Monday, September 12, 2011

The Stache
The beard is 4 weeks old today. More updates will follow. Branden Tussing

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Lingering Thoughts As "Go Time" Approaches

As the end of the pregnancy nears, anxiety about what that really means begins to set in. Soon we will have a little boy and the ship that is the rest of our life will set sail. We are most defiantly ready to get this voyage started. I am so lucky to have Jill to go through this craziness with.
The fun begins tonight (sunday) at 8pm. It will start with the doctors giving Jill some crazy meds that I can't pronounce or spell to "ripen her cervix." Monday morning they will begin the induction process. Then the pushing, screaming and the horror movie that is child birth begins.

Aside from being scared, excited, and all of the other generic feelings new dads feel I have decided to conduct an experiment. The year of the beard. I plan to start growing a beard monday afternoon when Mica is born and continue growing it until his first birthday. I want to see if there are any similarities between the growing and maturing process of a baby and a beard... they both start with the letter B and a small amount of hair. I think that is enough of a similarity to form the hypothesis that babies and beards must have something in common.

I will see all of you on the other side when our wolf pack grows by one.
Branden

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The end is near!

The end of pregnancy, that is. Don't worry!
We're 15 days away from our due date (who's counting?) and feeling pretty confident about our preparations. I'm sure all that confidence will go out the window once we realize it's "go-time," but hey, we can enjoy it for now!

Today, Branden and I went to Yellow Springs {Check it out! } with Brianna and Troy. It was so much fun! We toured all of the little shops in the area and had lunch at a little tavern in town (which I totally forget the name of already...). We also ran into Dave Chapelle, which is a common occurance in Yellow Springs, but still very cool. We've all decided that we would be totally happy living the simple, hippie life in Yellow Springs =).

I've been thinking a lot lately about what un-pregnant life will be like. After all, it's been a pretty long time since I've gotten to experience it! I know there are a lot of things I'm looking forward to, and a lot of things that will be difficult. Just for fun, let's measure up:

Things I'm looking forward to
1. Sleeping on my stomach
2. Not running into everything
3. Not being pitied, or at least the
center of attention
4. Weighing a whole lot less (hopefully!)
5. Watching my baby grow up
6. Having a little Branden to laugh at
7. Not getting up 5 times a night...

Things I'm going to miss
1. Being able to go to sleep in minutes
2. Having an excuse for running into everything
3. Not being the center of attention =)
4. Having an excuse to eat so much ice cream
5. Knowing my wild baby has nowhere to escape!
6. Having only 1 Branden to take care of (AGHHH
7. Wait. Scratch that. That won't change. I'll get up 5 times a night anyway.

I could probably go on for a while, but I guess what I'm trying to say is life is about to get really hectic and really magical. I can't wait to hold my son, and see what he looks like, and hear what he sounds like, and watch him experience the world from the very beginning. Yeah, it'll be tough. I understand. But I know we can do it. For now, we're just counting down the days.

Love,
Jill

Monday, July 18, 2011

Mini Me... You Complete Me.

I have an exciting update for you guys!
Are you ready!?!?
Here we go...

So the first time we went to get a 3d ultrasound at Ultrasona (in Columbus) our baby wasn't really cooperating. He covered his little face with his little hands =(. Fortunately, Ultrasona will schedule another free appointment when this happens, so ours was last friday. It was a success this time!

Any of you who know Branden know he has some pretty dominant facial features (i.e. big lips, chubby cheeks, wide nose...) Note* This isn't me making fun of him, I think he's very handsome, as a matter of fact! And of course I don't have the thinnest of cheeks either. I've been mistaken for a squirrel on several occasions, it's no big deal.

Can you imagine our surprise/excitement/amazement when we saw firsthand that our son looks like this:





The many emotions of "Lucas?" Number 2 is my favorite, even though the poor little guy isn't happy. He's squished! Number 3 is angry baby (I would be too, if someone kept poking me!) and Number 4 kinda of looks like he's so mad, he's giving us the finger! Do you see it? What a little punk.

So basically it's Branden 2.0!! Isn't it amazing how much they look alike?
For reference, here's a baby picture of Mr. Tussing himself:


Technology is awesome.

Love, Jill

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

And our wolf pack... it's growing by one

...One BOY that is! Yes! We finally found out the little peanut is a boy... which unfortunately makes the naming process more difficult. We've narrowed it down to the following:
1. Lucas Parker
2. Micah Parker
3. Jackson Parker
(and apparantly "Obi Wan") *Note: This one is still up for discussion.
We'll figure it out soon enough, relax.

