Birthday Boy Turns 1!

We just celebrated Michael's first birthday! I can't believe he's a year-old already, yet in other ways it seem like he's been with us forever!

On his actual birthday, we met up with some family at the Houston Zoo. It was Michael's first trip to the zoo, and he was surprisingly complacent about it. He looked at some of the animals, but I think he was more interested in the people walking around.

He did, however, love the train ride we took at the end. It's just outside the zoo and takes you all around the park.

We celebrated his birthday this past weekend when my family and Matt's family could all come up. It was sooo nice having everyone here.

We had never given him cake before, and it took him a few seconds to figure out what to do with it, but the picture speaks for itself!


Also last week, Matt and I took Michael to the Houston temple for the first time. We wandered around the beautiful gardens, which are especially beautiful right now with the azalea and tulips in full bloom. Michael was most impressed with the fountain.

Valentine's Surprise

Can I just brag on my husband again? In addition to roses and chocolates for Valentine's Day this year, Matt made me a web site dedicated to his love! It's so sweet I have to show it off. http://www.ilovejennifercompton.com/

Wow, I'm sooo behind!

Okay, so I'm way behind in updating this thing. What can I say? I'm busy being a mom! But here it goes:

In early January, Matt's sisters, Sarah and Lisa, came to visit for a weekend. We visited the Arboretum and had lots of fun "appreciating" the trees.

This is a great action shot. We came across a termite-eaten tree, and Matt and Lisa enjoyed kicking part of the bark off.

Lisa conquers the vine!

Matt and Jennie sitting in a tree . . .

We're not sure what Sarah's doing . . .

We also went to visit the Battleship Texas, a real battleship that fought in WWI and WWII and is now retired.

Bring out the big guns.

Ahoy there!

A few weeks later, my mom came to visit to work on our family history. My grandmother was an avid genealogist and collected tons on information. So, my mom and I are trying to get it all organized on the new Family Search program. It didn't take long for me to catch the genealogy bug. I'm now dedicating at least an hour each Sunday to it.

Last week, my sister Alison was here in Houston for three different job interviews. We loved having her here and Michael enjoyed the extra attention. By the end of the week he would point from one to the other of us and we'd have to say Mom-Alison-Michael over and over. The last day she was here, we visited the Museum of Fine Arts downtown, including the sculpture garden. If you've never been, it's worth a trip just to see it. They have a fabulous collection!

I love this guy! Matt got not one, but two judicial internships for this summer, covering first and second terms. We would have felt lucky for him to get one, but two is amazing. And, they're with two of the judges he most wanted to work with. He'll be taking classes on top of the 40-hour a week internships, so he won't get much of a summer break, but the experience will absolutley be worth it!


A Michael update: Michael said his first word, "Mama," a few weeks ago. It made this mama very happy! About that same time, he took his first steps! He's been toddling around a little since then, but mostly he just takes a few steps and then falls. I think by his birthday, though, he'll be getting around better.

Just some funny pictures:

Hey mista', can you spare a dime?

Don't hate me because I'm cute.

Michael enjoys feeding himself yogurt and green beans.

Like my new do?

Christmas & New Years

We had a fabulous Christmas with Matt's family in San Antonio! We stayed with them for 5 days and loved every minute of it. Michael got a ton of toys and clothes. He had a little trouble getting into the whole wrapping paper business. He wanted to eat the paper more than tear it off, but I think by next year, he'll be a pro.


Michael had a blast playing with all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins (and the cats, of course). Matt and I especially appreciated all of the willing babysitters!




A few days before Christmas, he developed a funny little elephant walk. He is also starting to stand on his own. The longest he's stayed up is about 20 seconds so far, and he seems to stay up longer when he's distracted by something else and not thinking "Hey, I'm standing!"


Matt had a blast playing with some miniature helicopters with his brothers.


Another highlight of the trip was getting to see Matt Sr. sworn in as an attorney. It was a joyous occasion after a lot of hard work! It was a nice reminder for Matt and I that, in just a few more years, we'll be there too!


