Life in general

Not much has changed in our world with exception of Grandma June. Justin is back working nights and he likes it. He likes nights better than days. Now that I'm getting used to sleeping alone half the time, I don't mind it so much either. But this morning he came home to sleep and I didn't have to go to work and now we have a new problem. Getting used to sharing a bed! We've been sleeping apart so much that it's like both of us want to be in the middle of the bed. We are definitely gonna need a king size before it's all said and done. Caroline is now over 9 months old and doing well. She's been kinda under the weather for a few weeks now. She is acting like she feels much better and her fever is gone, but she still is not eating much. But she seems to be doing ok, so I'm not gonna force her and she should be back to normal soon. But until then, at least I'm saving money on formula! I am getting very excited to go to South Carolina for Brandon's wedding. I have never traveled much and this is new territory for me. Plus when I come back, I'll be down to working 3 days a week. Hooray! 3 more weeks and then time for some fun!

Grandma June

Justin's grandmother passed away early Sunday morning, March 15th. She was diagnosed with lung cancer early last year. Her husband, Grandpa Compton, passed away about 5 1/2 months ago. It was hard when he died, but for most of us, it's harder now that Grandma's gone too. She kept us going after Grandpa. We all had an opportunity to say something at the service, just like with Grandpa. Not everyone did this time, but that's ok. I enjoyed what was said. Adam talked about how Grandma June was not the fragile, sweet grandma type. She was ornery. She loved that comic Maxine, and she was just like her. I got to keep one of Grandma's refrigerator magnets that's a Maxine comic. It just screams Grandma. She always wanted to make sure you were taken care of, more specifically, fed. There was always food at Grandma's house. Anyways, Justin's sister was in town the whole week before she passed away, then they just stayed an extra 4 days for the funeral and everything. Cheryl, Heather, Dawn and I took the kids to visit Grandma on the Friday night before she died. Unfortunately Justin wasn't able to make it. I was glad we got pictures of the two babies present at the time with Grandma. Mike and Marisa didn't make it out until the day before the funeral, so we didn't get one with baby Gavin. But I'm just glad everyone was able to make it out for the service.

Caroline is starting to get heavy and it's been hard for Grandma to hold her, but she really wanted to before we left. She was very tired, but she perked up when she got to hold the babies.This is Heather's youngest, Peyton. She is about 6 weeks younger than Caroline. And I know, check out that hair! Caroline and I are jealous....someday we can do pigtails too...

Photo Tag

1. Go to your documents/pictures.

2. Go to your 6th file folder.

3. Go to your 6th picture.

4. Post and blog about it.

5. Tag 6 people to do the same.

I was tagged to do this by someone else awhile back, but I didn't. I figured this time, why not? This picture was taken in Mesa, AZ. We were there for my sister, Jessica's wedding and we went out to eat, I believe the night before the wedding. I'm not sure. Anways, Caroline was about 6 weeks old then. I like this picture alot. Justin's eye's always look good in that shirt, you can't tell here cause of red eye. Plus, look how tiny Caroline is!

I'm not gonna tag anyone. If you want to do it, great. If not, that's ok too. :)

Update

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything. I feel like this month just took all my energy out of me. I couldn't really tell you why. I just want to nap all time and I've had like a 2 week headache....I guess mommy life and everything else is just catching up with me.... Anyways, things are going good with us. Caroline is growing like crazy with many new discoveries every day. She has become quite the climber. She kicks and fights when it's time to go into her carseat, but if she can crawl into it herself, she's happy.She had her first visit to the library. She was more interested in eating the books than anything, but we still had fun.This picture shows off two of her new tricks. She likes to clap and will copy anyone who does it. She's also started this whistle. She makes this face and breaths in and makes a whistle. She didn't get that from mommy, she can't whistle to save her life...

She attempts to climb up the chair and ends up sliding down until she laying under it.When she is able to sit up, she ends up underneath the chair. It can take her considerable time to get out, but she has fun doing it.She climbs everything. This particular day I had my sewing out and she was getting into some stuff on the chair. We went to visit a friend of mine who, as you can see, loves dogs. These are the 2 biggest of the 3 she has now. The left one, Caden, is a ridgeback, black lab mix. The right one, Tara, is a great dane. They are the sweetest, most well behaved dogs. Caroline loved them. She spent some time using Caden as a jungle gym and Caden just sat quietly while she was attacked.Out in Papa's yard with her very good looking daddy. She plays with Papa's dogs too. She gets very excited when she gets doggy kisses.Justin is doing well with his job at the Carthage Police Department. He may even be done with his training early. He says it's because there are a lot of changes in the process with people moving around, so he could end up on any shift depending on where everyone ends up. I say it's because he's so unbelievably talented that they don't need to train him that long. :) He got into a foot pursuit the other day and got to draw his gun. That was an exciting day for him. I feel like he made a good choice when he went with Carthage. I feel good about the people he works with, especially his superior officers. I'm glad he likes it. Work for me is going ok. I like my job, but every day gets harder to leave Caroline. I just know I need to be home with her more. I am in the process of talks with my supervisors to change my shedule in the near future and anytime I really start thinking about it, I get excited butterflies in my stomach. Not that I think it will be easy. I just have so much to do on top of work, that I can't wait til I can have more time during the day for Caroline, my house work, and my callings. The past 8 months have just solidified my desire to be a stay at home mom. That's about it for us the past few weeks. Hope all is well with our family and friends.

