paparazzi.

Today was definitely a mad rush to get things done sort of day. We went to get the warrant of fitness on our car and it was really cool that Brennan is old enough to watch what is going on. He really enjoyed it. Our brake light had gone out before we went and I knew that it wouldn't pass without it. Who changed my brake light you may ask? THIS GIRL. (pretty proud of that small accomplishment)

This past weekend, we discovered that Mork and Mindy (our resident ducks) have had babies. Ten little ducklings followed them around on Saturday. Photo credit to Christi Jensen.

Mindy was looking a little teed off at the paparazzi. It seems though that they have gotten a little comfortable at our house.

On our way out this afternoon, they came and took bread out of my hand. At dinner time, they were up on the porch and having a staring contest with Brennan through the glass. I like that they like us!

I am taking a hiatus from updates for a few days. My next blog will be on the 1 October (NZ time). Over the next few days, my internet will be spotty at best. I will still be writing, I just won't have the internet to publish so technically I am staying with my challenge of the daily blog. Some of you may forget about my blog in that time but I PROMISE I will explain and the next update will be well worth the wait!

chicka boom boom.

It is amazing how God can bring two people together.

Normally, I would be talking about the amazing journey that Jared and I went through to find each other. It would be complete with mushy details, dates, events that changed our course...etc.

But I am not talking about that.

I am talking about two girls.

She was raised in Henderson and I in Crossville. Same state but worlds apart really.

We went to college together. We weren't more than acquaintances, but she was friends with my suite mate. She's said that she thought I might be a little weird because I studied all the time. {for your knowledge she must have known me during my single semester of accounting because that is unfortunately the one and only time I studied in college.}

We went on separate mission trips to the same place.

We fell in love with kiwi boys,

and thanks to God, we spent the last week sharing our homes, lives and kids.

It is cool to come to a place so far from where I grew up and have someone that knows the people in my stories. She can laugh when we reminisce about pranks that were pulled and gets the excitement of sneaking out. She knows where Shell is and why that even matters.

We are able to raise our kids together and ask silly questions about things that make us nervous.

I can send her random pictures and videos that I know will absolutely make her roll on to the floor in laughter.

God has given me many amazing people and she is one I cherish dearly.

Thanks for sharing your kiddos this week.

Rae Rae (chicka boom boom)

potayto potahto

By the time we got home from church this afternoon, I had a full on fever and body aches.

Something has been going around here and while I don't think I have that...whatever it is, is not fun.

Brennan and I laid down for a three hour nap that was much needed....

although look who is wide awake at the moment...

 I feel a little better so I hung out with the family for a bit and had potato soup for dinner. Doesn't potato soup make everything better?

 Long night ahead? nah...we will be out in five minutes.

Good night!

daddy can.

I snuggle up beside you

you may not know I'm there

but I kiss your face and smile

at your freshly shampooed hair.

Your daddy takes good care of you,

you wrestle and you play

he listens close as you tell him,

what we did today.

A bath, a book and bedtime

it all seems quite routine

but only daddy knows

what those little moments mean.

A man to lead your family

look for this you're told,

I found all that and more,

mine has a heart of gold.

His life is one of sacrifice

he works hard every day

but never misses at his chance

to stop and have a play.

One day, my boy, you'll think he's old

and just doesn't understand

the world's new definition

of a successful man.

A man who trades on Wall Street

and buys up all the stocks,

men who change relationships

like they're changing socks.

The world will try to tell you

that money makes a man,

that you should spend your whole life

earning all you can.

Maybe it's cars and houses

that make a man complete,

but I guarantee the things of earth

won't be able to compete.

Giving, loving, leading

that's what makes a man

and showing others Christ

in any way you can.

And as you watch your daddy

my husband, I hold dear

you'll quickly see his treasures

aren't stored up for him here.

His trust is in the Word of God

never leaving it on the shelf

'I go to prepare a place'

said the son of God himself!

Your father on this humble earth

looks to the Father up above,

for how success is measured,

in obedience and love.

If you ever have a question

of how to be a godly man,

if anyone can show you

I know your daddy can.

**I had a fabulous night celebrating with friends. I had to leave almost as soon as Jared got home even though I knew he had a long day. When I came home, my lovely husband had the baby asleep and was working hard on fine tuning his Bible class lesson. As tired as he is, he keeps on giving for the good of his family and for the goal of Heaven. I am one blessed lady...and sorry...he's all mine. :)

just keep swimming...

In a SCREAMING declaration to bring on summer, we all loaded up and headed for the pool today.

Brennan had been in the pool in America but didn't seem to be a fan. Living on an island, you have to know how to swim well. There is just too much water to chance it.

Our local aquatic center has a heated toddler pool, lazy river in the medium size pool, lap pools and a hydroslide. I had never been before so we decided to test 'the waters'. I crack myself up.

