Playing in the yard

Well, as I mentioned the weather here in sunny florida has FINALLY changed a bit for fall...its been a long summer for this pregnant lady!! it still gets into the 80's during the hottest part of the day but the mornings and evenings are much more mild now and I'm LOVING it! Did I mention that I'm happy about this??

Friday it was so nice out we decided to have dinner on the deck and enjoy it. Caylee and Vic couldn't resist running around in the grass a bit..and I was able to finally get video of Caylee that has decent audio of her laughing.

ARGH - having trouble uploading the video...will try in another posting.

8 months preggo

this is the only picture i was able to get of my 8 month profile...there are just bigger fish to fry than taking pictures of my belly this time around :) this was two weeks ago.

one week from tomorrow I'll hit 9 months (holy cow!) and will try to get a few pictures then.

Fingerpainting

On Thursday we went to a friends house and sat on their back patio - PRAISE GOD THE WEATHER IS CHANGING!!!! - and Caylee got to fingerpaint for the first time. She was kind of indifferent to it...mostly wanted to do something else but participated to be polite :) I think she'll enjoy coloring with pens or markers or crayons more...but i'm not ready to tackle that mess just yet. Here's a cute shot one of the other moms took of us painting.

Enjoy!

Videos of Caylee in the water

Fun at the beach

More pictures from today's BBQ at the beach...Caylee had soooo much fun!

"Master Vic"

Well...its been a long time coming (our entire marriage!) but its finally over. Today we celebrated Vic earning his Master's Degree in Telecommunications Management from UMUC.

Caylee and I are very proud of him and all the hard work that went into finishing this program. We had a big BBQ on the beach with some of Vic's co-workers who also have finished in the last few months. It was lots of fun - a great way to celebrate a great accomplishment!

Here's a picture of the proud graduates. From left to right its Keith, Vic, Tom, Mike, Eric and Scott.

Happy Constitution Day!

Today is Constitution Day...visit heritage.org (my former employer!) to request a FREE copy of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Its worth a re-read in this super political climate.

sleepy girl

Caylee feel asleep in the shopping cart this morning...it was only 11 and she normally goes down for a nap around 1 or so...i guess she just needed a little extra sleep today :)

Cute girl!

this one is for gramma

ok - here's a funny little video of Caylee asking to sit in daddy's lap..."UP?"
enjoy!

CAYLEE LOVES TO EAT

snapped this picture of Caylee tonight at dinner...lasagna face! this is really a great representation of her personality...she is so funny and just loves to ham-it-up!

MOPS project

As most of you know, I'm loving being involved in our local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group. Great friends and great encouragement...

So, the theme for this "year" is Adventures in Mothering and I decided to make a "circus tent" for the entryway into our meeting room...here's how it turned out. I'm pretty proud of it.

We had our first meeting today and it was GREAT! But I'm exhausted now :)

Anyhow, just thought i would share my creation :)

Virginia Trip

Well, we made it! Spent the long holiday weekend with the VA friends and family. Good times for all - we took Caylee and Jon Paul (Vic's nephew) to Busch Gardens Williamsburg on Friday. They have this Salute to Heroes program for military folks so we all got in for FREE! We had lunch in the German FestHaus...just a little taste of our time overseas. Vic and Jon went on a few rides while Caylee and I shopped...it was REALLY hot but tons of fun. Unfortunately, our camera battery was dead, so we don't have any pictures - ugh! One part that we all really enjoyed was the Budweiser Clydesdale horses, the wolf valley and the Bald Eagle reserve...we also went to a show "pet shenannigans" and saw some funny stuff. There is also a bird sanctuary that you can walk thru where the birds fly freely around you...yeah, that was a job for DADDY since mommy is freaked out by birds. Caylee seemed to like it but I was wierded out the whole time...is that a word... wierded?? Anyhow. Then we went back to our hotel where Caylee and mama took a nap and Vic and Jon went to see a movie - a rare treat for Vic! On Saturday we met up for breakfast with Vic Sr. and the family...had a nice time just visiting and playing with the kids at their house for awhile. Vic got to watch the USC-UVA game where USC totally blew them away! good times.
Sunday we went to the nice mall in Norfolk with Vic's sister Missy, newphew Jon Paul and brother in law Rod. Was nice for Missy to get out of the house and see Caylee running around and being funny. Then, as we were leaving the mall I heard a voice behind me "Cheri Lund" - ha ha, my maiden name - I turned to see our good friends Alison and Jody!!! Holy cow what a cool surprise, they just happened to be in town when we were!! We were so excited! We visited for about 45 minutes before we had to get going...so so SO great to see them in such a surprise way! Spent the rest of Sunday evening with Vic's old roommate Matt and his wife Sharon. Got to meet their new baby Caleb, sweet 7 months old, and some of their friends. I was great to visit with them and see their home!
Then, as Hurricane Gustav pounded Louisianna, we flew back to FL to find our home safe and sound. Whew!!! Only "damage" was our bbq cover had blown off - no biggie!
All in all, it was a long overdue trip that we really enjoyed. Thanks to everyone we saw for making the time to hang with us - we love ya!
Oh, the picture is of Jon Paul, Vic Sr., me, Vic and Caylee at Vic Sr.'s house.