Abigail, Olivia and Keara

These are some pictures from our trip to Olney to visit the new little bundles of joy! Abigail and Olivia were born Friday, June 20. They are the first twins to ever be delivered at their local hospital, and they have become quite famous. People stopped is in the aisles at Walmart to ask if they were the babies they read about in the paper. It was pretty fascinating to get all that attention from strangers, but the people in Olney are all very friendly.

These pictures are in no particular order since putting pictures in blogger is about as difficult as doing calculus!


Marli took a little nap with Olivia on the boppy on Saturday afternoon, and there she is holding Abigail when we first got there.



Keara is a great big sister. She loves to hold and kiss the babies. They are so tiny that they are just the perfect size for her little arms. I think she has dolls bigger than those girls! :)




The girls love their boppy pillows. They snuggle right into them to sleep. That's Abigail there by herself. When they are together, it's Olivia on the left, Abigail on the right. We can tell because Olivia's skin is a little darker, and Abigail's face is a little rounder. They have different personalities already too. Abby is always happy, eats like a pig, from the bottle or nursing, and sleeps really well. Olivia loves to be held, gets a little gassy, prefers her meals in a bottle and is usually the first of the two to wake up.



No, that's not a huge crib, it's just a tiny baby. They don't have a whole lot of fat on them yet, but they do have lots of extra skin. Look at those little skinny legs! Keara and Marli had a blast out on the Slip & Slide Friday and Saturday... that was $20 well spent.

I can't wait to go back, hopefully sometime in July. If only they didn't live so far away!

The Newest Webkinz

This is what happens when you send Marli into her room to clean:

See that black animal between the monkey and the bear? Yep, that would be our guinea pig, Licorice. He is apparently the newest addition to her Webkinz collection. Oh, to be able to understand the mind of a 13 year old girl.

They're Here!!!

Well, not here exactly... but the twins have been born!

Abigail Elizabeth was 4 lbs. 15 oz and Olivia Jean was 4 lb.s 14 oz. The girls aren't giving their parents much of a chance to rest, but they are doing well. Keara is loving being a big sister so far and is really gentle with them. Tiff still can't tell them apart yet, but she will before too long. She said Olivia is a mommy's girl, very affectionate and lovey. Olivia is more alert and looking around at the world all the time. Marli and I just might have to go visit them on my day off. It's too bad they live so far away!

Summer time is baseball time

Tonight was Tyler's playoff game, and since we haven't been to any yet this summer I figured it was now or never. So we loaded up the camera and tripod and headed over to the fields. They played a great game and it was close right up to the end, but they lost 10-9.

And while Tyler was hard at work on the fields, the girls found all sorts of ways to amuse themselves. There is even a video (too long for here) of Emily and Lizzie playing "Webkins Idol" with their stuffed animals, complete with judges and lines of animals waiting for their turn to audition.

Strawberry picking

We went out to Garden Patch Orchard in Homer Glen today to pick some strawberries. Marli and I went there a few years ago in the fall to pick apples and get our Halloween pumpkins. They have a really nice facility. The strawberries are absolutely delicious; juicy and sweet and perfect right off the plants! The apples aren't ready yet, as you can tell by the pictures. But I will definitely go there again in the fall for some apples!

Twinkle Toes on Stage

Marli has been taking a hip-hop dance class every Tuesday night since September. All of her hard work culminated with a recital last weekend. She did a fantastic job. Here are some pics from the dress rehearsal (no photos allowed during the show).

The Names

They are done, they are being mailed tomorrow. I can't wait to see what they look like hanging on the wall over the girls' beds. And it sounds like they may be here soon! Tiff is at the hospital right now! Hurry up girls, I want to meet you both!

Crazy Summer Storm

It hasn't rained a drop, but there have been thunderstorm and tornado warnings from here to Indianapolis. Tornado sirens went off in Bourbonnais, sending Chelsea's family to the club house while she's here visiting us. I took some video of the lightning. It is lighting up the entire sky. Check these out!




Here's another one facing the other direction :




Hope you all weather the storm well and stay safe and sound!

Emily's Birthday Party

Emily's birthday party was Sunday at My Party Palace in the Trolley Barn in Frankfort. These girls had a blast! Every 5 minutes there was a high pitched squeal from somewhere in the place. They all got to wear cute little robes like they were at a spa and got their hair put up. They got their nails done while soaking their feet.



They danced and sang karaoke.



They got facial masks and they all laid down for a little relaxation complete with plastic cucumbers right out of the fridge.



Then it was time for cupcakes and the singing of "Happy Birthday"




After the cupcakes was the all important "opening of the presents!"




Every opened gift caused a chorus of squeals from the guests and looks of amazement from Emily. After it was all over, it was just too much for Emily... she just fell right over the chair from all the excitement.

The party was a huge success and I took tons of pictures for Kristi to print!

It was a busy weekend!

Wow, I'm exhausted! We had 4, count 'em, 4 kids here this weekend! And that doesn't even include the one who lives here. We went to the Fort Frankfort and the Splash Park in the afternoon. Katie and Nate had a blast playing in the water while Marli and Jaimee played in the park. They took videos and everything.

After Katie was done with the water, we headed over to the park. Nate just kept on playing at the Splash Park.

Here is a video that Marli took while she and Jaimee were being pushed on a tire swing.

After the park, we went to The Creamery for some ice cream! YUM!

Right after I snapped that picture of Nate, he dropped the whole thing right in the grass! But all in all we had a great day!