Easter and Cliff: Can You Handle the Cute?

We have been so incredibly busy around the Vafi house lately that I will just have to post some pics to let you know what we've been up to!

Back when Mom was in town (ahhh, those were the days!) the day before Easter, Tamsie wanted to wear some special rabbit slippers that were actually mine back in the day!

This is what happens when you hold either girl on your lap these days. They object to being held like a baby. Instead, they want to stand up, and sometimes they will cry until you get the memo!

My mom with Tamsie on the left and Evie on the right. All I can say is that Tamsie started out with a bow too - there's just no telling where it was by the time the picture was taken! 

Happy Easter from E and T! Unfortunately my parents had to leave the day before Easter, so we were on our own Easter Sunday. The night before, we had decided to attend the 11:30 service, thinking surely we can make it on time to that one - maybe even early! ALAS!! I don't know exactly how late we were, but 25 minutes is a safe guess. When we arrived, we peeked through the windows at the back of the sanctuary, trying to find a vacant spot in the back. An usher saw us and told us he would gladly find somewhere for us to sit, and that we should follow him. So we did - all the way to the front of the church!! ARGH!! As if we don't create enough of a scene everywhere we go, here we were on display with two car seats packed with the little twincesses. Right up front for all to see. Once we sat down, the girls made it clear they wanted out of the car seats, and then they proceeded to provide entertainment for all near and far - talking and giggling and standing! I had to take Evie out at one point because she was so excited. I was absolutely mortified. So a note to any ushers who happen to come across this humble blog: Please never seat new parents, ESPECIALLY of twins, anywhere near the front, ESPECIALLY when they're already running way off schedule! After the service, people I had never before seen were coming up to me (as I was holding Evie outside the sanctuary, trying to get back in), and saying things like "Where's the other one?" and "She's a twin, right?"... thus proving that we did indeed raise a bit of a ruckus without even meaning to. 

They started off with the most adorable Easter shoes ever (compliments of YaYa), but by the end of the service, three of them were scattered everywhere on the pew where we were sitting!  When we got home, the photo shoot began. Evie is demonstrating one of her current favorite pasttimes in this picture: grabbing things (even parts of an outfit) and putting them in her mouth, where they can then be bitten.

"Mom, WHY did you take that ribbon out of my mouth? It was so tasty!"

By the way, when I was a small child, I thought "tasty" meant that something tasted bad, kind of like how "smelly" means that something smells bad. Lots of confusion ensued as a result, but that's a story for another post! Or not. That's pretty much all there is to that story - ha!

"I find it shocking that you would take that ribbon away from me!"

Biting those hands. These girls can't wait for their first teeth to finally break through! 

Evangelyn

Evie's smiling. Tamsie's wondering why lunch is being delayed by picture time.

Evie's trying to explain that she will appreciate having these pictures one day. T's not so sure.

Evie puts her arm on top of Tamsie, who apparently thinks there's a chance she might be holding an invisible bottle... check out that rooting action!

Sharing secrets... it's only getting started!

In their rocking chair

BFF

Evangelyn 

Tamsie (pronounced Tam-uh-see by a receptionist at a doctor's office who called yesterday to reschedule an appointment) 

Tamsie no longer sits normally in her Boppy... either she falls into the middle of it or she tries to stand up in it!

Evie looks like she's going scuba diving here.

Easter Monday... Tamsie asleep with her legs crossed

Which is the mirror and which is my sister?

Monday night Cliff and Carissa came to town and stayed through yesterday morning! We had so much fun!

Cliff just turned 6 weeks old, and when he was here he was already weighing exactly what the girls weigh! He is a big boy!

The girls had so much fun with him, and Carissa and I enjoyed taking pictures and making videos of them together. We made so many neat memories, but I think the main thing we will remember about our time together is how we wanted to accomplish so many different things but were derailed by the realities of feeding time, changing time, naptime, and everything else that goes into caring for three small infants. But our time together was actually that much more amazing, as we bonded over being new mommies together! This is a whole new phase of our friendship! We kept laughing about how life was so different back when we met 5 years ago and shared an office and weren't married and knew nothing about babies! 

