One For The Road...

As we conclude 2011, I thought I'd get one more post in. Due to my immense lack of energy or brain power, this will probably be a condensed version of the end of the year. We have been home from the hospital for a week now. The first couple of days were rough. I believe the week has gone like we thought it would, a few ups and a few downs. However, all things considered, I think Dave has done remarkably well.

Dave got to go home on Christmas Eve. I didn't think it would make much difference if we were at the hospital or home for Christmas, but it actually did. We had a rather uneventful day, but just NOT being at IMC was a tremendous blessing! We have been behind on a number of things this past month, probably year. So we didn't get hardly any Christmas shopping done. (That's being worked on now.) Thanks to our amazing friends and neighbors, we had a Christmas. It was a good chance to explain a bit to Olivia about the true meaning of Christmas. While I'm not sure it was really a big deal at all to her, I appreciated being able to teach her.

I've been trying to take opportunities to help teach her about different things. She's been a lot of fun. Her personality continues to show more and more. Among other things, she has HUGE smiles and is laughing now. It has been really challenging for me to take care of her and Dave. Last week Mom and Dad Porter were here, which was an enormous help. This weekend has been a bit trying for me.

It seems I will be awake to ring in the new year. Here's to hoping 2012 is a good one!

Where We've Been...

This will be an extremely short entry, but I'll try to catch up soon. The "highlight" being that we have not fallen off the face of the planet, but rather have been camping out here.

It's IMC - Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, UT. Dave had his surgery to remove a tumor in his lungs. Everything with the surgery went fine and Dave did almost too well during his brief ICU stay. It has not however been all rosy. Nevertheless, we are on the home stretch and hopefully leaving tomorrow.

A Bit of BAD News...

After months of Dave coughing up blood and just not feeling well. We've learned he has a tumor in his lung. A biopsy was taken today to see if the tumor is benign or malignant, but we have been told by 2 surgeons that surgery is pretty inevitable. We will meet with the surgeons the next couple of days and determine a plan from there, but we're looking at having this done next week probably. I'll update as we learn more.

Turkey Day 2011

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Cache Valley. We debated whether or not to go because of how young Olivia is, but in the end we decided it would be a good idea. I'm glad we went. Olivia got to meet a bunch of the Porter aunts, uncles, and cousins. We had 6 of the 8 siblings at Mom and Dad's. Of course everyone loved her. :) Here are some pics.Olivia, Kim, Dave, Mom

Porter, and Grandma Barbara (99)A group shotUncle Ben, Aunt Cheryl, Grandpa

Porter, Uncle Bob, and Grandma BarbaraAnother group photo

After lunch with the Porter family, we went to Thanksgiving dinner with Grandma Nelson and Grandpa Pat. It was a much smaller group, but excellent company. Olivia really enjoyed being able to see so many people and Mom and Dad liked letting other people hold her for a while.

Olivia and Grandma NelsonOlivia and Grandpa PatOlivia and Uncle Chuck

It wasn't a total picnic however. This was our first overnight trip with Olivia and it was a trying start. I kept joking that next time we'll start packing 3 days before, but I just might do it. We've done trips with Jack and Sadie, and while we knew it would be harder with a baby, we didn't realize just how much work it is to travel with a child. Once we finally got on the road we made it with only 1 brief stop. It was only a 2 hour trip or so, but that was more than far enough.This just goes to show how tough it was for Baby and DAD. ;0)

We had planned to stay until today or tomorrow, but it didn't work out. Dave has had some health issues, which flared up; so we ended up heading home yesterday. It may have been for the best anyway. We were able to get our tree up today. It turned out really well. Tree picture to be posted at a later date.

What Do You Know?

Or rather, what does Dave know? Apparently a lot. Dave took a couple of tests yesterday, one on Excel and the other on financial principles, etc. The average score for the finance portion is 71%, and the average for Excel is 75%. So how did Dave do? He scored 80% on the finance, which isn't too shabby considering he graduated 6 years ago. He told me he got 100% on accounts payable, 90% on accounting, and 69% (not his best, although surprising lower than I would have thought) on accounts receivable. On the Excel testing, 100%! Congratulations Dave; way to go and I love you bunches!!