So I must state the obvious: We're TERRIBLE at updating this blog! I apologize, my procrastination knows no end. As it is, we've got a lot of stuff to tell you about, but that would mean one LONG, LONG blog. Here's a quick summary:

1.Baby Shower 1 - Our friends here in Dayton threw it. It was AMAZING! Thanks to everyone involved and came. I was so excited and touched that you guys took the time to celebrate with us! Thanks especially to Tiffany, Megan, and Sam for planning this shindig. We even had an adorable cake made by Mitch's mother and grandmother in the shape of a pregnant lady's belly =)

2.Baby Shower 2 - Tussing Family - Another HUGE success! Janet, Brad, and Bri - you guys helped us so much. It was nice to be with family and celebrate "Prince Branden Jr.", I can't explain how grateful we are for all of your help. Highlights: ridiculous and hilarious baby shower games, wonderful gifts, wonderful family =)

3.Ultrasound!! Finally, we got to see HIM again! Life is a lot easier knowing we're dealing with a little boy rather than what I assumed was a little ewok.



4.Baby Shower 3 - Dunham Family - Again, I can't even tell you how grateful I am to have such an amazing family. You guys really worked hard and it was awesome to get to see so much of my family. We had a great turnout, and I think we're officially prepared for this baby now! Unfortunately, we forgot to take any pictures, but I can assure you: it was so nice!

5.New Apartment - Branden and I are loving our new apartment. We're slowly preparing for the baby by putting together his nursery. Here are some cool amenities... (By the way, feel free to come and visit! We're super proud of our new home.)




*there are a LOT more pictures on my Facebook:


6.Summer!
Finally, I have to mention that its summer, so I'm extremely happy. I'm taking a few online classes, and Branden is taking classes and working, but we've still found a lot of time to have fun. We just went to Zoombezi Bay with my nephew, Gavin, and Branden's sister, Brianna, and her boyfriend, Troy. Aside from all of the waddling I did, it was really nice to spend the day in the sun and in the pool. I wish we could do that more often! We're busy with doctor's appointments too, but sometimes being able to spend time both in Fairborn and Columbus is nice. We go through a lot of gas, but hey, at least we get to go to Zen Cha and Katzinger's every now and then. =)

I'm sure I've forgotten to mention a lot of things, but I'll leave you with this update for now. Hey, at least it's something! For those of you who are counting, we're at week 34 (and 5 days)... it's only a matter of time, right? I don't think I can handle much longer!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

25 weeks and 3 days.... ish. WHEW!!

We're not very dependable, are we?

Yes, yes, I know it's been FIVE weeks since we've last blogged. A few of you have reminded me lately... does that mean you really like us!?!? I'm just going to assume so.

Well... let's see. Here's what has happened over the last month:

1. Another inconclusive trip to the doctor. We didn't get to do another ultrasound to check the sex of the baby, but that was because both mine and his/her weight and size are perfect, blood pressure is perfect, and he/she (Lucas? Ziggy? Ju-Ju-Be?) just wouldn't stop kicking! Knowing we have a healthy baby is more important than knowing if they will be a Lily or a Micah, right?
2. This trip did lead us to take drastic measures, however. This, my friends, is the "Intelligender Gender Prediction Test:"
It's a little test we picked up from CVS that is SUPPOSED to be 70-80% accurate. Basically, I peed in a cup. The result? What the sticker label on the cup designated as.....BOY! The question is... do we really believe this? Hmm....
3. Branden and I are about half-way through the quarter. We're staying above water, but man, it has been busy. I've been sick for a good 3 weeks now, so Brandens been being student/worker/caretaker/Superman. What a nice guy. And a sharp dresser, too!

Other than that, our lives are a mess of baby shower plans, finding a pediatrician, planning lamaze classes, and making time to watch The Office and Archer. Some things just need to be done.

So, friends, I'll leave you with that. A fairly uneventful update, but I must go back to writing papers and reading novels. Such is my life.

Baby, however, lives a pretty good life. He/She sleeps all day, eats whenever I get the chance, kicks me around a little (Little Branden, right?), and best of all, REALLY enjoys this contraption:
That's right, headphones for ma'belly. We've been playing some of our favorite music for the baby for about an hour a day, and some of it really makes him/her excited! Hopefully calm, too. Very cool. Thanks again, Ya-Ya and Gandalf!

Now, everyone, harass Branden into sharing something with you!

Love, Jill

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Move your legs: Living in anticipation.

We had our third ultra sound yesterday. It was the one where we found out the sex of our child. Are you ready??? Drum role please... and the image on the screen is...inconclusive.

