5 Years Fighting Crime

If you've already passed out by the sheer studliness of the man in this picture, you may not want to continue reading.

<----That, ladies and gentlemen, is MY husband.

Crime Fighter Extraordinaire.

Defender of the Weak

Protector of the Peeps

Can you tell that I'm proud to be his wife?! Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of Jona becoming a member of the LAPD. We didn't have a party, he didn't get a cake, what he did do was let me sleep in, change dirty (very dirty) diapers, rub my feet and did the dishes, among many other tasks.

That is why I love him.

When I was in high school and college I would tell everyone who would listen, that I would never, ever, EVER marry a cop. My family was close to an officer who died in the line of duty and I wanted to stay far far away from being a police wife.

I think I got over the fear of being married to a police officer but then I decided that the majority of them were jerks. This opinion was developed after receiving a couple of (well deserved) tickets.

Anyway, when I met Jonathan my entire opinion changed. I certainly didn't marry him because he was a cop. He could have been a trash man or professional tap dancer for all I cared, it was his character and integrity on and off the job that attracted me to him.

One of the things I respect most about him is that he doesn't bring his job home with him. Don't get me wrong, there are things that we talk through and situations that he needs to process, but at work he is tough and authoritative and at home he is kind and gentle and leads us lovingly.

Babe, thanks for everything you do both at home and at work. I am so proud of you and I am so thankful that God has kept you safe these last five years! I love you!

Trip To Washington

A few weeks ago I went to visit my family in the beautiful, glorious Washington state. The purpose of my trip was to be there as my best friend Amy Carruthers gave birth to her second son. It was so great to be there with Amy and her family and to also spend some time with my family.

I spent some time at the hospital with Amy and John (her husband). One of the days we were there my sister Sarah was taking her preschool class to the pumpkin patch. My other sister, Stephanie and Penny and I tagged along and we had a total blast! Here are some pictures from our trip.

Here is beautiful Amy with little Nathan John Carruthers

Penny with Aunt Steph

She was not a big fan of taking this picture

I can't remember if she was laughing or crying here

(Probably crying)

What is this thing?!

"Hey mom, how much longer do I have to sit here?"

"Okay, I'll give you a smile"

9 Months Old!!

So I skipped 8 months accidentally. I'm sure you're not too torn up about it :) I don't even know what happened in that month. Believe it or not I actually just ordered her baby book. I know, super lame. I kept thinking that I needed to get it but I thought it wouldn't really matter since I was journaling it all, but as the whole world knows, that journal is lost forever... Soooooo all I really remember now is her birthday. (You think I'm joking)

Anyways!! I just took her in for her 9 month appointment and she is still our little string bean! She is still super skinny and super tall. She is 95th percentile for height and 25 for weight.

She has now been sick for 8 weeks straight with maybe a day or two of reprieve. Poor little thing! She has had fluid in her ears for a while too so it's looking like we may be visiting the ear/throat/nose doc. Bring on the tubes! She's also finally cutting her first tooth so that probably adds to her discomfort.

I can hardly believe this, but she is almost walking. She can stand up from sitting without holding on to anything and she can stand on her own for about 45 seconds at a time but she is still too freaked out to take a step.

I am finding that 9 months changes everything I thought I knew about being a mom. I feel like every aspect of this little girl has changed in the last couple of weeks. Some of the changes have been a wee bit difficult to adjust to but I still am loving this. For one, she has decided that she's afraid of everyone except for her Dada and I. She refuses to play by herself and cries almost every time I put her down. She's doing the famous "Nine Month Eating Strike" and has dropped a couple pounds in my opinion. Its been an interesting transition but more on that in a later post...

She LOVES pudding and eats pretty much everything, including the dust bunnies on our living room floor. She, like most babies, is extremely curious and I find myself saying, "Thank you Lord, thank you Lord, thank you Lord" about 100 times a day in extreme gratitude to our Lord who protects her from 100 injuries.

One quick story of God's protection... Last week she was being super clingy and very sad and I didn't have anyone else to watch her so I decided to bring her in the shower with me. I gave her some bath toys to play with but she was FREAKING OUT because she is apparently terrified of water now too, so I picked her up while I tried to rinse the shampoo out of my eyes and hair. I thought she had one of her bath toys in her mouth, but when I finally opened my eyes and looked at her I realized, to my horror, that she had my razor IN HER MOUTH. I very carefully took it out of her mouth and began my "thank you Lord..." I still can't believe she didn't get cut!

The Lord has been so good to us and our little monkey! Here are some pictures from month 8 & 9...

I like to call this picture "Pengelina"

(If you don't get the joke, don't worry, it's not that funny)

This is Pen's new smile. I'm a fan :)

A picture from the WA pumpkin patch

(more to come soon...)

Pen & Mama

Penny and the goldfish fiasco

Penny the Ladybug

This picture cracks me up. She looks like she's on something :)

This may be one of my all time favorite pictures.

I love this little girl!!