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!

First Snow "Fun"

December 2009 brought on Kayla & TJ's first snowstorm! Well..probably not their first snowstorm, but definitely the first snow they got to go out and play in. We spent 20 minutes getting all of their snow gear on, 10 minutes getting Mommy & Daddy's snow gear on, 10 minutes getting the sleds and the cameras...and about 15 minutes actually outside in the snow! And there is a reason I put the FUN in quotes. I can't say they didn't have fun, but they just kind of sat there thinking, "Why am I so bundled up that I can't even move? What are these giant shoes on my feet? Why do I have to sit in this cold, wet stuff? When can we go back inside?" or something like that. We decided that they might have had more fun if it was only a few inches of snow, rather than a foot. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to test that theory, because it seems that this winter's snow storms only visit us in the form of FEET!

TJ & Daddy's first snowman:

Fun with Snowmen

So, I have been collecting those Hallmark singing Snowmen for years now. I love these things, and display them proudly with our Christmas decorations. This year, we have 2 new people in our house that fell in love with these snowmen. Kayla and TJ (especially TJ) LOVED them! TJ would stand at the wall unit where they are displayed and point up and say "Ssss" (his word/sound for snowman). He would even do his sign language for "more" and point at them! They learned very quickly where the on/off button on each different snowman was, and sometimes liked to play them all at the same time.





Don't ask me why TJ is wearing a winter hat...


It was a sad day when it came time to put away the Christmas Singing Snowmen. Hmmm...now what will keep my children quiet and busy for 20 minutes at a time?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 2nd Thanksgiving, Kayla & TJ!
We had a lovely time at Grandma & Grandpa Khoury's house for Thanksgiving this year. Grandma & Mommy made a delicious dinner, and Kayla & TJ ate like little piggies!

Kayla loves her Grandma & Grandpa!



Here we are trying to take a Thanksgiving picture of Kayla & TJ. I am posting a series of these pictures, so you can all appreciate how truly difficult it is to get 15 month old twins to sit still...no less actually look at you or SMILE!








How big is Kayla? How big is TJ?


Finally...this will have to do!

Silly (or BAD) Babies!

Now that we have Twins who are over the age of 1, it's inevitable that they are going to get into some trouble. Here are some pictures of Kayla & TJ being silly...and being bad!





TJ gets into the tissues...