What? This blog doesn't update itself ?!?!

Oh my goodness! I am sorry about the tardiness of this post but I just haven't had a lot of blogging time lately. I don't even know where to begin so this post might be a little scattered.

I will start with our trip to St. Louis. Brookie had two appointments down at Children's last week. She saw Newborn Medicine/Developmental testing and her Geneticist. We had a fun girl day with Hadley and both grandmas going with us. It's always nice to go down and see Brooke's nurses and doctors from her stay in the NICU. Brooke did an amazing job with her developmental testing. She tested in the average to above average range in all areas. Of course the therapist that was testing her was pleasantly surprised, but she even surprised me with some of the things she was able to do. I forgot my camera this day, so I have no pictures to post. I seem to forget my camera a lot.

Hadley and I took Brooke to her pediatrician here so she could have her 15 month check up and vaccinations. Hadley was a great big sister and helped distract Brooke during her shots. Again, her Dr. was pretty impressed with her improvements.

This week we (Tweryon and Blade families) prepared a meal for the Ronald McDonald House in Springfield. We wanted to do something because "Ron's House" was a big help during our stay in St. Louis. We are hoping to get into a routine of preparing a meal every other month.

We are still in the middle of organizing our house. Our living room and dining room got painted last weekend and we are almost done hanging pictures back on the walls. This weekend we are going to tackle the baby's room. Brian hopes to get it painted so we can get the crib put together. I'm starting to get a little nervous. We are down to about 7 weeks until the baby is born -- OK actually I'm a LOT nervous.

I have some random pictures to share with you. Like I said, I seem to forget my camera when we go somewhere fun.

This picture is funny. We were downtown at the Farmer's Market ( I forgot to post this last time) and Hadley was posing with Abe and his family. She couldn't understand why the little boy wouldn't put his arm down to hold her hand.

Hadley was helping build a barricade to keep Brooke from escaping. Do you think her idea worked? Well, she tries.

The girls watching our butterfly bush for butterflies and hummingbirds.

These next couple pictures are of Hadley ironing some clothes. She even hangs them up when she is finished. I found this ironing board at a garage sale for a dollar. That's just about the best buck I've ever spent.

You are in luck this week. I have quite a few videos to post. Enjoy!

These first two are of Brooke making her bunny face. It started out with a wiggle of the nose, but has changed to blinking of the eyes. It's pretty cute either way. Listen for Hadley in the background of this first one.

Here Hadley is doing Brooke's speech therapy

Our friend's Mark and Jessi's little girl Maycee had a birthday party this week. We went to Midstate Gymnastics Center and the kids were able to play in a bounce house, slide down a big slide and go through an obstacle course. Hadley had a great time. Here is a video of her going down the slide. She made that nervous face every time she went down the slide.

This last video is of Hadley jumping into the pit (?) at the party. She had such a good time and asked when she could go back and do the other stuff (balance beam, bars, etc...). Maybe we do have a gymnast in the making.

Have a super week! Oh wait, I do have one more thing...

Brooke Abigail Faith Tweryon is officially a WALKER!!!!!!!

She is walking independently, all by herself, alone, without help and we couldn't be prouder! Granted, she is still learning and does fall but she finally gained the courage to let go of things to take her first independent steps. I think we have counted 15 so far and she just gets better each and every day! I don't have a video to post because 1) it's on our other video camera and I haven't finished the disc yet and 2) I'm too busy following her around to capture it on my little camera.

I hope you all have a great week. I will try to post sooner next time :)

When Can We Get Another Doggie?

So, I said this past week was going to be pretty uneventful, but we ended up being quite busy.



Tuesday was a sad day in the Tweryon house. Our little dog Edgar went to live with a new owner. A very nice man named Jim (his middle name is actually Edgar) was looking for a little lap dog to take fishing and for rides and we were looking for a family to give Edgar a nice home. With a new baby coming in a couple months and our house not magically getting any bigger, we decided it was time. Add therapists and nurses three days a week, it was getting crazy around here. Edgar thought everyone was here to see him and he would make sure they got a proper welcome (which drove me crazy!). Jim left our house at 6:30 with Edgar and by 7:30 Hadley was asking when we were going to get another doggie. Oh boy! We know he is in good hands and that makes us happy.