Yea, trust me I know how disappointed you are. Our darling little boy/girl is as stubborn as Jill and my self. The little bugger wouldn't open its legs to show the family jewels. I half expected that to happen. Nothing this big can ever go according to plan. My mom and sister go the chance to go to the doctor with us and see the little on the ultrasound screen.

Jill and I have still been shopping around and preparing quite a bit. We have registered at Toys R Us, Babies R' Us, Target, and ThinkGeek.com (you can find our registries at any of those under either of our names). While we wait to find out weather we're having a boy or girl we will keep you up dated with theses pictures for your viewing pleasure.
If you compare these to the older posts you can see the little soy bean is getting big. It is about 16cm long and weighs about 10oz.

Aside from all the kid stuff Jill and I are kicking some serious academic booty right now. I have a 3.5 with Wright State and my cumulative GPA (Wright States and Columbus States combined) is a 3.0. This is the first time in my life that I have had grades this good. If any of my high school teachers are reading this, I'm sorry it took so long for me to get my act together. Jill's got a 3.3 which is awesome in my book. We'have both been busy with work. I decided to work over spring break just to keep the money coming in. I have a particularly difficult quarter coming up. I work every day and have class ever day. I got stuck in a night class because I opted to take a class with a better reviewed professor. I will be taking Business Calculus, which I miraculously tested into. As long as I can keep my head above water this spring should be a good one.

Branden Tussing

Friday, February 25, 2011

Is it a baby. . . or a globe??

Alright. I promised.

This, my friends, is what my belly looks like these days...:

... which sometimes makes me feel like this...:

...and other times more like this:

But knowing there's a little me or a little Branden swimming around in there is totally worth it all! It's the beginning of week 16, so we're almost half-way there! Who's getting excited?!?

Now, here's one I know a lot of you will appreciate. This is for you, Grandpa Adams:
(This is our very first onesie, courtesy of Grandma Janet (have you decided on your title yet?) Thanks! We love it, and we love you!)

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day, part 2

Alright. I know this is going to be cheesy, but it's a Hallmark holiday, so let's celebrate! (I know, I'm hilarious.) I've had other friends do this, and I've found their stories pretty interesting, so here goes.

Our life together, the beginning:

When I was sixteen, I spent a lot of time at my friend Amanda's house in Ashville. I would be there before track meets, after school dances, on weekends, on weekdays after school, after track practices.... just about any time that I wasn't in school or asleep. Amanda's house became my second home, and about 5 of my other friends could probably say the same for themselves. One night, Amanda invited a few people over to watch a movie, some of whom I didn't know. I'm sure you can guess who one of those little curly-headed punk boys was, right? After watching some terribly cheesy horror movie, we all spent the rest of the night running around the house, shooting fake arrows from a plastic bow at each other, and playing with the rest of plastic weapons I kept in my car trunk. Yeah, I'm weird. (Branden often says he knew he was in love with me when one day he saw me marching out of Amanda's house with a 7 foot spear, ready to wreak havoc on IGA. Gosh, I'm awesome.)
Anyway, I gave Branden a ride home that night. Anyone who knows Long Street in Ashville can picture the Citgo gas station beside IGA. I parked my car there, and as we were walking out of the house, Branden ran and jumped on a gas truck in the parking lot! He climbed the ladder to the top of the truck and just... sat down. Needless to say, when the owner came out of the gas station he began yelling furiously at Branden to get off of his truck, so Branden jumped down and got in the car, and we sped off. It was a really fun night, and was soon followed by more plastic weapon and trespassing adventures. On our first "date", we watched the Boondock Saints at Branden's house. He even bought me a toy ninja weapon kit! How romantic, right?

Branden and I had met before this night, though. He happened to be in a study hall I was in my sophomore year, and I recognized him as "the kid who dressed really well." He had even been to one of my brother's band's concerts, as I took some of my friends who took their friends. Apparently he recognized me from another concert we had both been at, a local Grove City band's show. I was "the girl with the camera."


Since then, Branden and I had a long on-again, off-again relationship. We fought, we made up. We fell in love in antique stores and tea salons and parks and book stores and concerts. We grew up together, learning about how hard and beautiful life can be, and now we finally have a chance to share one. We're not 16 anymore, but there are still adventures we've yet to experience and definitely some toys in our future. I hope we can still enjoy all of those things that we've learned to love together, and one day soon, share them with our child. The new family I share with the love of my life is the best gift I could have ever asked for.

Valentine's Day, part 1

Alright. I know it's been a while since we've updated. I was waiting for Branden to give in and do the update, but I guess this is me giving in. Ugh. How does he get away with these things?

