Clay and Erin Mankin: October 2011

I heard it said that the days go slow but the years go fast. I can't believe how fast the last 9 months have gone. We have enjoyed it all.... well the first 3 months were really tough but we would do it all over in a second! Clay and I are thankful for each day that God gives us together and with these 2 girls!
Adelain and McKinley are in a really fun time. As the girls get older the more we see differences in them. I have had people tell me that they have never seen girl twins look more different! Other people have been surprised when I tell them that they are twins! Not only do they look different but they are different in about every other way!
At their 9 month doctor check McKinley was 26.5 inches and 16.1 lbs which was 50% for length and 20% for weight. Adelain came in at 28 inches and 14.14 lbs which was 75% for length but didn't make the chart for weight! McKinley is a bit shorter and chunkier than Adelain who doesn't have any meat on her bones! McKinley continues to love sleep and enjoys naps as well. Adelain sleeps well at night but doesn't seem to need as much sleep during the day. I do keep her in her crib for naps and when I check in on them during their nap, Adelain will often be talking, practicing her crawling, or playing with her toes. McKinley is our cuddler. I think her love language is touch as she loves to touch people, especially Adelain. She loves to pat (or hit) people, especially their faces. If we put her to bed for nap or bed and she is really crying, all we have to do is touch her back like we are going to rub it and she is instantly quiet. She loves her back rubbed and her bottom patted! Adealin on the other hand doesn't sit still enough to be cuddled. She is always moving. If she is sitting her hands and feet are constantly moving in circles! Clay says that she has jazzy hands. People notice this a lot and like to stop and watch and laugh! McKinley is our curious girl. She wants to touch, taste, look at, feel.... everything! She is interested in everything! It can be a challenge to feed her sometimes because she wants to look at things and not miss out on anything! Adealin.... not as interested in things. She is content to watch McKinley do her thing and play where she is sitting and she likes her food a lot so its not as hard to feed her! McKinley is about 2 weeks ahead of Adelain on development, which she used to be 4 weeks... so Adelain is catching up to her. McKinley started sitting and 3 weeks later Adelain did. McKinley started crawling and it took 2 weeks for Adelain to join her. McKinley is fast at crawling and I can't leave her sight for long before she is across the room. Adelain is still learning but when she does.... we may be in trouble! We think that she is going to be everywhere and into everything. McKinley has learned no and will obey with tears sometimes, but nonetheless she doesn't usually get into things when we tell her no. Adelain hasn't learned no. She is kind of "spacey" and just smiles at us. To her credit, we have worked more with McKinley just because she is more curious of things and we have had more opportunities to train her in no. The girls both enjoy outside, going on walks, food- especially table food (cheese, yogurt, bread, cheerios, mash potatoes, banana bread), going to church and ball games where they are played with, playing with dad on the floor where he makes up games- his favorite being that the ground is lava and that he rolls around with them and says "not in the lava" as he holds them till they almost touch the carpet, music (McKinley dances), toys, crawling, and any silly games that we play with them. A new thing that McKinley has learned is clapping which she loves to do.
The girls are already good friends. Right now they are half way into their nap, I heard someone so I peeked in on them. They are laughing hysterically at each other- mainly Adelain laughing at McKinley. I can hear them 3 rooms away laughing! McKinley often tries to get Adelain to laugh at her and loves when people laugh at her. Most of the time when I get them from naps or when we wake them up, they are looking at each other and talking.
Clay has been busy with football and school but I'm thankful for a husband who is so active with his kids. The girls love when he comes home and often start looking towards the door even before he gets home. Clay works really hard at school so that he hardly ever has to go back up to school to prepare for the next day. The football team is 5-1 and has 2 regular season games left. Then, hopefully playoffs!
I have started going to a women's Bible study and we are reading when sinners say I do. It has been really good so far as it has talked about the sinfulness of man, Jesus Christ substitutionary death on the cross for our sins, and how marriage like everything was designed for Gods glory. I am excited to continue in the study and for God to continue to show me how I can be the wife and mother and friend, sister, daughter... to the glory of God. I'm thankful for a husband who also consistently points me to the cross and who does this by word and action.
We are hoping to get some family pictures done soon as the girls are getting so big. Here are some pictures to share!