3 Years Old!

I can't believe it's been 3 years since I posted this and Hope and Jack arrived.  It is funny to be pregnant now thinking back to that time as I've had such a different pregnancy this go around.  At this point in my pregnancy, I was already checked into shangri-la (the hospital) and had been on bed rest for 9 weeks!!! That could explain why I am feeling so tired all the time (juggling work and home stuff while carrying around my big belly full of Baby Trey) and why I woke up with the worst leg cramp ever in my calf last night, crying until Kevin could massage it out enough so I could move my foot.  But really, it could be so so worse and I must remember that as I waddle around work and grumble about bending over. 

Anywho, back to the two momentous occasions from this week that have prompted another blog update so quickly.

First the birthday . . . we keep things very chill this year as I was blessed to be a bridesmaid in Gaby and Tao's wedding this past Saturday.  Gaby was my partner in crime from my Penn lab who's made an appearance or two on this blog, most recently with a trip to the Please Touch Museum with Jack.   So on our way up to pick up Hope and Jack from their grandparents, Kevin and I picked up a cake from a new to us bakery in Ardmore in order to have a mini-celebration.

You'll notice from the next 3 photo's that we had already eaten a quarter of the cake by the time we could get Jack to come in the kitchen.   Once we got his to cooperate, he impressed us with this candle blowing out skills. 

While up at his parents' house, Kevin did a little cleaning out of his childhood momentos and brought Hope up dressed in one of his old karate outfits.  She makes a great orange belt, if you ask me!

 The second momentous occasion of the week was Hope's first day at Easter Seals, her new school and riding the big yellow school bus to and from!  If you've spoken to me at all in the past few months, you will know that I've been dreading having to put Hope on a bus and send her away from all of us.  But I am happy to say, we have two days under our belts and thus far, all (especially Hope) are doing fine. 

Here she is waiting with her dad for the first bus to arrive.  At this point, I don't think she had any idea of what was to come . . .

 

  Luckily we were able to arrange for Hope to have a nurse to ride with her both ways on the bus.  Kevin and I hope that the nurse is just there to keep her company and at ease as she adjusts to this unfamiliar routine, but given the risk of seizures with her AS, we also felt that it was a necessity and are so happy that we could get the county to agree with us!  

I didn't snap an image of Hope as she was getting strapped into her seat on the bus for the first time.  I may never get that one out of my head, but no one else needs to remember that sad face.  We did hear that it only took her about 10 minutes to settle down and enjoyed looking out the window for the rest of the ride.  By the time she got to school, she was pretty attached to her bus companion/nurse, so I think that is a good sign.

I've talked to the teacher both days after school and have gotten good reports of Hope settling in and seeming to take to some of the different adults in her classroom.  There are therapists, a teacher, and two aides so there are lots of people for her to meet and get used to, not to mention the other kids to become friends with! 

So our baby girl is now a school girl!  We are excited to meet the new therapists and hear their thoughts.  Jack is totally confused - wondering why Hope gets to go to school on the bus and he doesn't, and wondering where all his friends - Peggy, Kimmy, Dee Dee, and Jessica (Hope's old therapists) have gone.  I am trying to maintain a higher than normal amount of understanding/compassion for my strong willed, temper tantrum throwing little man, as I know that this is too a transition for him and that it is going to take time for him to adjust to the new routine. 

Who knows what's going happen when we bring home a baby sister or brother???!!! 

April already???

I can't believe it is already April!  My last update was in January and this might be the longest I've gone between updates.  For most of the 3 months, I really haven't taken many/any photos of Hope and Jack.  Oh well -- for most of that time, we didn't do much that was photo worthy, yet been busy at the same time.  If another person tells me that baby #3 (Baby Trey as we call him/her, a nickname coincidentally coined separately by both Kevin and me on the same day) will have even less photos, get lost in the shuffle and end up being a tough independent little cookie , I might permanently enter depression city.  And the comments I receive from others who tell me how much busier I am going to be are really not helping either.  Seriously, I really think it is not possible for things to get any more chaotic and that we will take on this new addition in stride.  If you think otherwise for us, that is fine, but really, give me a little peace and let me spend these next 11 weeks in denial.  :-)

A lot has happened that I want to update you all on with my post so sorry in advance for how long this one's gonna be . . .

Hope has made a ton of strides in her walking!  In therapy, she will walk unassisted all over our house.  Out of therapy, we are still working on convincing her that walking is a better way to get from point A to point B.  We are told that this is pretty normal/common for kids to only do things in therapy and that we just need to convince/force/encourage her to walk as much as we can. 

