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

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

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!)

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.