366 Days (right? I mean it is a leap year!)

First-ever sweet indulgence: A cupcake, compliments of their Aunt Melissa, to celebrate their first birthday!

Today the girls turned one year old. What an incredible year it has been! In some ways, it feels like I was just checking into Labor and Delivery at Baptist East in Louisville... then taking my little ambulance adventure over to U of L... then being pushed in my wheelchair to the NICU to see those sweet, teeny tiny babies... then visiting them every single day for the 56 days they were there... then bringing them home at long last, on December 7, in the cold, after rooming in the night before at the hospital (craziest night of my life, by the way - first time dealing with two tiny babies overnight!!!), listening to Adele on the radio of our brand-new minivan (never say never! ha!) and loaded down with tons of hand sanitizer and other assorted hospital souvenirs and goodies. But it's weird because so much has happened since then that it kind of feels like all of that happened about five years ago. Time is just so weird like that!

They love walking this thing around their play yard. Yes, walking - but they can't walk by themselves just yet, without holding on to something!

I remember going out to eat at a restaurant in Louisville the day I was discharged from the hospital. It was all so new that I felt a little bit self-conscious because I was still hobbling around to a certain degree due to post-surgical pain. Chris and I were talking about how we were just coming to the realization that if someone asked us if we had any kids, our answer would be, "Yes! We have two!" It was a joyful, surreal sort of feeling, made kind of weird because our babies were in the NICU - so we weren't getting the kinds of parenting experiences typical of parents who have two kids. It's so funny to think that was nearly an entire year ago! Now it feels totally normal to tell someone I just met that I have two kids.

Evie cuddling with Grandma on one of her after-work visits

For Chris and me, today was totally a celebration of a year of being T and E's parents. Aside from Chris's taking T to the doctor for an early-morning check-up (she has had the same cough on and off for what feels like forever!) (and the doctor said it's nothing to be worried about - just a little virus), we just had a grand old time all day long.

I tried rotating this picture, and blasted Blogger still thinks this is how it should be! Here's sweet Evie cuddled up with her Grandma.

Chris and I took the girls downtown to visit his co-workers and then to eat lunch at Cappricio in the Peabody Hotel. Then we strolled around downtown for a bit with a couple of our favorite treats: for me, a Peabody duck-shaped chocolate-chip cookie (my favorite lunchtime treat back when I worked downtown), and a milkshake for him from Maggie Moo's.

Tamsie shows off how to take down some finger foods: banana bites and puffs

After lunch, we came back to the house, and Melissa took some pictures of the girls. She also treated them to their very first cupcake. (I'll be posting those pictures as soon as I have time. The girls were too funny!) Then, later on in the day, my sister-in-law Jennifer and her fiance Tyler dropped by to see the girls, and my Dad delivered part of their present to them. (Mom is out of town on a church trip, which is why the girls' party won't happen until next weekend.)

Evangelyn and a Baby Mum-Mum. She's Mommy's princess, too!

Tonight, I had Pandora on in the background while getting things done around the house. Various songs from high school came on, and if you know me, you know every song has a thousand memories attached to it. Somewhere in the middle of rocking out to some circa-2000-era Destiny's Child song, it occurred to me how hopelessly old-fashioned this song will someday seem to my girls who just turned one. Destiny's Child will be to them some girl version of what the Doobie Brothers are to me - something extremely old-school that my parents liked when they were in high school. John Mayer will be to them what Chicago is to me. So weird! (Except my parents more or less liked the same stuff. Chris cannot tolerate any measure of Destiny's Child or John Mayer - ha!) 

Tamsie in her Mommy and Me onesie - I thought it looked cute with Evie's Daddy's Princess onesie.

The world will change so much, and they will see so much in their lifetimes. It's just unreal to think about. But today, they're just my sweet little one-year-old T & E. And for that, I am crazy thankful.

