Ed, Lauren and Kaden

San Diego Zoo

2009-03-02T16:13:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone! I know it's been months since I've posted a blog. So...to make up for it I have 3 new posts for you. I downloaded pictures from Christmas, some from our hike around the Edwards desert, and now this one is of our time over Valentine's weekend down in San Diego. We went to the San Diego zoo. We had a great time there, and Kaden LOVED the goats in the children's petting zoo area. Not much has really gone on here in the past few months. Ed's been home for the most part. Kaden and I fill our time with playgroups and afternoons in the park. Life has been pretty simple. We did have a nice visit from my best friend Colleen. She stayed not quite a week, but it was so nice to have a familiar, loving friend here. I have really missed her this past year since we left Okinawa!
Here are some great pictures from the past few months.

Elephant

Yak...cute baby!

Panda

I forget what this is, but it is cousin to the giraffe

tiger

me and some weird monkey

Kaden LOVED the goats!

Petting the baby goat

My itty-bitty bug

Mohawk and GQ sweater...so stylish

Good boys

The new toy!

My Colleena Kelly :) So beautiful
Look at those bowed legs...sheesh

I love all of you......enjoy!

A hike in the Edwards desert

2009-03-02T15:50:00.001-08:00

This was a fun hike right behind our house. Kaden loved riding in his pack.

This obviously isn't part of the hike, but my new favorite picture of Kaden :)

gnawing on my chicken wing! (still not part of the hike)

asleep in my back pack (Now what is all over my face?)

In the middle of the desert with mommy

Looking at the view of the mountains

I love my cup

Cute hat

hiking up a hill

ugly wasteland

the snow up in the mountains really was nice

Christmas 08

2009-03-02T15:21:00.000-08:00

horray for stocking stuffers!

mmm....cookies

opening gifts

another one daddy?

Christmas stockings

Merry Christmas mommy

Christmas cards

The boys and their new toys

I love my truck

I got me some sweet new kicks

Look at this fun new toy!

Kaden's 1st Birthday!!!

2008-12-08T11:12:00.000-08:00

Miss Anngie made this great cake for Kaden's party!

cute family!

Kaden stuck his hand right into the frosting, and didn't like the way it felt!!
Kathleen and Kaden blowing out the candles!

Birthday girl and boy

Kaden's new bike!

Kaden the builder in his flight jacket from Grandpa and Carla!

hat and toolbelt
Toolbelt too cute!

Opening his presents!

Kaden cried the entire day on Thanksgiving/ his birthday...he had a tooth cutting through.

Kaden's cake on his actual birthday

Great Grandmom's gift to Kaden...his first gift for his first birthday!

Reading his first card

Hello everyone! This past Thanksgiving, our family celebrated Kaden's first birthday! We spent Thanksgiving at some friend's house. We had a cake and some small gifts for Kaden on that day, of course, but we waited and celebrated his birthday in combination with another one year old who celebrates her birthday later this month. Her name is Kathleen, and she is a baby from playgroup. Her mom and I both decided that it would be nice to have a fun day at the park with all of our friends, since all of the same people would have had to come to both parties within a month if we didn't. It turned out to be a beautiful day! Lots of people came out to celebrate with us, and we had cupcakes, juice, and Ed grilled up some burgers and chicken. Here are a few pictures from the past month, including both Thanksgiving and the party. Kaden has been getting lots of fun toys and books this month! Thanks everyone!

Yuma, AZ Nov. 08

2008-11-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone!!

This month has been a long one because Ed has been gone to Freefall jump school in Tuscon. I've been a single parent, but Kaden and I stay busy with playgroups and trips to town. This last week though, Kaden and I had the opportunity to meet daddy in Yuma with some friends of ours who ride quads in the sand dunes. We went from Friday to Tuesday, but it was a 5 hour drive, so it was nice to be gone on a long weekend. The friends that we went with also have young children, so it was good for Kaden to have playmates every day. We stayed with them in their 5th wheel trailer, and it was super nice. It was also really good to see Ed and for Kaden to have his daddy, even if it was just for 2 of those days. Ed had to drive up 3 hours, so he left Sunday night to get ready for Monday morning. Now, we only have one more week to go! That trip broke up out time apart very nicely. Here are some pictures from that week. Also, there is a great video of Kaden WALKING!!! :)

alright, so let me apologize for the blaring music in the background, but it's worth it to see Kaden take so many steps!!

