Justin Compton Family

Life in general

2009-03-26T11:15:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-26T10:57:00.001-07:00

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

2009-02-26T20:46:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-26T12:17:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-02-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-01-04T15:42:00.000-08:00

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...

First Christmas

2008-12-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

Well Caroline had a great first Christmas. She didn't care much about any of her presents. We figured that would happen so we spent like $20 on her and her grandma's only got her one thing each cause we asked them not to go overboard. She was much more interested in the paper, bows and boxes and how much she could chew on. We have like 6 pics of her chewing on different presents. It was also nice because all of Analla's family was here except for the one brother on a mission. Uncle Ryan and Uncle Brandon had last seen her at Jessica's wedding in August. They enjoyed spending time together. And Uncle Brandon's fiance bought her fun, fancy clothes. All in all, it was a nice Christmas with all our family from both sides. We truly are blessed.

With Santa at the ward party

Chewing on her present from Grammie and Papa Compton

Chewing on her Baby Mozart video

Hanging out with Daddy and his present wrapped in a cereal box

Sick again

2008-12-15T10:44:00.001-08:00

So Caroline was doing alot better. No real throw up for 3 days. Then last night, she was playing and happy and out of no where puked up everything that could possibly fit in her little body and started the whole cycle again. She scares me when she gets so lifeless. The Justins gave her a blessing and I called the doctor. They told me to try to keep fluids down her and bring her in if she got more dehydrated and her temp. dropped anymore from dehydration. She ate some this morning and as far as I know hasn't puked yet. I hope we can figure out what's causing it. So far we have to idea what it could be....

Officer Compton

2008-12-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Justin's official graduation was this past Thursday. It was nice. I got to meet his new boss, the Chief of Police in Carthage. He actually started work the very next day. He got his badge and all his gear and stuff. He even volunteered to work an extra shift that night looking for drunk people to pull over. Anyways, I'm really proud of him. I had a friend at work ask me if his new job scares me. I hope it doesn't mean I don't care, but it really doesn't scare me. I think it's more that I have faith in his abilities. Justin makes good choices. I know he may get into some dangerous situations and I know there aren't any guarantees, but I also know that he will do what he thinks is best. Justin also doesn't make choices with his ego to prove how tough he is. He does things the smart way. I appreciate that about him. So, that's my brag fest for the day. Hooray for Justin! And on a side note, Caroline is much better. Still some minor puking (on the AT&T store counter...), but back to her squirmy, happy self. Justin with some classmates standing at attention while people just took pictures of them. It was like they were some freaks in a museum or something. It was funny. Justin really isn't that small, but the guys on either side of him were kinda big...

With Mommy and Papa

Caroline is proud of her Daddy

Isn't he cute?

Poor Caroline

2008-12-10T20:25:00.000-08:00

My poor baby is sick. I've been feeling yucky all weekend and called in sick and stayed home Monday. Caroline has had a cold the past few days. But today she is really sick. My mom called me at work this afternoon to tell me she was acting fussy so she fed her and put her to bed. She had a feeling she should check on her a little while later, and thankfully she did. Caroline was throwing up. Luckily mom had layed her on her side so she she didn't really choke bad. Mom picked her up and leaned her forward so she could throw up. Poor baby. She wouldn't eat anything, wouldn't even take her pacifier. She finally nursed a little bit but threw up again after like an hour and half. She won't take any fluids except for nursing and she can't keep that down. She's going through these phases where she is so mellow, she won't even lift her head. She just lays there, sometimes looking around and sometimes sleeping. Then she'll wake up and be a little more alert and happy til the whole thing starts over again. We are going to keep her in our room and watch her through the night. She doesn't seem to have any pain and seems to be snapping out her daze. I'll probably take her in tomorrow if she doesn't start to keep something down. I'm so sad for my sweet baby. I've never been paranoid and I'm the last person to rush to the doctor, but our bundle of joy has changed everything. I love that you can see her teeth in this picture, it's kinda hard with the glare...She loves to chomp, and they are brutal.

