Ultrasound Pics

beautiful little JoJo
tiny baby arm

she is SO precious!

FOOT!

looks kind of big, huh?

GIRL!!

definitely a girl!

baby face

baby face

Almost HALF WAY!!!!!

Alright, alright...blah,blah,blah...I've been super busy...now onto the good stuff! :)

We had our complete ultrasound yesterday and YES they were able to see the gender of our precious little Clumpy baby. Kyle and I are very excited to announce that on or around July 30, 2009 we will be bringing home an amazing little baby named....Jolee Rhea Porter. We chose the name because it uses my Mimi's middle name (Jo), Mom's middle name (Jo), Darcy's middle name (Jo), Shelby's middle name (Lee), and my middle name (Rhea). It's just perfect! She will be beautiful and is already completely spoiled by both sets of grandparents, as well as her aunts and uncles. It is amazingly exciting!!!

She (I just LOVE that I can call her something other than it) is almost 19 weeks along in her growing process. She now has ears that work and are in the correct position on her head. Her eyes are in place and even though they are sealed, she is able to detect light if we were to shine a flashlight at my stomach. We haven't done this yet, but I am sure it will happen eventually. Jolee Rhea has been kicking a little bit lately, but only when I am sitting at my desk at work. It is such a strange feeling knowing there is a tiny little 9 oz. baby growing in there. Just completely surreal.

Now for some babycenter.com updates...

"Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid."

First of all, I am sure you are wondering, what the heck is a "large heirloom tomato?" Well here is a picture....

Yeah, she is getting pretty big, and this is for 19 weeks, which we will hit on Friday! At the Dr.'s appointment, they said our little Baby JoJo weighs 9 oz. She is right on schedule...cooking just like a baby should!

Really all I have left to say is that I cannot wait to meet this little booger. She is quite the little stinker already, so I can't even imagine how fun she will be when she is out here in the real world. At the Dr. yesterday I had to get up and jump around just so she would cooperate with the ultrasound tech. She just wanted to curl up and move her little hands all over the place. Her little legs were almost completely curled underneath her. The last time we went she wouldn't stop standing on her head. It was a crazy picture. If I can remember, I will bring it to work and scan it to put it on here. It's pretty hilarious! Our little JoJo is already a little clown with a spunky, stubborn personality. I'm just so ready to meet her! Just pray that the rest of this pregnancy goes as easily as the first of it. Love you all!

Karly and Jolee

14 WEEKS!!!!!!

Hey there blog world! It has been quite a while, I know. I had a post up right after the ultrasound but Kyle got a little upset because he was afraid everyone would see the pictures before we got a chance to show them to the people who live close to us. So I deleted it. Sorry about that! I'll try to add a few pics to the end of this post for those who haven't seen our beautiful little Clumpy yet. The reason I haven't posted since is because I have been CRAZY busy at work. It has been insane!!!! Stupid hackers is all I have to say about it...and now, I'll move on to bigger and better things!

I am almost almost in week 14. Tomorrow is when Babycenter.com will send out my little newsletter letting me see Clumpy's supposed size and actions for the week. However, being the ingenious internet person that I am, I skipped on over there this morning and checked out week 14 before they had time to send me the newsletter.

Clumpy McClump Clump is now the length of a lemon! WOOHOO!! He/she is slowly making it through the fruits. I honestly cannot wait for the little booger to be pumpkin-sized...only 26 more weeks to go!

Babycenter.com also says, "This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active."

Look! Clumpy actually might have a face and fingers and ears and a head that doesn't look forty million sizes too big for his/her little body. It is just amazing!!!!

We head off to the doctor again on the 6th at 10:15. I am also taking that day off work to go car shopping...woop! It'll be a great day. Hopefully, and almost positively, we will be able to hear the heartbeat this time and just make sure everything is good with me. :)

Now on to the ultrasound pics...

This one is my absolute favorite! I just want to pick him/her up!

1/4 down...199 days to go...

This little widget over here -----------> tells me that I am 25% of the way through my pregnancy. That sounds so great to me! I am SO close to being in my second trimester I can almost taste it. Little Clumpy has been so good and I haven't exactly been hugging the toilet or anything, but goodness, I am ready to be able to brush my teeth without feeling that gag reflex.

