Could you please unsnap his BabyGro?

Today was a great day filled with worship and awesome Bible class kids. One of the little kids Mark always asks me if Brennan is baby Moses. He looks so disappointed when I say no. He is also the same one that sings...'When the devil's in the way...USE THE FORCE!' love that kid.

Grandma came home with us for lunch and went to a matinee screening of Man of Steel with Jared. :) I think she felt quite special going on their date!

Brennan was just so cute this morning, I couldn't help but take a picture. (surprise). He looks like he may take off running at any moment...and he very well might do that.

Last night/ this morning he started crying and pulling at his ears and that continued this afternoon so we decided to take him in to the doctor since he had been so sick in the last week.

The good thing about NZ is there are doctors that stay open until 10 pm!

When we got to the doctor, he was nice young Englishman that was friendly to Jared and me. He asked me where I was from, how we met and what we did. 

He asked me why we brought Brennan in and I told him several different things. As he was examining him, he told me several different ways to hold him so he could check his ears and then he tickled Brennan's belly and said, 

'Could you please unsnap his baby grow?'. 

I always like to do things without having someone repeat themselves (no comments from you dad...) but I think the confused look on our faces was proof we had no clue what a baby grow was. 'Oh I am sorry,' he said, 'I thought I was in England for a minute. Could you unsnap his vest?'

crickets.

onesie. he meant onesie.

i felt really, really dumb.

the only way we figured it out is because he lifted Brennan's shirt, pointed to his onesie underneath and said...' Can you take that off?'

Apparently, BabyGro is the brand name for a onesie in the UK.

An American, a Kiwi and a Brit...it was all sorts of international confusion.

In the end, Brennan doesn't have an ear infection but has a few blisters on the back of his throat. No antibiotics (they don't give those out much here) but some paracetamol (similar to motrin) and keep an eye on him. Apparently there is a pretty bad virus going around here that has hospitalized several people, so he was glad it was not that.

After his diagnosis, I figured that he knew a lot about us from the questions he asked at the beginning, so we should ask about him. After finding out that he worked for the NHS in London and is a surgeon, we talked to him for a little bit about the church. He said he was raised old school Catholic and when he became and adult, he decided he wasn't religious. We still invited him along to church to and told him we would be looking forward to seeing him.

I really had a hard time when I first moved here asking people to church. I didn't want to seem weird and make people uncomfortable BUT then I realized...

I would rather be known as the weird girl that goes around town making people uncomfortable by inviting everyone she meets to learn about Jesus! I don't want people looking at me on judgement day and saying...'WAIT! You were my only chance but you didn't want to make me uncomfortable?' Doesn't seem like that would make much sense when it really comes down to it!

Ok...this really wasn't going to be long. The baby is in bed and I have got to get there myself!

Enjoy the Lord's day!

duck...duck...hockey

This morning, I got up and knew it was going to be a good day! I had more energy than i have had in a few days and I am excited to go to worship and teach bible class tomorrow!
I let Jared sleep in (or so I thought). He was watching a movie on his computer when I went to tell him breakfast was ready. We had some lovely brown bananas so I thought I would make some banana bread for morning tea.

Weird that i make stuff for morning tea. Think of it as a kind of second breakfast. lol.

We got bundled up and decided to take our walk to the Esplanade. It is probably a mile and a half from our house. I think it is one of my favorite places in Palmy.

Brennan fell asleep on the way and through the rose gardens where they camellias are in bloom but was awake enough to see the ducks at the duck pond and hear all of their quacking. When we went into the Esplanade, there was a bunch of kids about 7 or 8 playing field hockey.

It was neat to think that in a few years, that may be where we are spending our saturday mornings watching Brennan run around that field. Although, Jared says he will more than likely play rugby. :)

Jared took Brennan to the grocery store so I could do a quick clean of the house without having to stop. Isn't he fantastic? I may or may not have used to vacuum as an air guitar during Bohemian Rhapsody...

VITAMEATAVEGAMIN

Luckily, I don't need Vitameatavegamin to get to feeling better but I do think a little VITAMIN D would help! Brennan needs vitamin D too so after 2 days of being home bound...today we decided that against ALL odds, we would take a walk. As we were strolling out the end of the driveway, it began to sprinkle. I guess I am getting accustomed to living in New Zealand because I charged ahead with no umbrella or stroller cover, knowing that it wouldn't last long enough to need it.

These are pictures form our walk this afternoon.

 mom...where are ya?

 all snuggled in his handmade blanket from Aunty Allison.

At the end of our street is the Manawatu River. We made it there right as the sun was shining its last rays of the day. Remember it is winter here...and even though the trees are bare, the grass is still green! 

 those are houses on top of the cliff.

 Sunset behind the golf course that goes along the river.

I took for granted the ability to get out of the house and breathe the air!

Thank you Lord for your beautiful creation!

quakes and queasiness

This morning around 3 a.m. Jared awoke to the screams of a 7 month old and a yelp from a 28 year old.

Brennan woke up hungry and as I was trying to pick him up and get a bottle fixed, I got sick.

Luckily, Jared to the rescue. Fixing Brennan a bottle and letting me rest. He didn't have to be into work today until 11 so he got to sleep in a bit to make up for the middle of the night craziness. I officially have whatever he had. He seems to feel a bit better so maybe it won't last long for either of us.

