Teething

Nobody warned us that we'd feel the pain of teething as much as Caden! The poor little guy is getting in all 4 of his top ones at the same time. One cut through last week and the others are close behind. We just want to take all his pain for him. I suppose this will be the first of many times we'll feel that way.

He's a tough cookie though and is still surprisingly happy most of the time. He's soooo close to crawling, I think he can taste it. Brian left today for a 2-week trip to San Diego and we're sure he'll be crawling by the time he returns. He also sits by himself fairly easily, sometimes for a few minutes at a time.

Lately, we've been busy with visitors, including Brian's parents and his sister Shannon. They really helped make Virginia seem a little closer to Iowa. Caden didn't seem to mind the sightseeing. My friend Abby arrives the 28th and my parents will probably be out sometime in September. Can't wait! We love visitors so let me know if you're interested...


Just messing around


Taking a break at the MC Museum


Checking out DC with Brian's parents


Teasing Grandpa Pat


Catching some shuteye


Laughing at Aunt Shannon's antics

Playing with his rings (chewing mostly)

Showing off his cuteness (His expression reminds me of photos of me as a child...am I right, Mom?!)

Living in Virginia

Hey everyone!

I've decided to jump into the 21st century and try out blogging. I love to keep in touch with you all and my friend Nolan suggested that this might be a viable option. Just go to http://teamgeraghty.blogspot.com/ and you can see my new blogs. You can check it out any time and this way, I won't overload your inbox. I'll try to update it every other week or so and will occasionally send out an email to let you know there's new postings.

I haven't updated you in a while so I'll take this opportunity to fill you in. Virginia is GREAT! We are pleasantly surprised at how quickly we have adjusted. We moved into our townhome on base July 4 and our belongings finally arrived July 16. We're missing some items and a few things are broken, but nothing major.

It's been a few weeks so we're finally feeling settled. All I have left is to organize the basement and some closets. The house is brand new and more square footage than our last house. I planted some flowers right away and got our pictures up on the wall, so it's feeling like home. Here are some updated pictures of the house actually decorated.

Front


Deck


Great Room


Living Room


Brian Shrine


Caden's Room


Thus far, we love living on base. We're close to everything and Brian often bikes to work. Our neighbors are incredibly outgoing and friendly. We're in E6-E9 enlisted housing so that means they're our age or older and everyone seems to be married with kids. They always include us in their BBQs and gatherings.

Overall, we don't have very many negative things to say, except that it is very hot here and the traffic on the interstates can be nasty. But even that isn't so bad...we're getting used to it.

Brian and I have both started training again. Brian is scheduled to do the Naylor's Beach Triathlon on Sept 30 and the Marine Corps Marathon Oct 28. I haven't signed up for any races but am running with our neighbor, Lyndsey. She's never ran previously but has improved quickly and gives me a run for my money on offroad trails. Better yet, we're a lot alike and get along great.

Now for the most important subject...CADEN! He seemed to adjust seamlessly and is such a happy-go-lucky kid. He's 6 1/2 months old now. We recently started feeding him some vegetables (he likes peas). He is tall for his age...I have to buy him 12-month sleepers. He already reaches for everything he shouldn't so I can only imagine the havoc that will arise when he starts crawling.

Good morning!


Chilling with Daddy


Pool


Toes are fun


What a cheese ball


Brian's job is going well. He has been overwhelmed with work so they have wasted no time getting him involved. He has some trips coming up so I'm thinking about flying home while he's gone. That would be sometime in October/November.

That's plenty for now. Just wanted to update you on the basics. We really do like it here and feel fortunate that everything has went so smoothly. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon.