24 hours in one minute

So we're a little behind with the blog, to say the least. Things have been crazy around here. Kandis did a great job of writing the blog, while Courtney was in the hospital, so I just wanted to add a few more details.
The Friday that we woke up from the hospital was after a record snowfall in Texas. Here's a picture of the house that morning. We knew it would make for a fun ride downtown.

Courtney was pretty excited and was chatting away happily as we waited to get going with the whole thing.

They took Courtney away around 11:00am, and I got my gear on for the OR. I was told I look like Papa smurf in this picture. Funny story here. I thought I was supposed to strip down to my underware for this picture. Turns out, the scrubs were just supposed to go over my clothes! Who Knew. Well at least I'll know for the next time we go through this........."next time" BWAHAHAH!

Aiden Christopher was born at 1:03pm. He weighed 6lbs 7oz.

Colin Andrew was born one minute later at 1:04pm. He weighed 6lbs 9 oz.

Here's the first picture of Courtney with the two boys.

All the Nicholson boys together.

During the second night that the Courtney was at the hospital, Courtney's Mom stayed up there, and I stayed at home with Ainsley. Once Ainsley went to bed, I started to decorate the playroom, as a surprise for Courtney.

Our friend Jennifer, who I work with, is an amazing photographer. She came over after about a week, and took pictures of the boys. As you can see, her pictures are incredible.

My friend Abby made these little winter hats for the boys. The picture turned out great, I think.

This is MY precious!

1 Day Old

I spent the majority of Saturday with Courtney at the hospital while Stuart went to go pick up Ty and bring him to see his new brothers. Ty was very excited - Stuart captured the pictures with Ty on his camera. Man it is crazy how having an extra person makes twins not quite so overwhelming. That being said, I am not the one having to breastfeed them either. Poor Courtney....I swear I was emitting a scent that made the babies hungry. Every time I held a baby, he would root around and act hungry. I hope mama gets some good sleep when she can. Luckily Courtney has many generous people offering to help her and Stuart. I told her I will spend as much time with her and the babies as she wants before my boy is born. After spending enough time with newborn twins, my one baby will seem like a cake walk!

We were pretty busy keeping up with who just ate, who just had a dirty diaper and at what times. Every now and then one of us would say "wait, who do you have?" Courtney had a few visitors too. Thanks to you guys that came by! Here are a few pics I was able to take when I had a free hand.

Aiden

Aiden

Aiden; Colin
Colin

Snips and Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails...

that's what little boys are made of. Except for the Nicholson boys...they are made of 50% cuteness and 50% adorable! They have little cleft chins like their daddy and they look so sweet like their mama. Aiden Christopher was born at 1:03pm and weighs 6lbs 7oz and Colin Andrew was born at 1:04pm and weighs 6lbs 9oz. Courtney said one was 19" long and the other was 19.5" long. I'm sorry I'm not sure which is which. Can you believe she had 13lbs of baby in that belly?? Courtney is doing great, she was still a little shaky from the medicine when I was visiting her. She didn't want to hold the babies until she felt more in control of her hands. There was no shortage of willing arms to cuddle the little boys...I wanted to bring one home with me. :) Aiden was so alert and making the funniest faces. Colin sucked on his middle and ring finger the whole time...I think he is going to be the chunky monkey. I think they will both take to nursing without a problem. I felt like Aiden was looking at me thinking "hey lady, you got the equipment...why you holding out on me?" They are so sweet and I'm so happy for Courtney and Stuart. Ainsley will have lots of love to share with these boys and I know she will have fun being a big sister. I tried to not stay in the room too long b/c I know Debbie (Courtney's mom) was REALLY wanting to come back in the room and snuggle with her new grandsons. Since she was so fresh out of the OR, they would only let 2 people and Dad in the room. Here are a couple of shots I was able to get...I'm sorry you can't see their faces very well, I will be at the hospital tomorrow and I will take some more up close shots.

Colin is on the left; Aiden is on the right.

