ExerSaucer = Fun

Well I couldn't post without putting up pictures of Olivia! Here she is playing in her exersaucer. We searched and searched around here for an exersaucer so she could play. They didn't have any at the BX or PX... I was able to find one at the Thirft Store. For $5. We bought it, took it home and cleaned it up, works perfect. And she loves it! Best $5 we spent in a while!
She loves spinning this...She is really good at it!

Look at me stand! Chunky legs...

What are you looking at?

Kind of a smile...

Are you done?

Out and about in Okinawa

Last weekend, Mike and I went exploring. We basically drove off base and tried our best not to get lost. But I took some pictures so you guys could see what the scenery is like around here. Notice which way the cars are going!

On Kadena, going towards Gate 1, that's the ocean ahead.

Off Base...


Japanese McDonald's!

A cool bridge going out to the ocean...

On Camp Foster...the Ocean is ahead, and it's about to pour...

Sort of a Skyline w/ windmill on Camp Foster (Marine Base here)


What do you think?

Our Address

I thought I would post my mailing address, you know, in case anyone gets an urge to send us something :)

PSC 80 Box 13278
APO, AP 96367

Sister Sister

As most of you know, we are eagerly awaiting for the arrival of Izzie or Izabella Ann (I think I got the spelling correct). My sister, Betsy, is overdue. She was due on September 20th...and is still cooking. I guess Izzie likes her mommy's tummy too much! It was very neat being pregnant at the same time as my sister. Well, about the same time anyway. While I was home I took some pictures of her belly. Not meaning to, we ended up taking one similar to a picture Kelly took of me. People always say Betsy and I could be twins...What do you think?

Besty- August 2008- 8 months along


Me- January 2008- 6 months along

Say Hello to Our Little Friend...

I have know idea what he is...or where he is for that matter. I found him under one of our suitcases while I was cleaning up. I got a quick picture of him, but I guess the flash scared him, because after it went off, he took off. I called for Mike to help me catch him. Mike came in the room armed with a pot and a lid...needless to say, we did not catch him. And I haven't seen him since.

This is him...He is really good at blending in.



Hopefully he doesn't grow up to be this...a Chinese Crocodile Lizard. Ok, I realize we live in Japan, not China, but still...It could happen. I think I can see the family resemblance. :)

Movie Star Time

Here is a clip of her eating tonight...

Yeah, I know I'm cute.

Ok, I'm full!

More than Formula...

Guess who's eating cereal...If you guessed Olivia, you are correct! On Sunday night we tried out rice cereal. It took a little encouraging, but she figured it out. I think she likes it...take a look.

Testing it out...Look at the big girl in her high chair!

First bite...what is this stuff?

Hmmm, you want me to open my mouth?

Mommy Feeding

Daddy Feeding

Olivia is trying to do it herself...



All done..."Do I have something on my face?"

That one is my favorite!

2 + 2 = 4

Olivia is 4 months old! She is weighing in at 15.1 lbs. Her 4 month check up is scheduled for Sept. 16, so I'll give more growth updates then. Until then, here is her progress picture.

Did you get another invite to the blog?

Sorry, I couldn't remember who requested a second invite to the blog, so I just re-sent everyone. Then I realized I had too many, so I removed those that I knew had invites. I think we are all set now though.

Our Little Car

We decided to go crazy and get a funky car. I know some of you are eager to see pictures, so here she is! It's a 2000 Nissan Cube. It has 50,000 Km, which is about 30,000 miles, I think. (welcome to the metric system) Not too bad for 8 years old, then again, how many miles can you really put on a car thats trapped on an island? It actually is in pretty good condition. It is common here for people to get older used cars because you are only here for a few years, so why spend a lot on a car? It takes 8 gallons to fill the tank, lol. And we have already learned that it does not beep when you leave the lights on, nor do the lights go off automatically...Mike killed the battery the second day we had it. Nice.

We drive on the other side of the road here, its a little weird and takes time getting used to it. That also means the drivers side is on the other side of the car. And the passenger sits where the driver normally sits, weird. So when we first start driving, instead of turning on the blinker you turn the wipers on, lol. Craig says that is how you know someone is new, if they are sitting at the corner and their wipers go on with no rain...Yep, we've done it. And I've only caught myself driving on the wrong side of the road once! :)

Side view, thats my shadow...

Front, hehe

Back, its a little bit of a hatch back. Thats our housing in the background. I'll save those pictures for another day...

What do you think?

Guess who rolled over?!

On Wednesday, September 3rd, just short of being 4 months old, Miss Olivia rolled over. Daddy put her down on the floor for some Tummy Time, which she hates, and after she had enough of that we just had her laying on her back. Mike walked away, and I called him back in and she rolled over! She was pretty proud of herself, until she realized she made herself go onto her tummy and didn't know how to go back. We were both here to see it for the first time. What a big girl! We caught it on video the second time she did it. Take a look!

"Oh crap, I made myself go into Tummy Time!"

"What did I do and how did I do it?"

Life's a Beach!

For Labor day, we went with our Sponsor and his family (Craig & Jennifer, and daughters Michaela, & Maddie) and other new friends to the beach. If I haven't already told you, the beach is like right down the street from us. So nice. And so pretty. It was a little cloudy the day we went, which wasn't too bad because then I didn't worry too much about the baby in the heat. It really hasn't been much hotter than Georgia here, at least not yet. It is definitely more humid though. But we get the ocean breeze that keeps it a little cooler, especially at night. This was Olivia's first trip to the beach. She liked it for a little while, then got bored.

We went to Tori Beach, it is on Camp Tori, a Navy base, I think. Look how pretty!



Crystal Clear.

Olivia and Craig. She LOVES him. I mean LOVES him. She could be screaming her head off and he'll come around and she is all smiles.

Olivia's first beach trip! (Yes, she does have a bathing suit, but its being shipped.) I told you she got bored.


At Kadena Marina. We didn't go in the water here, but stopped to check it out. I'm not sure what this little hideaway island is...



At the Seawall. We have been told there is an awesome sunset here. Haven't seen it yet though, but maybe we will go for a walk there soon and watch it.

I was thinking it would be cool to live in these apartments, until a typhoon comes around...

Meat Locker

So they are really big on being green here, so in an effort to save energy the room temperatures in the hotel are controlled by Maintenance. Which is a good theory, but stupid in action because by controlling it they turned the air on and never turned it off. So that left it freezing in our hotel room. Which left Mike satisfied and me miserable. Luckily we didn't stay there very long, but here we are just hanging out.

She fell asleep like this one night.

"What are you looking at?"

Watching football with daddy, already.

Dressed up for the BBQ.

Thanks Izzie for the outfit!

Eisa Festival

On the second night here, our sponsor and his family took us to the Eisa Festival in town. It's a traditional drum festival on Okinawa. It's a dance celebration for prayers of good health and a good harvest. You can learn more about it here: http://www.japanupdate.com/?id=8868
It was a pretty neat experience of the culture here.

Instead of the typical fried dough stands you see at fairs, they had stands where you could get noodles, fried rice, or yakitori (chicken on a stick). They also had stands of the exotic, crazy, huge bugs found on the island, but I did not take a picture of that.

Trying out chopsticks

The drums!

She slept the entire time!