One Crazy Winter!

We have had one crazy winter here in Washington, NJ! We've probably had 3 or 4 feet of snow in total so far. Kayla & TJ haven't really even been able to play in it yet, because the storms have all given us snow that is almost as tall as they are! They always love snow days, though. Mommy lets them wear their PJs all day on snow days, and even dump the toybox out!

Here's TJ, checking it out!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Kayla & TJ had a fun Valentine's Day this year. First, they went to a Valentine's Party a few days earlier with some of their friends from our town. When they day finally arrived, Kayla & TJ were ready with some homemade Valentine's for the people they love!
First, the "behind the scenes" picture!
Hard at work making their Valentines:


Kayla giving out Valentines to her Grandmas:




TJ giving his Valentine to Daddy:



Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We love you!

Happy 60th Birthday, Grandpa!

Grandpa had a BIIIIG birthday this year! We had a little party for him at our house with Grandma & Grandpa, Fancy-Auntie Kristy & Rob. We had a nice dinner and some yummy cake! Happy Birthday, Grandpa. We love you very much!

Bye-Bye Helmet

After a long 10 months and 3 different helmets, we finally got the okay to remove TJ's helmet! We never thought it would be so long (since the original estimate was 4-6 months) but after lots of long drives to Paramus, we are finally all done.

It was kind of bittersweet, too. Over the last 10 months I've had a lot of time to imagine how this day would go. I imagined that we would have the exit appointment set. I would put TJ to bed the night before and say "Tomorrow is a big day, buddy! You're such a big boy now, and you get to take your helmet off!" In the morning I would get him up saying "just a few more hours, bud!" We would go into Cranial Technologies and I'd take pictures as they removed the band...making sure I documented every minute. Then they'd give him a little certificate or something, and we'd be on our way!
Let me tell ya how it really happened:
One appointment in November we were told "about 6 more weeks". Great. Fast Forward to the end of December.
TJ was sick, so I missed one of my biweekly appointments (first one in 10 months!). Then with Christmas & New Years closings, we hadn't been to Cranial Tech in almost 4 weeks. TJ's helmet started seeming a little tighter than it should and he was sick again, so I called his therapist to ask her what to do. She called me back and said "we really should give him some more room in there. Can you at least bring me the helmet and I'll make some more space in there for him?" Just as I was thinking -- great, an hour and a half drive there and back -- I said "Sure, I can try. I know he's almost done...you said 6 more weeks about 6 weeks ago." She said "oh, really? Let me just look.....oh, Kelly! He's been wearing this helmet for 15 weeks already? Oh, it's probably not even doing anything more for him anymore. Just take it off today, and as soon as he's feeling better bring him in for the official exit appointment!" So I hung up, walked up to him and said "Well buddy, that's it! We can take your helmet off now!" and I removed it. I said "Yaaaay!" and took a picture. That was it! Oh yeah...then we had a snack.

Here's the pictures of the big moment:
Before:


After:


Of course, he immediately wanted to put it back on:


And after the Exit Appointment, here is just one of his official pictures. The top left picture is before any helmets. The top right picture is after the 1st helmet. The bottom left picture is after the 2nd helmet, and the bottom right picture is after the 3rd. Look at his beautiful head! Well worth it!

Happy New Year! (New Year's Eve 2009)

Happy New Year!
We were very lucky to ring in the new year once again this year with a big party at our house! Our very best friends were there, and once again, all of the kids were in bed early to give us Moms & Dads some much needed adult party time!

Of course, all of the kids had the most fun before 8pm...



and the adults had the best time AFTER 8pm:



Jess & Jason:


Kim & Christian


Andy & Alicia:


But Kayla & TJ's favorite time of this year was our New Year's breakfast, followed by opening presents with their favorite cousins, Christian & Penny!

Merry Christmas, 2009!

We had a fun-filled Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year! We stayed with Grandma & Grandpa for a few days, which is a place Kayla & TJ love to visit! There is always ice cream after dinner at Grandma's house, there's always pancakes or warm cinnamon-apple farina for breakfast, and of course we can watch as much TV and cartoons as we want when we are at Grandma's house! And let's not forget being picked up and held and hugged and kissed all day either!

Christmas Eve was low-key this year. Here's Daddy and Andrew playing with Kayla & TJ's new toys:



Christmas Morning!
TJ playing with his new Hess Racecar!



Finally! Kayla got her own "laptop" in pink...no more sharing with TJ!



Christmas Dinner with Uncles, Cousins, & Kayla & TJ's Great Grandmother:



Of course Grandma A & Pop Pop Alan were there too! I seriously don't know how Kayla & TJ can handle all of the LOVE and SPOILING when BOTH Grandmas are around!




Some of the other perks of having Grandma & Grandpa around:

Kayla LOVES to cuddle with her Grandpa:



And of course, someone is always willing to read us a book!



Oh yeah...and don't forget the "drive-in" with our new Cozy Coupes!

TJs First Steps

TJ finally took his first steps! He's still quite wobbly, and really just gets super excited and ends up throwing himself at us...but hey, he's walking! Just a little though, and just in between us and in between furniture. Maybe soon he'll be running around with his sister!