1 Month

Happy 1 month birthday Olivia. It has gone by quickly, but not. We have had our share of good days, bad days, challenges and bright spots thus far. All in all, Olivia has been so much fun; she has got a lot of personality. She amazes us all the time with how alert she is and how much she can do. Despite her occasional "down" days, Olivia is a great baby and we love her! We look forward to continuing watching her grow and progress.

Dinner Winner!

I entered an ongoing radio contest a while back, and then my radio broke. So I haven't been able to listen to anything in the car for a while. (Major bummer.) Anyway, I went to check our mail a day or two ago and had an envelope from Now 97.9 in there.It turns out I was a Free Pizza Friday winner. So I got 3 free pizzas from Papa Murphy's Pizza.I guess now we'll have for dinner on a busy night. :0)

10.31.2011

Today was Halloween. We just bought Olivia a onesie this year rather than a costume. I put her in it a few days ago and she proceeded to spit up on it. So I did a load of laundry this morning and by the middle of the day she got it dirty again. Nevertheless, I think she looked pretty good.We had her (slightly late - Mom and Dad's fault) appointment today. We met her pediatrician, who was dressed up as a pirate. I think he'll be a good Dr. for Olivia, but I still don't know what he looks like really. It was fun though. We're so proud of Olivia. She's packing on the pounds. Since her last appointment 12 days ago, she gained 1 lb. Her stats say: ht - 3%, wt - 10%, head circumference - 25%. She's on the smaller side, go figure, but at least she made it on the charts.

Dave has decided to switch brokers. After several meetings, much deliberation, and lengthy discussions with his wife, he has decided to move to Prudential! We're excited about the change and both feel that it is what will be best for our family right now. Dave called to inform his new "boss" that he would be coming and we were invited to the office Halloween party. It was fun. Dave is excited to get started in his new ventures and his girls are very proud of him.

Gratitude & Blessings

Wow! I have been amazed at the tremendous amount of generosity and support we have had because of Olivia. She is now about 2 1/2 weeks old and she's still being spoiled. (Something I suspect will be ongoing.) Dave and I were able to take her to my work this week to meet the rest of "Mom's family." It's just too bad that no one likes her at all! Yeah right...Olivia got so much attention in my office that it took us 20 minutes to make it to the nurses station. In reality, everyone loved her! But then again, who wouldn't? :0) We have been cautious in taking her out, but have made a few trips out and about for errands, etc. On Monday we have Olivia's 2 week checkup and we'll see how she's doing. We'll also finally get to meet our pediatrician.

It has been interesting to me to have so many people take an interest in our lives and for the service we've received. We have had a few dinners brought to us, which we greatly appreciate, and it seems the amount of food is meant to feed an army. I realize now that the next time I take dinner to someone I should send a 2 week supply. ;0) Also, several patients that I have worked with over the last few years have made blankets for Olivia. They are all adorable and greatly appreciated.Both Olivia and I have been very spoiled. We have been able to have Daddy home with us the last couple of weeks. Not exactly by choice per say, but it has been a huge help to have Dave home and just to be able to see him. He is an amazing dad and he just adores Olivia, which is evidently mutual.

First Few Days

I'm finally getting around to a quick post. It has been a busy few days since bringing Olivia home. We have had some concerns about her eating and digestion. She actually is quite a good eater and has a decent schedule, but her diaper count has been behind and we've been concerned with a few incidents.

Since getting her home we have not gone a day without some sort of doctor's appointment. Thankfully they always say she's alright. While it may seem like we're paranoid or hypochondriacs about her care, I really think there have been some concerns. Dave was able to give his first father's blessing to Olivia this morning and I know that she has already been helped by that. In fact it's been beneficial for me as well. I've felt great comfort and peace today about her health. Our goal for tomorrow, which I believe we can hit, is to not see a Dr.
My mom was able to come help us for the first several days and now Dave's parents have helped us the last few. We are so grateful for all of them and their tremendous support! We really appreciate everyone's love and support. So thank you all.Love,
Dave, Kim, and Olivia

Welcome Baby Olivia!

