Visit with Santa!

We took the kids to see Santa on Wednesday! It was great! This is the first year that Andrew would "walk" up to see him! He walked up with his arms open wide and crawled right up on his lap! It was wonderful to see! The girls asked for knitting kits and Andrew asked for a car! (hopefully a toy car!)

Christmas Craft Project

Hannah and Julia wanted to make our own Advent Calendar this year. They thought it would be fun to do together! They had this idea in their heads so I gathered materials together and we spent all day a few weeks ago from 11-6pm working on this and it still wasnt done!! So I finished it the next night! It was done by December 1st! Even Andrew got in on the action!







This is in the beginning of the month!


This is on Christmas morning!

Santa!

***A Warning: Parents who have small children who read, make sure they don't***
Now that that is out of the way, here is my story of the night. Tonight, the kids and I were at the dinner table eating our dinner. Here is our conversation!
Hannah: I don't believe in Santa!
Me: What, why?
Hannah: I have never ever seen the North Pole on a map.
Me: Why sure there is a North Pole.
Hannah: Then show me.
Me: After dinner!
So after dinner, I signed onto the computer and showed her the North Pole on the map that I found.
Hannah: There is no land there, its just water.
Me: No Hannah, let me find another map.
Thank God I found this: http://www.aaccessmaps.com/show/map/north_pole
Hannah: WOW, I certainly believe now!!!

Update on Andrew's Philly Appointment

We finally have a doctor who is willing to look into Andrew's issues. We have wondered for a very long time if "something else" could be going on with Andrew. We have always been told No. But one thing we knew is that he never fit into his diagnoses. Now, he definetly has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) but his weakness doesn't really fit specifically to that diagnoses. See, DMD first affects the pelvic area and down. But Andrew has always had alot of upper body weakness. That is what we first noticed about Andrew. He wouldn't use his arms and he didn't have alot of head control. DMD would act in the reverse. So now we have a doctor that is agreeing that something else is going on. He doesn't like the fact that Andrew has a very weak neck and arms. It would be extremely rare for a child to have 2 genetic disorders, BUT this doctor is finally saying they are going to have to look into that possibilty. So here is where we stand now. Andrew is going to have a full Austistic screening done. He has some attention issures, sensory issures and some OCD issures so they want to test to see if he may be on the spectrum. Even IF that comes back positive, the DR. agrees that there is something else. He isn't quite sure what yet but is having a meeting in two weeks with a bunch of his collegues and Andrew will be on the top of his list of kids to talk about. We are going back to Philly in 4 months. In the meantime if any testing comes up, I will keep you all posted. We are excited to have finally found a Dr. that is listening to our concerns but also we feel like we've been hit by a truck. We just want answers. If you can say a prayer for Andrew, that would mean the world to us! Thank you for all your support!

New York City!

Imagine: 8 kids, 4 adults, NYC.


Crazy, you ask? Yep! We did it! It was so much fun! Here is a picture of the start of our adventure! Leaving the hotel!

We stopped at Toys R Us and went on the indoor Ferris Wheel! That was so much fun!

We then went to Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular! That was amazing! If you ever get a chance, GO!

After the show, we went to the M&M store. Julia spent $13 of her $20 on the smallest bag of M&M's. Things were VERY marked up there but the kids had fun. We then crossed the street and went to the Hershey store. (my personal favorite!)

After a fun adventure we decided to head back to the hotel. Once we found Port Authority, we found our bus... Bye Bye New York City!

This one is for you Dad!

Usually I only post when I have pictures to post. But it has come to my attention, thanks Dad, that he wants me to post more frequent! I will try my best to keep the blog updated even if I have no pictures to post! I have finished packing for our trip. The car is packed and now I just wait until the kids get home from school. I am doing some last minute cleaning before we leave. I think it's so much nicer coming home to a clean house rather than a messy one! I don't think I will have a chance to post about NYC of our trip to CHOP until I get back! Wish us luck and that the Dr.'s think Andrew is doing well and not declining!

Tag - I am it and so are you!

Jen tagged me, which means that I get to share 6 interesting facts about myself and then "tag" other blog friends to share their own facts. I tag Heidi, Cara, Shannon and Heidi!