There are waterfalls into the pools and they scared Brennan a little bit. Each time we went around the lazy river, I got myself closer and closer to it. By the end of our time there, he wanted nothing more than to be splashing around in the water. They have swim lessons for his age. Have you seen this video?!

 I didn't get a picture of Brennan actually in the lazy river but I did get a picture of him eating his snack in his float after swimming.

 I think the local pool is the place where we will spend a lot of (modestly clothed) time. :)

This morning we took Brennan's 9 month photos. He will be 10 months old on Monday but I waited until my dear Christi could take them for us. They will be posted after they have been shared with grandparents and the like. Trust me though...everyone will love them as much as we do!

I had a dinner date with Carolyn tonight. She is a good friend in the church in Palmy. She also happens to be a doula. This lady knows what she is talking about. She helped us with learning how to work with Brennan's needs and listen to our gut. If your baby is having issues sleeping, feeding or anything really...she can help. She doesn't just give you tips but she listens an adjusts her advice accordingly. It was great to spend some quality time with her again and I look forward to the next time!

daylight moon.

We traveled to Wellington today to be with our lovely Erin today!

I walked into her house and sat Brennan on the floor.

I turned to Erin and then heard the vacuum cleaner start going!

He had crawled straight to the vacuum and turned it on!

He cracks us up with the things he does.

The other day he picked some flowers.

He took one of the stems in one hand and then tried to put the other ones back on the plant.

When he plays with the toilet paper roll and it falls off, he tries to put it back on.

At least he fixes things he thinks are broken! :)

On our way home, the moon was already out and full. This was about 6:30 p.m.

 We arrived home just in time for bed. Brennan needed some daddy play time so he stayed up a little later. He played with Jared but he also confiscated Evan's monster truck.

He doesn't wear this superman outfit all the time...but it sure is cute.

teeny tiny kiwi

Our AmeriKiwi friends arrived from Auckland yesterday!

They are staying a few days this week.

Milly and Brennan are learning to play around each other and Big Brother Evan is watching out for his little sis!

We used the 'double baby' cart at Warehouse today and they were SO cute!

It's been a busy two days and it doesn't look to be slowing down!
Brennan was so worn out tonight that he didn't have a chance at making it to class.
Probably won't post much because we are having too much fun!

Love this time with friends.

why i love mondays

mondays are special when you live with the loves of your life.

el matador.

I may or may not spend an inordinate amount of time walking around the house waving a red shirt and yelling 'toro...toro' while Brennan chases me.

I do embarrassing things when it's just he and I.

Things like singing every word to 'Tomorrow, Tomorrow' and performing 'It's a hard knock life' while my audience shoves grapes in his mouth from his highchair.

Is that why I had a kid...to have a captive audience?

Maybe.

There are certain inhibitions that melt away in the eyes of a child.

I of course have the awesome task of teaching him everything he needs to know!

He knows how to sumo wrestle at the ripe old age of nine months.

He knows that when you put a cat's tail in your mouth...do not bite down.

He knows to sing louder than me at church and waves his hands like the song leader.

He intuitively laughs at the funny parts of a tv show, can't teach that.

He knows party tricks...like how to blow unintentional snot bubbles. (sorry...it was just so cute!)

He knows how to stay in fashion.

He knows how to keep a clean house. He loves the vacuum cleaner more than any toy he owns.

He knows how to make friends with anyone. (especially the cleaner at Jared's office who calls him 'Big Man')

 

 He is a pro at hide and seek.

 

Wait...those aren't life skills?! I guess I'll start over tomorrow :)

count 'em...

It's the little things in life that make it special.

They are often the first things we forget about.

In fact, any grandness in our existence at all comes from the small little blessings that God showers upon our heads.

I have tried really hard to focus on the great amount of blessings in my life. The ways that I see God and find Him everyday.

It's things like:

being able to ask Christian friends for help with a project even though they are a world away

teens that know their Bible

someone letting you know they thought of you as they ate kiwifruit this morning

prayers with your family

laughter of a playground on a spring day

your boy on his daddy's shoulders on a walk through the woods

the face of grandparents who are about to babysit for a few hours

digging through old pictures to compare baby faces

impromptu road trips

napping too long

thoughts of a friend who reemphasize the importance of your child's soul

eating yogurt for dinner

a surprise box of real HoneyMaid graham crackers

free text messaging

sleep of an accomplished day

These are the small things that blessed my life yesterday and today.

They may seem random and insignificant but they aren't. Nothing God gives is insignificant.

Thank you Lord for the little things!

 

pic-a-nic basket

I wanted to share some photos with you from Brennan's first official pic-a-nic (shout out to Yogi Bear).

It was supposed to rain all day yesterday but the sun shone bright and not a cloud in the sky. It came time for lunch and we just had to take advantage of the day. We sat in the front garden and got to use my cool picnic blanket for the first time.

