Happy Halloween!!!

Turner and I did some pumpkin carving on Wednesday and I wanted to share our pumpkins and wish everyone a Happy Halloween!!!

This is the pumpkin that I carved. (We used one of those carving kits, so don't be too impressed by me).














This is Turner's pumpkin, the scary clown pumpkin. His is holding up WAY better than mine as part of mine is falling.














And here they both are together.


Love,
J

Quinn's Room Update II

Here's an updated pic of the bookshelf. I can't get over how many great books he already has. I hope he takes after his mom and dad and loves reading :-)














This is the new ceiling fan that we put in. Turner and Amber both read that air circulation reduces the risk of SIDS so we had been indecisive before but decided to do it. We really like the look of it, but the light is a little dim so we're glad to have the two new lamps, too.















Here's a shot of his new toy box...














And, finally, an inside shot of the toy box. I'd like to point out that he hasn't even been born yet. I think he's in pretty good shape :-)


We are so thankful to have such amazing friends, family and framily. Thank you all for all you've done for Quinn. He's so lucky to have you all be a part of his life!!! (And not just cause you are spoiling him rotten, but because of your love and support).

Love,
J

Quinn's Room Update I

Here's an updated shot of the corner with the glider. I'm not sure too much has changed, but can see Phillipe, his new frog from Michelle, part of the piggy bank she made him and one of his photo collages of his daddy as a little guy.














Here's an updated shot of his crib. The only new thing here is the mobile my mom got him which casts stars and moons while it spins.














Here's the dresser with one of his new lamps.














Here's the mobile that Becky got him over his changing pad. I like the contrast of the bright colors with the silver mirror and clock (which is also new).



















And here's a wider shot of his changing area, the new toy box and the corner of his crib.


All in all, I must say, it's good to be a Quinn!

Week 35 Update...

Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that he's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, he isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times he kicks should remain about the same. His kidneys are fully developed now, and his liver can process some waste products. Most of his basic physical development is now complete — he'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

So sounds like now he's more or less bulking up. I will say, I can sense a change in his movements lately which they say is normal as he's a little squished up. Overall, I'm doing well. We haven't done a good job getting rest this week so I'm a little run down, but that is as much my fault if not more than it is Turner's. This week is the DA's Conference though, so I get a half day on Friday. Might catch up on some relaxing and resting and I'm hoping to post some pix of Quinn's fully outdated room. We carved pumpkins last night so I'll try to get some pix of them up here, too.

We're going to the doctor today so I may have a little update though it is our last "normal" appointment before they get serious about checking me out thoroughly each time, so it may not be too interesting. Either way, all is going well and we're getting so excited about meeting him that we can hardly wait.

Love to all,

J

Nashville Baby Shower 2 (The scary Halloween one :-)

Just thought I'd do a brief post about the Nashville baby shower outside of work. Tracey, Michelle, Nichole and Amber hosted it at Michelle's house and we had a fabulous time. My one caveat was that I didn't want it to be too girly as I wanted it to be co-ed so Turner could be part of it and I think the Halloween theme was perfect. I can't get over the work that everyone put into making it a super-Halloween themed shower.
There are tons of pix out there, but Turner and I didn't take many of our own as we were kind of busy a lot of the time so I will try to get more up later.... Meanwhile here are a few:

This was the centerpiece. Our friends did a great job of making really usable centerpieces with lots of burp clothes and diapers that also looked amazing.

Just a small sampling of the food. There were more things than I can probably remember to list and everything was great. A few of my faves were the taco soup, vegetarian chili, Hallow-weenies, petit-fours, choco-krispie treats, and monster eyeballs. Keeping in mind I'm pretty food focused now, I was in heaven :-) There was also some rockin' punch! (I think now you are seeing just how excited I get about food, eh???)

This is just a shot of everyone hanging out during the party, but thought I'd include it. Again, I'll try and post more later.


Finally, a shot of Turner and I getting ready to open presents. I had a special hat that said "Quinn's Mummy" and Turner was appropriately labeled as "Baby Daddy" (if you are unfamiliar with the term, you should spend a little quality time in the court system :-) I'm pretty sure there is a picture of us where you can read the hats better so I'll make sure to find that.

