Joseph Gabriel Bartels

Congratulations to Joe & Christiane on their newborn baby boy, Gabe! Everyone is heathy and doing well. Violet is happy to have a new cousin to play with. Check out their website (see links on the right) for more details.

Violet's 9 month Check Up

"Look Mom - I found treats!"

"I'm sooo going to grab the camera when I get over there"

This is Violet's new "creepy/cute" smile - more teeth soon to appear.

Violet had her 9 month check up ... well closer to 10 months but who is counting. =) The Dr was very pleased with her development - she is a very attentive little girl. She enjoyed talking (gibber - jabber) along with playing with the Dr's cool new shiny toy(stethoscope). She had her first dose of the flu shot - it went well but I still hate that part of her appts. (*We get to go back for the 2nd dose next month- ya!)

Here are her stats ....
Height : 2' 6" - (95% percentile)
(*John likes to tease that she is almost 1/2 my height.)

Weight : 21.5 lbs - (84% percentile)
(*We like to call her "monster baby" -
I think she just wants to catch up with her cousin Lucy)

Head : 18" - (84% percentile)
(*Brain is healthy and growing - always good to hear)

I can't believe just a couple months ago she was just learning to sit up on her own and now she is everywhere. We have a hard time keeping track of her with her "turbo crawling" otherwise she is your shadow checking out anything you are doing including investigating the dog bowls. (*Yes she has sampled the dog food and played patty cake in the water bowl) She has learned how to open up drawers, so I've had to reorganize my cupboards and put away my fancy serving pieces. She will play with her toys by herself for 15-30min without any concern that mommy or daddy are not near by. She loves playing with other kids - especially her cousin Lucy - she will often laugh with excitement when she sees other kids when we are out shopping. She loves music and we will often find her clapping and bouncing to commercials on TV or to music on the radio. (*If you have any great kid music suggestions - please let me know) She is creeping all over the place and is so close to walking. John is greeted most days by Violet and the Dogs waiting at the top of the stairs - Violet of course waving her little hand through the baby gate. She is growing up so fast and we patiently wait to see what she will do next.

Here are a couple recent pics.... She make so many new facial expression it is hard to capture them all!

Christal & Ellie's Visit to MN

Last Wed my sister-in-law Christal and her daughter Ellie came over for dinner. It was really nice to see them - we have not seen each other since our wedding reception in 2006. It was great to catch up and for the girls to play. Violet loves her cousin Ellie and ate up all the special attention she received that night. I believe they will be heading back to Hawaii this Thursday - here are a few pics from that night. (*Chace, we miss you!)


"More Hugs and Kisses Please!!"


What a great Smile!


Chace's "Special Ladies" =)


Violet's favorite toy she has figured out how to turn it on and proceeds to bounce up and down to the Video Game music - it is very entertaining to watch.

Vikings littlest fan!

Okay here are a series of pictures we took of Violet in preperation for football season starting. Do you see the proud look in John' s eyes as his favorite little girl sports her Purple and Gold gear. (*Sorry Grandpa Wallsch - this is a battle I can't win.)

Chace has left for Iraq....

This is a very sweet picture of my brother Chace and his wife Christal. It captures their final "goodbyes" as my favorite Marine leaves for his third tour to Iraq. I will try to post occasional updates as I get them from his Christal but as you can imagine there is not alot of information that can be shared. If you are interested in sending any notes to Chace or to any of the other soldiers let me know and I will get that information to you. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.