Halloween 08 and First Steps

2008-11-01T19:51:00.001-07:00

October 08 pictures

2008-10-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

Apple picking in Tehachapi

These are just at my front door, but I thought he looked really cute with the pumpkins.

This video is showing how well Kaden is walking, with just one hand! He'll be doing it on his own shortly!! Just a side...look at Kaden's hair...doesn't it look like he has a dark mohawk right down the middle?? He's so blond all the way around, but his hair is dark on top. It's pretty cute, actually.

October 08

2008-10-25T10:13:00.001-07:00

Hi friends! I've been adding pictures, but I haven't really told you guys much lately. Ed and I have really been making friends, learning our way around this area, and marveling at Kaden's growth and development. He isn't quite walking on his own yet, but he certainly does well when holding his hand. KK even took 2 steps on his own last Sunday! He hasn't done that since, though. It's like he gets nervous, and just sits down. He can stand on his own, and he loves to see how long he can stay up by himself.

Last weekend, the three of us went to Tehachapi, CA to go apple picking and just enjoy an area OUTSIDE of the desert!! It's only about an hour drive, but the town is in the mountains, so it's cooler and actually has four seasons. It was a beautiful day that day.

Ed is leaving tomorrow for a month :( He and some of his coworkers are driving down to Tuscon, AZ to attend Freefall jump/ parachuting school. He will be skydiving rather than just jumping out of the plane and having it open autimatically. He is very excited for the qualification, but we are not excited to be apart. Since the drive is about 8 hours, I am thinking of making a weekend trip out of going down to meet up with him. We have friends that want to go camping in Yuma, so I may make the first leg of the trip with them...take a few days there, and then drive the rest of the way a few days later. That way I won't have to strap Kaden into the car for so long...by myself!

Ed will be home on Nov. 22nd, so he will be back for Kaden's first birthday as well as Thanksgiving Day on the 27th! Isn't it great that the baby's first birthday is on Thanksgiving??? We certainly have a lot to be thankful for :) Hopefully, family will be able to come out and visit in December, and I have two great friends from Okinawa coming to visit that month as well! I am SOOOO excited to see everyone and have them see our new house and lives here.

Please keep in touch...especially while Ed is gone. you can call me or email me anytime.

Love you!

Settled in our house

2008-10-04T12:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of the house on the inside...now that we are settled and there is paint on the walls and pictures hung. We feel like it is finally HOME!

Kaden 10 months

2008-10-04T12:43:00.001-07:00

This is a video clip of Kaden walking with his shopping cart!- he was really about 9 months old in this video. The pictures are all newer...within the last week.

Family Photos

2008-08-19T16:48:00.001-07:00

These pictures were taken right before we left Okinawa by our friends Matt and Crystal. They are a few months old, but I'm so glad we were able to get them. Kaden is barely looking at the camera for any of the portraits, but most are candid any way. Also, Mama knew how to make him smile while Daddy was holding him, but Dad didn't make him smile for any of mine, so he just lays there staring off at the ground when I hold him! :) sheesh. Here are a few!

This week...Aug. 11-18

2008-08-18T10:45:00.001-07:00

The plane before Ed jumped out....
There he is!

Doesn't he look so cool? That's MY husband! :)

Right before the next jump

This past week was a nice one, but it started out hard. I am still struggling to set up the house, make friends, and just being in such a secluded area, BUT, this past week was a turning point for a lot of these issues. Ed went TDY for a week down to Lake Elsinore, which is about 2 hours away, and I was somewhat jealous that Ed could go skydiving all day everyday with all of his friends, and then go out to eat and stay in a nice hotel all for work, while I sat at home with Kaden. I was so excited when he invited us down to watch him jump and go out to dinner with his team and then stay overnight. We went down on Thursday and stayed until Friday morning. The drive down went fine, and the GPS helped me find the site easily, but the drive home was a different story! The GPS took me a new route, and I had to drive on CRAZY California freeways that are like 5 lanes of packed traffic going no slower than 80 mph, and I was so nervous, my blood pressure was through the roof! But it was a great time.

Next, I decided that we had so much stuff crowding the house and garage that we needed to have a yard sale STAT! So Ed and I had a yard sale this weekend and did so well. We used some of the money to buy a new dresser, and will use the rest to go toward a new dining room table! :) So excited about that!

Kaden is doing great. We are meeting other kids every day, and he enjoys crawling everywhere. He had a bit of trouble with his eczema last week, but it looks to have cleared up well. One exciting thing is that he is getting 2 teeth! They are SO CUTE and are coming in the bottom. I will get pictures of them as soon as they grow in a little bit better and are easier to see.