All that said, we had an absolutely wonderful time and so enjoyed hanging with our Nashville friends and framily (a term that I learned from Tracey for friends who are like family). Between this and the other showers, Quinn is starting out as a very spoiled boy. I'm not sure we'll be able to live up to his expecations. We feel so lucky to have so many people who love and support him (and us!!!). We're hoping that it stays that way as maybe we can parlay it into free babysitting-HA! We went yesterday and spent gift cards, etc, on a few other things he needed (thermometers, changing pad and such). Oh, and a toy box, as though he isn't even here yet, he has more toys than his shelves can accomodate! I'm going to put some updated pictures of his room and set up on the blog soon, but in truth, there was so much to assemble and do that we haven't managed to get it all done yet.

Thanks to everyone who hosted and came to the shower and also to the spouses of the hostesses as I know they put in some extra time, also!

Love to all,
Jessica

Updated link to luau pix...

Hey!
Since Walgreens and Kodak weren't cutting it, here's a link to our Picasa album of the Luau:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jessicajturner/TurnerSBirthdayLuau#

Work Baby Shower....

So we've entered Nashville Baby Shower season... Yesterday we had our work baby shower at the DA's office hosted by Becky, Kari, Mindy, and Nichole. It was a lot of fun, though I'm pretty sure I was still pretty awkward at opening gifts and being in front of people. I'm including a few pictures and will also put a link to the Picasa album (I've made the switch from Kodak as Kodak was being REALLY annoying). Pardon all my crazy expressions, I've discovered that alas, that's just my face :-)

Anyway, we really enjoyed celebrating with everyone and all went really well. We got lots and lots of baby stuff. Quinn is a lucky little cantaulope sized guy.

You can see the rest of the pix at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jessicajturner/WorkBabyShower#

Love you!

Week 34 Update....

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Turner's Birthday Luau

So, on Saturday I had a luau for Turner's 30th Birthday. He knew he was having a party, but he didn't know the theme. He did get to open a present a few minutes before coming home with an Hawaiian shirt in it, so I'm pretty sure he was on to me by then. Meanwhile, at 8 or so months pregnant, a biggish party is hard to pull off so thankfully I had the help of my friends. Kari, Craig and Corbin came over in the morning to help decorate and Craig and Corbin stayed at the house to watch the smoker (I smoked turkey breast and legs) while Kari and I went to the Meet Us at the Bridge event. After the event, we did some decorating and then Nichole and Pete came over to help decorate as well. After that I was on my own for a bit and finished up some cooking I had to do. Nichole, Kari, Craig and Pete came a little early also to finish set up. In the end, not only did Kari and Nichole bring several dishes, but Kari, Mindy and Carolyn brought some beverages to share. It take's a village to celebrate Turner's 30th....(especially when his wife weighs 500 lbs and moves as slowly as molasses-just kidding!)
Turner spent the day golfing with Frank and hanging with Frank, Amber, Corrie and Bennie who kept him entertained. When he got home, I gave him his video camera which was his big surprise present that I'd saved for him. He seemed pretty happy with it, I think.
Then the party officially started. We had a ton of food (turkey, coconut chicken rice, sweet potatoes, cheese cubes, a fruit tray, taco dip, a cheese ball, oranges with coconut cake inside, ambrosia, the list goes on....) and I think everone had a pretty good time. We ended up watching some SC football, which of course made the bday boy very happy. The dogs were delighted to entertain so many guests and I think everyone enjoyed getting Hawaiianed up.... As a side note, they don't make a grass skirt big enough to go all the way around my giant belly so I had to wear a skirt underneath :-)
I'm including a few more photos...

The fellas sporting their leis in honor of their dad's 30th!

Susan, Kari, Mindy and me... Susan had earlier said that I was photogenic. I think I proved her VERY wrong!

Me and Nichole (if you can't tell, I'm a little intimidated by her hat)

A little of the outdoor decor (who says Nashville's not Honolulu???)


Aloha from me, Turner and Quinn!!!


