Joseph at 9 Months

 Our sweet baby boy turned 9 months last month!  He's rushing out of baby hood and although it's fun to see the little kid learn new things, I can't slow him down!  He's still not very far in the mobile department, which is fine by me.  Here are the pics I didn't already post of him since we left off from this post.

 7 MONTHS: still no teeth, but really knows who mama is.

 Did I mention he's our little cookie monster?  This bag of cookies 

was on the floor next to him and closed, and next time we looked down 

he was at it.  No wonder he wasn't whining!

 Happiest in the mornings (for the most part).  Would wake up 2-3 times at night.

 When he was sleeping in the same room as us it wasn't bad...

then he moved to his crib in his room and I realized how sucky it was.

 LOVES getting in the bath.  HATES getting out.  

 8 MONTHS: Teething.  Need I say more?  

Still not crawling, but we're not in a rush at 8 months.

 9 MONTHS: I posted all the photos between 8-9 months in the last few posts.  

He has 2 teeth, learning so much (clapping, waving, high-fiving) 

and apparently his hair grew a lot.  Look at those locks!

 Joey lights up when Sam gets home.  

Sam, despite being in the middle of medical school, 

gets down on the floor with him and

 shows him how to be a little boy.

Sweet sweet Joseph.  He started sleeping through the night (for the most part), and that has been a big blessing.  We just decided not to pick him up until after 3am, and he got the idea quick.  Now it's 6:30-7 that he wakes up.  Not to mention he's been going to bed at 7:30-8pm (when it was more like 10:30-11pm before).  Like I said, huge blessing.

As a first time mom, it's hard not to compare the kid to others.  Why is he not crawling, or saying words yet?  And yet, maybe he's showing us that, yes, I'm growing up, but I'm still your baby.  I love that kid. 

The Cabin in the Bleak Mid Winter

We were invited by my parents to their timeshare cabin we as a family have been going to for decades.  It's always nice to have a weekend getaway, even if it's in a tiny cabin in CO.  We enjoyed the food, company, activities, and the likes.

 

Us in the main room.  This is where the majority of our time is spent.

 

He is our cookie cookie cookie monster.  

Nothing makes his face light up like a cookie.

 We brought our wii up and Mario Party was quite popular

 with everyone 24 and under.

I had to post this picture just for that face.  CUTE.

 Now for pictures from our camera. 

 The beloved swing.  Which Maddi fell off of and wasn't as fond 

of it thereafter.

 We gathered all the children and tried to find the perfect sledding hill.  

We were told there were good hills if we crossed the frozen river, 

jump over a barbed fence, and wade our way through pills of horse poop.

This was the best hill we could find with snow on it.  

I guess it served its purpose.

 Alas, some girls had enough of the snow and cold so we had to break from 

the group and somehow find our way back.  Surprisingly we did!

We went into town a couple times and we found this frozen pond

 in back of the Malt Shoppe.  We carefully walked until we 

were sure it could hold our weights.  Then we went for it.

This time was memorable for sure.  We got to bring Joey along for the first time and got to play in snow, which we don't come up during this time of year often.  Thanks Mom and Dad for all the memories!!

Most Wonderful Time of Year

December was busy busy busy.  But as always, that's what makes it fun.  Let's see if I can remember any details...

 Jo Jo loves his Daddy

Our Decor for this year.  Pretty satisfied with it.

The Boyacks (our next-door neighbors) hosted a ginger bread house-making party. 

 If you can't pick out Sam's, you don't know him at all.  :)

I *HAD* to get a picture of Joey with Santa. 

 He did well until I called his attention to the camera

 and he saw that I wasn't holding him.  Ha.

 The latest Kartchner family photo.  Man it took some planning to get everyone here together.  

There was a few hour slot that worked so we got the tri-pod and got this shot.  I think it turned out great.  

Can you guess the three heads that were photo-shopped?  (NO ONE in my family guessed all three)

Sam and I decided for Christmas eve we would visit the zoo.  We found out there are some perks to going on this day.  First, it's free.  We walked straight in.  Second, no one is there.  I mean no one.  Not even the staff.  So they aren't there to say you can't go into the exhibits (Joey enjoyed playing the orangutans...jk jk jk).  Lastly, the only staff we saw were feeding the ducks, so you got to use tons of duck feed for free.  It was pretty sweet.

 Joey was pretty stoked about his new Christmas PJ's.  We spent Christmas eve with Sam's family: 

Golden Corral dinner, games, caroling, it was awesome spending time with those that could make it.

 Christmas morning.  We got some awesome things, 

but I enjoyed spending it with Sam and Joey.  

He might understand more of what was going on next year!  

 And though we got awesome things, no one was more excited 

about his gift than my dad, who got a Red Ryder bb gun.  

He knew what it was right off the bat without opening it.  Ha.

This new year we made some goals, and we will be sharing them in the next post.  I think we're off to a good start.  I already made some home improvements that I'm still goo goo-eyed over.