Aiden Christopher

Colin Andrew

Courtney, Colin and "Aunt" Kandis

Courtney, Aiden, and "Aunt" Kandis

It's a great day for twins

Hello snow...please go away so I can get out of my driveway. (oh, btw I guess I should inform you that this is Courtney's friend Kandis...she asked me to author the blog during this time so I could keep everyone updated on the twins) Courtney has made it to the hospital for her pre-op and her c-section is scheduled for 1:00pm this afternoon. I am planning on getting to the hospital before the surgery so I can be there to take pictures whenever possible. Our street is about 18 inches deep with snow and we have a very low 2-wheel drive car...so cross your fingers that I can make it on time. :) I am sure Stuart will be updating facebook and possibly posting some pictures on that as well so we should have adequate twin coverage.

Good luck to Courtney and Stuart today!! I cannot wait to see those adorable little boys!

18 Months

Ainsley had her 18 month checkup yesterday and she did great! (Except that she cried from the time they measured her head all the way until they finished her shots - but otherwise she did great;) She is 34 inches tall and weighs 29 pounds which makes her in the 95th percentile. She's so big and healthy which works out great because she is just big enough to play with her big brother who is occasionally a little bit rough. She can wrestle with the boys and still kiss and take care of her twin baby dolls and her animals. She always wants a bow in her hair and she's very fond of shoes. She loves to read and color and is good about coloring on the paper and not everything else. She's also a mega-Daddy's-girl at the moment. I'm trying not to let that hurt my feelings too bad. She is starting to say more words all the time and has recently mastered, "NO". I can't wait for her to meet her little brothers - I think she's going to be so sweet to them. They are lucky babies to have such a wonderful big brother and sister!

32 Weeks

Yes, that is seriously huge for 32 weeks pregnant. But it looks about right for someone carrying two almost 4 1/2 pound babies. I am on bedrest, so I didn't go back to work after Christmas break. It's not strict bedrest, though, so I'm able to do some things. I'm really enjoying it so far :) I decided that I wouldn't let myself feel too guilty because I know I won't have any time to rest after the babies are born. I went to the doctor on Thursday and my fetal fibronectin test was negative so we shouldn't have babies for at least another couple of weeks. We have most of the things we absolutely need, and their room is almost ready. Just in case.

I go back to the doctor on the 21st (if nothing happens before then) and they'll do one last ultrasound to check the babies' growth. After that we'll schedule a c-section for 37 weeks (which is sometime around February 11) and then just wait to see if I go into labor before then. My personal guess is that I'll make it to 36 weeks, but who knows. When I do have them you'll be notified right here by my fabulous guest blogger, best friend, and (for another month or so) preggo-buddy Kandis :)

Wax on.....wax off!

Ty and I were in one of our "wrestling" battles. Ty decided that he wanted to add a little Karate to his wrestling/ground 'n' pound moves. My guess is that this came from wanting to watch the Karate Kid on New Years Eve.
He decided to go with the classic "Crane" move that Daniel does at the end of the movie, to win the championship. It even came with the much appropriate, "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Of course, I had to get in on the butt whoopin' too. WELL, Ty and I have yet to learn that if you do, or say something in front of Ainsley, there's a greater than zero chance that she's going to copy it. Sure enough, she grabbed ahold of the ottoman, swung her leg up in the air, and let out the cutest, "waaaaah!" that you ever did hear.

Just A Video

I don't have anything to write (since Stuart has taken over the blog and he's obviously a better writer than I am) but I can still post a cute video of my baby. I don't think he knows how to post video yet ;)

Mexican food and maids

When we went to church on Saturday nights, we always went to Taco Bell for dinner afterwards. It was kind of a tradition. They cancelled the Saturday night service a while ago, so we go on Sunday mornings now. We still drive through Taco Bell for lunch afterwards, but it's just not the same.

So what's the big deal you ask? Well Courtney's Dad bought us a Quesadilla maker for Christmas.

Could homemade Quesadilla's take the place of Taco Bell? I've been pondering this since Christmas day. We decided to try it out tonight and it was quite a success. Also take into consideration the price of tortillas and a large bag of cheese. Oops! Let me rephrase that. The EXTRA LARGE bag of cheese. I was told that my large bag wasn't large enough, and was sent back to get the extra large bag. Anyway, way cheaper than the $20 trip through Taco Bell.

