General Update and Week 22...

I feel bad that we aren't posting more on the blog. It just seems like not that much tremendously exciting is going on. We've been continuing to work on Quinn's room and are close to being done except some touch up on the chair rail and some caulking. We touched up the paint last weekend. Our next project, which I think we will kick off this weekend, is to sand down the furniture we plan to use to paint it white. It's kind of funky, 70's looking stuff that I'm not that wild about (sorry, Turner!), but I'm hoping that painted a solid color instead of a the wood grain and with the addition of some funky drawer pulls, it will look totally different.
After that, we still will need to run additional power in his room (there's only 1 outlet right now!!!) and then get cracking on the former office/guest room to-be. We're trying to find a futon that will work in that space as it just isn't big enough to accomodate a Queen sized bed or even a normal full without taking up way too much space. Don't worry, for those of you who actually stay with us, we plan to get a nice mattress so it really shouldn't be too bad at all. I think it may be hormones, but I feel a real push to get all of this done. I know the further into the pregnancy I get I will wind up more tired, and a little larger (and therefore less mobile) so I want to get as much done as possible asap. It just seems like there is so much to do.
Other than all of that, everything has been going well. I'm working on cutting out some quilt pieces from some of my dad's old shirts so that my friend Nichole can help me (read: take charge as I know nothing about doing it) make a baby quilt for Quinn. I also really want to paint something for his wall...I have this idea that I really like, but I don't know if I'll get it done so I won't tell you about it yet. I am starting to sound crazy and slightly over-motivated, eh? The tragic bit is, that when I get home, I'm just so tired I don't actually get much of it done. Oh well...I AM growing a baby afterall!
And now, for Week 22:

(Can I just mention that I LOVE me some spaghetti squash! I know that it's a little random to share when it is Quinn's veggie of the week, but it is one of my absolute favorites. I introduced Turner to it just recently and he likes it as well. Sorry, leave it to me to bring it all back to eating :-) ...Ok, back to it:
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Week 21 Update

So, the offical Week 21 Update:

Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

As for actual news from us....hmmm... Not too much going on, really. We registered last weekend (at Babies R Us and Target) and thought we THOUGHT we knew what we were doing going into registering, in the end, it was a little on the overwhelming side. It seems that even with people we know who are raising happy, great kids, there are some differences as to what people found to be essential and things like that. One thing we have definitely learned is when you register you should take a mom with you as she'll have a lot better ideas as to what makes the most sense.
Otherwise, not too much going on. Hanging with friends, chilling at home with friends and with the dogs. The boys are both doing well (knock on wood). They had a bath this week which wasn't popular, but they smell much better :-)
This weekend, we hope to get more work done on Quinn's room. And we got in the rocker glider (with Rob's help moving it) last night which we're really happy with. I'll try to get some pix of that. We still need to touch up paint and Turner is going to caulk the chair rail and such. Then we'll move on to sanding and refinishing the furniture. There's always something to be done, it seems!
Hope all have had a good week and hope you enjoy a good weekend!
Love to all,
Jessica

Other ultrasound info...& Week 20 Update

Hey.

Just thought I'd give you some more info as in all of the excitement of Quinn being a boy, I forgot to tell you other info we got. Everything with him is perfect and exactly as it should be. Right now he's a little squished in my uterus, which means I should be getting bigger so he has a little more room to move. They also caught on the ultrasound that my placenta is lower than normal so that is blocking Quinn's escape route (more info than you wanted, right?). This would be a big deal if I were having him naturally, but isn't such a big thing since I'm having a C-section. The great thing about it is that we'll get another ultrasound at 36 weeks in 3D just to check on it. YAY! We LOVE to see him.

Now, for our Week 20 Update:

Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, he's measured from head to toe.)He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

Quinn's first Pix

Ok, so it's not actually his first pictures, but it's the first pictures that we knew were of him!!

We'll try to get on here later and make some notes, but here you go!!

This was our second ultrasound and the second time we've gotten one of these cards. He's not actually a member of an 80's boy band :-)

Another full body shot...

This one was the 3D Ultrasound. Apparently, you can see a lot better when it's bigger. Quinn seemed to think this was a fun time to hide.



















On the one below, you can see the heart (I circled it!!). We saw all 4 chambers and everthing was good. We got to hear the heart beat and his pulse was 150 bpm.















For proof that al of the limbs are there, I included this hand...















...and foot.

