I don't know where the time has gone. 1 year ago at this time things really started to go downhill with my pregnancy. Just 11 days later the girls were born. I spent those last 11 days completely unable to get from the basement (our home theater) to our bedroom without a serious break on the first floor. I couldn't really sit up because I was so swollen that my feet would nearly explode. I couldn't wait to evict those little girls from my body. Well, one year later I am amazed at how far we've come. In just 11 days we will be celebrating the girls' first birthday! That means that about 4% of my life to date has now been spent as a mother to Abby and Emily\.

The girls are just so funny now. The things they enjoy most are:

- dancing
- chasing each other
- throwing food on the floor
- emptying milk on to their high chairs and painting with it
- throwing up on the hard wood floors and painting with it
- playing with power cords
- emptying boxes of wipes
- banging on the computer keyboard

Abby loves playing basketball:

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The girls really seem to enjoy each other. Emily tries to put a diaper on Abby:

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Drumming with bowls and spoons:

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They just crack me up. They've figured out how to "trick" us. If I'm sitting on the couch and Emily can see that I have the computer up there she will fake cry, rub her eyes and act like she's tired and snuggle my leg until I pick her up. Once I pick her up she immediately perks up and lunges at the computer.

Abby likes to copy us when we cough. We've been pretty sick lately so, there's lots of coughing going on. If someone coughs Abby immediately copies it and waits for a reaction.

Abby found the monitor and thought it was a phone:

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While Emily was napping Abby was watching her intently on the monitor.

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They haven't completely figured out how to blow kisses yet, but they're trying. If you blow kisses at them they will put their hands on their eyes or ears to copy you. They don't understand that the kiss blowing is supposed to come from the mouth.

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Sometimes they take a break to smile for the camera:

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Abby's crazy face:

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The girls have been watching Patriots games with me lately and Abby is trying so hard to cheer for the Pats. She can't quite say it yet, though. She calls them the "Dats".

As for standing and walking, they seem to be a bit scared of it. They can cruise along the furniture and are plenty strong but when you let go of them they sit right down. Abby recently decided to stand alone for a little while and was very happy about all the cheers she received.

Though they can't walk they are definitely very mobile. It was quiet in the house one afternoon and I went looking for the girls to find them playing in the bathroom with a whole roll of toilet paper. They then went on to empty a full container of wipes:

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On Columbus day weekend we went to a little farm in town. They had a petting zoo with goats, horses, mini-horses, llamas, a turtle, and bunnies (which you couldn't pet). They also had apple and pumpkin picking, hay rides and other things geared toward slightly older kids. While there we got a cone of animal feed to give the animals. The animals didn't seem to be very hungry but were good sports and hung out around the girls anyways. The girls were sort of interested. They pet for a few minutes and then looked around. Emily was mostly interested in eating the feed. She had one bite and I figured she'd stop after that. Nope. She tried to eat the whole cone. The girls were good and enjoyed the horses and goats, but I think they'll enjoy the farm a little more when they are a bit older.

Abby the sheep:

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The girls meet a goat:

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Feeding the goat:

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Emily checking out the animal food:

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Emily tasting the Animal food (she liked it and tried to eat more):

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It's hard to get candid pictures of the girls these days. The second they see the camera they run right over:

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They are very busy most of the time. Here they are inspecting the bases to the car seats that they outgrew a few weeks ago:

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One day while Abby napped Emily and I played outside. She was too busy to pose because she was checking out a dried up leaf:

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But of course touching wasn't enough. She had to taste it as well:

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Byron thought it would be a good idea to teach the girls how to escape from the house. It has been said that he will regret this when they are teenagers.

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Given how slow I've been about updating the blog lately it's probably safe to say that the next update will include pictures of the girls' first birthday! Thank you all for sharing the last year with us. The girls are lots of fun, so I'm sure some great stories about all the crazy things they do will start coming soon.

We've had a busy week. Last weekend I made my return to triathlons and the girls came to watch. I wanted to do one before the end of the season so I picked one that fit our schedule and after I registered I realized that it was a fundraiser for the UMass NICU where the girls were taken care of when they were born, so I was very excited for this race. It was a cold morning so we got the girls all bundled up.

Abby looked so grumpy.

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The girls really were great all morning, though and were very happy to watch all the action.

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Abby looked so cute and grumpy. This picture cracks me up.

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Me during the run:

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After the race:

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The girls weren't into posing for pictures

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The girls love dancing. Abby is still a little camera shy when she dances but I'll try to get a clip of her. She has some awesome moves going. Emily doesn't seem to be camera shy, though. The one problem is that she only seems to like dancing to songs that have trashy lyrics (it is SO funny, though).