Branden has been a busy man lately. He got the job working for CaTS (Computer and Technology Services) here at WSU, and he's been picking up shifts like a mad man. This has left me all alone on Valentine's day (aside from the reese's and grape juice by my side). I can't complain though. He's really working hard on saving money for the baby and I'm so proud of him for it! He's also doing really well in his classes too.

I, on the other hand, am working on making it through the quarter alive. Morning sickness is gone, but I'm afraid it was followed quickly by an ever-growing belly that's been slowing me down. My friends at the Writing Center have deemed February 25th "Make Jill take a baby-bump picture day", so if they succeed I'm sure you guys will be able to see the progress. I'm doing well with my classes, but can't wait for the week-long break between this and next quarter. I'm exhausted!

As far as we know, little baby Micah/Audrey/Landon/Lily/Owen/Logan Tussing can now hear our voices and is moving around! No kicks yet, but the "butterflies" I feel are supposed to be a sign that they are coming. Because the baby can hear us, we're moving Branden's keyboard to my apartment so that he can play more often and let her/him hear what Daddy is all about! Things are getting really exciting.

Coming up: Touring apartments for next year, more doctor visits, and (soon) preparing for finals! We're slowly but surely making this "life" thing come together.

Miss you and love you all,
Jill

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Baby update

Week 10 is officially over! We're moving into week 11, and that means I'm only one week away from my second trimester! Let me tell you guys, it feels great. Supposedly by week 13 my nausea should be mostly relieved, my energy will return, and life will be just a little bit easier.

If only the Ohio weather would follow the same trend. I had the WORST time coming back to Dayton from Grove City this afternoon. 35 was icy the whole way, so it took me twice as long to get home as usual. What a pain.

Backtracking a little ... This morning I had my first visit with a doctor. So far, everything is going really well and the baby and I are healthy. Dr. Grogg had a little trouble hearing the babies heartbeat at first (which made me nervous!) so we did another ultrasound and could hear it right away! Here are the new pictures - just 10 days after our last ultrasound and the baby looks completely different! It has gone from a "jelly bean" to a "lime", or so I'm told. I am so amazed at how quickly s/he has grown... things are starting to get interesting! (Be on the lookout for a tiny afro soon... I feel like it's only a matter of time.)



In less interesting news, it's week 3 of Winter quarter, and things are going pretty smoothly. I actually like all of my classes (especially English 357, of course) and am keeping up so far despite all of the other things going on. I love my job at the writing center, and all of my friends there have been really supportive and excited for me. I can't explain how much that means to me. Branden's doing well with classes too, and had an interview for a campus job today!

Currently he's trying to dig one of our cars out of the snow so he can go get a Red Bull. He's been outside for about 20 minutes now, and I'm not seeing much progress. You have to admire his commitment, though.

Monday, January 10, 2011

We Have a Heartbeat

Today was the first time we saw our child. It was something we knew would happen. We have seen and heard about from others. I felt so connected to the world when I saw the little "soy bean" in the monitor. (That's a quote from The Office for those of you that didn't get it.) It was the most sobering, magical moment in my life until the ultra-sound technician pushed a little button on her magic machine and we heard a heartbeat. I haven't experienced the level of emotion that I felt when I heard the 173 beat per minute heartbeat of my new favorite person. It felt like someone threw a bucket of cold water on me that washed away all of the left over doubt and fear. My hair stood on edge and I could hear a vague distant voice saying, "Hi daddy, I'll see you soon."

Coming August 13 to a hospital near you. (due date as of now)




Saturday, January 1, 2011

Ahh, morning sickness. My new best friend.

Yep, it's true. Morning sickness IS real and is currently running my life. FUN FACT: It doesn't just occur in the mornings! How's that for a double-whammy? Not only am I susceptible to getting sick almost every day, but it can be ANY TIME OF DAY!
Fortunately, I've learned how to avoid this issue for the most part, with a mix of constant snacking, lots of water, and avoiding tight clothes. There are times, however, that I forget to eat "on schedule" or don't eat enough, and my body definitely lets me know. I've also heard that ginger is a good nausea preventative? Maybe I should snort some ginger or at least drink some ginger ale... I'll let you know how that experiment goes. I'll probably just stick with TUMS, to be honest.
It's also very helpful to have a boyfriend who LOVES to cook. Right now, for example, Branden is in the kitchen cooking chicken and rice because my stomach has been pretty angry with me today. He's stocking up on healthy recipes for us as well. How did I get so lucky??

In other news, our New Years Eve/Day went well. We got to spend time with some good friends and enjoy relaxing in Dayton, and then spent the next day watching movies in bed and cleaning my apartment. I hope all of yours went as well, and once again I want to thank you for all of the love and support you're giving Branden and I these days! It helps more than you know.

Love, Jill