Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after MiltonRestaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton
Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after Milton A woman is lucky to be alive after being found two miles off the coast in the Peace River and brought to shore by vigilant good samaritans.
PUNTA GORDA Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.
Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans Four Collier County students with military ties are getting a boost toward their education.
Caught on video: Man arrested after leading police on chase in stolen truck Florida troopers say 36-year-old David Alfonso stole the vehicle in Collier County and then led them on a chase through Lee County to Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin.
Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Milton leaves Fort Myers Beach residents buried in sand and seeking help Hurricane Milton pushed sand onto the streets of Fort Myers Beach, leaving many residents asking for help.
LEHIGH ACRES East Lee County principal uses lemonade to create gameday tradition East Lee County High School principal Tony Allen uses his lemonade recipe to create a new gameday tradition.
NAPLES Naples man defends home from flood waters One Naples man did not mess around when it came to Hurricane Milton prep. Guy Lollino got five feet of water in his home on Vanderbilt Beach during Hurricane Ian. This time he decided to stack a ton of sandbags and fill the cracks with sprayable Styrofoam.
Detecting pancreatic cancer early with AI A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded because it carries a very high mortality rate.
Lee County restores solid waste services The process of removing garbage and debris from the streets of Lee County has begun.
Algae bloom research turns into useful storm tool Many of us watched helplessly and waited as hurricanes Helene and Milton sent storm surges onto our roads, into our homes and businesses, altering what we know as home forever. At the same time, one Florida Gulf Coast University student saw the storms as a scientific opportunity.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt Tens of thousands of Floridians, and thousands more visitors that come to our state, enjoy fishing and hunting. We live in a state surrounded by water and wildlife and people have taken advantage of that.
Amendment 1: Establishing partisan school board elections Some school board meetings have become political, with raised voices and the need for security
FORT MYERS Local salon withstands impacts from 3 major hurricanes One hurricane can be devastating; however, three storms will force you to find better ways to prepare for impacts.
Azaleas on the Corner sells plants, paintings, wine in downtown Fort Myers The mother-daughter team of Marie Dyer and Corinne Wimberly already had a business plan in place to start their own shop. They just didn’t have a place to put it.
Woman rescued from Peace River by good Samaritans days after Milton A woman is lucky to be alive after being found two miles off the coast in the Peace River and brought to shore by vigilant good samaritans.
PUNTA GORDA Restaurant in Cape Coral helps another in Punta Gorda recover from Milton Bartenders at the Celtic Ray in Punta Gorda have struggled since Hurricane Milton severely damaged the pub.
Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans Four Collier County students with military ties are getting a boost toward their education.
Caught on video: Man arrested after leading police on chase in stolen truck Florida troopers say 36-year-old David Alfonso stole the vehicle in Collier County and then led them on a chase through Lee County to Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin.
Record early voting in SWFL may be linked to recent hurricanes On Monday, thousands of people got in line at their polling places as early voting started for most places in southwest Florida.
FORT MYERS BEACH Milton leaves Fort Myers Beach residents buried in sand and seeking help Hurricane Milton pushed sand onto the streets of Fort Myers Beach, leaving many residents asking for help.
LEHIGH ACRES East Lee County principal uses lemonade to create gameday tradition East Lee County High School principal Tony Allen uses his lemonade recipe to create a new gameday tradition.
NAPLES Naples man defends home from flood waters One Naples man did not mess around when it came to Hurricane Milton prep. Guy Lollino got five feet of water in his home on Vanderbilt Beach during Hurricane Ian. This time he decided to stack a ton of sandbags and fill the cracks with sprayable Styrofoam.
Detecting pancreatic cancer early with AI A pancreatic cancer diagnosis is one of the most dreaded because it carries a very high mortality rate.
Lee County restores solid waste services The process of removing garbage and debris from the streets of Lee County has begun.
Algae bloom research turns into useful storm tool Many of us watched helplessly and waited as hurricanes Helene and Milton sent storm surges onto our roads, into our homes and businesses, altering what we know as home forever. At the same time, one Florida Gulf Coast University student saw the storms as a scientific opportunity.
Amendment 2: Right to fish and hunt Tens of thousands of Floridians, and thousands more visitors that come to our state, enjoy fishing and hunting. We live in a state surrounded by water and wildlife and people have taken advantage of that.
Amendment 1: Establishing partisan school board elections Some school board meetings have become political, with raised voices and the need for security
FORT MYERS Local salon withstands impacts from 3 major hurricanes One hurricane can be devastating; however, three storms will force you to find better ways to prepare for impacts.
Azaleas on the Corner sells plants, paintings, wine in downtown Fort Myers The mother-daughter team of Marie Dyer and Corinne Wimberly already had a business plan in place to start their own shop. They just didn’t have a place to put it.