I'm always talking about Brooke's milestones and accomplishments, so here's one from Hadley.
Hads and I try to go to Knight's Action Park once a week and enjoy the lazy river and kid's pools. We have gone about four times so far this summer and each time she would climb the walkway to the "BIG" little kid slides (part of Seal Bay, not the big one's on the hill) and each time she would walk back down saying she didn't want to do it. Well, last week she decided she was ready. She made the long walk to the top and what do you know, she actually did it! There are three slides to choose from and I didn't know what slide she was going to pick. I figured it out when I could hear her little giggle coming through the blue tube. It was the cutest sound and she loved it! I think she went down 50 more times. I think I know where we are going to be spending a lot of time from now on. She also ate chicken -- really ate it, not just tried it. I packed a luncheable for her lunch at Knight's and she ate the sliced chicken that came in it. I didn't even have to bargain with her. Now she asks when she can have another "lunchbox."


On Wednesday, my dad and I took the girls to the Farmer's Market downtown. It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed looking at all the fruits and vegetables. My dad gave Hadley her own bag explaining that she could put fruits and veggies in them. Neither one of us mentioned that you had to pay for the things first. She would grab a couple green beans, an ear of corn, put a blueberry in her mouth, squish a few tomatoes. It was pretty funny to me but I don't think the vendors were amused.

I don't have a picture for this next story, but let's just title it "Where did Brooke go?"
Brian and I were trying to get the girls ready for bed and like most of you, we like to pick up the house a little bit so you don't wake up to a huge mess or as Hadley calls it a "disaster area." I'm pretty sure she picked that one up from me :) Anyway, we heard Brooke's machine beeping but we didn't hear the sound you normally hear when she unplugs herself, so we didn't worry too much. Well, when I walked back into the living room, I didn't see Brooke but I did see her tubes sitting on the floor. We checked the kitchen and the front door (two of her favorite spots) and she wasn't there. I was getting a little nervous until Brian yelled that he had found her. There she was sitting in her sister's room waiting for someone to find her. I would even say she had a very proud look on her face. What a little stinker.


On Friday we took Hadley to St. Louis for the Fan Fest. Fan Fest is kind of a kick off for the All- Star week. It was held at the convention center in St. Louis and it was a mad house. We thought it wouldn't be too busy because we had tickets to the first day. Boy were we wrong. We waited in line for everything! Here are a few pictures.









This next picture requires a little explanation. Brooke was trying to get to Hadley's room and Hadley wasn't too excited about the idea. The next thing we saw was Hadley pulling Brooke down the hallway by her leg. Poor Brooke was looking at us like "are you going to let her do this to me?" I just wish I had the video camera rolling.

I will end this week's blog with several Hadley quotes.

1. While trying to get Brooke into her chair for dinner, Hadley jumped down from her chair and started helping. She informed us that she was just getting Brookie "situated."

2. We were snuggling before bed the other night. I had just put lotion on my face and she gave me a kiss on the cheek and asked "what is on your face? You feel slimy!"

3. Hadley was playing on the swing set at Bill and Patti's neighbor's house. She was looking through the telescope and yelling something. It took me a minute to figure out what she was saying but I could tell she was looking for Brian. She was yelling "True love's kiss, where are you" She really likes the movie Enchanted and she was looking for her true love's kiss (daddy).

4. Brooke gets really excited when she thinks someone is here to see her. Especially when Edgar was here and would bark at any little noise. Anyway, Brooke was excited and Hadley ran over and said "Child of mine, no one is here." She was so loving as she said it too. What a good big sister.

5. Hadley's favorite Cardinal player is Colby Rasmus. Colby Masmus as Hadley says it. Colby is her pretty good friend though. He calls her on her Tinkerbell cell phone and thanks her for cheering for him. She was excited that she might be able to see him at the Fan Fest (we knew he wouldn't be there but she was still too excited). She said that if she saw him she was going to "love on him."

Have a great week!

P.S. To all you NICU nurses in STL...We will be down there on Thursday, July 23. We have 9:00 and 10:00 appointments.

Best Yet!

This 4th of July was by far the best yet! We started Saturday afternoon like any other July 4th parade day...

With our wagon decorated, we headed down East Main to Grandma and Grandpa Tweryon's house. The parade goes right by their house and we always have a prime viewing spot. Their house is also right at the beginning of the route so we always get lots of candy too! Little did we know what was in store for us.

We arrived at Bill and Patti's and were getting the traditional pictures taken.

Hadley, Brooke and cousin Ellie

Brooke and Grandpa Tweryon

(Brooke is rockin' her flag tattoo)

So here we were getting ready for the parade when a golf cart pulls up. I have no idea who it is but the man driving asks if Brian, Heather, Hadley and Brooke are there. We were, of course, and he goes on to tell us that we were nominated to be the Grand Marshalls/First Family of the parade. Let me just tell you, next to Christmas, 4th of July is my favorite holiday. I absolutely love it, and by the pictures you can tell that I make my family love it too:) (Brian is always super thrilled). We always decorate the wagon and everybody is decked out in their red, white and blue. When I heard that we were going to get to ride in the parade I was totally shocked, excited, thrilled. And, with just a few pregnancy hormones running through me, I started crying. The parade committee chooses a family to ride in the parade, and I would always joke that I wanted to do it. Well, this was our year.