What a beautiful family!





From San Antonio, we headed up to my parent's place in Leander. We had a wonderful, relaxing time with them too.


One of Michael's gifts was a lego set. (Initially, I think Dad had a little more fun with it than Michael did.)


One day, Matt went up to the ranch with my dad to help feed to cows. He even got a picture of our cow, #42.


As per tradition, Matt and I got up to see the sun rise New Years morning. (Call us whimps, or just tired parents, but, no, we did not stay up the night before.)


Matt taught Michael how to hold onto a swing and he loved it!


We got back to Houston late last Friday. After being gone for 10 days, I wondered if Michael would remember home. --No problems there! He got back into the swing of things without missing a beat!

Birthday, Books & Thanksgiving

We joyously celebrated Matt's 30th birthday this month! Michael and I suprised him by decorating his cubicle at school. He came home early and we enjoyed a lovely walk in Memorial Park and had an early yummy dinner at a Thai food resteraunt. And before he got his last present that night, he had to find 30 hidden kisses, each with an attached reason why I love him. (Thank you Megan for the great idea!)

Thirty Things I Love About Matt

1. I love your sense of humor.
2. I love you because you bring me flowers “just because”.
3. I love hearing you make Michael laugh.
4. I love to sing with you.
5. You’re the world’s best fajita maker.
6. I love you because you don’t mind leftovers.
7. I love you because you do your home teaching faithfully.
8. I love that you take out the trash without being asked.
9. I love that you make the bed every morning.
10. I love you because you keep up with my car maintenance.
11. I love your gift for poetry.
12. I love learning new things with you.
13. I love you because you help with the dishes.
14. I love your dedication to providing for our family.
15. I love your puns!
16. I love your buns!
17. I love your manly physique!
18. I love your beautiful brown eyes.
19. I love you for serving others.
20. I love that you never criticize me.
21. Your mathematical mind amazes me.
22. You’re a handy-dandy handy man.
23. I love going on "adventures" with you.
24. I love our long walks in parks together.
25. You’re a totally suave dresser.
26. I love your musical taste.
27. You’re my personal computer genius.
28. I love it that you don’t mind giving me pedicures.
29. I love your back massages.
30. I love you for being you!

We spent Thanksgiving this year with my family. As always, my mom out-did herself with tons of delectible dishes, but the best part, of course, was being with each other. With all of the extended family driving and flying in, we had over 40 people there for dinner! We were especially excited that Matt's family drove up for the occasion. (I meant to get pictures of all of the food. --All of the kitchen counters were packed, not to mention the dessert tables (yes, that's plural!)

One exciting event: Michael had his first "major" accident at Nana's Thanksgiving night. I had laid him on the bed to change his diaper and turned for a quarter of a second to get the diaper. Before I could grab him, he was off the other side. He hit his head pretty hard on the bedside table and it swelled into this ugly purple bump. But by the next day, it had gone down considerably (as the picture attests) and now it's almost completely healed. (Thank you to all the other mothers present who reminded me that 1) falling off the bed is a right of passage for all young children and 2) I am not a bad mother for letting it happen.)

Friday morning, we headed down to San Antonio to spend a day with Matt's family, and Matt & I were able to slip away to attend the temple there. Michael had a blast playing with Grandma and Aunt Sarah and chasing around Aunt Rachel's two cats.





We came back to Houston Saturday and life is pretty much back to normal. Matt is bearing down even harder as finals begin next week. I know he'll do great, but he's understandably stressed.


I put up our Christmas decorations on Monday and Michael is fascinated with the Christmas tree. We walled it off in a corner with furniture and boxes, but he can just reach a few of the branches. It's enough to keep him satisfied, for now.


