Boy, it's been a while!

Well...to say life is busy with two 2 year olds is an understatement!! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner...life is just busy. Since I've last posted, many things have changed. The girls are talking up a storm and have such great personalities! They are always making me laugh and really showing how individual they are, despite being twins! I've also helped close out the Space Shuttle Program at NASA, which was a very sad process. I've now moved on to working a completely different field, which I won't bore you with all the details...but it's just very different, which I like because it makes each day interesting...but it also makes me wish I could work on a new rocket again. We shall see what the future holds...le sigh...

Anyway, back to the girls! Kamryn is still my "Little Diva". She is ALL girl! She wants to be a Princess all the time, pose for the camera, she loves to dance, dance, dance and sing, sing, sing. We took them to a trial gymnastics class and they LOVED it, so we will be putting them back in a regular class soon. I can see her being in the entertainment business the way she acts, but she also gets really shy in front of people so we'll have to work on that.

Kayla is my "Little Thinker"...she always seems to be thinking. Thinking of things to do, say, you name it. I see her as the studious one and the one keeping Kamryn under control. LOL. She also loves to dance and do gymnastics, but it seems more because Kamryn likes it, so she likes it kind of a thing. They both love music though so that is fun too.

On the health front, both girls are doing fabulous, growing like crazy and getting more and more beautiful by the day (I may be biased though). Kayla will be having testing done on Monday to determine if the spinal tethering will require surgery or not. I'm praying for no surgery, but I also want whatever issues she may be having from it to be corrected. As I type this, I wonder if I've even mentioned in a previous post that she has a Tethered Spinal Cord or not...lol, it's been a while since I've read or updated this blog. I wonder if anybody even checks in on us anymore...WOW! I promise to try and do better at updating!!

soooorrrrryyyy....

I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in so long! To say I have been busy is an understatement! Two year olds are tough...2 two year olds is crazy!! The only reason I have time to update is because I'm in Florida for a couple of weeks and finally have time to catch up on some things! I just got back to FL from a crazy, but fabulous weekend in Austin seeing my cousin, Chris marry his beautiful bride Sangeeta!! What an amazing wedding!! All I can say is I wish I was Indian so I could wear a beautiful Sari and a beautiful wedding gown!! My girls were able to flower girls as well in the wedding and did much better than expected! I fully expected a meltdown when we pushed them down the aisle with more photographers trying to take their pictures than a Brittany Spears meltdown...lol. They did great! I ran around to the front and called them down to me (between all the photographers) and they eventually made their way down. I hope to get some pics up soon so stay tuned!

In other news, we've been busy with Little Miss Kayla. We took her to an orthopedic surgeon a couple of months ago as her left leg is still pretty turned in and she was still walking funny and complaining of pain in her leg, so I just wanted to have her checked out. Well, after an MRI and consult with a neurosurgeon, it appears that she has what is called a "Tethered Spinal Cord" which is basically that her spinal cord is attached to the base of her spine where it should be dangling free. So as she grows, her spinal cord is being pulled downwards and possibly causing her legs to turn inwards. The solution to this is to do nothing and wait to see if it gets worse or surgery. The first neurosurgeon wants to do some additional testing to see if she is having neurological impairment from it before jumping to surgery so I am ok with that approach. We are also trying to get a second opinion from another neurosurgeon as well. I am thankful to be living in a city where I have several pediatric neurosurgeons at wonderful Children's hospitals so close by!

And finally, one of the other things I have been dealing with is the coming end of the Space Shuttle program. To say I am sad is an understatement. Few understand what it means to me and so I figured I would just post my thoughts as I never am able to express it verbally quite right. To work on the Space Shuttle has been my life's dream...ever since I was 7 years old and saw STS-1 from my backyard to when I started working with NASA in the 9th grade at Kennedy Space Center as a student intern. At the age of 15 I started working summers as an intern at KSC and then continued on as a college student majoring in Engineering JUST so I could get out and continue working on the shuttle. In my mind, I knew this program couldn't last forever...but it never dawned on me that I wouldn't be working on SOMETHING taking humans into space! This reality is hitting home with me now as we work to launch our final last two Shuttle missions. After nearly 22 years working for the space program, I am now in a strange world of having to figure out what to do next. This is NOTHING compared to my close friends that I have made who will be out of jobs in the next few months. To all of us, it feels like we are losing who we are...because to us...this was more than a job. It was our pride and joy...we loved going to work every day and seeing our accomplishments in every shuttle liftoff and landing. We cried and suffered with the losses of Challenger and Columbia. Our work is our life and our coworkers are our family. Being here in Florida right now is heartbreaking. To see foreclosures on every corner in my once thriving neighborhood, to possibly seeing dear friends for maybe the last time as they pack up and look for other opportunities in other parts of the country, to feel guilty that I will still have a job (albeit not one that I necessarily want to be doing...but it's a paycheck) while friends who are much smarter and talented than I are collecting unemployment. I feel helpless and depressed beyond words. I have spent more than 2/3 of my life preparing for and doing this job and now it will only be a memory for my children to hopefully read about in their history books. I pray and pray that our leaders do what is right and not let us fall behind in manned spaceflight. Not just so I can have a job, but so that my girls can be inspired as I was. So that our country can be united again.
(Sorry for the rant, but this is a really hard trip for me knowing that I may not see dear friends again as they run looking for better opportunities...I guess I just needed to vent). :(

It takes a Village...