Birthday Girl Evie wearing a fabulous outfit from her Aunt Jenny, Uncle Jonathan and Baby William

The girls on tour at Chris's office

At Maggie Moo's. Tamsie loves her daddy's kisses!

So does Evie!

But she can only stand so much before she pushes her Daddy away.

"OK, seriously, Dad! You're embarrassing me!"

Smiling down at Tamsie

Giggles!

Enjoying the view

What better way to wrap up this post than with a wave from Evie?

Blog Day of Silence

I have no words other than please pray.

Almost a year!

Whenever T and E are in their high chairs, one of them always reaches out for the other. So presh.

So I learned a new thing this week. Being an only child, I was under the impression that if a child gets sick and then gets well, then that's the last you'll see of the sickness. Not so! Somehow, Tamsie and Evie were both running fevers last weekend, then Tamsie picked up a cough, then Evie was better. Then Evie started to run a fever all over again, then Tamsie's fever went away but the cough remained. This continued for a few days, but now they seem to be pretty much all better. At least the fevers are gone, so I'm calling it a victory! So if you think we fell off the face of the earth this past week, we didn't. We were just trying to keep the girls quarantined until they were better, so we wouldn't transmit the same cycle o' sick to anyone else's home!

As for the moving-in process, last night I accomplished something major: I FINALLY ORGANIZED MY CLOSET. Mostly, anyway. See, I know this may seem rather ridiculous, but the process of organizing things that go in closets is just one of those things my right-leaning brain can't process very well. Overwhelmed by the enormity of the task before me, I had been putting it off and putting it off and putting it off... just because I couldn't figure out the best way to put everything in that closet and make it work. Plus, I knew that going through everything would involve some tough decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of. It was a puzzle I had no desire to solve, and I was waiting on some magical solution that was never to come. But it all came to a head on Saturday morning when I wasted copious amounts of precious time ransacking the piles of clothes on the bedroom floor while on a mad quest for a pair of leggings. Chris saw the mess and said, "Wonderful! I see you're finally organizing your closet." Actually, I wasn't, but that entire episode turned out to be the last straw. As of now, all is organized except for jewelry, which I still have no compelling organizational solution for. In fact, if you have any revolutionary ideas regarding jewelry storage, please do share. Until then, I will continue to wear the same accessories over and over, just because looking at my big pile of sparkly chaos gives me a headache.

I have yet to organize the bathroom vanity area. However, as you can see below, organization poses no threat to the Vaf's brain. We always say I'm the germaphobe, but he's the neat freak - everything of his is so orderly and sensible. While mine's not, you can pretty much guarantee it is pretty blasted germ-free!

Our bathroom vanity for the time being. This is so typical of us. I still haven't sorted through all these bottles and such, so not only is there a pile of random makeup on the floor by the tub that I still need to sort through (and probably throw away most of), but the vanity is also crowded with stuff I need and stuff that needs to be thrown out. My side is totally spilling all kinds of over into his neat, tidy side! I'm pretty sure it's driving him CrAzY!!! He is so patient with me! :)

I have, however, been trying to restore some order to as much of the house as possible. Thanks to a gorgeous table from my sis-in-law and soon-to-be-bro-in-law, our entry hall, for one, is looking much more inviting! :)

Chris and my dad worked hard on hanging up lots of wall stuff over the weekend while Mom and I directed them. (Mom has to be handy because I always need a second opinion before I'm ready to put holes in the wall!) I'm so thankful for their help!

And while T and E are turning one, so there isn't too much to plan party-wise, I have been trying to line up as much party stuff as possible. I am still in shock that my girls will be a year old by the end of the week!!!

Here are some pictures from our recent adventures:

Grocery shopping with some sleepy girls! Here's Tamsie, whom I had just woken up prior to loading her in this cart...

And here are both girls... totally dominating the produce section! Thank goodness Chris was there with me to help wrangle the girls! Can you imagine how it would work with both of them and just one adult?!

Evangelyn demonstrates how we keep them happy during such outings: by giving them plastic lids they can bite!