Nearly 60 hours old and counting. Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - enter the newest addition of the Porter family, baby Olivia! She came early in the afternoon after less than 9 hours of labor. Couple of stats: 6 lb 4 oz, 18" long, and lots of hair.
Olivia is such a mellow-tempered, easy going baby. She is remarkably quiet, almost scary how quiet she has been. During her initial assessment, shots, bath...barely a peep. We had a pretty good start to things with feeding, or so I thought. Apparently she wasn't doing quite as well as I thought in some areas, but excellent in other respects.








We only spent 2 days in the hospital, which was something of a shock to me. I always thought it was a little longer stay. On a completely random note, the food was amazing. We came home this afternoon and have already been in to see the pediatrician for some concerns. It was a PA that we visited with tonight, but we were there about an hour and got some really good information. I appreciated her taking so much time to answer our questions, concerns, etc.

Tonight will be a long night, hoping to get Olivia eating a little better - Dr's directions. I realized that there is so much I don't know. No surprise, but enlightening at the same time. It wasn't until we got to the pediatrician's office that I realized we hadn't even taken a diaper bag with us. Thought we were "pretty much ready" for baby, which we were, but now we just need to get back into general and "parental" thinking habits. Obviously we wouldn't and shouldn't know everything immediately. Lots of learning to do...

More importantly, Dave and I are so glad to have our little girl finally here. We love her so much and feel so blessed to have her in our family. Once again, welcome Olivia; we sure love ya!!
More pics coming soon. Stay tuned.

The End and Beginning

Well, I can't believe it's taken me so long to register my lack of blogging on this. About a month ago, we closed Doc's! It has been a long year in regards to the business, but it's been GREAT to be finished. Dave did so much to make it work, and frankly I think he did an amazing job with it.

There was a couple of guys that wanted to take over our lease for another restaurant concept. We don't know what it is exactly, but it was beneficial to everyone involved. We got out of our lease, the new guys got a space (and equipment) they wanted, and the landlord has a tenant who can/will be able to pay full rent for the space.

With Doc's tied off, Dave has been able to finally move on to something else! Dave is now venturing into real estate. He was actually offered a job before he was licensed. Being able to focus on just studying real estate, rather than worrying about the business, has been a huge advantage. Dave was able to take and PASS his Utah state real estate licensing exam this weekend! Hooray! I'm so proud of him.

It was a huge accomplishment and great blessing to be able to get it done before our baby gets here too. Actually, Dave was the 1st to finish the test among those in the testing group. We don't know what percentage he got, but ultimately he passed, which is all we care about. Tomorrow he'll begin training with his broker.

Business...done. Licensing...done. Baby...we're ready for her; now we're just waiting...almost done. :0)

Baby Showers

Our little girl is not going to be spoiled, at all...! I'm behind in logging this, but I had my work baby shower September 2nd and the Logan family and friends shower September 23rd. I am a little overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. Well, I don't know that overwhelmed is the word. Definitely grateful, but we ended up with way more than I would have ever guessed.

The princess will be set for some time! We have had very little to buy ourselves for her. As is traditionally the case, I believe, she already has so many more clothes, blankets, shoes, etc than either of her parents. :) She has some of the most adorable outfits and I can't wait to see her in them. I've been thinking a lot about this. I feel like I have some sort of idea what she may look like. We're down to 2 more weeks, although we think she may come a little early. (At this point it's something Mom would be okay with.)

I have pictures from both showers, but they aren't from my camera; so I can't post them yet. I also have some more up-to-date pregnancy photos, but I need to find the camera cord to transfer them to the computer. I'll get them on soon. Thank you so much to everyone for your support and tremendous outpouring of love and support! We love you all.

MA Dinner

Tonight I got to go out with the girls...again. The MA's in my office try to get together, outside of work, from time to time. Since I will be going on maternity leave soon, we wanted to do one of these such outings. Tonight we went to The Cheesecake Factory.

