Easter Pictures, Etc.

Okay, so I'm a little behind with my blog updates. My only excuse is that I've been super-sick and tired from being pregnant. I'm finally starting to feel better, so here are some pictures from the last two months.

Michael and I left Dad at home (so sad) so he could catch up on his studies, but we had a ton of fun visiting with Nana & Popie and Grandma & Grandpa. As usual, we had a huge family Easter party and egg hunt the day before Easter at my parent's, and then we headed down to San Antonio to spend some time with Matt's family.

Michael took his egg hunt very seriously.

So many eggs to find!

The Aunties gave Michael a little more egg hunting practice.

Grandma got Michael a huge box to play with and he had a ton of fun crawling back and forth to get "Mooey."

Mooey and Mom.

Within the last month, Michael has become VERY attached to his stuffed animals, especially his frogs.

We took Michael into the pool at our apt. a few weeks ago, and while he didn't seem to enjoy it very much, he didn't throw a fit. Yesterday for Memorial day, we had a BBQ at my Uncle Eddie's house, and Matt took him in their pool. He freaked out at first, but with a lot of carefully planned distraction (an intense game of fetching the ball out of the water), we eventually got him in without minding it. Now we just have to keep him used to it!

After months of taking great joy in destroying every tower he sets eyes on, Michael has finally learned the joy of building them too. He was sooo proud of this one. I think it's one of the tallest he's made so far.

Funny clip of Michael helping Popie plant sod.

Spring Break

During Spring Break this year, Matt used the whole "vacation" to study at home while Michael and I took a trip to Nana and Popie's house. (That doesn't seem quite fair, does it?) My nephew and neice, Cole and Kylie, were visiting that same week, so we got to do lots of fun things with them like visiting the Austin discovery center, riding a train, and attending the Georgetown Library's tea party for the second year in a row. Cole and Kylie especially loved the dancing!

Michael loved playing in the grass, leaves, sand, etc. wherever we went (I don't let him into the grass at our apt. complex--too many dogs and cats around.) and swinging on the swing set where he knows how to hold on all by himself.

Look at my big muscles!

I love this clip of the kids playing peek-a-boo with Michael.


Matt caught this one last Sunday. Michael naps better if Mom is next to him and that means Mom gets a naps too!

Michael is now officially a "toddler." He's walking everywhere! He especially loves going outside. He brings me his shoes and then bangs on the door to say it's time for a walk! I caught this clip yesterday.

Another Compton is Coming!!!

The picture should be worth 10,000 words. Gender unknown, names undecided. Due date is late October/early November. We'll probably have to induce again, so we're looking at October 21st to keep with the tradition of birthdays on the 21st of the month so far...

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!