I was 11 weeks last Friday. Which means I am halfway to being 12 weeks now. We went to the doctor on Thursday and we finally got to meet her. She is really nice and very informative. Her approach to pregnancy is that it is very natural and there isn't much to be "done" at this point. She said she will just watch me to make sure I am healthy and will do the occasional check up on Clumpy. We are scheduled for our first ultrasound on Jan. 20 (Darcy's birthday!!!) so we will finally get to see the little fella or lady that is residing in my tummy. I am SO excited!!!

Little Clumpy is now the size of a fig and is able to move all his or her limbs. I watched a video of a 10 week ultrasound the other day, and that little baby was jumping and jiving. I can't believe there is a little fig baby in there doing the same thing. I can't wait to see Clumpy doing his little dance! Only 8 more days! Yay!

Goin' to the doctor...

We are headed to the Dr.'s office in about 5 minutes. Hopefully Clumpy will work with us and let us hear his little heartbeat! :)

Whoa...

Okay, all you people out in blog-land...this one is going to be a LONG one...you better hold on to your britches... (although i'm really not sure what good that would do because you are probably sitting down and will remain sitting down until you are finished reading this extremely long, blabbery post and your pants will remain on as well, so disregard the whole holding on to your britches thing)

2008. Holy cow! Where did the year go?

Well, it went to meeting an amazing man and his amazing family and falling in love with all of them. It went to spending all my time laughing and loving and playing and figuring out my future with this amazing man. It went to developing a relationship with his girls and loving them just like they were my own. It went to getting engaged in August in the middle of the woods with a 4-wheeler idling beside us. It went to planning a wedding in 2 months and watching as my wonderful family and friends pitched in and made it the most beautiful wedding I have ever seen. It went to the last two months of wedded bliss, or the roller coaster of emotions that come with joining two very different lives. It went to finding out I am having a baby next July and being so excited and so tired and so sick to my stomach for the past two months.

It went to watching my amazing sisters become very different than they were a year ago. We have all grown up this year in leaps and bounds. It is amazing how quickly things change. Darcy married Brandon in July and moved to California to start her new life with her new boy and her new language. Shelby started college, decided it wasn't for her, and started a career. She is in love with Barrett and they are so close you couldn't put a toothpick between them. My two wonderful, lovely, beautiful sisters have grown up and started their own lives, just as I have.

It went to seeing my parents work as hard they possibly could to make two beautiful weddings happen. They are the most hard-working, generous, thoughtful people I know and I am so glad I have them as role models as Kyle and I begin our own family.

It went to spending 3 months being a nanny for two adorable little kiddos, getting told they were all moving to Virginia, searching for a job for 2 months until I found a wonderful job as a teller, which I enjoy very much.

It went to being in the hospital during Darcy's wedding week for a stupid infection. It went to taking Kyle to the Heart Hospital, Nick to the Heart Hospital, and making sure Shelby wasn't going to have to stay in the hospital. Blech. The next time I go to a hospital, it will be for a good reason!

It went to losing some old friends, gaining new friends, and learning so much about myself along the way that I don't even feel remotely like the person I was at the beginning of 2008. What a year!

That brings us to 2009. The Year of Clumpy. :)

The Clumpster is now 10 weeks along and roughly the size of a kumquat (whatever that is) or a prune. He has all his fingers and toes and they are no longer webbed. His joints are working and he is kicking and flailing like a madman all the time (I can't feel it yet though. That won't happen for another couple of months.) His brain is forming and sits high in his forehead right now. Oh, and guess what? He has fingernails! Tiny, tiny fingernails! and his skin is beginning to grow peach fuzz like hair. He is turning into a human after all! Yay Clumpy!

We go to the doctor on the 8th and I am SO ready. We should get to hear the heart beat and make sure it's just one, and not two. (Kyle wants twins...I wouldn't be entirely opposed, but man, that's a lot of poopy diapers :))

Alright, 2009, let's see what you can do. I made it through the year of two weddings, several hospital visits, and a new pregnancy. Bring it on!

mORE exciteMENT!!!

Darcy and Brandon are HERE!!!!