I'm taking the opportunity to post on my blog for a "cyber" friend of mine who could use some help! I met Lisa on a message board a few years ago and have remained friends with her, though we have never met. She touched my heart back then when we were all struggling with our fertility issues. Lisa found out she was pregnant around the same time as myself and several other cyber-friends...then she found out that her little bean she was carrying had Down Syndrome. While many of us (myself included) would have been frightened and scared...Lisa embraced it. I watched her throw herself into learning as much as she could about raising a child with Downs and admired her from afar for her courage and strength. Now, little Jacob is a little over two and thriving and Lisa is again on another journey. She and her husband are trying to adopt another Down Syndrome child, named Cliff. Cliff is a cutie pie and my heart just swelled when I saw her story and her desire to bring him home. Unfortunately, to do that requires a LOT of money...and in order for Lisa to do this she needs the help of a Village to help raise the funds for her to bring Cliff home to them. They already have a great headstart with some wonderful people making fantastic donations!! But they could use more! I believe the power of the internet can really help Lisa and her family reach their goal! I ask that if you can spare just even a little bit for Lisa than we can help this wonderful family reach their goals!! I myself am pledging to donate a little bit with each paycheck, could you do the same?? Do you know of somebody who could donate more and would like to help?? All donations are tax deductible! Such a great cause for such a great family...and such a CUTE LITTLE BOY, who deserves a chance at a great life! You can follow Lisa's journey on her blog, which is listed on the right called "Building our Village". Please feel free to pass along as well! Donations may be made here (or click on the title of this post and it will take you to the website):
http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorwarner

Thank you and Good Luck to the Warner family!

Hooray!!

I'm slowly catching up on this blog! I'll get some Christmas pics and videos up soon I hope, but I took this last night and wanted to share. The girls are cracking me up!! By the time I finally got them in one place to shoot this video, they were tired, but it's still cute I think :). (Sorry about my horrid singing)!

Christmas Pics and updates!!

Well, I'll just start by saying we won't have Christmas cards this year if you are waiting for them!! Time has just slipped away from me and we never really got any great Christmas photos like I wanted. It seemed like the girls were either sick, fussy or recovering from some sort of black eye or mosquito bite to the face! We did get some pics from their daycare that they took so I scanned those in for you all to see below! Kamryn did her usual staring at the camera thing, but Kayla is finally starting to warm up to it! I didn't have time to get their hair cut so you can barely see Kayla's little face. Next year, I will be more organized!!

It's been a busy month! I finally took the girls out of daycare to help try and get them all healed up and recovered from their adenoiditis. Of course, as soon as they got home they got a cold/flu bug, which I got. They seem to be doing better and I like the nanny we have so far. She does a lot of arts and crafts with them everyday which they seem to enjoy! I hope to get them back in daycare this spring if they are better after their surgeries and I can build back up some sick leave again. (Fingers crossed)!!

The girls are so much fun to watch right now. Kayla is my little ham...she loves to smile and laugh!! She loves to play peek a boo and chase me around. She is so much fun to watch and I love her facial expressions!! Kamryn is my sweet and sensitive girl. She is always giving her "Kay-Kay" things and always trying to put her to sleep. She is also turning into the bossy one and the bully though, which is funny since she is usually so sweet! ALL day long I hear "Kay-Kay!! Kay-Kay!! NO!! Here!! Kay-Kay!!" And Kayla always follows and does what her sister says...but if she doesn't...Kamryn starts to hit and bite, so we are working on that! We are also getting into the temper tantrum phase...aye carumba!! It's so cute, but very LOUD when they both don't get what they want or are jealous of the other one for something...there is a lot of screaming, throwing things, and throwing themselves on the ground! I'm not sure how to handle all that, so I usually just walk away and leave them be till they calm down. Despite all that, they are usually the sweetest little girls and make me so happy!! (Except right now that they are fighting going to bed and I hear a lot of crying coming from their room)!! LOL.

Anyway, here are the pics! Enjoy!!

Videos!

For those of you not on my Facebook, here are some cute videos of the girls for you to watch! Be sure to put the speakers on, the giggles and voices are hysterical!

Snot and Poop...or should it be Poop and Snot??

It has not been the most enjoyable week in the Novilla household...mainly because all of us have been sick with something or another, which leads to just plain grumpiness. Last weekend, we ventured out of the house and went to the Texas Renaissance Festival which was a LOT of fun (pictures to follow)...but not 24 hours later, Kayla started running a fever...then Kam...then the snot started flowing more freely (it had already been flowing from the last sickness), which led to much coughing and long nights...then the doctor decided to start the girls on some new antibiotic thinking that they may have a sinus infection now which is causing all the coughing and breathing problems...which led to the dreaded "D"...ugh. So between fevers, snot, coughing and "D", I've also been sick with a stomach bug and Kiko has been just hanging in there with all of this. It's been miserable. I've decided to possibly look for a live-out nanny now, a local person...so I don't have the drama of personality conflicts or homesickness or not being able to walk around in my birthday suit (just kidding on the last one...). lol. I can't afford to keep missing work when the girls are sick right now...hoping that a nanny for a few months anyway, will get me into next year and give me time to build back up my sick leave. That's the hope anyway...

The girls do seem to be enjoying daycare though and I hate to take them out of it just because they get sick...so I'm torn. It's good for them to get sick, right?? Good to build up immunities...but at the risk of not being able to pay the bills? Probably not. Argh.... Maybe we will try this school thing again next year...

Anyway, here are some cute pics from the Renaissance Festival. We didn't dress up, but the girls had fun! They had their first Shetland Pony rides (Kamryn hated, Kayla loved) and then Kayla got to ride her first Carousel (Kamryn was asleep). Can't wait for more memorable times with them!! Heading to FL next week! Our first ever plane ride...should be INTERESTING!!