The Matherne Great American Roadtrip - Part 1

We set off for our cross country journey before Christmas to travel from South Carolina to Las Vegas to get Brad to Weapons School. We had many adventures along the way. One of our frist stops was for lunch at Chick-fil-a in Jackson MS.  They were decked out and ready for Christmas. Micah got a cow christmas hat.




They also had a toddler area in their playground which was perfect for Micah to stretch his legs. 





Before we left we had to have a picture with teh Santa Cow!  Micah just wasn't so sure about Santa as a person much less a cow!  Check out this face!



At another stop in New Mexico Micah had nowhere to stetch his legs so we let him stretch up front and he loved driving the car!






After a long day's trip Micah is pooped and so are we!!!

Micah 9 month photos!

HO HO HO... Our first visit with Santa

Yesterday we did not one but two visits to Santa!  Thankfully Micah was feeling much, much, better yesterday and we went to the doctor for a check up and left with the OK to see Santa.  We started off at the base.  I know most of you think that Santa flys in a sleigh but this year he got a bit of an upgrade and arrived to see the kiddos in an F-16!







After being up for a pretty long time, being poked and proded at the doctor and staying up past nap time Micah did pretty well hanging out waiting for Santa.





Unfortunately he did not have much love for Santa, and would have much rather had Mommy continue to hold him rather than tell the jolly old man what he wanted for Christmas.







After we saw Santa we headed home to try to make the most of getting the afternoon nap in. While he was sleeping we figured once he got up we could try to cram all of our Santa in one day and try again freshly refueled with sleep to see the Santa at the mall. 

This worked a bit better.  Micah had a death grip on Brad as he got closer and closer to Santa but some how we managed to pry him off and even convinced him not to cry.  Don't get me wrong... he didn't smile but he didn't cry.  It was a small victory.

Poor Micah

Why is Micah so sad you ask?  Because he has been one sick little baby.  Last Wednesday he woke up from his nap with a funny cough so I took him into the doctor.  We left with a diagnosis of croup and a double ear infection and two prescriptions to fix things.  Wednesday, Thursday and Friday he seemed fine for the most part but today has been more obviously feeling not so hot.  It is so hard to see your baby not feeling good but he is a trooper and I know we will be chasing after him again in no time.  He even managed to take not one, but TWO steps today!  We may have a walker by Christmas!

Getting even closer!

Micah is now more into the standing so now he is getting more into the walking.  Today with a little coaxing from Mom and Dad he tried to take some steps for the first time.  He mostly just moved his feet forward on the way down but he is getting dangerously close to bringing it all together.  This video in particular really cracks us up with the random sneeze and the looking up at Daddy.

And He's Standing!

Micah has been standing for a few weeks but at first he was very unsure of it and would immediately sit down once he realized he was doing it.  Needless to say I could never get that on camera.  In the past few days though he has decided this standing thing is quite an accomplishment and gets pretty proud of himself. He can probably stand for about 30-60 sec.  He gets so excited he often waves his arms and loses his balance but regardless it is very cute.

9 Month Check up

Micah had his 9 month well baby visit last Thursday and he is just doing great!  The doctor only had great things to say and was very complimentary on how he is looking and developing.

9 Month Stats

Height: 28.5 in ~ 50th percentile

Weight: 17.13 lbs ~ 10th percentile

Head 18in ~ 50th percentile

At our appointment his top two teeth had not yet come through and the doctor told me he was also working on his bottom tooth right of the center.  I got a cute pic this morning of Micah's two newest teeth!



Getting so close!!!

Micah is getting closer to walking everyday!  Since he is a super crawler he hasn't shown too much interest in walking unassisted since crawling is just oh so much more efficient at the moment.  He has been really enjoying using his walker and is getting pretty good at it.  He also will use anything that slides across the carpet as a walker as well like say a laundry basket or empty plastic tote.  His big accomplishment as of late though is walking with only holding one hand.  He also is beginning to stand for longer and longer periods unassisted. If he doesn't realize he is standing he can sometimes stay up for 30 seconds.  As soon as he realizes it though it will bend his knees and sit down.  It is only a matter of time though!

We have teeth!

After what has most literally been a month of teething we FINALLY have Micah's top two teeth broken through!  They both started swelling at the beginning of November then both sat right beneath the gums for the past week and a half and finally today they both broke through.  This Mama is very happy to have that over with although at our doctors appointment last Thursday the doctor said there was also another tooth on the bottom right of the center also coming in.  I guess it never ends!

Our New Adventure is....

After Brad finishes Weapon's School we will be going to.......

GERMANY!

After a long wait we think it is official (at least as official as the AF gets) that our next assignment will be to Spangdahlem Air Base (Spang) in Germany. 



It has been quite a road to get here after initially finding out we were going to Germany then having our assignment changed to Utah, then back to Germany.  We are beyond excited to be going to Europe.  It will be quite an adventure and really a great opportunity for our family to see the world!  Spang is located in the German country side near the border of France and about 2 hours from Frankfurt.  We anticipate our move to fall around September of 2011.  We hope to have lots of visitors so start planning your trip!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Let the count down begin!

Which of these do not belong....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  We had a wonderful Turkey Day.  We didn't get to go home for the holiday but got a special treat when Brad's sister Julie and her fiance Cameron came to visit us!  We had a great time hanging out, playing games, eating, eating, and eating!  Micah got to try a little of everything and really enjoyed the new tastes. We got a laugh out of the fact that our turkey weighed just about as much as he does!  Here is our day in photos:

Like Father Like Son

Here are a few more pics of Brad and Micah.  I think Micah was a natural with the jet!

More jet photos!

Theses are some of the Jet Photos taken by Raleigh!