Graduation

First of all, I just have to say that I love a man in uniform! Especially my man. :) This past Friday, Jeff graduated from the Academy and we are all so proud of him.  He also received an award for achieving the highest degree of firearms proficiency! He has been working his butt off for the last 4 months studying for academic tests, getting into better shape, learning defensive tactics and more, all while being an awesome husband and father.  It has been fun and a little scary sometimes hearing Jeff's stories from work. Some days it was a little unnerving when he'd come home with bruises all over his arms, smelling gross from getting "slimed", or my least favorite was when his eyes were swollen and face red from getting maced.  But he also got to have fun shooting guns and stuff, which hopefully made up for some of the not so fun, boring days.  The actual graduation ceremony was great! They had some great speakers and it made me feel better about the people Jeff will be working with, or as they refer to them, his correctional family.  

It was also awesome because both of our parents were able to come up for his graduation. We had a great weekend with them and wish they could have stayed longer. Jeff's mom made us this cute erase board where you can write "I love you because..." notes for each other.  On it, she wrote, "Jeff and Kelly, I love you because you two graduated!"  I thought this was funny at first because I didn't graduate. I still have another year before I graduate... But this morning as I was thinking about it, in a way I feel like I did graduate; I graduated to a whole new level of being a wife.  Before the graduation, all of the officers' spouses were required to take a class about how life will now be different. It was really eye opening to see how things will probably change in Jeff's psyche and how it'll affect his outlook on life and even our marriage.   After this class I felt that I needed to step it up as a wife! I hope that as Jeff continues in this line of work, we can both find the balance we need to support each other.  I love Jeff so much and am so proud of what he has accomplished and I know Jackson is too. :)

Jackson's First Thanksgiving

Because Jeff is going through the Academy right now, we were so blessed that he got Thanksgiving weekend off, which meant for the first time in 3 years we got to go home for Thanksgiving! We decided to break up the trip so that Jackson didn't have to be in the care for so long. Wednesday night, we left as soon as Jeff got home from work.  We drove to Vegas and only had to stop twice to feed Jackson. That night we stayed with Uncle Keola and Aunt Barbara.  We wished we could've visited longer, but we got in late and left early Thursday morning.  It was so fun though seeing our little cousins play with Jackson! And Jackson definitely loved watching them. Thursday morning we prepared for another long day of driving. We drove from Vegas to La Quinta where we spent Thanksgiving with the Doria side of the family! It was fun being the only white people. haha Then we drove up to Apple Valley.  We went to go see Nana, but she was already asleep when we got there. We went and played volleyball with the Heywoods and found out that we are going to be an aunt and uncle to two kiddos now! Congrats again Brian and Caitlin! We can't wait for the next cutie to make their debut! After that we went to see my parents and had an awesome surprise! My Pop from New Jersey flew out to see us! I only get to see him one every few years, so it was great setting to see him and for him to meet Jackson.  We had so much fun getting to introduce Jackson to friends and family and we're sorry to any family or friends we didn't get to see.

We are so proud of Jackson! I feel like he really grew on this trip! Not only in size, he's now wearing 6 month size! But also developmentally.  On Saturday he rolled over for the first time from his back to tummy! And the funny thing, nobody saw it! I layed him down in the living room and we were all in the kitchen. When Grandpa walked by, he realized Jackson was now on his stomach! He rolled over like 5 times that day! He also was a social butterfly! He loved all the attention and didn't mind being held by so many different and new people.  And the whole trip he was so happy! He did great in the car too! Pretty much slept the whole way. We love our little booger so much! Now we can get excited for Christmas!


Doria Family Thanksgiving

Hanging with Nana



With the Miller/Moraglia side of the family.


Cute cousins!

New Blogger

So, I've finally given in and started a family blog.  I've always wanted to do one, but always felt weird expecting people to read it and I've never really had time to keep it up.  But, seeing how many people have one, I figured I can do it too! Once school starts I might not be as good keeping it up...

We've had a pretty crazy past few months!

Jeff started his new job in September working as a correctional officer for the prison.  He's almost done with training! Some days he has a lot of fun learning defensive tactics, shooting, knife defense, etc. Other days it's a little more boring as they just discuss laws and regulations.  He's happy that it's getting him into better shape and we're excited for him to graduate in a few weeks!

Jackson seems to accomplish something everyday, whether it's rolling over or a new record of how many times he can spit up on Mommy! He is sometimes a difficult baby (or a lot of the time), but to us, he's perfect! 
Somethings he loves right now:
-Dancing with Mommy
-Putting anything and everything in his mouth
-Trying to sit up
-His rattle
-Playing peek-a-boo
-Story time
-Baths
-Going on walks
-Camping
I had been waiting to set up his room till we'd put down carpet, but we're not sure when that'll happen, so I went ahead and started setting it up! I have been so excited to do this and can't wait for it to be done. 

I've been so blessed to take this semester off from school and thanks to Jeff working so hard, I haven't had to work. I love spending all day with Jackson and watching him grow and develop. I registered for my classes for January and it's a little daunting to think about going back to school with a baby.  

We are super excited to be going home in a week! Can't wait to see all of our friends and family and for Jackson to meet them!