Brooke did an excellent job. She was a little nervous with all the people but did really well for the whole thing. As we were waiting to start, Hadley leaned over and said "Isn't this amazing?, This is so amazing!" I think my 4th of July excitement is wearing off on her. She loved throwing candy to everybody.


By the way---Hadley is the 4th of July Princess and Brookie is the July bug.

We had a blast and were able to see lots of people we knew. I just love this town!

Here are some other pictures from our week.

Brookie got into the glitter while we were decorating the wagon.

Chefs Hadley and Brooke. Can we take your order?

I have one video to post now and I will have one of us at the parade later.
This is the product of too much parade candy. This video was taken around 9:30 Saturday night and she was wound for sound!

Have a wonderful week! We don't have a lot planned for this week, but I'm sure we'll find something to blog about.

Smiling from Ear to Ear!

Sigh... I am exhausted!!!

** I will start by saying that Hadley is convinced she is a mommy right now. It's nap time and she put her baby to bed in her room and Hadley is laying in our room (because she is the mommy and that's where mommy's sleep). She will come out every five minutes and check on her baby. I even get "yelled" at for being too loud and waking her baby up. Oh boy! She will be such a helper come September :)

This has been one busy week and it's only Wednesday. I decided to go ahead and blog about the last few days because A LOT of "blog worthy" stuff has gone on with the Tweryons.

The biggest blog news of the week...

BROOKE IS almost WALKING!!!

OK... so she isn't independently walking yet, but she is super close. Just in the last week she has really started walking more and more. She goes everywhere in our house -- using the couch, walls, ottoman, doors, toys, etc...

Check out the video of her using her toy to walk down the driveway.

In other Tweryon news. On Saturday, I took Hadley to a birthday party. Our friends Dave and Liz's little boy Vince turned one and they had a tumbling/"exercise" party (as Hadley calls it). She had a blast! Here are a few pictures from the party. The kids were able to jump down a long trampoline, walk on balance beams, crawl through tunnels and roll down ramps. It's really a neat idea for a birthday party.

This was hilarious. The instructor was having the kids stretch out before they did the obstacle course. Hadley was doing the best she could, but she would take everything she said so literally.

Here's a video of Hadley. They were supposed to do a forward roll (somersault) down the ramp. I don't know about you but I think we might have a future gold medalist here.

Brian was out of town for a bachelor party this past weekend. They went rafting down in Missouri and enjoyed the 100 degree weather. Yuck! Saturday night, the girls and I had a "slumber party" and according to Hadley, "Slumber parties are what we do best!" I'm not sure where that one came from but she was pretty excited.

Sunday was our 6th wedding anniversary. We treated ourselves to dinner at Bella Milano. Brian has been talking about going there for a while but we were waiting for a special occasion. The food was yummy and it was the first time in a long time that we had gone out to a nice restaurant -- just the two of us.

Here is Brooke screaming at me to get her out of "jail." I have to lock her up or she will unplug herself and escape.

Can you guess who picked this outfit out?



Tuesday evening, Brian and I were picking up the front and back yards while the girls played. Here Hadley is ordering an "ice jelly" from Brooke.




Brooke was walking down the driveway last night and her shorts fell down (she has really slimmed down and grown taller over the last month and a lot of her shorts are big on her). Anyway, I didn't realize they had fallen down until it was too late. She has her first scraped knee. Here she is getting a little love from daddy. You can see her scrape if you look closely. She was also filthy last night. She had dirt, mulch, grass etc... all over her.

I don't know about you all, but we love the 4th of July! These next two pictures are of our own little practice "parade". The girls were riding in the wagon and the grandparents are playing in the band. Can't you see their instruments? I was sitting in the ditch throwing candy and Hadley was grabbing it. We are ready for Saturday.

Today (Wednesday) we went outside around 9:30 and stayed out until around 1:00. It was such a nice day (almost chilly, but who's complaining?) Here are a couple pictures.

She had been playing at the sand and water table but decided that the water from the bucket to clean your hands was more fun.

We also had a picnic lunch with Daddy.

I will end this mid-week blog with two videos from today. Hadley was driving Brooke around in her jeep. I PROMISE Brooke was not hurt, maybe just minor whiplash. She loves the jeep when it's stationary, but isn't too sure about it when Hadley starts driving. Notice the smile on her face before Hadley hits the accelerator.

We hope you all have a fantastic (and safe) 4th of JULY! I will have lots of pictures to post after the 4th. Now get out there and enjoy this beautiful weather!