I've only been there once prior. These days my stomach is so squished that I can't eat much at a time. I got some crab and artichoke dip and split some dessert. Dinner was good, but like always it was nice to just hang out outside the office. Once again I had my camera, but didn't get around to taking any pictures. :(

On another note, I am getting some contractions now. I'm not always sure if it's contractions or the baby moving, but I've had a few that have been fairly strong. I have an appointment tomorrow; so we'll see what the doc says. (We suspect she may not wait the full 40 weeks to make her entrance.) Tomorrow we're off to Logan for my family/Logan baby shower. I think this will be the last traveling we do for a bit.

Full Day (Kimmy firsts)

Today Dave and I went to a 1st time mom (parents) class at American Fork Hospital. We did the condensed 1 day "cliff notes" version. I think that was the better way for us to do it. Some of what we covered I already knew, but I also learned a lot too. We are getting ever more excited to meet our baby!

This evening I got to go to my 1st girls' night. It was great! (Something I will need to do more of.)

I got to see some friends from high school, whom I haven't seen in far too long. We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory, yet another 1st for me. I rather enjoyed the food, and the company. We have a fabulous waitress, who spoiled me a bit because I'm pregnant I think.

We continue to make progress on getting ready for the baby to come, but still have a ways to go. Dave was able to get a lot done while I was gone, for which I am very grateful. Of course we hope the baby will stay in to finish growing, but we realize it could be anytime now. :0)

Remembering September 11th

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years. I will be the 1st to tell you that I don't have a great recollection/realization of how time flies. On Sunday Dave and I watched a few documentaries/shows about 9/11, which brought back a lot of memories. Sept 11, 2001 I was a junior in high school. I remember that I had just got my 1st pair of contacts. I was trying to get them in and get ready for school when I heard about the attacks. I was in AP American history at that time. We spent most of the day watching the news, like most of the country I believe. Dave had just got home from his mission. He hadn't been in Utah very long. He was starting fall semester at Utah State.

Follow-up Pics to the 8/27/11 Post

I wanted to put a few pictures on my last post, but just got around to downloading them. Here they are...

Kim and Dave at the Salt Lake Bees game 8/19/11.Richelle, Lynn, and Kim at the Bees game.

Sarah, Kim, and Emily
(Sarah and Emily hosted my shower.)

A Few Happenings

Pregnancy has finally caught up with me. I was able to take off about a week (couple weeks ago) to try and get ready for the baby. We made some progress, but I spent a lot of time sleeping. In the last couple of weeks I've noticed a big change in my pregnancy. We're both still doing well, but energy level has plummeted and Mom can't breathe.

Last Friday we had my work's summer party. We were able to go to a Salt Lake Bees game. They lost horribly, but I made it a little more than 2 hours before we took off. It's always fun to hang out with the co-workers, outside of work.

Last Saturday I had my first baby shower. It was ladies in our ward that came. I didn't take a lot of pictures, but we had a light lunch - sandwiches, fruit, veggies, dessert. Baby Porter got some cute stuff! It makes us that much more excited to get her here. Still not actually ready for her, but we're getting there.

Today we had a ward 5k/1 mile fun run/walk; then a pancake breakfast. I'm on the Relief Society activities board, so I got to help plan, etc. We had a really good turnout. Several of us were told it was one of the best activities we've had. I was rather proud of myself. I did some stuff with bolloons, which is a big deal since I don't particularly like balloons - phobia. I also cooked sausage and pancakes, 1st time participating in helping cook for a ward/large group function.

September is going to be a BUSY month at work. I have 17 out of 20 days in clinic with a Dr. We'll see how well that goes. (Not looking forward to it.) We're into the "final push" though. Soon our little girl will be with us. :0)

Nanny's 90th

It's been a couple weeks now, but my brother Charles, Dave, and I took a quick trip to Illinois. Quick being less than 48 hours in IL. We went out for my grandma's 90th birthday party. Even though it was a short trip, it was great to see my dad's side of the family. Love you guys! Here are some pics.

The birthday girl.Gift table and 1 of 3 picture poster boards.
1 of 2 cakes my cousin Leslie made.Dave and Kim
Charles and Kim
Cousins (Kim, Leslie, and Laura)
The whole family.