Grandpa Compton

2008-11-12T20:13:00.000-08:00

So I know it's been forever and a day since I've updated anything. I have been so stressed I can't think straight. Grandpa Compton passed away Oct. 6. Some of Justin's family came to town for the funeral. Mike and Marissa and their 3 boys stayed with us one night. I only worked 1 1/2 days that week. And it seems like ever since then I've just been running ragged. I just feel 2 steps behind no matter what I do. Anyways, I have other updates, but first and foremost... Dawn has been trying to get me to send her pics for the family calender for next year and it made me think to post our family pics from the week of the funeral. It was definitely a bitter sweet time. Grandpa Compton was as much my grandpa as Justin's. I know my sisters and brother in laws feel the same way. He was one of the best men I ever had the privilege to meet. The week of his funeral was a time for family and a wonderful celebration of his life. I enjoyed that time so much. Justin's cousins Jon and Jennifer came. Their mother (Danny's sister) passed away while here on vacation last August. I wish we lived closer (they're from Tennessee), Justin doesn't have a lot of extended family and I think I would like spending time with Jennifer especially. We're the same age. If you look at the Compton Family album, Jennifer's little girl is the only brunette in the pic with all the cousins. Hands down one of the cutest girls EVER!!! And a killer southern accent to boot. :) Anyways, I had family on the mind and felt compelled to express my appreciation for Grandpa Compton and the rest of my in-law family. And as Cory so eloquently put it at the funeral, "It's not goodbye, just goodbye for now."

4 month pics

2008-10-23T16:28:00.000-07:00

After our last photo shoot at Sears when Caroline was 2 months old, we got the photo club saver card or whatever it's called. Anyways, it makes pictures really cheap. So I decided I may as well take advantage of it. Justin's mom has those frames of the grandkids where there's a wallet size picture for every month surrounding a one year picture in the middle. So these are the 4 month pictures. Her sweater and hat were made by a lady in our ward.

6 Things About Me

2008-10-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law, Marisa tagged me, so I have to do this. She'll never let me forget it. :) This actually took alot of thought. I asked Justin to help me cause he knows me better than I know myself. But he didn't really take it seriously and just kept saying stuff like, "beautiful, smart," bla, bla, bla. He probably didn't want to get in trouble. But that's ok. I also get to pass it on. Yeah! So, I tag....hmm....Amanda, Robbin (cause I miss you!), Melissa and Kerri. Anyways, here it goes.

1. I am indecisive. Very much so. I feel have improved over the years, especially being married to Justin. He asks where I want to eat and I say I don't care. Then he picks a place and I don't like it. I realize this is also a woman thing. But mostly I say I don't care cause I can't decide and I want him to decide for me. I used to always order the same thing at restaurants. Not cause it was my favorite, but because I had it once, liked it, and couldn't decided on anything else. So it comes to my turn to order and I panic. I can never decide if I want the blue shirt or the black one. (I have alot of blue and black clothes....) I'm learning that it doesn't matter. Whatever I order to eat will be gone in 20 minutes. I like both blue and black and they look about the same. I've also been thinking about what 6 things to say for like a week. Even at this moment I don't know what the next 5 will be. I can't decide...

2. I don't consider myself to be trendy, stylish or fashionable in any way. This doesn't necessarily bother me. For the most part, I feel like I don't look like a complete fashion disaster. If any of you disagree, please feel free to let me know and I will take any advice you may have into consideration. :) I feel as if this female trait has been bestowed upon my two younger sisters. Jessica just is one of those girls you want to hate cause she makes everything look good. So I think, "oh, that's cute, I'll try that." It always fails to work the same with me. But you can't hate her cause she is too stinking nice and so non-confrontational. Such is life. Bekah is not afraid to try new styles. She is like rocker girl one day and sweet and classic the next. But she mostly pulls it off. She is interested in design when she grows up. I'm thinking part of my problem may be related to the indecisive thing. I just can't settle on anything. The boldest fashion decision I've made in the last 6 months is my hair, and it's not really that bold. I love it though. Once I picked a style and did it.

3. I'm a little impatient. (Which is ironic, when you consider #1. Justin also points out that this makes life difficult.) I'm not so bad that everyone really knows this about me. I can hide it well. Like when I have a patient at work who takes FOREVER to walk like 20 feet for no other reason then to make you feel sorry for them and waste my time. That very same patient tells me (as we are walking down the hall and I'm gritting my teeth trying not to scream at him) that I'm good at my job and am always happy and smiling and willing to take time with him. I was so glad when he left. I'm also trying to get my driving impatience under control. Caroline has helped immensely with this. I'm no longer as concerned with getting mad at stupid drivers as I am just worrying about being safe. But I find the anger is quick to return when I'm in the Acura alone. I also expect answers fairly quickly when I ask a question. This can create problems since Justin can be very slow and thoughtful with his responses. I have learned to sit and wait for him to talk, but sometimes I have to grit my teeth then too...

4. I like chick flicks (even teenie bopper ones) and I'm secretively a romantic. (Justin said he didn't even know I was a secret romantic...) I know most all females enjoy a good chick flick. But I can watch them over and over and I still enjoy them. I put on While You Were Sleeping a few times a month. I play it in the background when I clean the kitchen or there's nothing else on. Justin will watch some chick flicks with me and enjoys them a little. But he draws the line at musicals and the real cheesy teenie bopper ones (ie: Mamma Mia). These are the ones I rent when he's working late or to watch on my day off. I was watching one just the other night and was thinking, "This really is cheesy, but I like it." I mean, I'm not big into flowers all the time and a hokey serenade, but what girl doesn't want a bouquet and a declaration of love every once in awhile? My proudest moment was probably when I came home from girls camp the day of our 3 year anniversary and Justin had bought me 2 dozen, multi-colored roses. Aw...