Around 2 o'clock Grandma and Grandad came over so that they could check on us but also for Grandad to say goodbye. He leaves tomorrow for a four week mission trip in the Solomon Islands.

As we were discussing details of his trip, he stopped mid-sentence. I was little concerned by his face.

He said...'do you feel that? we are having an earthquake.'

As slight as it was, it went on for some time and those things make me nervous!

It's hard to explain but even if the whole house isn't shaking dramatically, it creates and uneasy unsteady feeling. We really trust the earth to stay solid beneath our feet!

Speaking of scary moments, I'd like to share my worst mom of the year experience that happened a few weeks back.

Jared was not well and I had to run to town. We had several places around the Square to go so I had put Brennan in his stroller. He fell asleep and I thought that I might grab a turkish doner kebabs for our lunch.

SOOO GOOD.

When they were ready, I reached for the bag momentarily letting go of the stroller.

Brennan sailed out the door and headed straight for the street!

Luckily, an older English gentleman caught him at the edge of the sidewalk.

He gave me a disapproving look and I sheepishly said thank you before scurrying my way to the car.

So by giving Brennan extra sick boy cuddles, does that make up for the fact that I sent him careening into traffic for turkish food? :)

pack it in there kids!

Today was a nice day although it wasn't sunny long enough to hang the clothes out. I am sure that veteran kiwis would hang their laundry out on a day like today but I figure if it has to end up by the fire to dry...I might as well skip a step!

Brennan and I spent the morning packing Jared for his presentation in Wellington.

Or should that read...Brennan spent the morning packing himself for Jared's trip to Wellington. Ha!

Jared was asked to do a presentation on the WAND that he uses for anesthesia. His dental practice has a pain free guarantee for the first visit, so if we are to have ANY food or shelter...he needs to be good at it and he is! I am proud of him for being asked to speak at this big event. 

What cracks me up about the course is that it describes it as a hands on session to practice techniques and EXPERIENCE a pain free injection! No thanks!

Brennan was snuggled in his stroller to help me clean out the cars and go for a little bit of an excursion to begin working on a top secret project. He is such a happy kid. 

When he woke up from his afternoon nap, he was quite sick and may have a stomach bug that has been circulating. He seems better but has been asleep since 5:30 (two and a half hours). Here's hoping he sleeps it off!

Today is Uncle Roody's birthday.

Last time we saw him, was Christmas so it was six months ago to the day! Happy Birthday!

Come see us soon or you will receive gross pictures of dirty diapers! (Brennan said that...not me)

Oh wait...that's just the warm up?!

Days like today are why I love my life...nothing big and spectacular to write about but too many blessings to choose from.

Mondays are usually our days to recuperate from the weekend. I get extra laundry done and Brennan gets a much needed return to schedule. I think he is one awesome kid to just go with the flow the way he does.

Today, I was going to try a spin class. They won't let you try without committing to a 6 month fee...of $300. Naw thanks, I am still enslaved to Freed. I guess I'll just do the insanity workout at home.

haha...insanity is right! who in their right mind would subject themselves to that?!
they were all like 'glistening' and stuff and I felt like a walrus with asthma.

oh wait...that's just the warm up? I'm in trouble!

It was much sunnier today which allowed Brennan to help me mow the yard. He gave me direction from his stroller quite nicely. Hopefully the weather is as good tomorrow.

It was confirmed yesterday that I will be speaking at the Ladies Challenge here in Palmy in October. I feel honored and excited to be able to do that!

For a day of cleaning, mowing and changing dirty diapers...it was a good day full of blessings and playing with Brennan!

The picture at the bottom is from our skype date with Aunty Emma last night. I love it!

Gonna party like it's my birfday! June 22, 2013

We have a lot happening this year which is quite exciting! Family visits, a one year birthday, anniversaries, holidays, etc. SO for my birthday, I decided that I wanted to do a short blog every day for the next year.

You read that right.

365 days.

I want to be able next year on my birthday to look at how my life is changing, how I am growing  in my Christian walk and how absolutely positively blessed I am! 

I have a post that I have been working on about our trip to America but have a few more pictures to gather before I post it up.

Having said that...here is DAY ONE of my 365 challenge.

(Remember these will usually be posted on New Zealand time)

For my birthday, Jared made me breakfast in bed. It wasn't easy to eat eggs and bacon with cheese scones and have a seven month old crawling over you...but it definitely made it more fun!

Before we left for Wellington, Brennan gave me some yummy cocoa and vanilla lotion and they both gave me the sweetest card signed with hand prints!

What did Jared get me you may ask? Well...we drove it to Wellington!

We headed south for our friends baby shower. Elsa and Keith are a couple that live and work in Porirua and are very involved with the congregation there. She is due in a few weeks with a little miss named Olivia.

Hanging out with all the ladies and playing baby shower games wasn't too much for Brennan and he quickly learned that flirting would get him far!

After the baby shower, we went to eat at a fabulous chinese restaurant with Keith and Elsa as well as our friends Lance and Kristen. They are missionaries with the Porirua church of Christ, and let me tell you...they are good! It is amazing to see how that church has grown!

 

All of us!

 

 Lance, Kristen and Brennan

We topped off the evening with chocolate cake and tiramisu to celebrate my birthday, Kristen's birthday (June 7), baby Olivia and the one year anniversary of Lance and Kristen's arrival in New Zealand.

This day, along with thoughtful posts, messages, calls and gifts from my friend all over the world...I think it has been one of the best birthdays of my life!