Since the last update we took the girls to Maine for their first visit ever and they really enjoyed it. They were on the go the whole time and really wore themselves out every day.

Abby had two favorite activities. Of course one was swinging by the lake.

Abby loves swinging:

From update 3

The second was also one of my favorite past times. Being lazy and floating in the lake. Abby is one good relaxer. We had a great time sunning ourselves. Too bad for Abby she got Byron's pale skin. I think we'll be buying stock in water babies sunscreen.

From update 3

Emily liked buzzing around finding things to do. She learned to set fires with Byron.

From update 3

Her favorite activity of the week was climbing up and down the ladder on the dock. She must have gone up and down 500 times that weekend. She would dangle in the water for a bit and then climb back up. It was super stressful at first but we got over it and learned to ignore the dangerous behavior that she was partaking in. What really cracks me up about this video is that she was willing to climb up and down and dangle in the water, but at the end of the video she was afraid to walk over a 1" gap in the boards on the dock without help. There is a serious lack of dangling in this clip, but I thought the dock part was worth it. At the end she also throws in a kiss. Sorry for the annoying hiss in the sound...I'll edit it someday.


Emily swinging by the lake:

From update 3

Emily's serious face:

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From update 3

Abby digging:

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The whole trip the girls fought over this loon napkin holder. They loved to sing "rockabye baby" to it.

From update 3

Abby was always itching to get back out into the water.

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Abby getting ready for her first trip on the boat:

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Byron helping Emily get ready:

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From update 3

Emily on the dock waiting for the boat

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Emily stuffing her face

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Emily helping Byron drive the boat

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Abby and me on the boat

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The girls looking a little nervous. Really there were ducks behind us and they wanted to get a better look and were not thrilled to have to pose for pictures.

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Here are the ducks (loons, but the girls don't know the difference)

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Abby helping Byron drive

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They have been working on manners lately. They say "please" and "thank you" very consistently. Emily has learned to use her "please" to get her way. She wanted to drive the boat so she stood next to byron and the sweetest voice said "up pleeeaaaasssseee" and of course Byron couldn't resist.

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Abby getting ready to go tubing for the first time

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From update 3

Byron was very confident in Abby's driving skills so he let her drive while Emily and I tubed.

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Abby showing off her sick moves. She learned to stand on the tube.

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As I was packing Emily was very unhappy to be going home so she decided to empty the suit case.

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A couple weeks ago we were shopping and I let the girls walk instead of riding in the cart. While passing through the toddler clothes section they found bathing suits that had built in tutu's and they went crazy hugging them and trying to put them on, so knowing that we'd need to buy an extra set of suits for our vacation this fall I bought them. They're ridiculously funny. They love to wear the suits around the house even when there's no swimming involved.

From update 3

As you may remember, we've been taking pictures of the girls next to Bev and Mark Krans' daughter Lydia on the same blanket since the girls were just a few weeks old. Here's the original picture when the girls were 3 weeks old and Lydia was about 3 months old.

From Update

Last year when Abby and Emily were 7 months and Lydia 9 months:

From Update

Abby and Emily at 9 months and Lydia at 11 Months

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Here they are now. Abby and Emily are 21 months and Lydia will be 2 this week! I love that Emily still cowers and cries when lying next to Lydia.

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Lydia feeding Emily

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Lydia and Abby kissing

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This past weekend Emily found a bunch of pairs of socks and insisted that she wear all of them. She walked around the house SO proud of herself.

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One day we were at the lake and some kids were fishing and storing them in buckets. They caught a big catfish that the girls went crazy over. They stood over it mixing the water for at least 1/2 hour.

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I'm not sure what this pose is, but Abby loves doing it and I think it's funny so here it is.

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Of course an update wouldn't be complete without detailing the latest mischief that they've been getting into. These days it's climbing. They get on top of everything. No, not just furniture, counters too. A little while back I was upstairs getting dressed and heard banging that seemed way louder than normal playing so I went to see what it was. Of course the girls were standing on the counters opening and closing the cabinets. They definitely have a love for finding the most dangerous things they can do.