5. I'm a picker. I don't really know what else to call it. That's what us Petersen's call it. I get it from my mom's side of the family. ALL her siblings and many of my cousins are the same way. Whether it's a bug bite, pimple, scab, stray hair, hang nail, chipped nail, or anything else that can be picked at, I pick at it. Chicken pox as a 12 year old was miserable. "Don't scratch it" never works for me. I have scars to prove it. I use band aids every once in awhile, but they never stay on long. I pick at them til they don't stick anymore. I can let my nails grow pretty good, but I usually eventually pick at them til they are short again. This little habit of mine drives Justin absolutely insane. He sees me inspecting his face and he says, "NO!". He runs when I try to pluck a stray eyebrow or something. He can sense it coming, he sees it in my eyes.

6. I like to talk. A lot. No further explanation is necessary.

Wow, that was fun. Sorry if it's TMI. I guess that's another thing about me. I like to share. :)

Sleeping Babies

2008-10-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love sleeping babies? I sure do. The first month or so of Caroline's life, my mom and sisters would come over and just sit and look at her. They would actually call me and say, "Can we just come and look at her?" And I would say, whatever... They were so funny. I would laugh at them. But now I'm the same way. I was practicing taking artistic like pictures with my camera the other day. I took a lot of close up pictures of her face in color, sepia, black and white. Some of her laughing, serious, and sleeping. It was fun. Now I love to take pictures of her when she's sleeping in a cute way. Which apparently is any time she's sleeping. :) Of course parents always find their child beautiful, but it seems to me that the more time I spend with her, the cuter she gets. I've had to clear my 2GB camera memory card like 4 times since she's been born. I'm always like, "Oh, look how cute. Where's my camera?" We'll see if it keeps up, if we have any pictures of her when she gets older or if I'm gonna burn myself out... Well, my once sweetly sleeping baby is now awake and wanting my attention. Bye for now.

Discoveries

2008-09-30T19:06:00.000-07:00

The past month or so has been so much fun watching Caroline. She is making new discoveries every day. She has always loved the water, but at the Y pool the other day she was kicking her legs like she was ready to swim a mile. She splashes her face when her arms get a little out of control, and she sometimes puts her face in the water and freaks herself out. But she is definately a water baby. Another new funny thing is that she has discovered her legs and feet. On Sunday while we were trying to take pictures of Caroline and Alexa, Caroline kept bending over to play with the beads on her socks. She lays on her back now and holds onto her feet and rolls to the side. I think she has found it's easier to roll that way. She also sits in my lap and kicks whatever I happen to be holding at the time. A book, a box of crackers, whatever. Well, she has found a new game. She lays on her play mat and kicks the toy bar over. She has to turn a bit to reach it, cause it's too high, but she can reach the side. She gets her feet hooked around the bar and pulls her legs down to knock out the bar. It's funny. I would load the video of her doing it and laughing the whole time, but my computer is slow...So here's how it works.

She kicks....

Success!Isn't this so much fun?So I leave her on the mat to finish getting the groceries out of the car. When I came back in, this is what I saw...How she got it to the other side, I'll never know. No witnesses...But she looks proud of herself.

She loves to lock her knees real tight, especially during a diaper change, which makes it impossible to put on a diaper. But she also loves to stand up, particularly when she knows she's doing it herself. I have to help her balance, but sometimes I'll let go and let her try on her own. It doesn't seem to freak her out too much when she falls over...Don't you just love her fat rolls? I know Aunt April does. :)

Haircut

2008-09-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

I have always been very indecisive about my hair. Ask anyone in my family, my sisters and mom especially. I bombard them with questions like, "Do you think I should go short? Or grow it out? What about the color?" It's not that I'm really that obsessed with how I look. It's just hair and so easy to change. It grows back if you don't like, no big deal. I have just never really tried many styles, it's always been straight and almost always long, nothing to it. I have been thinking about cutting it for awhile, but I was gonna wait and do Locks of Love again before I settled on short. But plans changed when I got tired of shedding long hair EVERYWHERE!!! Everyone failed to mention that is something that apparently goes along with having a baby. Anyone else experience this misery? Anyways, I finally sucked it up and found some pics of styles I liked and took them to Stephanie and said, "Help me." :) She did. She probably thought I was annoying cause I kept talking about how I liked these styles but, "they probably won't work with my hair." Bla bla bla. I was wrong, she was right. It's shorter than I anticipated. But I guess a picture isn't the same as reaching up and thinking where did all of it go?!?! It's a very liberating, my head feels lighter and my neck cooler. Justin says he likes it, but keeps saying, "It's gonna take some getting used to." Which leads me to believe he doesn't love it, but likes it ok. He almost always gets used to my style of the moment and then when I change it again, he'll say the same thing. But anyways, now that you all have been sufficiently bored with my hair drama, let me just say that I LOVE IT! I think Caroline likes it too, she smiled at me alot today. :)

