I know, I know...I havent' updated the blog in months and I apologize. Things got really busy and then I had so many pictures to sort through that the task seemed daunting, but I committed myself to this, so I am trying to make good on my promise. I have still several videos to edit and post so more to come...

Porter will be 10 months old in just a few days! How did 10 months pass so fast!  He is crawling in his own special way, eating all kinds of foods (blueberries are his favorite) and has 5 teeth. I'm guessing the 6th tooth will be arriving soon. I can see it under the gum and he was cranky today.

Porter loves hanging out with his Dad. We spent an afternoon cleaning the cars and he thought the steering wheel was great fun.

Porter can also pull himself up! It's new so he is very wobbly on his feet, but if some one will help him find his balance he cruises around. We have no carpet in the house so crawling has been difficult due to the slick wood floors. He happily scoots around on his tummy, but would much rather hold our hands and walk.

He was in his crib and I was hoping he would pull himself up but he decided to make faces through the slats.

This child loves the water! With the summer in full swing we got him a little pool and he is so happy to splash and play. He learned very quickly that tolerating sunscreen applications and keeping his hat on leads to longer play times out in the pool. No sun burns for this boy!

Jumping Bean

Here are some videos of the boy and his new favorite thing...his doorway bouncer!

I'm totally hooked on Picnik.com these days. It's an online photo editing site. I made this collage today while I was waiting for the baby to fall alseep. I Love It!

The Growing Boy

The little one is getting heavier and heavier.  He is still not sleeping very well, but hopefully that will turn around in the coming weeks. He was sick then, when he was well again we started him on solids! He enjoyed the rice cereal and now we are venturing on into new foods!

 Like Sweet Potatoes, Yummy

 The first 3 bites were great, then he refused to open his mouth. Silly Boy. He has eaten them a few times in the last few days so I think the initial dislike is passed.

 Also, he is starting to sit. He is a bit wobbly, but everyday sitting becomes easier. He loves to reach for his toes, books and toys.

 Such a big boy!

The Baby Rolls!

Porter has never fully enjoyed Tummy Time, and I really didn't mind skipping it because if Porter was happy I was happy. Recently, the day came when I realized that Porter was almost 5 months old and still not rolling over. I was concerned so I put him on a schedule of 5 minutes of tummy time 3 times a day.

At first it was stressful and tear filled and we both hated it, but as time went on the 5 minutes on his tummy became easier. After 6 days of scheduled tummy time I laid Porter on his tummy and gave him his Elmo rattle like usual, he reached for the toy and rolled his shoulders followed by a big kick and TA-DA! He rolled over!

It was thrilling and unexpected so I grabbed my camera, put him back on his tummy and started filming.

Porter will be 5 months tomorrow and he is growing like a weed.
When Brandon returns from Alaska we will attempt solid foods, so look for more videos to come.

The Baby Laughs

Our little water baby is getting so big! He is 16 weeks now and close to 17 pounds. He is wearing 6-9 month size clothes and getting bigger every day.
We are trying to teach him the value of being a life long Seahawks fan. He sat with Dad for the first part of the game against the Bears, then as things went south for the team, things went sour with the boy and what began with a smile...

ended in tears.

Porter recently discovered that he is funny. He thinks it is hilarious when he sticks out his tongue! He does this a lot these days and cracks himself up.

Brandon has had some success in finding work here in the Seattle area. He is currently out in Alaska trying out a new company. If he decides that it is a good fit for him then we could very well end up staying up here. I will keep you posted.

The Family Move...sort of

We had a fantastic time in Washington over the holidays. We enjoyed ourselves so much so that we thought it would be a good idea for Brandon to test the diver employment waters. He sent out resumes to 2 companies and they both got back to him for interviews. He interviewed with 1 company and he wasn't really what they were looking for, but gave him some good advise on how to be a better fit for their company in the future. The 2nd company was looking to hire Brandon immediately and it sounded like a really good job. Brandon would have taken the job if it would have offered us health benefits.

Over the course of our marriage we have learned that living without health insurance is not an option for us. We are both in good health, but are randomly struck with bizarre health situations that need attention. For example...had we known that drinking iced tea in large amounts caused kidney stones alternative beverage choices would have been made in the spring of 2009.

Back to our tale, a job with no health coverage wasn't worth the risk or the cost of personal coverage so we packed up and went back to Texas. Cue the dramatic music! The day after we arrived in Texas Brandon's company called to inform us that a massive lay off was taking place and Brandon was now without a job! Our hearts sunk. We didn't know what to do so we scrambled, calling several companies only to find that mass layoffs were taking place all across the Gulf. We were told that work would pick up in the Spring and there was a lot of work to do, but weather and budgets currently have everything hold. So we decided it was better to be unemployed in Washington than unemployed in Texas. We are moving back to Washington in a week!

Hopefully Brandon will be able to find a job diving in the Pacific North West, but if not, we can always come back to Texas as Brandon already has job offers for the spring. We are very excited to have this opportunity to spend time with our families and see where this new fork in our path leads us.

Photo Day

We had a photo day earlier in the week with Brigette from Penguin Pictures...she was also our wedding photographer and did our engagement photos. Brigette is excellent and a joy to work with. Here are a few of our favorite shots. If you would like to see all 85 images or would like to order prints call or email either of us and we can get you all set up.

To see more of Brigette's work go to www.penguin-pictures.com