HELP! Which one is your favorite?

My sister convinced me to enter Caroline into Live's beautiful baby contest. Like Melissa, I have collected pictures over the past few weeks and can't decide. These are some of the favorites so far. 12345 6

Justin

Yes, I'm jumping on the bandwagon. But what wife doesn't like bragging about their hubby? Plus, I enjoyed reading my friends hubby stories. I actually learned a few new things. Here it goes. 1. When did you meet your husband? We originally met in Sept. 2001 at a young singles night at my grandparents before his mission. He says he doesn't remember much about me then. I still don't know if that's good or bad...He came home and was a hermit for a few months. We crossed paths again in Dec. 2003 when he finally emerged and showed his bearded self at institute one night.

2. How long did you date before you got married? We started dating Dec. 03, we were engaged 4 months later in April 04 and were married 4 months after that in Aug. 04. 8 months total.

3. How long have you been married? 4 1/2 years

4. What does he do to surprise you? Justin likes surprises. When we go out he rarely tells me where we're going. It usually isn't anything super special, he just doesn't like me to know.

He cleans the house when I'm working and he's off. One Christmas we decided not to buy eachother stuff and he made me promise cause he knew I'd want to cave. Well, I stuck with it and he bought me something...And the most memorable surprise is when I came home from girls camp the day of our 3rd anniversary and I had 2 dozen multi-colored roses in a big beautiful vase.

5. What is your favorite physical feature about him? I miss his goatee, but I should have thought of that when I agreed to support him in his new career choice. I absolutely love his eyes. I always wanted our kids to have his eyes. So far Caroline does...

6. What is your favorite quality about him? Justin is a hard worker. There are times it actually frustrates me cause I want him to be lazy with me. :) He is very dedicated to the task at hand. I also love how mellow and go with the flow he is. I need that.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? He used to call me babe all the time. But now the only time he uses a nickname is mostly when he leaves me phone messages, he calls me lover.

8. What is his favorite food? There is no one favorite. The top three would have to be his mom's biscuits and gravy, pizza and good mexican food.

9. What is his favorite sport? Probably baseball. Dodgeball and football come close too.

10. When and where did you first kiss? I know it was at my Aunts house where I was living at the time, I think it was about 2 weeks after our first date.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? We love to camp, although we don't get the opportunity very often. Any outdoor activity, like wheeling in the Jeep or playing at the lake.

12. Do you have any children? Caroline is 7 months and just perfect. She likes to laugh at her daddy, she thinks he's funny. We also have our 'puppy', Chica. We've had her for 2 years and she loves Justin.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? He'd probably argue with me on this, but he can sing. He has a good voice, like many in his family. He just pursued sports in school as opposed to music, so he hasn't developed it much. I make him come to ward choir and he will sing with his family when his mommy makes him. He is actually making an effort to learn to read the men's part sometimes. I like to hear him sing.

14. How old is he? 26

15. Who said I love you first? He did. We were at his parent's house. I was upset about the most recent family drama. He was comforting me and he said it while giving me along hug. I didn't say anything for a long time, I just kept my face against his chest. I guess he started to get nervous that I didn't respond, but after a minute or 2, (he'll say it was 10) I said it too. The story he likes to remind me of is that before either of us said it, we were talking on the phone Christmas day right after we started dating and he told me I loved him. I kept saying, whatever, you're a dork. But he stands firm on the belief that he knew I loved him then.

16. What is his favorite music? There is more music that he doesn't like than music he likes. He listens to alternative or talk radio. It seems most anything I want to turn up and sing in the car, he rolls his eyes. I think he secretly doesn't hate it that bad, he just wants to seem tough. :)

17. What do you admire most about him? Like I said earlier, his great work ethic. But the biggest thing is the way his is with my family. I often get emotional thinking about how he has totally stepped in and become a priesthood leader in my family. My mom and dad both constantly express how much they love him for the roll he has taken in taking care of my family. He is often the 'rescuer' when a car breaks down or someone needs some work done. That makes me proud.

18. What is his favorite color? Blue

19. Will he read this? If I tell him to.

20. Who do you tag? My sister Jessica for sure. And anyone else who wants to.

And so it begins...

It's Sunday night and while Caroline is in the living room talking incessantly to all her toys, I am totally bored. Justin starts his night shift patroling tonight. I have been home alone many times before, don't get me wrong. But for some reason I feel like it's different. I'm just kinda sitting here going, "ok, now what...?" It was fun watching Justin get all ready for work. He's still getting used to his duty belt with all his crap on it that weighs like 20 lbs. So he's standing there getting everything lined up where it's supposed to be and everything. And his bullet proof vest makes him look all top heavy and skinny on bottom. :) Even Caroline was very interested in what he was doing. I was trying to feed her and all she could do was stare at Daddy putting on all his gear. Sigh...I know there are so many productive things I could do tonight, but somehow I'm just at a blank...I'm afraid getting used to this night schedule may screw me up as much as Justin. I probably won't be able to sleep and when he gets home, it'll be time for me to get up and ready for work. I guess every new job has an adjustment phase. I just hope we make it...