Justin vs. Police Dog

2008-09-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

So the other day in class, they had a K-9 unit. Justin volunteered to go up against the dog. I guess he was the only one to volunteer and the guys in his class were like, "Dude, that's crazy." But that's Justin for you. I asked him if he was scared and he said he was a little, but he wanted to see what it was like. Then he said when he got the padded suit on he wasn't really as nervous. So he goes out and the officer gives the dog the attack command and calls him back and tells him to attack again. In the picture where Justin looks like he's laughing, he said the officer called the dog off and then 'searched' Justin and then he told Justin to push him. Justin pushed the officer and the dog attacked him. The officer told Justin to try to lift his arm with the dog hanging off it. Justin said he wrestled with that dog forever and couldn't get him off for anything. At one point I guess Justin had his arm out with the dog hanging off and was swinging the dog around in circles. Needless to say, Justin enjoyed class enormously that day. This past Saturday he had class also. I was sad cause he worked that night too, so I didn't see him much. We did get to have lunch and he told me that they got to drive the police training cars. I guess one is a new Dodge Charger. They had all kinds of crazy obsticles and they had to go through them as fast as they could. They were encouraged to test the limits, not just worry about running over cones. So again, right up his alley. This Saturday he gets to go to Carthage P.D. and begin hiring testing and today all the department heads for Joplin (SWAT, K-9, Drug units, all the 'cool guys' as he called them) came to his class to recruit and schmooze the cadets. He really is getting excited, but overwhelmed with trying to decide where he wants to go when this semester is over. I'm glad he is doing something he enjoys. I sometimes get worried when I think about some of the situations he may get into in the future. When I bring that up, he agree's, but thinks about all the people he could help. I guess that's the attitude he needs, so I'm proud of him. He found out in class that the divorce rate is high for police officers and of the one's who stay married, there is a high percentage married to nurses and teachers. Interesting huh? I'm neither, but we decided I'm kinda close to a nurse, at least in terms of patient care and service, so we're good. :)

New Toy

2008-09-12T21:35:00.001-07:00

So this past Wednesday at Activity Day, I had Caroline with me, which I never do cause little girls are easily distracted by babies. Nicole was playing with her while I was giving my lesson and I mentioned to her that Caroline likes to be sitting up, but she's not good at it yet, so it sometimes can be hard to come up with different positions that make her happy. Makayla asked me if I had seen these seats and Nicole said she had one and brought it in for Caroline to try. Since Nicole's boys are too big for it, she let me borrow it until Caroline gets too big (or she needs it again, whichever comes first...) Anyways, as you can see, Caroline is greatly enjoying her new toy. She is starting to become aware of items and reaching to play with toys. It's fun to watch her discover that she has control over the brightly colored spinny things in front of her. I'm still constantly amazed at how much she changes every day. Just a few days ago I was wondering when she was going to gain interest in toys and things... I'm still learning to just not be overly concerned with her development and enjoy these times. I find my self constantly wondering, "Is it normal she doesn't roll yet?(she does now a little...)" or "When is she going to start doing this or that?" Even though I studied child development in school and I know she's completely normal, I still muse and look up stuff in old text books and such. I enjoy sharing with Justin. He says things like, "She always does that," and I will reply with something like, "That's ATNR, an infant reflex. She can't roll until she suppresses the reflex." I know, it's crazy and stupid, but my brain is weird like that. I can't make it stop!

Family Photo Shoot 8-22-08

2008-09-10T20:33:00.000-07:00

I you could see mommy in this, it would be just perfect.

Daddy and Caroline are so cute.

Grandma Maureen made
her blessing dress.

It was the end of the shoot and she had had enough. We finally gave her the pacifier to make her happy. Daddy found the football in the pile of props and gave it to her. Thankfully the photographer thought it was cute too and this was the end result.

This Daddy's favorie picture

And so it begins...

2008-09-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

So everyone and their dog has a blog site and I thought, why not? I'm not much of a pro, so bear with me. I also don't have tons of time, but will probably update at least once a week.

So life has brought us many changes the past few months. First and foremost the arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Caroline Ruth. She was born June 20 and is doing great. Justin is currently enrolled in the police academy and is enjoying it so far. Analla has returned to work just this week. :( I know, but somebody has to be the bread winner while daddy is becoming super cop. :)

That's our life in a nut shell. Enjoy!