HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, WILLIAM & VIOLET!

Today I have two one year olds!  It's been quite the year - here's a quick look back at monthly pictures.






And here we are at 12 months old!

On her birthday, Miss Violet is almost able to crawl.  She can sort of inch to get places, and she is definitely making progress!  She loves people and being in on the action.  In the last couple of weeks, she has really started noticing our cats and other animals.  She does this precious little giggle of excitement and often will eventually shriek with pleasure.  It is as cute as it sounds.  She has become an awesome sleeper and napper, thankyouverymuch.  She has three teeth and more on the way.

On his birthday, Mr. William is able to spin himself in a circle while sitting still and does manage to grab toys anywhere near to him.  He can feed himself finger foods (praise King Jesus), and he will eat just about anything set before him.  He loves to be thrown in the air, and he is especially entertained by his big sisters - Bella in particular.  She can get him to chuckle so quickly.  He is also a good sleeper, and having our sleep woes mostly behind us has been a huge win.  He has one tooth that has come through the bottom and more on the way.

William is in three kinds of therapy four times a week, and Violet has two types, three times a week.  Both are progressing well, and we love all of their therapists.  All of their thin liquids (water, juice, formula, milk) have to be thickened to a "stiff nectar" consistency, so we are working on figuring out all of that.  We are transitioning a lot with foods and formulas and thickeners, which feels a bit high maintenance, but they should grow out of it all by the time they are two.  And, it looks as if they both have a bit of allergy-induced asthma.  So, they are fairly high maintenance little people right now, but nothing is long-term or major for the time being.  And they are such happy, sweet babies so much of the time.  We feel enormously blessed.

When I look back at last year, I am still amazed that God saw fit to put them into our family.  Last week I read through some of the roller coaster that was this time last year, and I am so very grateful for the way it turned out.  I can't say it enough.  Today, we went to a park, and I spent some time pushing them on swings, thanking God for their precious lives while they squealed and giggled with delight.

William and Violet - we love you so very much.  You bring so much joy and fullness that we cannot imagine living without.  We thank the Lord when we look at your lives.  Happy birthday!

If you want to read some of the posts from their birth week last year-
{The Call:  Babies Were Born}
{Roller Coaster: Amazing Baby News!}
{Day One with Babies}
{The Eye of the Storm}
{Camp NICU}
{Introducing Our Babies!}