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To follow up the tales of mischief I'll throw in a little bit of cuteness (Emily kissing Abby)
Emily giving Abby a kiss.

From update 3

We've been constantly on the go with the girls over the last month. They are always buzzing around the house and love to be out and about. It's incredibly funny watching them interact with each other instead of playing beside each other. They love to run around and chase each other. They love to play tag with each other, but of course it usually ends in a fight. It'll transition from giggling and playing tag to a fun slap fight and then someone will usually fall down and then starts the kicking. They think stomping on each others' heads is HILARIOUS. Of course kicking results in time out. Surprisingly they accept time out pretty well. We sit them facing the corner for 2 minutes. Usually Emily will fold over and cry. But they do stay until we hug them and tell them that they need to be good listeners and that we love them.

For the most part Emily starts the trouble and Abby is generally pretty laid back (though she does have her days. Abby is usually content hanging out as you can imagine from the picture of her looking out the window at passing cars.

From update 3

Could you believe that this little face causes trouble?

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A few days ago they were trying to get into the bathroom and I thought they just wanted to play with toilet water so I ignored them. It turned out that they had to poop. When done they both laid down in the hall trying to change their own diapers. Oops. I guess I shouldn't have ignored them.

From update 3

Another favorite activity is ring around the rosie. They hold each others hands and walk around in a circle and crack up with it gets to "all falls down". They love to sing "asses asses all fall down"

One of Abby's favorite activities is looking through catalogs. She'll sit very patiently reading about the things that she's gong to buy someday.

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The good part about twins (well, there are many good parts, but the best part) is that they love to be with each other. Here's Emily either trying to kiss or bite Abby's back.

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If you could imagine what my daughters would be like, what would you expect? Well, I'd expect them to be tomboys who liked sports and dressing in boy-like clothes. I would have guessed wrong. Our girls are definitely GIRLS. They love to have their nails painted and to wear jewelry and pink. It's ok, because I think it's absolutely adorable and I love to play along with them. Here are their first painted toenails. They thought this was the greatest thing ever.

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As usual, Emily is a danger-seeking missile. Here she goes after the hot grill while wearing her new hat.

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Have I mentioned that while she is trouble, she is awfully cute?

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Her favorite pose.

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Abby watching Byron mow.

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From update 3

Another one of Abby's hobbies is watching planes fly above. She catches all of them and points out every single one.

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From update 3

When Abby got her new hat she refused to go to bed without it.

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Abby is about 85 years ahead of her time. Looking at this picture I can imagine her sitting by the window in a nursing home.

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Emily having an important chat with Byron over breakfast.

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Here I am showing the girls some sick moves

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Their first time on a big kid swing. Abby got it right away. She even knew how to pump!

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From update 3

From update 3

They love swimming. Especially Emily. Emily is a crazy swimmer/daredevil. Abby is a lounger. A few days ago we brought them to the lake and Emily walked in the water to Byron and just kept walking...even when it was above her head. We love taking them to the water as much as possible.

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Crazy Emily.

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On this day we were at a friend's apartment complex and Emily got out of the pool to go see Byron. She didn't see the in ground hot tub in front of her and ran right in. It looked like she was going to crack her face on the edge and it was terrifying. We pulled her out and she didn't skip a beat. She just kept on going with her life. She is nuts.

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I got home from work today and my mom called me outside. A duck was in the yard! We think it belonged to our neighbors as it was definitely not wild.

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At first Abby loved it.

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Then it wanted to play with her and she was terrified.

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Not Emily. She chased it all around. Sometimes it would stop to play but sometimes it wanted to waddle away from her.

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From update 3

Hopefully I'll have some time to post some more updates soon, but I think that all these pictures should hold everyone over for a bit!