We have jumped right into the chapel here on base, and the service is called Change Point. It is the Contemporary service, and it is very small, only about 50 people attend. There isn't even a nursery! So I volunteered to start a nursery for the babies, and we've made some friends through church already. We went to the potluck after service and met some nice couples. I'm excited to get to know them better. I hear there is a Calvary Chapel in North Edwards (a podunk town just outside of the north gate) of only about 25 people, but we may check that out too, since we enjoyed Calvary in Okinawa.

Things are going well, and I know this week will be a good one already, and it's only Monday. Praise God!

Our new house!!

2008-08-12T13:16:00.001-07:00

I lost my feet!
Samson and Kaden are such good friends! They really love each other.
Kaden fell asleep on daddy's shoulders

The front of our new house- 36 Blackbird St.
Look really hard- there is a park right across the street from us
We're driving, but here is the basic view on base. Our housing area is called Mountain View-These are not quite mountains, but I guess they'll do.
More desert!!
We went to the fireworks display on Edwards the first day we got to base. Kaden stayed awake until about 8:50 and the fireworks started at 9. He slept through them!

Ed's family in PA

2008-08-12T12:52:00.000-07:00

Dawejko family party
Sue Dennis and Kaden
at the diamond mine...they were really crystals, but very cool none the less
pulling up to standing
Kaden first meets Great Grandmom
Ed and Kaden hug Grandmom
Kaden's first haircut at the barber - 7 months
4 generations

Ed and Carla with Kaden

We had a great time of family in Pennsylvania. We picked up Ed's grandmom in Philadelphia and continued our drive from Baltimore up to his hometown in Sayre, PA. Ed's mom actually lives in New York, just about 10 minutes away. We stayed there, and Ed's sister Chris and her husband Scott also came up. Here are some pictures from that week.

Baltimore

2008-08-12T12:23:00.000-07:00

meeting Great Grandmom for the first time!!
Otterbein family party
Annapolis
Fort McHenry
These two are both D.C.

Kaden's first Merry Go Round ride on a rooster!!
My dad and Kaden in Annapolis

Here are some pictures from our trip to Baltimore visiting my side of the family! We had a great time visiting family and taking day trips. My brother Phillip and his girlfriend Ashleigh also came. We went to D.C., Fort McHenry, Annapolis, and had a party at my Uncle Mark's, and another at my Grandmom's for her 80th birthday.

So Much Going On!!

2008-08-12T12:01:00.000-07:00

Ed, Kaden, and I have finally pseudo-settled into our house on Edwards AFB in CA. Now that I have internet again, that has really helped. It's been hard being so disconnected here. We live in the Mojave Desert and it's 15 miles from our house to the front gate...and there is nothing in between!! The nearest nice city is about a 45 minute drive. The closest cities to us are Rosamond (a dump), Lancaster, and Palmdale. The last two are equivalent to Spokane, I'd say...maybe a little smaller.

Kaden is growing so quickly, and learning new things every day. He is 8 months old now and has a tooth popping through. He is always on the go, crawling everywhere and he loves to go back and dump Samson's water and get into his food. I even caught him eating some recently! He has super sensitive skin, and he's having trouble adjusting to the dryness of the desert. His skin has angry red patches all over his body. The pediatrician says it's probably eczema. It doesn't seem to bother him too much. I think it may itch him sometimes though. We go to the children's library, play group, and even the pool. On a typical day though, Kaden just plays in the house while mommy tries to unpack!

Ed has jumped into his job here feet first...quite literally! He is a test-parachute jumper and will be going to free-fall school here soon too, so that he can also skydive. They are gone for a week every month jumping, and they jump about once a week for the rest of the month. So needless to say, it is a major part of his job. He is still teaching survival the rest of the time. He has great co-workers here, and has made good friends with them.

I'm having a bit of a hard time adjusting, with a house that is still being unpacked while I try to entertain a baby during the day, Ed gone all the time already, and being in such a remote area. it's not like I can just go grab a cup of coffee and meet with friends. The nearest stand is out the gate...15 miles away!! I only know a few girls, but I am meeting new people all of the time. Nobody I'm really close with yet, but I met one nice girl with an 18 month old and one on the way next week. I met another girl with a 7 year old and one on the way next month. Ed and I met some really nice people at church recently, but they are all older than us, with much older children.