The girls are now into EVERYTHING. They are like little puppies. They chew on power cords, they try to get into poop diapers and they leave a trail of water from their sippy cups and food everywhere they go. They cling to your legs and climb up them. As tough as it is, it is also SO cute!

On Labor Day we went took the girls to the beach for the first time. I know, for someone who loves the beach so much I'm doing a horrible job at introducing the girls to it. We went with Liz and Mike. The girls required a lot of attention but it went much better than expected. Emily napped very well in the tent while Abby crawled around in there for 1.5 hours. She crawled on Emily, kicked her poked at her and sang while she was in there and Emily slept through it all!

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The girls weren't very excited about the cold water

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Playing in the sand

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On Monday night I enjoyed the start of the first full football season that the girls will be alive for! Anyone who knows me knows that my favorite professional sport is football and I love the Patriots. Of course the girls had to get their first Tom Brady Jerseys to mach mine. I had to crop this picture because my hands looked GIANT in it. Unfortunately cropping it meant that some detail was lost, but I'm ok with that as long as my hands don't look so crazy. To see the real image check out facebook.

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Abby figured out how to cheat at her basketball game. Normally when you put a ball through the hoop it either cheers or plays a song. The girls love to dance to the songs. Abby realized that she could just press the button to get the music. Oh, at only 10 months old she already knows how to cheat. It's ok - seeing them dance is worth the cheating :) I'll try to catch a video soon and post it.

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Emily hiding in the laundry basket. She looks a little creepy.

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Abby realized that her bib catches food so she tips it up to "drink" from it or she goes rummaging through there to pick out good bits of food. Emily saw her do it and then also started doing it. It's funny to watch them teach each other things.

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Abby is very suspicious of those around her. In this case she was unsure about Byron.

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I'm really starting to enjoy the girls. They do things that are just so funny and they love to play now. They love attention and hugs and kisses, though they refuse to kiss back.

I find it particularly funny to think about how their personalities have shifted. Emily used to be the calm one who didn't need any attention as a tiny baby while Abby needed attention all the time. Abby is now very laid back while Emily loves attention. I never would have expected the change. I feel like it happened overnight.

The girls have learned SO many things recently! It's crazy how things just click and fall into place so quickly!

1) On August 11 Abby decided that she had enough of crawling backwards. She saw my computer on the floor across the room and decided that she was going to play with it. She's now crawling all over the place. For a few days Emily watched Abby crawl around and she honestly looked jealous! The following Friday Emily started crawling forward also!

2) Starting at 6 months old the girls were able to sit up, but needed help getting to the sitting position first. The same day that they started crawling they each figured out how to get to a sitting position. Now Emily doesn't need to do her little crunches to try to sit any more!

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3) They finally figured out how to use sippy cups. They sometimes need to be reminded to tip their heads back to get the water, though.

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4) They'll pull up to a standing position whenever given the chance. If there's an object around that they can reach to pull up on, they're going to be standing.

Emily pulled herself to a stand:

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Abby pulled up to stand:

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Emily LOVES to walk with our help so Byron put her on the treadmill and she thought it was hysterical.

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5) Emily started waving "hi" and "bye" this past weekend. It's just too funny - she'll even initiate it. If she sees someone walking out the door she'll look up with her big blue eyes and do this adorable wave where she flops here wrist and opens and closes her hand. I'll try to catch a video. Of course, because they seem to be learning things just a few days apart, Abby also figured out how to wave this morning. As I was leaving and saying bye to the girls Abby stretched her arm out and waved. When she waves she has a stiff stretched arm that she lifts up and down with an open hand and tips her head to the side like she's being shy about it. It's funny how they do things so differently.

6) They also clap when we cheer or say "hurray". They are very excited about this new skill. It's extra funny when Abby decides that she is going to clap with her feet.

7) Emily figured out how to climb the stairs and quickly shared the skill with Abby, so we had to put a gate up. I was dreading the day this happened because now we have a gate at the bottom of the stairs and although it's a really nice gate, it's still makes getting around more difficult.

The girls love playing in the laundry baskets. Abby loves to chew on it and Emily loves sitting in it.

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Abby had a busy day of learning - Differential Equations, Organic Chemistry, Calculus and Business Dynamics.

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All the learning was too much stress for Emily...she snapped and ripped pages out and started to eat them.

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Abby had fun posing for the camera:

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"I dare you to try to steal my sippy cup"

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I think Emily looks SO old here. I love this picure

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Crazy Emily. When you show this picture to Emily she makes the same face and growls and breathes loud at it - it cracks me up.

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Emily pinned Abby down

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The girls love to watch us golf in the back yard

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We found Abby jammed sideways in her crib a few days ago. There was a time when both girls fit in the crib together sleeping sideways. I can't believe how big they are already!

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Emily plays the piano with Byron:

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