New Ultrasound Pictures

Here are the pictures from our Janaury 18, 2007 ultrasound. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

First "Baby Blog" Entry.

As you can see from this picture (second one down), the baby is male. There is probably a joke here, but I will refrain.


















Much like we did with our travels to Italy in 2005, Jen and I wanted to use this blog to share all of our pregnancy experiences, pictures and updates with all of you.

Although we wanted to start this earlier, we just didn't have the time to do so. Today is January 13, 2007, the first day of Jen's 19th week.

On December 29, while in Pittsburgh, we had an ultrasound that took the the following pictures. Enjoy.

Finally Home.

It is 10pm and we are safe and sound at home. We have been up for 24 hours now. Jen is in bed and I am playing with the dogs for a bit before I pass out. The trip went well and everything was on time. But almost 14 hours of plane time is a bit too much. Carmelo Anthony and his wife were on our flight from London to LA.

I am uploading the pictures to our computer right now and they should be on www.jenandcj.smugmug.com soon. Talk to you all soon.

Off to the airport...

Our car service will be here in a few minutes...so one last update. We finally shopped yesterday around the Spanish Steps where we explored the side streets rather than Via Condotti (although I must admit, I did by a few handbags on Via Condotti.) We found two amazing shops where we bought some amazing olive oils, balsamic vinager (which by the way, most restaurants do not have), and a few other delicacies. Needless to say, after a day of shopping...finally...our suitcases are filled to the brim with Italian leather shoes and bags and specialty foods. I (Jen) didnt get any shoes!!! Next time. I did buy some very touristy watercolors of our favorite sites, along with these really interesting sepia colored drawings created from a design on a copper plate (hard to explain.) For dinner, we ate by the Piazza Navona, but off a side street with less tourists. Piazza Navona is a large square surrounded by resaurants with outdoor seating and waiters waiving you over. In the center, vendors of fake French and Italian handbags and sunglasses, along with artists of oil paintings, mosaics and watercolors, surround three amazing fountains by Bernini, all three of which are hundreds of years old and beautiful. I have reached the point where, although the pizza and pasta is amazing, I am ready for some American food and have big plans for a day of eating on Sunday. CJ of course would never tire of the proscuitto, fresh mozzerella, dried thinly sliced raw beef, etc... all covered in olive oil. (I think he already posted the story about how he asked for "italian dressing.") They do not have salad dressing at the restaurants here, so a big salad is high on my list for tomorrow--with italian dressing of course!!! So--off to the airport--we will call everyone as soon as we recuperate and I am sure CJ will be posting the pictures (over 330) as soon as we get home.

Day 6 - Last Full Day in Roma.

Hi all. We went back to Vito's for the "Picagna" beef dish last night. The waiter and owner both know us. It was great again as usually, and we took pictures to show it. Some pictures (hopefully all) will be on smugmug.com on Sunday. Today we filled-up our 1GB memory stick with about 350 pictures. Dinner last night was supplemented by Jen's fried mozzarella balls (fried in olive oil and with a fresh tomato sauce) and my prosciutto di Parma - the best Ive had in Italy. We have ended the last couple dinners with lemonchello- a lemon flavored liquor that aids in digestion - very good - like lemon sambuca, without the anise flavor.

After dinner we drank at the bar with a couple on their honeymoon from England. I forgot how funny English people talk and the goofy terms they have for things. Very amusing. I actually got into a conversation about football (soccer) and held my own.

After the late night, Jen and I ended up sleeping in and decided to cancel the catacombs. We have seen enough bones and underground crypts to last us a while - plus, the drive is a little far. We shopped a little bit all over Rome throughout the day and also had a nice lunch.

In the afternoon we visited the Castel SanAngelo which is only 10 minutes from out hotel. It was built 2000 years ago as a mausoleum for Hadrian and then was taken over by the Vatican and used as their fortress against attacks, as well as to store works of art in. There is still a working tunnel between here and the Papal Apartments of the Vatican. We took a lot of pictures and got some great 360 degree views of Rome from atop the Castel that should be great.

After the catacombs and while Jen was shopping, I shot over to the Piazza de Popolo to see Santa Maria de Polopo (see Angels and Demons). This is one of the best, yet smaller churches in Rome. It probably has the best collection of Renaissance art, containing Rafael's paintings and designed tomb of the Chigi family (Pope Alexander VII), as well as 2 paintings by Caravaggio and more sculptures by Bernini (this dude is all over the place). Very cool church. Very beautiful.

We are going to get some dinner soon - we have been eating dinner each night around 10. We will probably pack most of our stuff tonight and then leave for the airport after a nice breakfast here.

The trip has been great and we loved Rome. We can't wait to come back to Italy and visit the cities in Northern Italy, Tuscany and Venice. We will write some more tomorrow morning before we leave.