If you can't get enough of the luau pix, you can see them all at:
http://photo1.walgreens.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=45645194/t_=17999355
(Kodak gallery started acting odd so I had to switch it up)

Love to all,
J

Turner's Official 30th

Hey, all!
So Thursday was Turner's 30th birthday. He knew I had a party planned on Saturday (though he didn't know the theme) but we decided to do dinner with some friends, in particular Tracey, Matthew, Brandon and Michelle since we knew they wouldn't be able to make it to the official 30th bday party. We went to Sportsman's Grill where Turner and I both love the fried bologna sandwiches (gross to most people I know, but it was one of our early bonding points when we started dating).
We had a great night...
Here are a few pix:

Turner and I, I was showing off my belly and Brandon got confused....

Tracey and Matthew (who got tired of me taking his picture as I had the camera on the wrong setting at first)

Michelle and Brandon (who NEVER gets tired of having his picture taken)

Nichole and Pete (who was super-excited about his brand new NY Giants shirt)

And a final belly shot...Quinn wanted everyone to know he was there, too!

If you want to see more pictures, you can see that at our Kodak Gallery. The link is:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=5ufnunyr.2dtlz92b&Uy=-le4kcd&Ux=0

Week 33 Update... (Better late than never...)

Hey, all!

Sorry for the delay in the update. It's been a hectic week. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and this week we had the Law Enforcement Talent Show to benefit the Nashville Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Child Advocacy Center on Tuesday. Then, Thursday was Turner's birthday (his 30th!). Saturday I sent Turner off to play golf and hang with Frank and Amber so I could prepare for his birthday party, and I also went to the Meet Us at the Bridge Event which is another Coalition event to honor members of the community and organizations that work to increase Domestic Violence awareness. The event also honors those who have lost their lives to Domestic Violence in Davidson County and this year, a new award for DV Survivors was added and a victim that I had worked with, Yeni Acosta, was the recipient. All in all, it's been crazy, but it's finally Sunday and we're slowing down a bit. Granted, we have a shower at my work on Thursday and an outside of work shower on Saturday, so I guess we won't get too much rest....

I'll post more on Turner's bday and his party later.

So now, for the week 33 update:

This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Happy 30th Birthday to Quinn's Daddy!!!!

Week 32 (We're getting there...)

The official Week 32 Update:

By now, your baby weighs 3.75 pounds (pick up a large jicama) and is about 16.7 inches long, taking up a lot of space in your uterus. You're gaining about a pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she'll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.

Now just for clarification purposes, this isn't Quinn! But this is what he looks like in there. For some reason, the only pic I could find of a 32-weeker seemed to focus in on his boy parts so sorry bout that. Anyway, I figure it is a reasonably accurate representation of where he's at. Poor little guy is kind of squished up. I definitely want him to get bigger but I hate for him to be all mushed. No wonder most babies like to be swaddled, they're crammed into their moms like sardines before they come into the world.
All in all, the pregnancy is going well. I have been having a bit more heartburn of late (which is normal as he's pushing higher up into my chest area). He moves a lot more now, though he is still sporadic. Other than Turner, only Becky and Tracey have felt him move. In part because he can sense that someone is trying to feel him and goes completely still in baby Ninja mode. The only thing that is really weird is that he doesn't react to Garcia like that. Last night I was laying on the bed and rubbing Garcia and Cia had his head on my belly. The pressure wasn't really any different than the pressure from someone's hand, but Quinn wasn't intimidated by it at all and just kept kicking and rolling around in there. In fact, after awhile, Garcia seemed a little weirded out by it. I think now that Quinn's a bigger boy it seems stranger to him.
Otherwise, the guest room is more or less done and most things are coming along well. We're going to try and work on electricity for Quinn's room this weekend and also put in a ceiling fan as Turner read that the air circulation reduces the risks of SIDS and we'd been thinking about it anyway. This is our last kind of "free" weekend for a bit as next weekend is Turner's birthday to-do, the following is the baby shower and then we're straight into Halloween.
So much going on. Hope all are doing well!
Love to all and HAPPY Friday!
J

Week 31 Update & Room Update

This week, your baby measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He's probably moving a lot, too, so you may have trouble sleeping because your baby's kicks and somersaults keep you up. Take comfort: All this moving is a sign that your baby is active and healthy.