Ed, Kaden, and I went camping already!! We went to Lake Isabella in the Sequoia National Park. It was the grossest lake ever! It was stinky, muddy, and in the middle of the desert with no trees anywhere!! I'm used to WA lakes, which are beautiful, so it had a lot to live up to, but it didn't come anywhere close! And the really gross part is that people where laying on the beach, with flies everywhere and people where even swimming in it. ugg. other then that, it was kind of fun! it was nice to get off base for once, and the drive was nice. We didn't see any Sequoias, but apparently they were only about 15 minutes away.

I wanted to catch everyone up to what I'm doing right now, but I also want to post pics and info on our trips to the east coast. I'll do that next. We have a local number here now. Feel free to call! I'd love to hear from all of you!! It's 661-475-4122.

Leavenworth, WA

2008-06-20T14:57:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, June 13th-15th, Kaden and I went with mom and her friend Pat to Pat's parent's house just outside of Leavenworth, WA. Their little town is called Plain, WA, which I thought was cute and all of the stores use the name. For example, I have a picture here of the Plain Hardware Store.

Pat's parent's names are Jim and Bonnie, and they lived in a beautiful little house in the foothills of the Cascade Mts. Leavenworth was really about 20 mintutes drive from their house.

Leavenworth is a little Bavarian village, and all of the stores, shops, gallaries, restaurants, and hotels are built with an Alpine feel. I went with my mom and Kaden one afternoon and just explored. Mom goes to Leavenworth often, but this was my first time.

Here are some pictures from our weekend!

Look at how beautiful the mountains are in the background.

After spending a lovely day in Leavenworth, we had a nice evening visiting Bonnie and Jim while we watched Kaden scooting around the floor playing with one of his new toys.

This is the view from Jim and Bonnie's house

Lastly, this is the Plain Hardware Store. I just thought it was funny and needed a picture

May/ June Pictures

2008-06-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of this past month. They sort of go with the last blog post when I didn't put on any pictures!!

Kaden and the Kitty are good friends!

Kaden and Grandmom on Mother's Day. It was special to be with my mom, Ed, Kaden, and brothers on my first Mother's Day! Kaden left Grandmom a special present on her shoulder!

Now that Kaden is 6 months old, I have been feeding him solids for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am still nursing him about 4 times a day too.

Kaden can raise up on his hands and knees, but isn't so sure about moving yet. He usually just rocks back and forth, and then falls on his face. :)

Kaden eating his socks...I feed him, I promise!

This is Ed, Kaden and I at the Spokane Falls

Now that Ed is back in Okinawa packing us out, we miss him this month!! Ed will fly into California on July 1, and Kaden and I fly down to meet him on the 3rd.

Spokane

2008-05-26T10:48:00.000-07:00

Ed, Kaden and I have started our first leg of summer travel this past month as we flew from Okinawa to Spokane, WA to visit my mom and brothers. It was really sad for me to leave, because I knew I wasn't going to be back to Okinawa, and it's been my home for four years.
We left May 8th from Kadena and flew for about 9 hours to Seattle. Kaden did really well on this flight, but only slept for about an hour at a time and only did that sporatically for 24 hours. By the time we got to Seattle and were getting ready to fly to Spokane, Kaden was having a hard time. The poor thing hadn't really slept in 24 hours!! He had a bit of a meltdown on that flight, but it only lasted a few minutes...but we were definately THAT family with the crying baby on the airplane.
The first few days, Kaden took some time to adjust to a completely flip-flopped schedule, and because it stays light so long here, we adjusted his bedtime to stay up later. It's nice to be able to have some more time to hang out with family in the evenings this way!
At first, Ed was here for a training and we were able to stay in the TLFs (temporary living facility) on base. It was a nice place with a kitchen and a park and the library close by, so when Ed was at work, Kaden and I had plenty to do. After that week was over, however, we couldn't stay on base anymore and we ended up staying at this disgusting motel, but it was really so bad it was funny. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy sheets and stripped the bed, because there was no way I was sleeping on the sheets that they had on there. I don't think they had ever been washed! There was a pink leopard print dust ruffle! I was going to take a picture of it, but didn't. :) The room was so bad that we didn't want to stay there during the day, and just ran a bunch of errands all day. Poor Kaden was so tired of being in his carseat. The weather has been gorgeous, but it caused all of the snow in the mountains to melt, and the river overflowed. We went down to the park and saw the falls, which was crazy, they were rushing so hard. Ed and I even left Kaden with uncle Phillip one night and went to a football game. Another night, grandmom watched him and we went to a really nice dinner.
After two nice weeks of vacation, Ed had to leave Spokane to pack us up in Okinawa, and Kaden and I moved into Phillip and Ashleigh's house. It's a super cute little house across the street from a park, where we go play every day. It's also close to everything, and we go on walks everyday and go window shopping in the cute stores around here. Kaden and I are having a great Memorial Day weekend hanging out with Phillip and Ashleigh!