Tamsie also enjoys biting a nice lid.

Evie was so happy! She was grinning and waving her lid all over.

Tamsie at mid-morning post-nap snacktime. Kinda groggy...

... but pretty happy!

I love this little smile!

And here's her sister, the lovely Evangelyn Rose...

.... wondering why on earth Mom was taking pictures and not feeding her!

On her way home from work, my Mom stops by when she's able to help with the afternoon feed. This is one of the nicest things she's ever done for me! I look forward to her arrival every day, and she looks forward to seeing her two snuggle bugs. I'm pretty sure they look forward to seeing her too! In fact, one day last week I was telling one of them that Grandma was coming to visit when she got off work, and the baby just smiled and squealed at me when I told her. (By the way, victory! That box behind mom contained the mirror that is now in our entry hall - so that means one less moving box around here!)

Evie, reaching for my phone

Tamsie was napping, so Evie had a little photo session in her playroom.

That is her daddy's mouth fo sho. Mine can't even make that shape.

Another day, another mid-morning snacktime. The girls interact with each other so much during these times!

So happy!

Reaching out...

Making each other giggle!

They are known to steal puffs from each other's trays. I think Tamsie's practicing here.

They also talk to each other constantly.

Sweetness

Loving Evie's grin

"Once again, Mom, this is fun, but where's the food?"

SORRY - baby feet! Can't help myself!

You should know that my dad picked these socks out for them - impressive, right?

Tamsie on a bath rug

... right before she crawled away while I was trying to get her picture!

Tamsie has also figured out how to take her pants off all by herself...

... not one of my favorites of her new skills.

When Tamsie doesn't feel well, she tries to eat her solids with her head down on her tray. It's very sad.

It has been baby shower season around here! Two Saturdays ago, I went to my childhood friend Jennifer's baby shower for her little boy, Ryan, and this past Saturday, I went to Kim's shower for her baby triplet boys, Jacob, Owen and Carter!!! Here I am with the triplet mama herself. 

This precious girl is now at 30 weeks, which means she has made it further than I did, and she's carrying an extra baby, too!!! She also happens to be just about the tiniest person I know when she's not carrying three babies! I'm so proud of her and thankful to the Lord for taking such good care of her and those boys, and I'm praying she's able to keep them in a good bit longer!

Here's a picture of Tamsie squawking, which is one of her current favorite things to do, much to her dad's chagrin.

T and E, holding onto the side of a crib and jumping

E is doing some serious giggling here

Having fun, like they do!

My sweet babies!

Well yesterday it was fabulous to get out of the house and go to church with a couple of healthy girls, and so good to see dear friends. We're praying for healthy reports on these girls' kidneys when they go in for their tests next month. As for me, I'm hearing one of them making some noises from her swing upstairs, so I'd better go see what's going on! Much love to y'all, and thanks for reading! :)

Tamsie Update

So I have been, as my dear English friend Vickie would say, rubbish lately about taking pictures of the girls, but I'm gonna go ahead and post anyway because so many people have been asking about how Tamsie's appointment went on Friday with the pediatric urologist.

Tamsie had a renal ultrasound done to get an idea of what her kidney reflux is looking like. When we met with the doctor afterward, she told us that she does not have any records of Tamsie's previous ultrasounds, but only the written reports. At the last ultrasound, the radiologist assigned the condition of her left kidney a 3 out of 4. (4 is the worst. In my last post I said there were 5 grades of kidney reflux, but I was wrong - there are 4.) This time, the radiologist assigned her condition a 4 out of 4. That means that either it's gotten worse (obviously NOT good to hear), or it has stayed the same, and it's just a different radiologist's assessment of the situation. The doctor said that it's entirely possible that that's the case, because assigning a number to these things can be kind of a subjective process. Her right kidney is at a 2, which, at this time, isn't anything too concerning, because grade 2s typically sort themselves out over time without any intervention. So we left the appointment not knowing the full scope of the situation, but with the indication that her condition has potentially worsened.