Three babies in a row!

He's already totally a ladies' man...

...who occasionally needs paci assistance from his mom!

I thought this was funny... Tamsie was staring up at the ceiling fan expectantly, waiting for someone to make it spin around!

 OUTTAKES: No photo line-up is complete without them!

I love your funny faces!

Wearing pink and green, Tamsie reveals where her true OBU social club loyalties lie by throwing her chi's in the air!

We call Evie the Starfish Baby for this very reason!

That's all for today. I'm hoping to get their 6-month birthday post up soon! :)

Easter Dress

 “Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” - C.S. Lewis


I know I'm not alone in this, but I tend to associate certain clothes with certain memories. If the memories I associate with an outfit are unpleasant enough, I'll probably never wear it again. I'll just let it hang in the closet for a while and then give it away once I'm honest enough to admit to myself that it's not getting worn. On the other hand, if something particularly wonderful happened while I was wearing a certain outfit, I have a really hard time letting go of it. (Chris usually has to stage an intervention with me when that happens!)


Last year a little before Easter, I found this cute little dress that I thought would make a good Easter dress:

Yes, the object in the top right of the picture is indeed the nose of a monkey slipper on my foot! Ha! I was standing on my bed to get an aerial shot!

So when Easter came, I wore it. However, that particular Easter turned out to be a pretty tough one. I cried all through the Easter service at church that day, because despite my joy for the meaning of the holiday, I was afraid that I was miscarrying. I also wore the same dress when I announced to our adult Bible fellowship class that we needed prayer because I was pregnant and having complications. When I hung the dress back in the closet that day, I thought to myself that it was a shame, but I would probably never wear it again, because of the bad memories of crying and all of the fear and anxiety I would now come to associate with the dress. 


But the story didn't end there! Not long afterward, I learned that everything with the babies was totally fine. In fact, it turned out that I had more life living inside of me (twins) than I knew what to do with! :) While the rest of the pregnancy wasn't a walk in the park, and while the delivery had its share of complications and scariness, everything turned out OK. 


I was thinking back on this whole time in my life earlier today, and I realized how neat it was that all of this happened around Easter. Thinking back to the first Good Friday, there was a palpable hopelessness that day as Someone who had seemed to be the Messiah, the promised One everyone had been waiting for, died. Not only did He die, but He died in the most brutal way imaginable, hung on a cross, killed by His own people. 


But the story didn't end there! Three days later, He came back to life, and as the Jesus Storybook Bible (the girls' favorite, of course) puts it, "Jesus was making all the sad things come untrue." Up from the grave He arose! Things here aren't always easy, and a lot of times they're actually very painful and scary, but praise the Lord we have the hope to hold onto that one day, everything will turn out OK for those who love Him (Rom 8:28).


Earlier this week Chris and Mom were discussing Christmas and Easter and which is their favorite of the two. Chris pointed out that we wouldn't have Easter if it weren't for Christmas, but Mom replied that without Easter, we wouldn't have the hope of Heaven... and what an incredible, sure hope that is, if that same Jesus who rose again that day is our Lord and Savior!


I hope everyone reading this has a very meaningful weekend and a fabulous Easter, as we celebrate the wonderful news that not only did Christ rise again, but that He lives today. I know I'm going to celebrate the little miracles that have happened in my own life since last Easter by wearing that dress again this Sunday! :)


OK, since it's not a proper post without some pictures of the girls, here they are. This time, it's a total teethingfest!

Tamsie and her Sophie teether

But she's not too picky when it comes to teething. Anything will do, even a red monkey!

Evangelyn chews on a blue monkey. Monkeys are never in short supply around our house!

Evie teethes in the sun...

or in the shade!

Forget sucking! Pacifiers are fabulous for teething! So are fingers.

I guess they're just trying to be like me. Here I am chewing on my fingers when I was about their age, 28 years ago! And of course that is my dad making a cameo in here as well!

