rolling along & sweet sleep

Braden is now rolling over both ways! So we have two babies rolling all over the place. They are just good enough to get themselves in a position they don't like and start crying for help. Braden is so proud of himself. It's pretty fun to watch. And also pretty scary since Braden likes to bury his head when he gets mad and can't get rolled over. This makes for a nervous mommy at night - but he usually only does it when he's awake. I'm glad to know that Jesus never sleeps so He's taking good care of them while we're snoozing.

We had their 6 month checkup this week. Addyson weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces and is 22 1/4 inches long. Braden weighed 16 pounds 3 ounces and is 25 1/4 inches long. Both of them grew about the same amount in length and head circumference. Addyson continued on her own curve for her weight. This again convinced our pediatrician that Addyson is developing just fine - she's just a slow weight gainer! The big news is she can now go longer at night without eating! Both Addyson and Braden have been sleeping between 5 and 6 hours at night and I'm waking them up when it's time to eat. This also might be too much info for some of you . . . but it's my blog and I'm excited about this so I'm sharing! I have been pumping breast milk for the kids since the day they were born. At least 7 times every single day. Addyson has so many meds added that she wasn't allowed to breastfeed and as hard as we tried Braden just couldn't get it. I had goals along the way, but was really wanting to make it 6 months with full breast milk for them. And we reached that goal (they got 1 formula bottle a day so they were used to it if we needed to supplement and in preparation for the day I quite pumping). Recently we decided it was time for me to start the process of stopping. So I've started slowly dropping pumps and the kids are starting to get a few more formula bottles. The first pump to go was the early, early morning pump. So for the first time in over 6 months I got 7 hours of straight sleep while Ryan took an early morning feeding!!! It's amazing how great that can feel - or even just the 5 hours in a row instead of the 3 we have become used to!!! I am still adding to my store in the freezer and the plan is to be completely done pumping around the end of October. We should have enough frozen to get them several bottles a day for at least a couple months which makes all the hard work more worth it too! I'm glad I was able to give them at least this much. I know it has helped keep them well and gave them a great start.

In other news, I about fell off my chair when the pediatrician said to start giving baby food to the kids in a couple weeks . . . and sippy cups. I just couldn't believe that my preemies are supposed to be using sippy cups!!! It will be a little bit yet but that was a wake up call to how grown up they are getting! Addyson is slowly starting to manage a couple bites of cereal and Braden is downing it like a pro. Here's some pictures of Addyson in her high chair as promised.

Both kids are really starting to play with their rattles.

And learning what they can do with their mouths and the funny faces they can make.

And here are some pictures that I'm sure Addyson and Braden will surely be embarrassed of some day . . . but I can't help it. They are way too cute. This is Braden after he again totally pooped himself waiting for new clothes.

We've been going out for walks and enjoying the pretty weather. The kids were grumpy after their immunizations but they're starting to feel more like themselves so we're having fun playing again. We're so thankful for Addyson's good growth and their good report - God is so faithful! I've been putting together a little scrapbook with our sono pictures and it brings back all the scary feelings again and it's so good to be able to go give them both a squeeze and enjoy God's goodness.