There's a First Time for Everything

Well, I am blatantly stealing my sister's (Brie) blog idea. But I figured with our sweet baby girl on the way, there are far-away loved ones who may like to keep up with our quickly changing lives. Also, it's summer, or as I like to call it, self-imposed semi-bed rest, (ok- that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I have definitely been catching up on All My Children, which is unfortunately going off-air after 30 years just in time for my maternity leave!) My point is, there is no time like the present, so I've decided to start a blog. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to see Brie's blog, please don't expect this one to be as clever or regularly updated. In fact, I think we should start with some realistic expectations. Unfortunately, Jason and I are historically terrible at taking pictures to commemorate, well... anything. Hopefully, that will change once our sweet little girl is born. Speaking of whom, I suppose this is a good time to introduce her. Here is one of our first glimpse's of Olive Evelyn Porter.

Here she is at about 18 weeks. I'm pretty sure this is the most beautiful profile ever, and I have been told so by several other people.

In case you were wondering what she looks like from the outside, the simple answer is "lumpy." Here I am at 20 weeks. My plan is to take a picture every four weeks to see the progress. Coincidentally, 24 weeks falls on this Friday, July 15th, which also happens to be my First Annual 29th Birthday.

Like I said, a little lumpy.

To help everyone get to know our little girl, there are a few characteristics that are already evident. To begin, she is very playful. She likes to tease ultrasound technicians by turning just enough so they can rarely get the shot they want. That's why it took two ultrasounds to figure out she was a girl. I like to think that she is just ladylike. Also, there are already several shots of her sucking her thumb, which the techs tell me would be rare so early. However, I know she is just advanced. Next, she is a mover and shaker. I've been able to feel her since about 14 or 15 weeks, but her dad felt her for the first time last week on the 4th of July. I think she also shares her mother's love for American History, and chose this monumental day to kick enough for her dad to feel. Like I said, she's advanced. As to which one of us she will look most like, the jury is still out. I think she looks like her dad in the 22 week shot.

Now the only one I haven't updated you on is Jason. He is doing well and working hard, as always. He tries to do as much fishing as possible on the weekends, because as he constantly reminds me, he won't be able to go as much once Olive arrives. Unfortunately, unless the weather conditions are pristine (which means absolutely no wind and not too hot, which rarely happens in Florida) he doesn't love me coming along. He's already very protective of both of his girls, which is pretty sweet. Lately he's been pretty obsessed with catching bonefish, which isn't easy because they are very "spooky." He also has found a great spot for snapper. You may be thinking, "Perfect! Jason can bring home all those delicious omega-3s for Alise and the baby!" But unfortunately, you'd be wrong. Jason likes to fish near the Turkey Point Power Plant, and since we don't want our little girl to have three eyeballs or the ability to read minds, I'm not too keen on eating his fish. I'm sure the fish also appreciate our catch and release philosophy.

I can't find any of the bonefish pictures, but this is a permit from last weekend. You may be thinking that we are getting better at taking pictures since this is recent, but this was taken by our friend David who went fishing with Jason that day.

There you have it folks... The first ever "Porterly Report." We look forward to sharing this exciting time with you all!