However, on the way out I wanted an additional bit of hope, so I confirmed with the doctor that the main reason that all of this is a problem is that it puts her at heightened risk for UTIs, which, as young as she is, could do some serious damage were she to have one. The only sign we know of to look for would be a fever, so any time she has a fever over 100.8, she has to go to the doctor to confirm that it's not a UTI. So far she hasn't had a UTI, so that is really something to rejoice about! (Friday actually turned out to be even more dramatic than we were bargaining for, because that evening she ran a 102-degree fever. Chris took her up to LeBonheur Urgent Care, and praise the Lord, it was NOT caused by a UTI.)

The doctor wants us to go ahead and have the next two tests done as soon as LeBonheur can get us in. She said it's not an emergency or anything, but she just doesn't want to put it off any longer than necessary. So now we're waiting to hear back from the doctor's office to know when her dye test and renal scan are scheduled. We're still in waiting mode, which is not a fun place to be. Now I'm totally understanding what my mom meant all those years when she'd say, "I'd rather it be me than you." Having a child with ANY kind of medical issue that involves prolonged testing is nothing I'd recommend to anyone. I'm not googling any of this, because I know it's not healthy, as I tend to assume the worst. I'm just trusting God that He's gotten us this far (and He has gotten us VERY far from where we started), and that He will continue to take care of us, and that He has this whole thing under control. It's not easy, but He never said it would be easy. 

In addition to trusting Him with Tamsie's situation, now I know to be trusting Him with Evie's as well. When Tamsie had her ultrasound on Friday, the ultrasound tech asked us if all is well with Evie's kidneys. "As far as we know," I said. His response was something like, "I mean, you've had scans done for her and everything just to be sure she doesn't have this too, right?" And my answer was no. We discovered that Tamsie had an enlarged kidney during an ultrasound the day before she was delivered, and Evie's looked normal at the time, so we just never pursued it further. I brought this up to the urologist, and she said that kidneys can appear normal but still have reflux. She advised us to have the dye test done on Evie too, just to rule it out. The dye test is very invasive and NOT fun for the babies to go through, but I think it would be better to go through it and know whether she has this or not so that we can be treating her if we need to be. That's also something on the horizon that we're praying for good news about.

By the way, this kidney condition was caused by neither Twin-to-Twin Transfusion nor prematurity. It's something she would have had anyway. Also, we're pretty fortunate to have caught it before she was even born, because a lot of times it's not caught until a child has had a string of UTIs and damage has already been done.

God keeps reminding me of Romans 8:32: "He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Lately, when I make the girls their bottles, before I can walk over to feed them, they start crying, as if they're afraid I won't give them their bottles. As if I would just make them their bottles and then withhold them from the girls!! (This alone is a HUGE answer to a lot of prayer. They used to cry when they'd see the bottles because they were afraid of them, and now they cry because they're so ready to engulf them!) I realized the other day that this is what I tend to do to God when I get scared He's just going to leave us hanging at this point. Once again, I'm reminded of Matthew 7:7-11: 

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

So we're praying that God will give the good gifts of healthy kidneys to both of our girls. Please pray that all of their tests bring us reassurance and good news and that they outgrow all of these issues. (Our Louisville doctor always assured us that it was totally possible for Tamsie to outgrow all of these problems in time.)

In other news, it's October now, which means the girls' FIRST BIRTHDAY is now 11 days away - praise God for getting us here! I keep thinking constantly of how much better our situation is this year than it was last year!

On to my measly offering of pics for the day:

Here's Evie wearing a Baptist Memorial Hospital T-shirt I was given at the hospital when I was born.

Dad dug up this picture of me wearing the same t-shirt back in '83 - except that I was 1 month old at the time and Evie was 11 months in the picture above! ;)

Y'all, thanks for praying for all of us. God has worked amazing wonders through the prayers of many who continue to lift us up. We can't say thank you enough, and we really can't thank God enough for bringing us to where we are now.