Ed called this morning and he made it home safe and sound. We will now be apart for a month, but it's okay, because it will make packing and moving way easier on Ed without the baby to worry about. It's sad to be away from him, but it is good time spent with my family before we move to California in July.

I'll try to keep up with the blog better, now that I'll have lots of downtime this month. I'm staying with Phillip for a few weeks, and then I'll stay with my mom for a few weeks too, out in the country. Kaden and I fly out of here July 3rd to meet Ed at our new home!! It is a very exciting time :)

Ed's NCO Graduation Ceremony

2008-04-10T17:42:00.000-07:00

This past Wed. April 9, Ed graduated from the NCO Academy, a looooong six week program necessary before sewing on the next rank of Master Sergent. It was a nice morning ceremony to recieve his diploma, and then we had a formal dinner. Ed's Commander and supervisor and their wives were in attendance, and our very good friend Amanda also came to support him. Here are some photos from that event.

Milestones

2008-04-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

Look at all of the many firsts Kaden has had this past two weeks!

My first mohawk

First drink fom a sippy cup

First shoulder ride on Dad

First play group with friends

First solid foods: Peaches!

First time I sat up by myself

I'm getting so big so fast that mom can hardly keep up with it all!

Pictures

2008-03-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

Just being cute!

The End of This Chapter

2008-03-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

Ed and I have been in Okinawa now for just over 4 years, and I'm sad (and a bit bewildered) by the fact that our time is up already!! This is the island where we started our marriage, I got my first real teaching job, and we had our first child. The amount of friends we've made is astounding, and they are the kind of relationships that I know will last a lifetime. Our relationship with the Lord has grown in leaps and bounds from when we first arrived as young, nervous, naive, careless kids. :) I am really amazed at how we've grown and changed. For all of my Okinawan family, I love you and will miss you. For my American family, we're coming home and can't wait to begin the next chapter. We'll miss it here, and we'll always have the fondest of memories for Oki.

Now that I'm done being all sappy, here's what's been going on this past month or so!! Ed has been at the NCO Academy the past 6 weeks, and he's doing great in his class. We're pretty sure he will graduate with some kind of honors. His graduation ceremony is April 9th, and both of us can't wait for it to be over. The amount of hours he's been at class and the amount of homework Ed has had meant no fun for any of us in the evenings or weekends!

Kaden and I have been keeping ourselves busy with implimenting a strict bedtime/ naptime routine which is working wonders! I know that sounds boring, but it has been so necessary! I was still getting up 4 times a night just a few weeks ago, and now KK can sleep mostly through the night, with maybe just one feeding. Also, we are taking a Rockin' Baby music class with two other little girls, both 6 months old. KK is the only boy and the youngest, yet he's by far the largest baby! It's really fun. Next week, we will also be starting a library lapsit program!

For all of you who have not heard, our family recived word that we will be stationed at Edwards AFB, CA this summer for a three year tour. Edwards is about an hour and a half north-east of LA, in the middle of the desert. The good news is, I get to keep my flip flops for the next 3 years, but the bad news is, the town sounds pretty podunk. Oh well, they say (I'm not sure who "they" are, but I've heard) that the housing is newly renovated. Those of you who know where we have lived this past 4 years understand that this is hugely exciting news, since we've been in a dump!

Kaden and I plan on flying Space Available back to Spokane, WA in mid-May (looking at the 10th) to spend time with my mom and brothers for about a month. Ed will then try to get an early return date to CA so that he can drop off Sampson in the kennel, get our house, and then we'll fly back to Baltimore for a week, and PA for a week. Ed wants to try to attend his 10 year reunion in Sayre, which would be fun to go to. We'll see if the dates match up for that.

I think this is an easier way to keep everyone updated on a regular basis with pictures. I'll keep everyone updated quite regularly, since this will be a crazy and exciting summer/ fall. One thing I am excited about with Southern California, is that it is Calvery Chapel country, which is the church that we have attended here the whole time we've been in Oki. I hope to find a church that we can jump right into with ministry opportunities. We're not sure what our ministry is going to be yet. We have been working with high school for 4 years here, but I'm not sure we're being called to do that in CA too. We'll see where God leads us in that aspect.