Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! We spent a rainy wet weekend together, but enjoyed our extra day! We were excited to not have anywhere to be and had fun just the 3 of us! We got to the pool for an hour on Monday before Chris headed back to Quantico. As you can see Claire enjoyed the water and once she took a face plant into the kiddy pool, she was ready to go! She laughed, played, kicked and splashed. The water was FREEZING from all the rain and cooler weather, so Mommy sat on the side and was the photographer while Daddy "took one for the team" and braved the cold water with Claire! She kept saying "momma" like, "why don't you get in, it's fun mom!"

Skype with us

So we finally got a web cam, hooked it up and created a Skype account. If anyone wants to purchase their own web cam (you can get a decent one for about $50) then you can create a Skype account and we can talk via web cam anytime for free. It's a great way to "see" Claire while we're talking and watch her play at the same time. Our account name is emily.lucado, so once your account is set up, you can search for us and then we can connect once we're both logged on. Check out www.skype.com for more info :)

14 Months

Well, it's official, we now have a toddler and there is no more baby in our house! Claire is such a little girl and is growing and changing like crazy. She talks ALL THE TIME and learns/says new words everyday. Just a few new ones from the last 2 weeks: pool, hot, bow, car, flower, water & swing. It is so precious to watch her listen to you say a word, process it and then give it her best attempt.
She is such a dare devil and has no fear. She is steady and strong on her feet and just goes all the time. She loves to explore, help, talk & dance. She can climb the stairs in 2 seconds flat, dances whenever she hears music and loves to "help" me sort the laundry and unload the dishwasher (her part is the silverware, after I've taken all the knives out of course). After it's all unloaded she loves to climb up and sit on the door. Her idea of sorting the laundry is to carry around all the things I've sorted out and then climb into the empty basket.
She is very creative and knows what to do all the time! She got a package in the mail this afternoon and after I took her new suitcase out of the big box, she pulled out the bubble wrap and climbed right in!
We had a great time in Roanoke last weekend and enjoyed spending time with family and visiting with daddy. She is a great traveler, thank goodness and continues to go all day and crash hard at night. She is starting to not enjoy the long boring car rides, so we will soon be starting movie time during the trips.
She loves being outside doing anything! Playing with Gabby, going to the playground, going on walks or just playing in the yard. She stands at the back door and screams if Gabby is outside without her! We are anxious for the pool to open this weekend and to see what she does. I'm sure she will not hesitate at all and be a fish in the water again this summer. We are also all looking forward to our beach trip to Hilton Head and can't wait to see her in action with the beach, sand and ocean!
Well, that's a quick Claire update for now and I'll be sure to post some more pictures of the weekend soon!

Team Lucado

Hello long weekend! Boy, do we all need it! We are so excited to get an extra day/night with Chris this weekend! We will have all day Sunday and probably won't know how to act or what to do!! We are all hanging in there, but happy to count down...only 12 weeks left!! We also got the exciting news last week that Chris' orders are for Knoxville! So we are off to the big orange at least for the next 3 years. We are really happy to be staying in the South and still close by to family & friends. We are praying for an offer to come along soon on our house, so we can start looking at houses there and planning the big move. Graduation is August 19th and we would love to be moved and settled soon after that, but we'll see what God has planned. We are all experiencing long days/weeks while we're apart and can't wait to reunite as a family again for more than just a day and 1/2. Claire misses her daddy, talks to him everyday and shows off new tricks every weekend. I am starting to feel the pressure of running the household, being a single parent and living without my husband! Chris is busy from sun up to sun down with training, classes, homework & meetings and I know it's so tough being away from us at night. So we all are doing our part and feeling the pain, but know it will be over soon! We take things one day at a time, and some days it's one hour at a time around here :) I am so thankful to still be able to be home with Claire and know that even on the hard days, it's so worth it! So Team Lucado is pushing through, and slowly but surely will reach the finish line!

Enjoying some Family time

Mill Mountain Zoo

Splash, splash

Playing with my new water table