We had a family lunch, then an open house for Nanny. My Aunt Karen put a lot of work into the party, and it turned out awesome! There was also a good turnout of people to the open house. So again it was a quick one, but terrific seeing everyone. The next trip will be longer and we'll have a little one with us. :)

Pioneer Day Weekend

We had a good weekend! Nothing too spectacular, but I felt like Dave and I got to spend some good time together. Yesterday Dave went in to the business, for a half day. Then I volunteered to do a half day to let Dave come home. Why did Dave need to be home? So he could meet with the a/c guy.

I've tolerated the heat pretty well, for the most part. Dave's been in the same boat. Since we finally made it to summer and HOT temperatures, we tried turning on our a/c. Unfortunately, all that happened was hot air was pushed around. We've had fans going and windows open, but it was time to get our indoor temperature out of the high 80's.

The a/c guy came out, took a look, and found that a rat (or some other rodent) had crawled in somewhere or other and fried itself, thus causing a shortage. As exciting as that was to hear, it was far more exciting to just get the a/c going again. It was better news than I thought though. We were afraid he was going to say we just needed a whole new system.

Last night we had an impromptu "fireworks block party". I guess 20 or 25 people from our community got together and all brought some fireworks. It was a lot of fun. Dave loves fireworks; so we generally have several. That is, we will buy them, but they last a bit. We set off about 1/2 of our supply and have several more at home. After the fireworks we visited with a couple that we hadn't talked to much, but had excellent conversations.

Being as it was Sunday today, Dave and I took advantage of our sleeping in day. (We always need it.) We went to church and had some good meetings, then we came home and made cookies - coconut chocolate chip. We hadn't made them before, but they turned out really well. They sure were tasty.

To finish the day, Dave and I took Sadie for a walk. It wasn't a long one, but it was nice to get out. A few people were shooting off their fireworks tonight. We got to see a few. I have the day off tomorrow, but the business will be open. Not sure how it will be, but we will see.

I get to do my glucose tolerance test in the morning. It's not something I'm especially looking forward to - haven't heard good things about it. At any rate, at least it will be out of the way. Our little girl continues to be a little squirmy worm, which is a good thing. She's nice enough to do it during the day, and not in the middle of the night. Until next time...

Long Week

Last week was another long one. Both Dave and I had some ups and downs. Nevertheless, we've had a decent weekend. Friday night Dave was able to come home, only day last week, and we went on a date. We got some food from Chili's, accompanied with some leftovers, and went to see Pirates 4 at the dollar movies.

Saturday Dave spent a lot of time at the restaurant, big surprise. I spent several hours cleaning our house. I got a lot done, but we still have lots to do. Side note, today is the 3 year anniversary of us being in our house.

This morning I made my first quiche. It wasn't bad. I think it can be improved, but I'm proud of myself.

We had Navajo tacos for dinner, yum! (Thanks Dave for helping me with the frying.)

Here are a few recent pics. 25 weeks 26 weeks

07-04-2011

This year Dave and I decided (very last minute) to get away and visit the fam for the 4th. We left Sunday afternoon and were able to have dinner with my mom and Pat. We had chicken cordon bleu, baked potatoes, carrots, and a couple salads. It was excellent!

Today we had a Porter family BBQ, burgers hot dogs, lots of yummy food. Dave's brother Ben and his girls were there, his sister Becky and her family were there, Mom, Dad, Dave and I. His sister Cheryl and her family were planning on coming, but one of her girls got sick. So they didn't make it. I managed to "sneak" a few pics. Dave and Dad My grillin' fool Mom (making sure everything's ready) Some of the fam chillaxin' The best lookin' two (and a half) there!

After the BBQ we headed home to go to the Pleasant Grove fireworks with our neighbors. They did a good show. It rained off and on and there was some wind; so we weren't sure if they'd cancel the show. Luckily we got to see them. It was a lot of fun. There were several people we knew there and it was nice to hang out.

This was a firework we took. It was just a little fountain, but we thought it lasted a decent amount of time. I did a few other video clips of the PG fireworks, but they're taking 5 years to download. So we'll try it another time.

Dave wanted to try an aerial firework. So we bought one. It was cool, but it seriously last about 4 seconds. Mr. I love fireworks didn't mind though. It would have been nice if it went longer, but he enjoyed it. Thanks Moms and Dads for having us this weekend. We are grateful to live in the U.S. and to have so many freedoms. Happy 4th of July!!

