T.E.N.

The last month has been so crazy ~ I can't believe Sophia & Savannah are 10 months! Only 8 more weeks before they turn 1!

With the girls crawling and often times going in opposite directions I finally invested in gates to keep them confined in certain areas. Too often Savannah would be headed in one direction and Sophia in the other...

Sophia headed toward the kitchen...

Savannah going towards the fireplace...

I never needed gates with Jayden - we would just tell her where she could and could not go and she would listen. These girls have a mind of their own! If they are going to pull the rubber protector off the hearth on the fireplace and we tell them no, they look at us, smile and go for it again!

LOVE these gates! :)

And they're off!

They still love play time and are completely content playing with a bucket of toys on the ground. They also love their jumperoo! Lately their new favorite activity is playing peek-a-boo with eachother with the curtain by the back door to the yard. They move the curtain side to side and crack up laughing when they see one another. It's hilarious! They played with it for about 30 minutes the other day and kept each other entertained the whole time!

All smiles (almost) all the time!!

We still have LOTS of jammie days! It's so easy to just keep them in their pjs all day to help cut back on laundry :) They also both have 4 teeth ~ 2 on top and 2 on bottom...hopefully the teething subsides for a few weeks so their sleepless nights don't happen again for a while. Those nights are the worst! But overall the girls are sleeping SO MUCH BETTER! Savannah is a champ and sleeps all the way through the night. Sophia occasionally will wake around 2 or 3 AM but luckily falls back asleep. They both go down for bed around 6/6:30 PM and wake up around 6:30/7 AM. It's amazing when I get a full night's rest!

Both girls are eating more and more solids. Each week we try something new! Right now some of their favorites are chicken nuggets, mac n cheese and almost any fruit. They still nurse part-time and take bottles to supplement ~ so funny...Savannah was finishing her bottle and we looked over and found her rolling over to watch us! Now it's her favorite position to eat in :)

Never get tired of this happy face!

Picture time with mommy!

I'm not sure how long they are or how much they weigh this month...but they are quickly growing out of their 9 month clothes and are mostly wearing 12 months now. 

This month it was especially hard to take a picture of the girls sitting up on their pillow ~ they kept moving or wanting to go after their toys...

Off they go!

so this was the best one I could get!

Happy 10 months girls! 

You keep our days long but the months seem to be flying by!

We love you Sophia & Savannah!!

1/2 Marathon

About six months ago some of my friends casually brought up wanting to run a half marathon. Somehow that actually happened and all of us signed up and the training began! I was running 2-3 days a week and feeling really good! Most of my "low" days running 3-4 miles I was pushing the double jogger with the twins so whenever I would run my "high" days I felt lighter and more energized. I was doing amazing training every week...and then Christmas came! The past few weeks I haven't worked out once and as the day approached, I grew more and more anxious for the 13.1 miles! 

When our race day came - I felt more mentally prepared than physically prepared for sure! I know my body can do anything I put my mind to and I just figured I would go at my own pace and not push myself to finish within a certain time frame. 

Up bright and early with the girls!

Loved our bright yellow shirts! We sure did stand out :)

It was supposed to rain the day of our race - but we lucked out! The showers held off the entire run!

Jonathan and Jayden came out to cheer us on! Loved receiving their cheers, support and love! <3
I had to stop for a quick pic ~ one of my favorite moments was hearing them cheer for me!!

So did a few other friends & for that we are extremely grateful!! :)

Finally the finish line! Seeing the 13 mile marker never felt so good! 

We did it! 

Love these girls and so excited we finished what we started!
On to the next adventure!!

9 months & on the move!

Sophia & Savannah are a little over 9 months and it seems as if our house gets crazier by the day! Both girls are mobile ~ Savannah a little more than Sophia...but they are all over the place!

The girls are still sleeping in separate rooms and are sleeping so much better! Both go down around 6:15/6:30 and wake up around 6:30 in the morning...but sometimes I'm lucky and Savannah sleeps in until 7:30! She's my sleepyhead most of the time! It was so cute, I walked in the other day after I heard her talking to herself and she was just sitting there waiting for me :)

We went to their doctor appointment a few days before Christmas, and the girls did awesome...

Sophia:
16 lbs 7 oz.
27 1/4 inches

Savannah:
16 lbs. 10 oz.
27 3/4 inches

So either my scale is off (from the last 2 months measurements) or the girls have thinned out a bit since they are moving around more. Either way, the doc said they are doing perfect and are in the 25-40th percentile for height/weight.

