Nine years ago today...

...I was about to lay eyes on my sweet little twins, Jonah and Noah. 

I remember thinking when they were born, that I didn't want one to feel left out, so at first, I would only hold them at the same time...not one at a time, like some people might.  I didn't even want to look at one for too long...without turning to look at the other one. 

I remember how precious and cuddly they were...and how somehow in their shared crib, they would always wind up touching in the middle of the night, even though they started out at opposite ends. 

I remember their last night in that shared crib.  They were four months old, and Jonah was laying on top of Noah, screaming his head off.  The next morning I called my friend Lisa Warren, and she gave me her extra crib.  That was their first night of sleeping alone...and I think I cried a little.

I remember (once we moved into our new house) the night that Noah decided he was tired of sleeping alone.  Their cribs were side by side, and Noah had climbed out of his crib and into Jonah's.  This might have been around the same time we found Noah naked in his crib one morning.  In fact, I'm sure it was.  :)

I remember the first time I thought I'd "lost" them...turns out, 4 year old Drew had talked them into hiding inside one of my kitchen cabinets. 

I remember when Noah stole one of Jonah's paci's...thus making himself a paci lover, too.  At almost one year old. 

I remember Jonah's squeals of excitement over Big Bird, then later, Care Bears.  And how, even back then, his little dimples were enough to melt your heart.  He's always been so happy. 

I remember Noah's long, curly hair...until the first time we had it cut.  :-(  And then it was straight. 

I witnessed how different twins were from 'singletons' from the very start...they were always there to entertain (and sometimes aggravate) one another, and when one of them cried, usually the other one joined in.  Just for sympathy.  They always seemed to be switching personalities on me, too.  One week Jonah might be the cranky one, but the next week Noah would be.  It was so weird. 

They walked and talked a little later than Graham and Drew did, but they had their own twin language that nobody else understood. 

This one time when they were three, they were swimming in the deep end of our neighbor's pool with floaties and jumping off the diving board, when one of Jonah's floaties came off.  He started to panic and go under, and before any of us could react, Noah ran in saying, "I GOT HIM!!!", and pulled him to the side.  This was all before we could even blink. 

And last year when Noah got hit by a car (I know...scary...and I never mentioned it on here, but one year later, I can without crying), I saw and heard what happens when one witnesses the other one getting hurt...he almost collapsed.  Jonah, I mean.  Noah was totally fine, thank the good Lord, but Jonah wasn't for a while.  He heard the ambulance and the fire truck and the police sirens, and it was too much.  And I understood how deep their love for one another was. 

They love each other fiercely.  And sometimes they fight just as fiercely.  But that's okay if they fight with each other...as long as nobody else fights with one.  Then you might witness a problem.  They are so different...and yet so much alike.  Jonah is the leader of the two and can talk poor Noah into just about anything.  He never stood a chance, especially since he is 'the baby', being just a mere two minutes younger than Jonah.  Sometimes Jonah acts like it's two years...instead of just minutes.   

Where one might be weak in one area, the other might be strong.  And they know how to help one another without getting into trouble.  For the first time ever, they are in the same class this year, and they love it.  I think it has been so good for them...and for other kids to witness how different they are. 

They are a two for one deal...a package...and they only come together.  Or none at all.  Their friends have learned this over time, and they have only spent one night apart from each other...and one of them was too sick to care or even remember.  Another night Jonah went to spend the night with his friend Ben, but ended up calling us crying a few hours later...because he missed Noah. 

My life is so richly blessed because of them.  I thank God for every single second I get to be their mom...and I realize that they're only mine for a little while.  All too soon I will only have these memories...without the physical sight and sound of them.  But I am blessed...we are blessed, and they complete our family.  God's little (huge!) double blessing to us.

Happy ninth birthday, to my sweet little Jonah and Noah.  I love you to the moon and back.