Therese and Brian welcomed their baby boy, Colin, into the world on January 31st. Numbers have never been my strong suit. That’s probably much of the reason why I went into a field that required a firm grasp of reading comprehension, writing and public speaking. So who would’ve thought I’d spend so much time as a new parent working out math equations? Here are a few I’ve come to know and try to accept: As a mom, your time is divided 10 different ways at any given hour — from cleaning the eighth diaper of the day to washing the fifth bottle, to making sure you have one happy baby and two semi-sane parents. In just seven weeks since my son’s birth, I’ve learned equations like this: To figure out just how long it will take you to get a simple task done, take how long it previously took you to accomplish said task, multiply by four and add two, and that’s about how long it will NOW take you as a parent (give or take roughly 10 percent). This blog is example 1A of a seemingly small duty I had assigned myself before taking maternity leave. I vowed to write my first post-baby blog about a week after delivery. Now here we are, six weeks later, celebrating Baby Colin’s seven-week “birthday” (because each week comes with its own milestones worth celebrating at this point), and I’m FINALLY sitting down to catch you up on what’s been going on since I last wrote. I can assure you, a lot of it is probably very typical for any new mom, with a few exciting twists and turns along the way. It certainly has been an eventful seven weeks, a time more filled with love than I could have ever imagined. At just five weeks old, Colin showed off his smile for mom and dad. Looking back, I can’t help but laugh at a younger, more naive version of myself, convinced I would get much of anything done for myself that first week home from the hospital. Aside from recovering from delivery, I had hardly any time to squeeze in a quick snooze or snack, let alone sit down to update my blog. Over the days and weeks that have somehow both dragged on and flew by since then, I’ve found ways to make sure BOTH baby and I are fed, somewhat well rested and, of course, happy. I’m not sure how we got here, but I know we couldn’t have done it without each other. One of the most frequently asked questions I got throughout my pregnancy pertained to the baby’s name. Let me tell you — I am by far one of the WORST secret keepers I know. Let’s be real: I’m in the business of telling people information that I’m supposed to know before anyone else. I wouldn’t be in this field if I didn’t find some joy in sharing news — especially the good kind! Yet, somehow, my husband and I managed to keep this beautiful, simple little secret completely to ourselves for several months, until right before the very moments he came wailing into the world. There’s no great story behind it, just that we came up with the name “Colin” a few months into my pregnancy (inspired by a co-worker of the same name). It stuck with us, and a couple months before he was born, we had ultimately decided that “Colin” would be what we called our sweet baby boy. His middle name was up for debate literally until the day he was born. We were between a few family names but ended up deciding on “Michael,” to honor both my husband’s father and my own. In retrospect, we agree that the middle name should’ve been a no-brainer with two dads named Michael, but it still stumped us right up until the final moments before Colin joined us. That day in and of itself will forever live in my mind as one of the most special and spectacular, as we rode a wave of emotions from sunup to sundown. I had been anticipating that day for the last nine or so months, counting down on the calendar, as I grew larger and more impatient by the minute. The morning of January 31st, I woke up early, feeling mentally eager, but physically feeling no different than I had for the last two or so weeks, despite trying EVERYTHING I could Google to induce labor. My mother was in town, waiting for baby along with us, and joined me as I visited my doctor that morning for a 40-week checkup and ultrasound. By the time we got in the car to head to the doctor’s office, I remember a distinct feeling of frustration, knowing I was no closer to going into labor than I was the day before. “This baby is NEVER going to come!” I cried to my mother, hormonal and helpless. A little less than an hour later, we left the doctor’s office with a renewed sense of hope and a plan of action; that baby was coming — TODAY. After an ultrasound estimated that he was going to be larger than 8 pounds, my doctor recommended we schedule a cesarean section as soon as possible as the safest method of delivery. We got on the books for 5 p.m. that day, and went home to get some last-minute preparations underway before heading to the hospital. By 5:28 p.m. on January 31st, Colin Michael made his big debut in the most important gig of his new mama’s life — all 8 pounds, 9 ounces of him! Needless to say, he definitely did NOT disappoint when it came to size … and even at 7 weeks old, he’s now over 11 pounds and growing by the minute (much of which I credit my husband for — at 6-foot-1, he’s got plenty on my 5-foot-2 self!) The past seven weeks since then have been filled with lots of hugs and kisses, stroller walks through our neighborhood, meeting most of his closest relatives … and no shortage of dirty diapers. We even managed to make it through his first cold, and thankfully now he’s perfectly healthy and continuing to grow and thrive. Sickness aside, he typically only wakes us twice a night (she said as she knocked on wood!) for midnight feedings, and he’s even given us a handful of nights where he only woke up once. Those nights feel like vacations for an overtired mommy, despite years of sleep deprivation training by working in morning news! One of my husband’s greatest tasks has been introducing Colin to some classic greats in the world of music, which started long before we brought him home from the hospital. He’s been listening to Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel and the Beatles since he was just about the size of a raisin in my belly. But Brian made sure he properly introduced Colin to John, Paul, George and Ringo as soon as he first stepped foot in our house, pointing out who’s who in a classic photograph of The Fab Four on the wall in our living room. We like to carry him over to the photo every few days just to make sure he’s getting it down. Therese and Brian made sure the introduced Colin to the classics from day one. Every week has triggered new emotions in my husband and myself, from complete and utter fear that we could very well be doing everything wrong, to absolute bliss and a sense of accomplishment every time we FINALLY get him calmed down and quiet enough to fall asleep. That roller coaster of emotions is something I’ve been told will only get more wild and unpredictable as the years go by … so we’re holding on tight, and we’re prepared to invest in helmets, ready to take on the bumpy ride ahead. One more equation I know will never fail: One mom plus one dad and two hearts times one kid can’t even begin to add up to just how much love and devotion go into bringing a new life into this world. Ours may never be the same, but for the best reason possible. And that math problem is not a problem at all; it’s the greatest responsibility we’ve ever taken on with the greatest payoff along the way. With every smile he’s flashed since learning that new skill two weeks ago, Colin has absolutely stolen our hearts and made them overflow with gratitude for just how blessed we are to be part of his life. So buckle up, baby! With Colin officially on board, we’re in for the ride of a lifetime. Colin is definitely a Florida baby, all decked out for Spring! Colin tuned into WINK News to catch up on the forecast from his hospital bassinet. Therese and Brian made sure the introduced Colin to the classics from day one. At just five weeks old, Colin showed off his smile for mom and dad. Therese and Brian are overjoyed to welcome their son into their family.