Brennan had a sandwich (bread with lasagna baby food (ewww), grapes and rice cakes with a sippy cup of water. It was such a big boy meal! I put him in a sun shirt and swim trunks because those are the only shorts I had that weren't still packed with summer clothes. This outfit is courtesy of our friend Evan!

We chatted (ok...ok...i chatted), stared at the flowers and then watched the ducks approach us from the road. We ended up feeding them the left overs from our sandwiches. Bring on SUMMER!

 

Is it just me or is he growing up WAY too fast? I promise, I am not wishing away the days!

lawndra.

I do Superman's laundry.

korma.

Korma.

Chicken Korma.

no not kArma...

although I think a little bit of that was thrown in for good measure.

We had a great day shopping with Erin and playing with blocks. Jared's men's meeting was postponed and so I saw a perfect opportunity for a date night.

Jared had received buy one curry get one free vouchers from a local Indian place.

I jumped on the chance to evade dishes and call it 'romantic'.

Jared got the baby to sleep and I went to town to pick up the food.

I called and ordered and they said it would be about 15 minutes.

Perfect opportunity to run back to Warehouse to pick up a few things I forgot this afternoon (half of which I forgot again.)

I got to the restaurant in a torrential downpour. There were no parking spots close by. After three rounds and no change, I parked (probably illegally) and went in.

"I have a takeaway order for Rachel."

"Rachel. Are you sure it is Rachel?"

"Yes. That is my name."

"Did you order from this restaurant?"

"Yes. Is this your voucher?"

"It is. And you called this number?"

"I did. And they told me it would 15 minutes."

"Was it a man or a woman?"

"It was a man."

"I am the only man here and I did not take your order."

...blank stare...

...blank stare...

"I'd still like to order if that's okay."

After a dialogue about what I wanted and what naan comes with what, they told me it would be 15 minutes and to move my car to their parking lot in the back. ---sketchy---

I moved my car and returned for him to tell me that there is no rice included with the curries. He asked if I wanted an extra rice. I pointed to the tag line at the bottom of the voucher that says 

'ALL CURRIES COME WITH RICE.'

"Not the free one." he responded.

Having been enlightened to the fact that 'all' now does not mean 'every one,' I got the order correct.

One HOUR after I left him, I came home to a hungry husband.

karma...what goes around...comes around.

korma...what goes around...does not come with rice.

bff kate

She needed some advice and a good shopping trip.

She was hiding from the paparazzi in the Main Street church of Christ building.

I snuck her past them and took her to Walmart.

She was kate middleton.

I was dreaming.

He bought $10,000.00 worth of wooden toys.

He hid them in the garage.

He thought I wouldn't notice.

He was Jared.

I was dreaming.

 

She played with Brennan and got a new nickname.

She helped with dinner and held Brennan during church.

She is Erin Jones.

and I WAS NOT DREAMING! :)

It was so good to see Erin and John and have them in our home at last! It was quite surreal to have dinner at the table with my family and such good friends that have come from afar. Brennan absolutely adores them both and I am excited for them to be a part of his life as he grows up. Keep them in your prayers as they begin their work with the Porirua congregation!

and yes...those two dreams at the beginning were dreams I had last night.

groupie.

I spent the day singing, dancing, playing, cooking, hanging out laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning and mowing the lawn with this fuzzyheaded rock star.

I'm the president of his fan club.

kite.

"Jared! Do you see that seagull?! It's been flying against the wind for like ten whole minutes and it isn't going ANYWHERE!"

Jared (lovingly) "babe...it's a kite."

Oh, how much laughter broke out after that! I still had to look for a good five minutes before I could see the string attached to the kite that was shaped exactly like a seagull.

Jared agreed to preach in Napier this morning a few months ago. Napier is on the east coast of New Zealand and I had heard great things! It didn't disappoint. It takes about 2 1/2 hours to get there if you stop to change a baby. We got up at 5:30 a.m. and were on the road in an hour.

During our road trip, we passed; rolling green hills, cliffs with sheep hanging to the edge, snow capped mountains, palm trees and finally arrived at our destination a few blocks from the ocean. It felt like a world tour of God's awesomeness!

Jared did an amazing job. The brethren in Napier were super welcoming and even took us to the wharf for lunch!

We parted ways after lunch and began exploring. I could see myself vacationing here easily. It is the first place I have been that reminds me of places we used to go on family vacation. Ocean, hotels, aquarium, skate parks, bike parks, mini golf, museums and theaters!

After peeking in an antique shop and an art gallery, we decided to cool off with an ice cream cone.

Brennan had his very own ice cream cone for the first time. He loved it and I hate to admit that he ate most of it including some of the cone! His reaction was hilarious.

half o' the worm

Today easily could have been one of those days. You wake up...you bite into an apple you bought yesterday and something doesn't taste quite right. Then you see half of the worm.

