Thigum, thigum, thigum!

About a week and a half ago, Evangelyn started adding an odd new word to her vocabulary: "Thigum." She'd say it so intentionally, over and over, back to back - and it was bugging us because we could NOT figure out what she was trying to say. "Thigum, thigum, thigum!" Fast-forward to last night, and as her speech is becoming more refined and we're getting more used to the way she says things, it hit us: "Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Now when she says it, she squeals with laughter and then we start tickling her, and she squeals some more. She even throws a "good" in the middle sometimes, which I'm guessing means she's having a good old time!

Now I know that was kind of a random story, but that's the way the blog is rolling today. (Pun unintended - sorry!) I have all kinds of pictures that need to be put up and random videos to share in order to prevent a future post from being even longer than this one, so there's plenty more randomness where that came from! Here goes...

Somehow or another, I came across some photos on my computer that were meant for the blog but never made it to an actual post, so here are some catch-up photos to start with. This is from Oct. 18. Evie got herself into the box and couldn't quit laughing about it. 

Tamsie's letting us all know she is BEYOND ready for a nap. Of course that doesn't necessarily mean she'll eagerly go down for one, though!

Here's a photo from Oct. 12 that is just now making an appearance on the blog. This gorgeous bouquet is from the girls' sweet YaYa! It made our little side table look so festive! :)

Another one from a while back: Evangelyn loving on a book that Gigi gave her for her birthday! The girls flip through their big books constantly during playtime.

At a Life Group get-together last weekend, Mr. Cole, who's about a month older than the girls, was being so incredibly sweet to them that I just had to snap a picture. Here he's rocking Tamsie, who was in need of some major comfort and attention at the time. Now the embarrassing thing about this picture is that his parents are amazing photographers, and this is some sad iPhone photography... but hey, when kids as cute as these are involved, that makes everything OK, right? :) By the way, we've put him on the Approved for T or E To Date in 25 Years list. 

Chillin' with their Daddy in their Sunday best before bedtime Sunday night. We had taken them out with us to Memphis Pizza Cafe for a long-overdue celebration of my Dad's birthday. Yes, I do realize that this celebration occurred only four days after his birthday, but I can't even remember the last time we went to MPC - so in my books the whole thing was way overdue - and way fun! :)

Ahhh, girls sleeping in their own cribs at naptime. At the same time. Huge achievement, y'all! This week has been SwingWean 2012 around here. We're not even going to talk about the fact that the girls have been napping in their swings since they first came home from the hospital and they're nearly 13 months old. Instead, we're just going to focus on the fact that they are handling the transition pretty well, considering their former addictions to the swings!

The sole reason this blurry picture is included is to show that they must keep an eye on each other at all times when they're playing. They play right near each other and are always very interested in what the other is up to!

The sole reason this blurry picture is included is to show the way Tamsie puts things (in this case, a letter that goes with her play house) in her mouth like a dog would. She is known to crawl around with various objects in her mouth just like it's nothin'.

Besides the wubbanubs, these walky pushy toys (I'm sure they have a real name but I have no clue what it is) are the current faves. The girls spend about 80% of the time in their play yard pushing these things around and attempting to run over each other with them. Here, Evangelyn has managed to snag both of them, and she looks pretty happy about it.

Well, I also feel that 80% of their time in the play yard is spent playing with this house, although I do realize that is not mathematically possible. They love a good game of Peekaboo with this window shade!

Sneaky Tamsie, probably looking for her sister

I had to get a picture of this, because I've never seen a baby so very much covered in avocado and so very happy about it. Plus, Evie's making a face here that looks like one her daddy would make.

Meanwhile, Tamsie was messy but significantly less messy. She has that magical look in her eye that she gets just before she crashes. And I do realize that this is the second picture I've posted of a lethargic Tams. Don't worry - there will be at least one more! :) She's just so blasted cute and cuddly when she gets this way!

OK, one more of messy Evie making a Chris face. I can't help myself. 

So I know our Memphis falls can't compare with our gorgeous Louisville falls of years gone by, but my goodness. Still beautiful, if I do say so myself!

Proof that the napping-in-crib thing was not just a one-time-only deal: Here's Evangelyn asleep later in the afternoon.... (yes, with two wubbanubs! Whatever it takes, y'all!)

... while Tamsie is also sleeping across the room! YES! Victory!!! (and I told you there would be more of lethargic Tams, right? :)

Serious about having fun

Now that I've bombarded you with pictures, it's showtime! Here are some videos showcasing our little girls and what life is like with them right now. This is primarily because non-blurry photos are so hard to come by these days!

First of all, the girls spend a little time each day bouncing around in these things while I get things done downstairs. In fact, we refer to this as their "living room outpost." I'm thinking these days will draw to a close soon after they start walking, and I'm thinking that will be pretty soon - but at least they still have some fun here for now. Almost forgot - Tamsie's in the jumparoo and Evie's in the keyboard exersaucer.

And one more of some gigglers:

Always in each other's way:

And I do mean always:

I made this last night when Mom was over. Now the thing about videoing the girls is that when they're doing something cute, they're done with it by the time you start the camera. Then you try to recreate it and it just never really happens the same. Right before I started the camera, they had been pushing their little toys all over the place, and I couldn't get them both going at once again. But my Mom was about to leave, and they told her "bye" and waved and so the thing wound up being cute in an entirely unexpected way:

And in each other's way again:

I'll leave you with Tamsie's first music video. This thing cracks me up every time I see it! Chris had run in the grocery store, leaving me in the car with the girls. In that scenario, anything is bound to happen. Let's just say we were listening to the '90s station on our radio, and Tamsie appeared to be thoroughly enjoying "No Diggity" in her sleep. I was trying very hard not to giggle and wake her up. If I could edit this, I would, but since I can't, do us all a favor and skip forward to about the 20-second mark: 

By the way, tomorrow we meet with the doctor to get the report from her tests earlier this week! Please be praying that we get good news, and, as always, thanks so much! :)