Within the past few weeks, Michael has started "cruising" along furniture and today he even held his balance standing up for 5 seconds! I'm assuming he's going to be walking by Christmas, so Nana and Rachel: consider this your warning for the beloved pets in your lives! We also discovered upon our return that Michael's top teeth are coming in. One has poked through completely, and the other isn't far behind. He is turning into a pro-eater and, while he doesn't always enjoy eating new foods, he certainly loves playing with them!


Michael has also developed a passion for reading! Several weeks ago, he started turning the pages to books as I read to him. And when we get to the end, he immediately flips it back to the beginning and we have to start all over. Now, he's even bringing books to me. If I don't notice right away, he gives a little whimper until I pick him up and start reading to him. As you can see from the picture, this past week, he's also discovered the fun of pulling all of the books off the book shelf in his room.

Last thing: Stacie and Tina, as promised, here is the recipe for Vern's Sugar and Spice cookies. Enjoy!

Sugar & Spice Cookies

3/4 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/4 c. sorghum or molasses
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
3/4 tsp. ginger.

Cream together the sugar and shortening. Add the egg and molasses. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Roll into small balls and dip in Turbinado sugar. Bake for 10 mins. at 350 degrees.

Major League Minor

We took Michael around to a few houses to trick-or-treat and it didn't take him long to figure out what he was supposed to do --go for the candy!!!



We had a blast at my cousin Tina's Halloween party. Michael got to play with his twin cousins Caulder (the skeleton) and Amelia (the flower).

Daddy's Little Monster --One of Michael's favorite tricks now is to show off those two front teeth. His top two teeth are about to come in any day now.

Caught in the act!



Look what we found down by the crick!



Michael went to his very first football game November 1st and got to see his cousin Christina play in the marching band. Go Stratford Spartans! I'm not sure if they actually won (we left after half-time) but it was fun. Understandably, he was a lot more interested in the band and the flag girls' sparkley pom-poms than the football game.

We survived Ike!

In case you were all wondering, we got through Hurricane Ike just fine. We actually evacuated Houston at 6 a.m. Friday morning (before the terrible traffic jams started) and weathered the storm at my parent's house near Austin. Thursday afternoon, lines at gas stations stretched into the streets, and there were peole waiting hours for only to find that the gas tanks had run dry. Luckily, Matt went out late that night to withdraw some emergency cash from the ATM and right as he was about to leave, an oil truck drove up to make a delivery at the gas station across the street. He was the first in line to fill up his car, then he came home and drove back to fill up my car. We count it as a great blessing to have been in the right place at the right time. So many other people could leave the city just because there was no gas to be had. Our trip to Austin was pretty uneventful. It was a nice break from school for Matt, and we enjoyed spending time with family despite wondering what we were going to come back to. We were glued to the news reports all day Saturday as they showed pictures of what was going on back in Houston and Galveston. Actually, the Austin area didn't even get a drop of rain --just a couple of strong wind gusts. Matt's parents and brother Ben came to visity Sunday, so it was nice that we got to visit a little with everyone. Matt's classes started up again the following Tuesday, so we drove back Monday afternoon to find that our electricity had come back on just a few hours earlier. Again, we were among the lucky ones. There were people in our ward who just got their power back on last week.--They went 18 days without electricity!!! Besides having to boil our water for the next few days, we really didn't have any problems. Our apartment complex had several trees uprooted, minor roof damage, and water damage from water being blown under window sills. Thankfully, our area was spared major damage, but I did take a few pictures of things within 1/2 mile of us. There were branches and limbs down all over every yard. All in all we were very blessed through the whole ordeal. Our prayers continue to go out to those who suffered greatly!

In happier news . . . Michael has finally mastered the art of crawling after spending the past month or so scooting around on his belly. He loves being able to follow me around the house and is becoming an expert at picking things up from the kitchen floor. (I suppose I ought to start sweeping on a regular basis now . . .)

He has also started pulling himself up on furniture, the sides of his crib, and on our knees. The picture is his first success. Matt had put him in the bathtub while he was doing some things in the bathroom and Michael just pulled himself right up. He was very proud!