12 Months

Dear Madison and Jackson,

This year has been an utter whirlwind. I think that all the time spent taking care of you has made the time go so fast. I haven't had a chance to stop and let it sink in that I have two babies. The days just keep flying off the calendar like leaves off a tree and here you are, an entire year old.

This past year was the hardest and the most fabulous year of my life. Taking care of newborn twins is not real easy. Keeping a marriage together while taking care of newborn twins is next to impossible. Taking care of myself while trying to keep a marriage together while taking care of newborn twins...well, quite frankly, I deserve a medal. As my medal I will accept all the amazingly fun memories of our first year together as a family, all of your smiles, all of your giggle fests, all of the snuggles, kisses and hugs that have made every sleepless night worthwhile.

This past month was pretty boring since my car was being fixed for the past 5 weeks. Your car seats can't go in daddy's wrangler so you were stuck at home unless someone was nice enough to come and take us out. However, the consistency of being at home got you both in a great routine. Jackson got better about sleeping through the night and going down for a nap. You would both wake up around 7:30-8 and by 9:30-10 you would both go down for a nap with only minor fussing. You would sleep until 11:30-12 and have lunch while Daddy was home. We would play and play and play until 3 I gave you a bottle then at 4 you would sleep until 6. Daddy would feed you dinner then a bottle at 8 and bed at 9. But that all changed last weekend when we moved the clocks ahead. Now you're up til 11 at night and get up at 10am. I'm loving the change however I can't imagine how it happened. We only moved the clocks ahead ONE hour but it messed you up by two! The first night Daddy called me at work and said I had to come home to help him because you were both up and screaming when he tried to put you to bed. The next night was the same and after that he learned to just let you stay up. Over this past weekend we tried to put you to bed at 10 every night and every night we had to get you back up. You just wanted to be up and playing. So we tried again at 11 with success. Strange but true.

You stopped formula a couple weeks ago. I just couldn't bring myself to buy anymore so I switched you to whole milk. You made the transition with no problem. You both love it and it hasn't seemed to cause any problems with your digestive track.

The playroom, living room, and kitchen are all open and babyproof so you both just roam around all day. You are always in the same place together. If one goes in the kitchen, the other follows behind. I'd say both of your favorite thing to do is look at the microwave. It's so funny!

I really can't believe how lucky I am that you two particular beings were brought into my life. I couldn't ask for anything better and what I hoped for doesn't even compare to you both.

In general, my favorite memories so far are all of your firsts. I was always so excited for your first Easter, your first time on the beach, your first smile and it was so important for me to document it all. Thanks to this blog I was able to do that and I am so glad I took the time to do it all. Of course I will continue documenting your life here with pictures and stories of all the firsts that are yet to come.

Dear Jackson,

Anytime I imagined having children, I must admit I always imagined having a girl. People would always say "It won't matter if it's a boy or a girl, you will love them to death". Even up until the last day of my pregnancy I didn't believe them. I actually worried that I would favor my daughter. That worry vanished the minute I heard your very first cry. I now know that parents don't see their children in terms of gender. They see them as their pride and joy and the most incredible addition to their lives. I can't imagine not having you in my life. You fill my world with love.

You wear 12-18 months clothes and size 6 diapers. Today at your doctor's appointment you weighed 20 pounds. It took you a year but you quadrupled your birth weight! You still have no teeth!!!! Every time Nana sees you she sticks her fingers in your mouth to see if any have sprouted. Your hair seems to be getting to be a little bit lighter brown and your bangs are really growing long. I'm always pushing them off to one side. Your face is so precious. It's just such a perfect baby face.

One thing I don't think I've written about is your obsession with lint. If there is something on the floor you immediately pick it up and put it in your mouth. You don't swallow it, you just chew on it. But god forbid you eat a pea. You're still giving me a hard time about eating food not from a jar but you're getting better. You love grilled cheese, yogurt, sweet potatoes in a jar, banana, grapes (you finally ate them for me today), garden burgers. Last week I gave you real sweet potatoes, pasta, and raspberries and you wanted nothing to do with them. You also don't like the sippy cup.

You do the cutest thing. If the gate to the bathroom is down, you crawl REALLY fast toward it laughing as we chase you. You just love to go where you're not allowed. You love it when daddy plops you on the couch. He counts to three and even at the sound of "one" you start laughing. Then Madison laughs when you hit the couch. You're very ticklish and I love to make you laugh!

Your sister has seemed to do everything before you...rolling over, crawling, growing teeth, walking. But you finally did something first! You started clapping!! Just the other day you were sitting on the floor and out of nowhere clapped your hands. You look absolutely adorable doing it too. Now whenever someone says "Patty cake" you put your hands together.

My favorite memory of you is one day during your first month I was feeding you while your sister was sleeping. I had finished feeding you and you fell asleep in my arms. I used to play the song "Wintersong" from the Wintersong CD by Sarah McLaughlin on my computer on repeat during those first months. So this one day I was singing it to you and staring at your face and I was so overcome with the love I felt for you that I was sobbing. The song is actually a really sad song about a mother who lost a child. For me it reminds me to be thankful every day that I get to have you in my life. I am so blessed.

Dear Madison,

You are such a big little girl! You took your first steps about 3 weeks ago and as of a few days ago you are a full time walker. You rarely crawl anywhere anymore. It is so adorable to see such a little peanut walking around holding onto to toys. You will walk from the kitchen through the living room to the playroom and back again over and over and over again. You are so proud of yourself and we are so proud of you!

You wear size 3 diapers (I finally bought you your own size because I realized it was a LOT cheaper to do it that way) that I write a little red M on so we don't mix yours up with your brothers. You wear 6-12 months clothes. You have 8 teeth. Your hair continues to be red and it is getting so long. You even have ringlets in the back. It's been getting pretty wild lately and I have to use a barrette to tame it. Today at your doctor's appointment you weighed 17 pounds...still in the 5th percentile.

My second favorite memory of you was the first time you gave me a kiss when I asked for one. My favorite memory was when you gave me one when I didn't ask. Both times absolutely melted my heart.

You are a very good eater still. You love grilled cheese, yogurt, bananas, grapes, garden burgers, applesauce. You are more willing to try something than your brother.

I always knew I wanted to have a little girl and I just can't tell you how blessed I am that you are what I was given. I can't imagine a more perfect little girl.