more time to keep up with the blog again.

Uncle Kyle helps Braelyn get her kite in the air.

We've been trying to use the free time we do have doing some fun things as a family. Here are some pics of a kite festival that we went to with our Aunt Susan and Uncle Kyle, cousins, and Grandma. It was a great time, but wasn't very windy that day so it was a little tough to get a kite in the air. But Uncle Kyle really spent a lot of time helping our girls fly their first kites. It was a great day!

Now it's Gwendolyn's turn

Another wonderful weekend was Mother's Day. The girls' Nana was just getting back from a cruise and stopped by our neck of the woods for a visit over the weekend. It was great to have her here to celebrate Mother's Day. 

Nana spent Mother's Day in Kansas City with the twins

I always get a bit sentimental during this particular holiday. It was not easy for me to become a mother, but it was something I have always wanted for as long as I can remember. My very favorite doll that I carried with me everywhere as a little girl I named "Daughter." Does that tell you anything? I love being a real mommy to my two "daughters" more than life itself. It truly is what I was made to do. That is why I love this holiday so much. And this weekend didn't disappoint. On Sunday we went to early church and then went to the Plaza right after. 

Mom and her "daughters"

Nana, Gail and I both enjoy going to the Plaza so it was a win-win I think. We had a wonderfully HUGE brunch, did a little shopping and posed for a few pictures next to our favorite fountain. This fountain always makes me think of the girls because I would drive right by it several times a week while I was pregnant and going for all of my high-risk OB appointments. In fact you can see the hospital where the girls were born from this fountain. So, my Mother's Day was complete!

Gwendolyn rides "Numbers"

Gwendolyn also started horse therapy last week! I was so excited for her to start this as I've heard great things about it. But, I was a bit nervous at how Gwen would react. She's a bid of a timid child and I figured the big animals would freak her out. They kind of did....but not for long. It took us about 20 minutes just to get the helmet on her head and belt around her waist. It probably took us another 20 minutes to just get her to touch the horse. She would hold the reins and let me hold her while I walked with the horse (Horse Phil), but she would freak if I tried to set her up on it. The program that does the horse therapy is amazing! They work primarily with special needs kids, but believe highly in peer models, so they let Braelyn ride the horses too! She loved it from the get-go. She got right on like she'd been doing it her whole life.

Even Braelyn gets into the fun at horse therapy

Well, this week we took the girls for their second horseback riding experience. This experience was so much better! I really talked up what she should expect when we got there and kept telling her how we don't cry on horses and she just kept saying "Ok, Momma, No Cry". And we also took a Dora doll with us and Gwen got to show her how to ride the horse. That actually worked! She got on after a few short tears and took off with her helpers! As long as she wasn't anywhere near me, she rode all over! It was an awesome achievement for her!

The girls riding side-by-side

We also got some results back from the preschool screening Gwendolyn went for last week. I was extremely nervous about this entire thing. I'm still not overly excited about leaving the comfort of our FirstSteps program and entering our little girl into the school system. All of our FirstSteps therapists have been wonderful for Gwen and it's obvious they love and care about her so much. They have really all become a part of our family. That's why it's been hard to think about this next big step for Gwen. 


She really did very well at her evaluation. All of the things that came up as concerns were things we really already knew. To make a long story short, she has qualified for some OT and PT, but really will not be needing speech therapy which we are happy about. We toured the school she may go to and met the teacher she would have. I really, really liked all of the people we met with today and her teacher seemed extremely sweet and caring. Gwendolyn got to see the classroom and the playground which is a completely accessible playground for her which I love!! I was able to snap a little picture of her sitting on the carpet in her classroom. She loved it in there! She actually didn't want to leave. It was the only time for the hour and a half we were there that she would get off my lap. She felt right at home I think! Now we need to figure out what to do with Braelyn. 

What to do with Braelyn indeed!

They don't really have "peer models" at this preschool so if we decide to send Gwendolyn to this school we will have to find a different preschool for Brae. It makes me kind of sick to my twin-momma's stomach to think about separating them this early, but I also know we need to do what's best for both of them.  So hard to believe our girls are at preschool age already. How did that happen??