1) I have always wanted to be a Marine Biologist. I wanted to train whales or dolphins at Sea World.

2) Ashamed to say but this President election was the first one I voted in. But I am really glad I did and will continue from now on!

3)After my first date with Tony, I came home and woke my Mom up. I told her that I was going to marry him one day! Strange how you just know!

4)I hate to fly! I mean HATE! It makes me so sick to my stomach. I rather drive or take a boat!

5)I am a goody two shoes! I have never even tried smoking!

6)My favorite moments of my life were getting married, my children's births and watching Andrew walk for the very first time without his walker!

Julia's party!

After Julia had her friends party from 1-3, we had a few hours to rest and then we had her family party at 6pm. She wanted a heart cake with pink, blue and purple! Her favorite gifts were her lipstick and nail polish and her footy PJ's.

Halloween!

We had a fun time! It's always a crazy day when it's on a school day. The kids got home from school and we got them dressed and off to Nana and Gramps house we went. We were there all of 10 minutes and then we went to see Grandma! Then we rushed home, ate dinner and the kids went with Dad to trick or treat! I stayed home and handed out candy and started making cupcakes for Julia's kid party the next day and her birthday cake for the family party the next night!

Pumpkin Carving!

We always have a great time carving out pumpkins! This year we cut back and only got one! Gotta love the economy! Anyway, it was so funny this year. The girls usually don't like scooping out the inside of the pumpkin but this year, they loved it! Even Andrew was saying, "gross"! It turned out good but it looked like a chubby pumpkin!

Julia turns 6!

I find it so hard to believe that Julia is 6! Where has the time gone? On her actual Birthday, we just hung out at home after school. She wanted "breakfast" for dinner so we made pancakes with strawberries and whip cream, bacon, eggs! Grandma came up to help us celebrate! We had Oreo pie as a "cake"! She loved it! She also loved the snow we got that night!

Philadelphia trip in 2 weeks!

We are going back to Philly to see Andrew's doctor. We are very nervous about this appointment because Andrew's PT here thinks he may be starting to decline. His hamstrings are tightening up and his calf's are enlarging. This raises a lot of questions for us. Hopefully we will get some answers.

One good thing about our trip in that Grandma is coming and has bought all of us tickets to go to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular! Tony's sister and her 5 kids are also coming! It will be a nice diversion for us! And the kids are super excited to go into New York City!

Harvest Festival Part 2

There were lots of character there too! Also, this was Andrew's first time in a bouncy house. He wasn't sure what to think and decided he was "scared" and wanted out!

Harvest Festival Part 1

We had a wonderful time at the school Harvest Festival! Even though it was windy and cold we enjoyed all the games!

Fun in the leaves!

How many of you remember doing this! Those were such fun times! I always remind my kids to enjoy being a kid!!!

Gram

Tony's grandmother passed away at the end of September. This has been a very hard thing for our family. She was just such a kind, gentle women and really always brought the family together. We will miss her always.

We love our cousins!

Look at all the kids! All of the cousin's on Tony's side watching Julia play soccer! It was a cold, wet day but they all made the best of it!

End of Soccer!!

Here are the girls with there Trophy's!

My soccer girls!

This year, both the girls played soccer! They really love it! But when the weather turned cold, I didn't like it so much!! Here are some pictures of the girls playing soccer.

MDA Telethon

Just in case you missed our TV moment, here is the video they aired during the telethon! Just copy and paste the link below

http://homepage.mac.com/fox44/.Public/MDA/Angolanos.wmv

Andrew's 1st day of preschool!

I knew all summer that this way was coming. I have tried to prepare myself but it was still a very hard day for me, but not Andrew! We got him up and gave him his medicine. We drive him to school in the morning and he takes the little bus home with the other preschoolers. He goes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thurdays from 7:30-10:45ish. The first day was so easy for him. He went right in and got settled with this aid, who we love! When the bus came around the corner, you could see him smiling and biting his fists (he does this when he gets excited) I got he out of his carseat and he just cuddled up to me! He said "missed mommy"! Everyday since, he does the same thing and says "miss mommy". The last few days he has actually cried when we dropped him off. He recovers quickly but he always makes sure he tells us!