Our Little Angel

Sarah continues to grow and is ever becoming a more active member of our family. As you can see, she now enjoys nibbling on her toes.



She has started scooting a little bit (mostly backwards) and can rotate in a complete circle on her belly to grab toys off to the side. She is very good-natured and easy most of the time, but she definitely lets you know when she feels like she's being ignored. This girl wants to be in the middle of the action!



We took a family temple trip a few weeks ago and took advantage of the beautiful weather to take a family picture.



Our little bunny. (This one's for you, Nana.)



Michael continues to amaze us. He can already point to and name all the letters alphabet; he's just picked it up from books we read together. Now, he's learning the ABC song, again just picking it up from a musical toy.

Had to Brag

In addition to a heavy class load and Law Journal assignments and Peanut Butter Factory duty* and making time for his family, Matt also spent huge amounts of time working on an 80-page paper for the Houston Law Journal last fall. All members of Law Journal had to submit a paper and last week at the annual banquet, we found out that, not only was his selected for publication, but he received an award for the best paper in his field!



I am so proud of him! He puts so much effort into being the very best he can, including the best husband and father. He is amazing to me, and I feel so blessed to have him to walk(/jog/sprint as the case may be) through life with. I love you, Matt!


*Not sure if I've mentioned in this forum yet that Matt has spent every-other weekend the last year and a half working the graveyard shift at our church's peanut butter factory where they make peanut butter for needy families around the world.

Easter Fun

We traveled up to my parent's house for Easter for our annual Easter family reunion. We had a great turn-out this year and it was so nice to see everyone! Of course, for Michael the highlight was the Easter egg hunt.

Even Sarah got into the act.

I stayed with the kids for the week after Easter(Matt had to come home for classes). The first day we were there, Michael saw Popie using a shovel to put leaves into a wheelbarrow. For the rest of our time there, Michael couldn't get enough of this activity! We even bought him his own little shovel so he could work safely.

My great-aunt Vern was there on an extended visit, so we got to spend the whole week visiting with her too. The night before we left, we made a camp fire and roasted hot dogs and smores. Michael loved the taste of the smores, but not so much the googey marshmallow that got all over his face, hands, and clothes.

This past week after we got home, Sarah started rolling over by herself --back to tummy. And she's already half-way to making it the other-way around too.


Sarah is sitting up by herself now pretty well. We still try to keep pillows around her, though, just in case.

Hmmmm. Any resemblance?

She looked so sweet today, I just had to take a picture.

Sarah sits up!

Sarah has just started sitting up on her own! She's still a little wobbly, but she's getting a little better every day.

For Spring Break, Matt took a few days off and we went to San Antonio. Grandma took us and Aunt Sarah to the Texas Transportation Museum. The name might not be too exciting, but it it a 2-year-old paradise!

They have a real, full-size train to ride around the premises; a building full of old cars and carriages, including an old fire-truck you can climb up into; a passenger train set up to walk through; and several big mock-up model train sets. Michael loved it!


My mom and Alison came to visit last week and we took another trip to the zoo to see what we missed last time. I think the coolest thing of all was the komodo dragon. I think Michael probably liked the monkeys the best.

Michael wanted to wear a tie to church yesterday, just like Dad, so we made him one out of a wide piece of ribbon. He was very proud. --And it makes him look so grown-up.

Michael is such a sweet boy! He decided to share all of his frogs with Sarah one day. He piled them up all over her, and she was literally covered with frogs. (This picture was taken after I removed them from covering her face.)

Just a sweet smile.

Birthday Blowout

Not sure why, but I couldn't get this to post to the last update, but here it is.

Michael had been trying to blow out the candle for several minutes before we even began recording . . .

Michael's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Michael's second birthday this past month. We had a little party for him at home the day of, and then had a "real" party for him when Grandma came to visit the week after, including a trip to the zoo.

Balloons + static = fun!

One of Grandma's gifts was a magnetic sketch pad. Michael loves it, and Mom & Dad love it because it's one of the few toys we've found that will keep him quiet during church!


Michael loved the zoo! Sadly it's so big, he wore out about half-way through. We'll just have to go back.


The giraffes were a highlight.

Run for your life, goat! Michael had sooo much fun in the petting zoo. Those goats are really well trained. They get non-stop toddler lovin' dawn to dusk and take it all in stride.


Sarah got her first "solid" meal this past week, and some of it actually made it down her throat.

Another Joyful January

Just some fun pictures from the past month . . .

Sarah started smiling early in the month. I've been trying to decide who she looks like in the family. I'm still not sure, but I do think she has her Grandpa Compton's smile. Within the last week, she has started giggling. But you can't always tell what will make her laugh, so it's always a surprise when she does.


She loves riding around in her front carrier, seeing the world,


and enjoys baby-kick-boxing in her infant gym.


She is learning to grab and hold onto toys, but is still working on motor control.


As you can see, she is very well fed.


Smiley and beautiful!




Michael is Busy, Busy, Busy! It's like he has a little motor inside him that never stops . . . except for nap time.

Hanging


Swinging (I got out my Gazelle exercise machine to try to work off some baby fat, and Michael has soooooo much fun on it. It's like a playscape in our living room!)


Doing the splits



Cuddling all his frog friends: Toad, Frog, Gorf, Puddles, and Widdle.


A few weeks ago, we made play-dough for the first time. We made several objects before deciding to make a dog, complete with a ball, a stick, and a water dish. At this point, I had to leave briefly to take care of Sarah. When I came back, Michael had a big smile on his face and pointed to the water dish, which magically now had water in it. I looked a little closer and discovered drool on his chin. --What a creative little boy to make water for the play-dough dog!


While visiting my mom last week, we took a trip to the Natural History museum on UT campus. Michael loved the dinosaur exhibit, as you can see. He hugged this dino bone repeatedly!




Michael finally learned how to climb out of his crib, but he's not quite ready for a real bed. He ranges from one end of the bed to the other and back through the course of a night. So, we lowered the rail of his crib all the way to the floor. It's high enough that he can't roll out, but low enough that he can climb out without falling.