Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock...

So, time is dwindling down before the babies arrive...and Nicole is STILL working. Unbelievable. Monday, March 3 was her "goal" date to end work. That was already a week and a half later than what the doctor had recommended, but so it goes. Unfortunately, Finleigh has been sick and needed some extra loving care on Monday so Nicole wasn't able to go to work. As it stands now, she will be finishing up work on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and then be on official leave. Woo-hoo!

Here is the family update:

• We got a minivan! Yes, that's right. We are now van people! We are so excited to have our new van and have taken a few little adventures just to test it out. We went to Chicago a couple of weeks ago and it drove like a dream. After much research on the Toyota Sienna and the Honda Odyssey, we ended up going with the Odyssey because we felt as though it has the most features to meet the unique needs that come with having three kiddos that are so little. Finleigh loves riding in the van and our next project is getting her a new car seat and the car seats for the newest additions to the family installed over the next couple of weeks.
• The babies are growing! We had our 29 week ultrasound last week and the babies are both doing really well. They are each estimated to weigh just under 3 pounds each already, which is just amazing. In addition to ultrasounds every four weeks, we are now on weekly appointments with our obstetrician and Nicole also has to go in to the birthing center twice per week for "non-stress tests" that check the movement and heartbeats of the twins. We are in the last trimester now and time is flying by!
• Finn is an artist-- sort of. Little Finn has taken a keen interest in the arts these days and loves to draw with crayons, markers, and pretty much anything else she can get her hands on. She has (in my opinion) very good dexterity for being just a 16 month old peanut, and loves to show off her talents.
• Nicole has been feeling pretty good. All things considered, Nicole has been doing really well this pregnancy. She still doesn't have much of an appetite, but Morgan is very good about encouraging her to eat and keep up her energy. Lately, the favored foods have been Caesar salad with chopped rotisserie chicken, oranges, and yogurt. Her tummy is expanding by the day, but the rest of her looks pretty much the same and the doctor told her the other day that she was the best looking set of twins she had ever seen so that was encouraging.
  
• Morgan is looking forward to meeting the new babies. He is in constant amazement that there are "two in there" and every once in a while he and Nicole both just go "oh my gosh, we're really having twins". It is very exciting!
• The house is in utter disarray-- for now. New babies mean new things are needed in the house. Our entryway is clogged with bunches of items we picked up at IKEA when we took our trip to Chicago, along with random other items that need to be moved downstairs to the "mega-nursery". Last weekend we found a new use for a couple of pieces of furniture that we had been using in the office area and moved them into the family room and it has made that living space much more efficient. We still have a few more pieces of furniture to play around with before we set up the nursery, but we still have some time yet.

Well, that is it for this post. Hopefully, Morgan will be able to take a picture or two of Nicole's big tummy soon for you all to laugh at and enjoy. :)

Love,
Nicole, Morgan and Finn