9 months old

These little sweet babies are 9 months old!

 (Again, actually 9 1/2. I do take the pictures within a day or two of their actual month birthdays, but I'm just really behind on posting them! I feel like that's how much life is a lot of the time--like I'm running about 2 weeks behind. but anyway, I digress....)

We are enjoying them so much. I know I say it every month and you're probably tired of hearing me say how cute they are and how much we love them. But it's true. Yes, having twins is a LOT of work. It's exhausting, especially now that they're getting bigger and heavier. It's like a workout just to get people in and out of the car, the bathtub, and the high chairs. It's draining when they're both whiny and clingy and needy at the same time. But it is also just a continual blessing and joy to have them in our family.

I think back to this time last year. Spring is my favorite time of the year. Last spring was difficult for me to enjoy. I was starting to slow down considerably. I was huge and uncomfortable and tired. And to be honest, I was scared. I did not know how we would manage having twins. We felt overwhelmed at times with the 3 kids we already had. I just couldn't imagine what life would be like with two babies. 

And now here we are, with 9 month old babies! Every day around here is a gift and filled with God's grace. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us "But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

God tells us that His grace is sufficient for us, not overwhelming, but sufficient. And that's how I feel most days. He gives me enough grace to get through that day, that hour, that bedtime, that meal. And in my weakness (which is a lot), I am filled with his power. Having children, especially a lot of small ones at the same time, has a way of teaching me this lesson.

Alright, on to these cutie pies. They're both growing and developing so well. At their 9 month check up, Elizabeth weighed 17 lbs 11 oz (28%) and was 28 inches long (65%). James weighed 16 lbs 13 oz (3.5%) and was 27.5 inches long (23%). We've got to get little James to gain some more weight, but I truly think he's just burning off all the calories he eats. He is such a busy body!!

Elizabeth is continuing her physical therapy and doing well. She is so close to consistently rolling over. She'll occasionally do it, but still struggles to reach her arm across and get all the way there. She will push herself up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth. Just last week she started going from being on her hands and knees to sitting up on her knees. She also seems a little more motivated and interested in trying to reach out for toys and wanting to move, so that's progress for sure.

James is crawling and pulling up. He even stood up for a minute yesterday without holding on to anything. He gets mad now if I put him in the jumper or exersaucer because he does not want to be contained. He would rather crawl and get into the dog's water bowl or his big brother's toys. We constantly have to watch him near stairs (he has already tumbled down a couple of them) and he loves to crawl to the bathroom and push the shampoo bottles in. He's constantly looking for an adventure!

They both are getting teeth. Elizabeth now has two on bottom; James has 3 bottom and 2 top. it's so cute to see their little smiles with those teeth showing!

They sleep well at night, generally from around 7:30pm to 7:30am. They still take two naps a day. I put them down from 10-11:30am and 2-4pm. Elizabeth usually sleeps that entire time. James sleeps for about 45 mins in the morning and maybe an hour in the afternoon. But I just leave him in there to play for the rest of nap time. If I try to sneak him out of there, it wakes her up. He does protest and fuss at every single nap and bedtime! He can be quite vocal. She would rather just snuggle up and suck her fingers. So Sweet!

We're still doing lots of baby food, but I'm trying to give them more real foods to try--small pieces of fruit and crackers/bread. Elizabeth is more adventurous to try them than James is. He still doesn't even really like cheerios or puffs. But hopefully he'll catch on soon and we can stop buying so much baby food! They take bottles 4 times a day, but have been decreasing the amount they drink at each feeding to about 6 oz (instead of 8oz) now that they're eating more food.

By the way, Anna loves for Elizabeth to wear this shirt with the 3 ballerinas on it. She says it's Catherine, Anna, and Elizabeth. So even though it has snowflakes on it, Elizabeth has worn it quite a bit lately :)

We're heading into 10 months quickly.....which means that first birthday is just right around the corner!!