This is the dog painting I did for his room. Basically, I saw something very similar to it in a local shop and decided that I loved it, but alas, I didn't much want to pay the $500 price tag, so I decided to try my hand at it myself. In general, I'm happy with the way it came out, though I think I need to soften the dogs eyes a bit as they look a little scary to me right now.


This is the painting's location over the crib. You can also see the scrabooking/baby book calendar that I got for his room. Basically, it will let us jot down milestones as they happen so we can make sure they get recorded in his baby book/scrap book (I've registered for a combo thing at Babies R Us that I think will do the trick). Much as I hate to admit it, I imagine that when we both go back to work when he is three months or so old, keeping track of all of his changes, etc, will get a little harder, so I thought this was a great way to stay on top of it.


This is the mirror but instead of sitting on the dresser, it's finally hung up :-) We also got some baskets for his room to hold his baby toiletries and diapers, etc. We plan to put the changing pad on the left side of the dresser, so that explains why at this point it is a big bare spot.



And last, but certainly not least, here are Quinn's brothers who helped me take these pictures and are now helping me write the blog. Garcia is psychotically chewing on a bone and Darwin is asleep at my feet. They got snacks this morning when we were taking the pictuers (as part of their dog training to postitively reinforce Quinn's room) and now that I'm almost done blogging, I think I may eat some cereal (still my fave food!) and go back to bed for a bit and try and sleep off some of this cold/sinus thing and I'm certain Garcia and Darwin will be right along with me.

Hope all is well with everyone!
Love,
J

Upping the cuteness factor...

So, we've been busy of late and I've been a bit under the weather, but I stayed home today thanks to a sinus infection so I thought I'd get caught up on putting some updated pictures on the blog. I can only figure out how to attach five pix per post, so the rest will come in you weekly update...

All in all, the pregnancy is still going well. Quinn is clearly getting bigger as I am more aware of him more of the time. And although I feel cruddy with the sinus infection, it doesn't seem to be slowing him down a bit :-) We saw the doctor on Tuesday and all appears great. The C-section on 12/2 is set for 2 pm right now. So, if he waits it out, Quinn has a semi-official birth date and time.

This is a super adorable outfit we got from David and Joelle and the girls and Tucker. It is most certainly one of my new faves in the 0-3 set as I like how it will allow Quinn to immediately begin to embrace his inner "cool" :-) They also got us a really sweet puppy bib that I'm sure will see lots of use. I'm amazed at how full his drawers are getting, especially the 0-3 and 3-6. Other than being a little light on 3-6 sleepers (and by a little light, I mean he could use 3 more or so) our boy is set!


Earlier this week my friend Carolyn came over and hung out with us. It was a lot of fun, though she had the misfortune of coming on the first day that I felt kind of cruddy so I may not have been the best hostess in the world. Thank goodness for Turner, who is a better host than I am anyway. Carolyn had gotten Quinn these two sleepers (sorry, I cut out one of the adorable puppy feet in my picture):


She also got him this puppy outfit. Carolyn and I used to work together at Doane Pet Care and she still works there-though she is starting a new job on Monday!!! Either way, the boys have gotten very spoiled by Auntie Carolyn and expect her to bring over lots of dog snacks when she comes, so they were very disappointed as they rooted through the gift bag to only find baby things :-) I tried to explain that the puppy outfit was kind of for them too, but I don't think they got it.


Last week we met up with Michelle and Brandon for dinner (before she jetted off to Hawaii for a trip...) and she gave Quinn this great frog, Phillipe (the one on top with the crown). I don't know how many of you know this, but my mom called me Frog when I was little because of how I slept when I was a baby so I kind of have a soft spot for frogs. In truth, I'm not even 100% sure Michelle knows that. The Dog book was from Frank, Amber and Corrie and Turner got me the striped frog as a present during the pregnancy. The great thing about frogs is they tend to go really well with the room's color scheme-ha!

Anyway, I'm off to work on the week 31 update, so stay tuned!
Love,
J