Quick update...It's a.....

BOY!!!
And we're planning (thus far) to name him Quinn Lewis Turner.
He's perfectly proportioned, very cute, clearly very smart and a little chubby for a 1 lb baby :-) Apparently he's not going hungry! We have lots of pix (including a 3D one) as well as a video (thanks to our awesome ultrasound tech, Nancy) and Turner will post them asap as I let him take them to work. However, he's off with his boss and co-workers at a Batman premier (hard job, eh?) so it will be awhile.
Love to all,
Jessica

Preggoriffic!

So I'm just posting this as it is funny. I put on this dress (of Kari's) this morning and really thought I didn't look very pregnant... However, in court, several people asked me about it and at some point, I was in the elevator and saw a side view of myself and realized, I really do look pregnant in this... I told Nichole my story (I was tired this morning when I thought I didn't look preggo) so she took my picture to show everyone how un-pregnant I look :-)

The actual reunion....and the rest of the story

So now, more explanation to go along with all of the pictures. Turner and I took a trip to Central Illinois to attend my mom's 45th high school reunion with her in Mattoon, IL. Maybe an odd vacation, but I really wanted to see Mattoon again (the town my mom grew up in and where my Grandma Georgia lived), I wanted to share Mattoon with Turner, and I wanted Turner to meet some of my mom's friends from high school, in particular, Susan and Linda as growing up, I spent some quality time with them. Alas, Linda didn't make it from California, but Susan lives in Mattoon so she couldn't escape me!
We went to Carbondale on Wednesday to visit my Aunt Sheryl, Uncle Bill and Sadie. It made more a much shorter trip on Thursday and was a great excuse to spend a little time with them. After a delicious breakfast courtesy of Uncle Bill, we hit the road. We kind of piddled a bit and stopped in Lebabnon, Illinois where there are a bunch of antique shops en route to Jacksonville.
After picking up my mom, we headed to Mattoon. Once there, we met Susie for dinner at Cody's. My mom was staying at Susan's and Turner and I had a hotel room nearby.
Friday we met Larry (Susan's husband) for lunch at Villa Pizza (there are pix of lots of this below) and then hit the mall. I got a few great deals on a couple of maternity shirts and a dress and mom found some cute outfits for the reunion. And Susie managed to sneak away and buy some super-cute Peanut attire. After a nap, it was time for the mingler at the American Legion.

This is a shot of my mom and I at the mingler on Friday night. There was lots of good food, a great birthday cake (as the Class of 1963 was turning 63 this year) and some oldies (I mean the music, not the people).
The next morning, Turner headed out early to play golf with Larry and I picked my mom up to put together flowers for the graves (My Grandma Georgia, Grandpa Pano, Uncle Johnny, Great Uncle Tony Steve and Great-grandma Ida are all buried in Mattoon). It toook longer than we thought it would and Turner ended up meeting up with us and we toured the train station and then he went with us to the graveyard.

Then we went around and took pictures of my grandma's house and Friendship Park. This is a shot of Turner and I in Friendship Park with the headless woman statue (as a side note, I think she lost her head when I was still a kid, so this isn't the work of a modern day vandal:-)
Then back to the hotel to clean up and off to the reunion. Turner was the official photographer which presented a number of problems as it was pouring rain and lightning and thundering and the class picture had been planned for outside on some stairs. After some improv, he managed to get some good shots and we edited over the rain drop on the lens (which you'll see in the picture below) with Class of 1963.

This is me, semi-hideously posing as the place holder for the Class of 1963. Alas, though we lined them all up on this stairwell, they wouldn't all fit, so we had to move them out into the rain.

The official Class of 1963 picture. However, as I mentioned above, the raindrop was edited out. Turner was perched on the back of the Tribute holding an umbrella in one hand and the camera in the other taking this picture. I ultimately stood below him as it was the only way to keep from getting completely soaked.

A final shot of us with my mom later in the evening. I'd like to say that I hope I didn't look this hideous all night. The rain had played a number with my hair and as for the rest of me, ugh, hopefully I didn't look this bad the whole time. Since we were the official photographers, we have way more pictures of the Class of 63 than we do of us, so I included this one just because.
All in all, save the LONG drive on Sunday, it was a good trip and I had a lot of fun.
Oh, and the Peanut travelled pretty well, all things considered.
Love to all and we'll update with the sex of the Peanut on Thursday!
We can't wait to find out!
Love,
J