Here's a video showing off how much progress she's made in the last few months since my last update and video of her some of her very first steps.  She also shows off another new skill at the end - clapping.  Jack provides the percussion during this video, her therapist Denita is singing, and her nanny Danna is there to catch her at the end.  

Most of you already know the big news of our household -- the 2013 State Championship won by the Lower Merion Aces and assistant coach Kevin! 

Mid-November to March 23 is a long high school basketball season, but if they are going to extend the season by going deep into the playoffs, ending up with a big win and gold medals around their necks is definitely the way to do it.  I was fortunate to get to attend some of the big games during the playoffs - with many thanks to my dad for being my game partner in crime with and without the twins at many of the games and to Kevin's parents & Cousin Kate for helping to babysit for some of the evening games when the twins were much better off in their cribs than in the stands with all of the crazed Aces Nation.  There has been a ton of coverage of their win defeating a team they'd lost to 3 times in the last 2 years and who hadn't lost to another PA team since 2010.  Kevin's team has been named "SE PA basketball team of the year" and ended up ranked #1 in the state and #21 in the country.  If interested, I encourage you to check out this link from the head coach which sums up the magnitude of the win.  Also, check out a couple of my favorite photos of Coach G and the team.  Yesterday they had the celebration parade through a part of Lower Merion.  Here are a few pics from that event as well:

You can't see how cute they look in their Aces tees.   Jack wanted to know where the horses were -- something about seeing all the carriages in New Orleans (more about that below) made him think that parades should have horses in them.

 Coach G sporting his gold medal

 Coming off of the high of basketball season, instead of relaxing and recovering, we decided to take the entire family (including Granddad) down to New Orleans for a wedding of close friends of Kevin's.  I am happy to say that overall the trip went very well - perhaps all of my planning and worrying paid off.  Hope and Jack took their first plane flights and us the three adults tried out all sorts of different strategies to keep them happy, entertained, and quiet .  The wedding events were a lot of fun and I am happy that both Kevin and I were able to attend.  Many many thanks to my dad for coming with us.  The kids really enjoyed so much QT with their granddad and both Kevin and I know that the trip would have been so much harder  (impossible?) without all of his help.  Here are some highlights from the trip:

Travel buddies on the flight down

Flying in comfort - Hope took after her father and slept on 2 of the four flights!  Nice work pretty lady!!!

Somehow my dad got Jack up in the cockpit for a photos op after we'd landed.

 He didn't sleep a wink on any of our four flights, but fell asleep immediately upon getting in the taxi and our car after the flights. 

One of the highlights of the trip for my dad was his return to Felix's for oysters. 

 For me, it was definitely our two trips to Cafe Du Monde.  Luckily Hope and Jack didn't seem so interested in the beignets so I only had to share with my dad and Kevin.  :-)

 Relatively well behaved for our appearance at the post-wedding brunch. 

 My pretty girl and a walk in the park with her dad

 

Waiting for the streetcar

 

Impromptu discovery of baby  goats at a farmers marker near our hotel

This is a big week for us.  We have to say goodbye to all of Hope's therapists as she starts a new preschool program the following week which will include all of her therapies.  We are excited for her to start school and to hear what her new therapists recommend, but will be sad to say goodbye to all the wonderful people who have been coming to see us every week.  Jack will definitely miss all of them as he has been an integral part of Hope's therapies and has thrived with all the extra attention they give him. 

Speaking of Jack, I wanted to share a couple photos of my little man and his crazy hair.  We never did find the time during basketball season to fit in a hair cut so things got a little crazy.  I love his curls so much whereas Kevin would prefer a more cleaner shorter look.  Right now Jack is quite obsessed with the song Kokomo.  No he's not seen Cocktail, but discovered it in a Muppets video that Kevin's parents have and well, he sings it quite a lot and usually on the loud side.  It's hilarious.  I haven't gotten it on video yet and need to. 

 Here's a shot post-hair cut while in New Orleans, so you can all rest assured that the wild hair situation has been tamed for now . . .

Finally, just wanted to remind everyone that the date for the Angelman Syndrome Foundation National Walk is May 18th.  We'll be walking again at the Philadelphia/Cherry Hill site and invite everyone to join us.  Here is the link to register to walk (don't forget to join Team Hope) and here is the link if you'd like to donate to support the ASF.  We've had record fundraising numbers and been one of the largest teams at the Philly walk the past two years.  We hope to do that again this year, so please donate and if you can, come join us on May 18th.