We have started feeding them more and more regular food so it's getting easier by the week. In the morning they love having bananas, blueberries, oranges or apples...they also love feeding themselves. We can cut up and put just about anything in front of them and they will eat it! It's pretty messy, but they are super independent and love trying new foods! This week we tried pasta, chicken, eggs, pancakes (one of their favorites), banana bread, lemon cake (another favorite) and whip cream :)

Both Sophia & Savannah have also been drooling like crazy - sometimes I just leave their bibs on because their outfits get soaked from all their drool. Their top 2 teeth are just about in, I can see both teeth on both girls, but they haven't quite broken through yet.

One of my favorite things is hearing them talk to each other. It's so adorable how they communicate back and forth! And their laughs and giggles are contagious! It brings a huge smile to my face listening and watching them! Although, I can already tell I'm definitely going to be a referee...they love stealing binkies and toys from one another!

Savannah going after both binkies...

Sophia's face is classic...she looks so sad LOL

Savannah's over it and on the move!

Jayden giving love to her little sissy!

Brings me so much joy when I see our girls love on each other and smile at one another! <3

My big 9 month olds! Can't believe how fast this year has flown by! 

March is just around the corner and I can't believe these little girls will be ONE before we know it!

Love you Sophia & Savannah! <3

Winter Wonderland

This December has been full of holiday parties, sleepovers & Christmas celebrations! 

We started off this holiday season right by heading to see Santa!!

Jayden loved him from afar but up close she was a little nervous. She wouldn't crack a smile until Jonathan and I came & sat with her!

Love Santa's expression in this photo and the twins staring at him!

Love these crazy girls! They keep it interesting for sure!

Jayden's not paying attention, Savannah's just chillin', Sophia's about to lose it and Ella's like "mom another picture?!"

That same day we had our family holiday pictures taken! I LOVE them all and I'm still surprised with how perfect all 3 girls were for the photo shoot! 

Here are a few of our favorites...

So happy with how the pics came out! Also so glad my mom came to help entertain the girls and get them smiling! We even got some great shots with her and the three little ones! <3

The next weekend we had Ella for an overnighter and had such a fun time! I love how much our girls get along and how much fun they have together!

Arms Up! 

Party Time! Ella's coming for a sleepover!! 

 

Cuddle time while watching Thomas the Train! 

Seriously such a fun morning! 

One of my favorite laughable moments...while Ella was over she started calling me mommy after she heard Jayden calling me mommy. So I reminded her I'm her auntie nay nay and then all the sudden Jayden started calling me auntie nay nay...so I had to reminder her I'm her mommy. Then once she started calling me mommy again so did Ella. It was a vicious cycle and I eventually gave up and let the girls just call me mommy. They are too funny! :)

Love these two year old toddlers! <3 

Jonathan also had a ton of fun with Jayden & Ella while I took Sophia & Savannah to a shopping fundraiser at the new Carlsbad outlets! They were perfect while mommy finished some Christmas shopping :)

 

After Ella left, we took out the holiday decorations and put up the tree!

Jayden loved putting up the ornaments and now one of her favorite things is rearranging her ornaments every single day! It's too funny! 

We also have a visitor in our house right now! Elf on the Shelf is officially an Erickson tradition!

Jayden decided to name him Mr. Bandit haha

I sometimes forget to move him, but Jayden doesn't care ~ she just likes seeing him every day!

36 weeks out!

The first week of December, the girls were officially 36 weeks old!

Crazy to think this was me 36 weeks ago!!!

Yikes! That was one big belly!

It's been a fun and hectic December...but one of my favorite things was when my sis took Jayden to Disneyland last weekend. Jonathan and I didn't get to go since we don't have passes anymore, but Jayden had a blast and still talks about it every day!

Arms up again! (If you can't tell they love putting their arms up when they are excited!)

Off to the happiest place on earth!

Best Auntie B and Uncle Al in the world!

BFF's FOREVER!

We still have a ton of fun planned for the girls in the upcoming week before Christmas! 

 But I can't wait to celebrate Jesus's birthday this year! Between it being Sophia & Savannah's first Christmas and Jayden starting to understand the meaning of Christmas...it's a VERY special year we will never forget :)

Happy Holidays <3