There's No Place Like Home!

We're back in Memphis, and I can't tell you how good it is to be back. I knew it would be an incredible relief to be back home, but even I have been surprised by how huge a weight has been lifted from us! In Louisville, life with twins was good... don't get me wrong. It was very good and very rewarding. But it was also incredibly difficult. From the stressful pregnancy, to the early birth, to the NICU experience, to bringing preemie girls home from the hospital, to learning how exactly to take care of babies while having such minimal background experience, to dealing with the seemingly insurmountable and never-ending feeding issues... to being more homesick than ever... it was just really, REALLY hard. And it was just Chris and me, doing everything. Sure, we wanted to be a part of small-group Bible studies that would meet up. Sure, I wanted to just go to the mall sometimes by myself and do some shopping. Sure, I wanted to be a bigger part of Koinonia once the girls came into my life. But there was literally no one around to help us out, and I would feel bad leaving Chris alone with them after he'd had a hard day at work. He would feel bad leaving me alone with them at night, after having been alone with them all day. We weren't even able to handle teaching our high school students at church anymore, due to the general chaos of it all. So consequently, we felt like we had no lives apart from the girls.

Now that we're back, we have help again! It's fabulous! We'll be able to go on dates again! I feel like I can actually enjoy everything more, because I'm not stressing about having to be "on" all the time. Here's just one example: Last night's pre-bedtime bottle feed was extremely difficult, but my mom was handy to hold Tamsie and calm her down a little bit to give me a break. Eventually, both girls took their entire bottles. I remember Chris telling me before we left not to expect all of our problems to disappear magically once we moved to Memphis - and they certainly haven't - but they suddenly feel so much more manageable! :) I just keep reminding myself I don't have to leave and go back to Louisville and tough it out all alone again in a couple of days - this time we're here to stay! Being back just feels so very right.

The girls have been on a major growth spurt lately. I took this picture last week after they had already been napping for about three and a half hours!

So we moved back Saturday and spent Sunday getting settled in and hanging out at Grandma's house. Sunday, we also made an offer on a house!! Yesterday we went over to Uncle Myron and Aunt Lauren's house in Collierville for Memorial Day. When we left there, Melissa came by to drop off some delicious homemade Welcome-Back-to-Memphis cookies! It was the most glorious Memorial Day I can remember! We went to sleep feeling thankful and loved... and the girls even slept all the way through the night! YES!! Here are some recent pics from the old iPhone:

Evie, fresh from rocking out to some old-school *NSync. She was loving it! 

Chrissie, Josh and Sophia dropped by to say goodbye before we left Louisville. Saying goodbye to dear friends was definitely the hardest part of leaving! 

All three girls in the rocking chair with the old NICU bear

Tamsie asleep on her belly... my least favorite of her new tricks!

Mastering the art of the sippy cup

Tamsie once again, this time hanging out at Great-Grandma's. Now we will be able to go see her during the day if we'd like to get out!

Tamsie has learned to put her foot in her mouth... literally!

So out of control!

Evie asleep at Myron and Lauren's after being passed around and loved on by everyone

Mom playing with Tamsie and her beloved rattle ball

Evie and Uncle Myron, who claims that he "doesn't hold babies." HA! We think he made an exception for Evie, because we told him how much she resembles his baby pictures! 

Tamsie and her Grandma, who is already spoiling her silly

Evie and her Grandpa, who is also already spoiling her silly

My lacrosse state champion (go MUS Owls!!) cousin Chris, who is now officially considerably taller than me!! This must have happened while I was in Louisville!

Tamsie pouting in her sleep

If you're curious just how exactly the girls are getting spoiled at their grandparents', here's a clue: The swings weren't able to travel from Louisville to Memphis, and they won't be able to until we close on the new house and the movers move them to town. So my parents bought a swing just for the girls to have at their house! It is currently in use. My parents are truly the best.