Ainsley dug right in. She didn't even ask for it to be cut up. She just grabbed her triangle and tore into it.

Ty was willing to stray away from his regular 2 bean burritos, and tried his first Quesadilla. Success! He even asked for seconds.

Once dinner was over, we were getting ready to take down Christmas decorations. Today had been a big house cleaning day to Ty and I. Little off topic, but Ty cleaned the heck out of his bedroom and bathroom today.

I couldn't find Ainsley, and thought she may have gone into the playroom to play. I was just about to go find her, when I saw a slight movement out of the corner of my eye. It was coming from behind the TV stand, over by the fireplace. I stopped to look, right as Ainsley poked her head out and flashed a giant grin.

It's not uncommon for Ainsley to take off into these little quiet corners of the house. Usually one of two things is occuring. The first is that she's gone off to hide. She'll wait for one of us to notice her and play the old, "Where did Ainsley go?" Then she'll jump out at us and squeal with laughter. The second reason is that she's going to her quiet place to...poop! She stands against the wall and contorts her face into the craziest positions. It's kind of funny, until the smell hits you. I cautiously walked over there, hoping for a game of hide and seek. What I saw was something completly different. I guess she'd noticed Ty and I cleaning today, because she was taking a tissue from the tissue box that lay at her feet.

She then, very proudly, cleaned the side of the TV stand. Up and down, up and down. It was like some kind of scene out of the Karate Kid. "Wax on, wax off!" I thanked her for her help, and then burst out laughing with what she did next.

She threw down the tissue onto the floor, in a pile of about 30 other tissues that she'd already gone through. It looked like half the tissue box lay crumpled up on the floor. Does this girl not know the value of a dollar? Does she think tissues are free? Does money really grow on trees? I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop, so just let her continue working her way through the box, praising her for her help.

The funniest part of the whole thing was that when she was done, she took all the tissues and shoved them back into the box! RECYCLING! That's my girl.

You can do that?...Huh!

So I just found out that all the pictures i've taken with my phone can be transferred to email. WHO KNEW! I went through my phone and picked out some of my favorites.

This picture was taken during the fall. There were tons of leaves in the front yard, and Ainsley had a lot of fun throwing them around.
Ty's fourth grade music concert happened right before Christmas vacation. This picture was taken while we waited for the PTA to finish their meeting, and get the concert started.

Granny got this purse for Ainsley from Sam Moon. We were getting ready to leave one day, and Ainsley ran to the playroom, grabbed her purse, and threw it over her shoulder.
We borrowed this "car" from a teacher at Courtney's school. If she could, Ainsley would ride in this thing 24/7. She LOVES it. This picture was taken around October or November. It was cold outside, but that didn't bother her. I thought her hands might be cold, so I put them in her pockets. They never left her jacket the whole ride.

This picture was taken at one of Ty's baseball tournaments. It was over the Halloween weekend, and the teams dressed up. Since Ty's team was the Angels, they wore angel wings.

Proof that Santa DOES exist.

Ainsley loves music, and so we put a lot of musical shows, or radio shows, on TV. She doesn't usually sit still and watch, but on this rare occasion she did. I grabbed the camera as quick as I could.

I took this picture on the Fourth of July. Before Ainsley was born, I told Courtney that I didn't want her wearing bows in her hair. I hated seeing babies with oversized bows, and didn't want my child looking like that. Now I realize how cute they are, as well as useful for getting hair out of her eyes. I love how this bow is red/white/blue, just like her outfit.

I took this picture one day, when Ainsley was at home sick. We sat around in our pajamas all day and played. Ainsley put the duck on her head, with a little help from me, and we played, "Where did it go?"The car seat on the left is Ainsleys old seat. We really liked it and wanted to get another one for the twins. Our friend Joley, who now lives in Ohio, had one for her daughter. She sent it down to us. We took it out of the box and set it next to Ainsley's old car seat. This picture shows what I saw, the minute reality sunk in. We're having twins!

This is one of my favorite pictures of Ainsley. I had just picked her up from school. It was cold outside, so she got to wear her beanie. When we got out of the truck, she stuck out her arms to put on her backpack. I had to get a picture of it.