Philomena Claire

Meet my beautiful new niece, Philomena Clare. Named after my our Grandmother. This sweet baby was 5 pounds 8 ounces and 17 inches at birth. I planned to fly up to be there for her birth but like all babies, she had her own plan and came 2 weeks early. I was able to fly up when she was 4 days old. I fell in love instantly. Even Camden decided that he wants another sister "exactly like this one" . I only got to spend a week but will be back to snuggle in one month!

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Gait Trainer

Ailyn has a new ride. I had seen this Gait Trainer on two blogs I follow.  I thought it would be good for Ailyn, so I asked her PT if we can try one. Luckily, she had one handy right away!

My plan is to use it many times a day with her. So far it's not going so well. For walking anyway..... She CAN walk behind a push toy but prefers not to. I wanted to push her a little harder since I know she can do it. I believe her main issue is coordination. She can walk the right way with our hands. But, when you expect her to put her two feet forward on her own...forget it.

So today I took it outside with us. Camden was a huge help. But, then it turned into a game. She would lean back on the seat and have Camden push her around. Then she would go in circles and realize she can go backwards down a hill. She LOVED that she could do this and wanted to do this and not walking.

Her PT said it's OK for her to go in circles and backwards (not down hills I am sure). She will learn she can get where she wants.

We did have her walking with it with very little help from us. In time I am sure she will be able to run with it!

We are hoping we can upgrade it to a newer model. She isn't in the seat very well and she knows how to undo the Velcro that holds her in. I will be updating her progress as we practice, so check back soon!

If you are on our you tube channel, check out her video!

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Kidless Weekend

A and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on May 5th. This year we decided to go away ALONE....without kids!  FIRST time in SIX years!  It helped that we had the best "babysitter" to watch the kids. I don't just leave my babies overnight with just anyone!  Amy, was AMAZING. Ailyn already loves her, cries when she leaves...pulls her hair....pinches her ;)  Amy was not afraid to hook Ailyn up to the feeding tube at night. We were able to text with Amy all weekend to make sure everything was going well. And, it DID! Ailyn who I thought was going to be terrible, did very well! I look forward to going away kidless again!

We had an absolute blast! The first night we stayed out until 2am..... slept in until 10am. We took our time to do everything. We were so relaxed the entire weekend.

We were able to have a drink at 11am.... have a meal without a child crawling ON the table or falling off the seat.

We walked around the mall and shopped.....for the kids...of course ;) The above picture was on the top floor of the mall. We got a drink and sat and enjoyed the quiet..... again.....very relaxed...in no rush.

The best part was having everything we needed RIGHT there. We didn't have to leave our hotel if we didn't want to. The first night we won enough money to cover our hotel stay! We are not big into gambling, but love our Wheel Of Fortune slot machine!

It was so nice to walk hand in hand and talk while walking the boardwalk. The weather was good, not hot not cold.

Of course we couldn't pass up the Go-carts or in A's case, the pirate ship.....twice. We got ice-cream cones....twice and ate at Johnny Rockets....twice! If you watch our utube channel, I will be uploading a picture of A dancing with the waiters and waitresses. Very funny.

Even though it wasn't beach weather, we still enjoyed walking on the beach a few times.

A even did some karate for Camden.

And, of course we missed our babies! We talked about them a lot of course. But, we also enjoyed the break.

We spent the day on the last day. The BEST part of the trip was getting a hot stone massage.....and A, got a deep tissue massage (no thanks). It was WONDERFUL! I didn't talk the entire 90 minutes and was completely relaxed. We got some lunch after and then decided to head home a hour early....

Thank you Amy for making this weekend possible!!! Thank you for an AMAZING weekend, A.  I love you!

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Proof

Very blurry yes....but proof our two year old beats us up and could care less about doing so.....

Then a second later be all sweet again....like a sour patch kid....sweet then sour

Then will give YOU the lip after SHE hurts YOU!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO EVERYONE!  We had a perfect day at the gardens. I will post pictures as soon as I catch up on all my other pictures!

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