Laundry Luxury

I was going to write a follow-up on our laundry situation, but then I registered that I never wrote the beginning. So 2-3 weeks ago now, our washing machine died. Well, actually it just broke. Dave tried to wash some aprons from the business at home, (maybe not the best idea,) and we thought a string had wrapped around the agitator. We took it apart, but to no avail. We decided it was probably a stripped gear or something.

Dave looked at replacement parts, which ranged from $20-$200 for the part we thought we needed. That might have been okay, but we really didn't want to put forth the effort to try and do it ourselves. Thus, it would have tripled the cost of repairs or more.

The washer and dryer we had was actually a set the previous owners had left when we bought our townhome 3 years ago. Who knows how long it was used before that? I finally broke down last weekend and tried to hand wash a small load of clothes in the kitchen sink. Are you impressed? I thought I did pretty well, but it really wasn't the same as having a machine do it.

My plan had been to wash laundry in the sink and throw it in the dryer. So that's what I did. I let the dryer run for an hour, only to pull out still wet clothes. Dave had been thinking about just getting a cheap used washer, but when we found out the dryer was having problems too, we looked into getting a new set. This is what we ended up with...
and I love it! These things are ridiculously cool! I did 3 loads of laundry this evening and it blows me away. They're energy efficient, have tons of cycles, are super quiet, and play music when you turn them on or they finish a load. Plus, we got them on sale for a great price, and the way I see it, with the "extra capacity" it should come in handy when our little girl gets here.

We've made a few "major purchases," in our marriage, but this was a 1st for us. So here's to modern technology, (they have some sensor that determines how much water should be used and how long each load should take ,) and not having to do laundry by hand.

Tragic Loss

Here's my very minor tribute to a dear friend. I went into work a little late today. When I got there I did not get my usual greeting and I got the worst news! One of my co-workers and very dear friends, Cami, drowned in a rafting accident in Idaho last night. Needless to say, it was a very long day for everyone in our office.

I think a lot of times this is what we hear, but Cami was loved by so many people and likewise was such a bright spot in the lives of many. Cami was so positive and had a contagious smile. I don't recall her speaking badly of anyone. She also had an incredible amount of energy and love of life.

Words are never enough in these situations. This is a first for me, and I don't wish it on anyone. Nevertheless, Cami you will be missed greatly and we will be thinking of your family. I love you sweet girl!!

Daddy's Day 2011

Happy father's day! This year I had a bit of a tough time without my dad here, but I'm grateful to have suck a wonderful father-in-law. Love you Dad! I'm also thrilled to get to celebrate father's day with my baby's daddy. I can't wait to see him with our baby.

I am very proud of myself. I was up a little after 9:00 AM this morning. On top of that I made breakfast. It's a big deal for me. I think it turned out pretty good. I even got the timing pretty close on finishing everything at the same time. Dave you are the best and will be an excellent dad!!

Beginning the Descent...

At 21 1/2 weeks we've made it over the hump and into the 2nd half of the pregnancy. I'm feeling better, although it's still something of a day to day venture. During the last few days I've been able to feel the baby move, as has Dave. :0) I had it explained that it feels like bubbles or fluttering. However, I think our little one bypassed that phase and went right to more definitive jabs. I've also discovered that we have a hiccup baby. She's already got a schedule, at least for hiccup time.

In case you were wondering, the jury has been out regarding our little ball, but the verdict is... Daddy's little GIRL!!!!!During the ultrasound the tech tried to get a profile picture for us. These were a few of the best we could get. Our baby decided she wanted to roll up in a ball and didn't really want to do the profile shot. She spent quite a bit of time with her feet up by her head. At one point it looked like she was trying to kiss her knees.

This one is hard to tell, but when we tried to get a picture of the baby's face (front shot), she put her hands up and covered her face. I guess it will be a surprise.

Mom finally made it into maternity wear! Although not frequently, and when I wear my maternity clothes they're still a little too big. I had my first day with a maternity shirt and pants on Friday.

Lastly, it's not always so visible, but I had a good baby bump day last week, so here's a picture. Until next time...