There have been a lot of smiles around here lately, as Tamsie demonstrates.

It's pretty easy to make them smile!

Evie's smiling at her Grandma here.

These girls love Grandma time. Mom was shaking a monkey rattle at them (what else?!), and they were loving it!

Big grin!

Evie is serious about loving on her duck wubbanub. She often rubs its little head as she falls asleep.

Tamsie playing in her pack 'n' play with one leg in the air

 Happy Easter Weekend, y'all!

Spring Visitors: Beckita, Mom and Dad

As I type this, I am a happy girl. Evangelyn has gone down for a nap, and my mom is sitting on the couch with me, holding Tamsie. I'm hearing both girls sucking contentedly on their pacifiers. Laundry is folded and everyone is happy.

We've had a fabulous week! On Thursday afternoon, the famous Beckita flew in from Dallas for a visit, and she just flew back out Monday. Here are a few highlights of her trip:

* Obviously, she got to meet Tamsie and Evie. While Evie of course loves Becky, Tamsie could be among her top 5 biggest fans. Every time they were together it seemed like Becky was making Tamsie laugh hysterically!

* I kept telling her she had to go out in public with us and the girls so that she could experience the madness. Little did I know how quickly she would experience such a high level of madness! When we picked her up from the airport, we went straight to Heine Brothers Coffee (a Louisville institution), where she had the opportunity to witness one of our strangest encounters yet. A girl in her early 20s came up to the girls and asked Chris if she could take a picture of them! What?! Perplexed, he said, "sure," and she certainly did take a picture. When she saw me (I was ordering during all of that), she said, "You're the mom? You're so fit!"... to which I really didn't know what to say other than thanks? I think I even asked her to repeat herself because I was so taken aback! Then she told us she has lots of experience with babies and she tried to interpret the meaning behind what the girls were doing at the time (as if we wouldn't have known). It was so strange/awkward/hilarious, and if anyone could be there to see it, I'm glad it was Becky!

* We also joked about the number of times we went to the grocery store or Whole Foods during her trip, which leads me to the next highlight:

* Kale. Yes, kale. The woman is obsessed (to put it lightly) with kale, of all things! We had kale possibly three times, if I'm counting correctly - sauteed with evoo, fresh garlic (well, the freshest Kroger had to offer), and a little salt and pepper. Turns out she is obsessed for good reason... it was truly yum! Apparently Becky's not the only one around who's loving the leafy green veggie. The first time we went to Whole Foods, we saw a Kale shirt that was supposed to look like a Yale shirt. When we went back (because yes, we decided Becky needed it), it was nowhere to be found.

* Becky and I managed to hit up three of the major Louisville-area malls: Oxmoor, Mall St. Matthews and the Summit. We also managed to splurge on... absolutely nothing! Be proud of our willpower.

* Bexxx (that's a Tri Chi reference for our girls) also made Pioneer Woman Cinnamon Rolls.... YUM!! We've checked, and this is the stuff dreams are made of.

* She was also on hand on Sunday for Dr. Moore's last service at Highview.

* She got to experience my favorite Louisville restaurant, Wild Eggs, where the twins are known and loved!

Also, my parents came to town on Saturday, which was also very nice. Dad had to go back home on Sunday, but Mom is staying for the week. I am extremely appreciative of the help!! Besides generally assisting with the girls, she has also done loads of laundry and washed more dishes and bottles than I can count. This morning she let me sleep in while she took care of the girls, and she has kept me sane during the times when they refuse their bottles. (YES, this is still happening sometimes.)

Here are some photos of our fun:

Evie's favorite sleeping pose, upgraded! Here her legs are bent and poking up. She comes by it honest: I often wake up with mine in the same position!

Tamsie, annoyed that I stopped her swing long enough for a photo op. Notice she is surrounded by a few of her favorite things: paci, Sophie, taggie.

Tamsie holding onto her doll's hair

Evie, the teething queen

With Beckita, waiting on a table at Wild Eggs

Tamsie and her dad

Grandma time! I love that their arms are spread out to the side.