It could have been a half of the worm day but...

I woke up to this amazing kid with bedhead...

I got all my laundry done, church building cleaned, and my house cleaned.

My husband took me for an afternoon date to the Cafe Esplanade and to check out the trains that run through the park.

There are cars like this in the world...

I took a 2 1/2 hour nap snuggled up with my little man.

The world gives us so many reasons to have half of the worm days but my God gives me more reasons to give thanks for the apple!

selfie.

is it just Jared and I or does it look like our little man has taken his first selfie?

presh. (as my friend trish would say)

We went out and sat in the sunshine, put flowers in our mouths (not me), talked about how cool God is and stared at the clouds. I can picture days in the future where we will take an old sheet and lay it out under our trees and read all afternoon. Mom used to do that with us...because she was super cool. And I want to be a super cool mom like her. It's funny how the 15 minutes of skyping that you get to do can make you realize how lucky you are to have people in your life. My parents are awesome. I cannot wait for them to experience New Zealand. They will be able to finally understand that even though you leave a place, it always has a small part of you.

A little project shopping with my amerikiwi friend, grocery shopping, dinner prepping, last night of our marriage class study and here I sit completely content and happy. God is good all the time... (mom knows how the rest goes) love you mom.

If God Found Me

Found this in a long lost file. Some of you have probably read it before.

I wrote it ages ago but it still applies today.

 

If God found me...

If God found me, what would He find?
would I be thinking of Him?
or have something else on my mind?

If God found me, would He be proud?
would He find my light shining?
or a darkening cloud?

If God found me, would I be aware?
if my sins were uncovered,
how much would I care?

If God found me,
could I smile at His face?
or would I look down,
my soul in disgrace.

You see, God found me.
In the eyes of a child.
who needed my love
and a small, simple smile.

a child who needed God
in every way
Did that child find Him
in me today?

God finds me.
every single day.
in the thoughts that I think
in the words that I say

In the way I express myself
in the way that I give
in the way that I show others
how God wants me to live.

If my soul was judged
by my actions today
would God find me worthy?
or turn me away?





When God finds me, I want Him to find me calling, praying, seeking and searching for Him. Telling others about Him and what He has done for me. I am going to do a better job starting right this second and I need my friends to hold me to it. I hope that others can find God in me so that I can be found in Him.

goodnight.

impromptu trip to Foxton to see people that we love. good day with my boy. no pictures for today. love you all!

fievel freak out.

Last night before I went to sleep, I decided to watch a show called 'World's Biggest Pets'.

(completely and utterly bored I guess).

Jared came in half way through and it began talking about this lady that owned a Burmese python.

The presenter casually mentioned that these snakes have been known to strangle and then eat their owners.

I gave Jared a 'tell me that's not true' look and he just said 'yep.'

So immediately I google it.

Apparently, at the beginning of this month in the UK, there was a case of two young children being strangled to death when a python escaped from the pet shop below their apartment and went THROUGH THE VENTS. It dropped from the ceiling and then commenced the tragedy.

I read this to Jared and immediately he said 'Go get Brennan.' We were both so freaked out, there was not a chance that he was sleeping in his own room.

We talked about how there were no snakes in New Zealand and eventually calmed ourselves down but Brennan still stayed in the bed.

About 2 a.m, he was snoring so loud that neither of us were getting any sleep. He had pushed me and Jared to one side of the bed and stretched out on his own. I knew Jared had to get up for work in a few hours and so I convinced myself that he would be fine in his own room.

I came back in thinking 'There are no snakes in New Zealand. There are no snakes in New Zealand.'

Jared said something to me when I came back in and I said 'Oh yeah! Well they also said there were no cats in America!'

Oh Fievel...how you have influenced my thinking.

 No my son...there are no snakes in New Zealand.

And you can sleep with us until you go to college. 

and for your nostalgic pleasure...I present...

SPOILER ALERT: There are 86,000,000 cats in America.

accomplish.

I look up and it's 5:00 p.m.

I need to have dinner ready and be at Jared's office in 30 minutes.

I haven't even started cooking.

I look at the array of toys across my living room floor and think:

 what have I accomplished today?!

Then, I look over over at my sneaky, smiling boy as he silently pulls folded laundry off the couch and onto the floor.

And I realize that there are a lot of things that God needs me to accomplish by being a mom...

and none of them include dust.

sunset.

A day full of fellowship and worship for us!

We attended Palmy for worship and class this morning.

Jared preached a thought provoking sermon on why we praise the Lord.

I would say it was thought provoking even if it wasn't my husband that preached it!

After fellowship meal at Palmy, we went home for about 45 minutes before heading to Foxton for their friends and family day.

 

Here is my back seat buddy!

and...five minutes later...

Foxton set a goal of 30 people and 45 people came! So exciting!

We didn't stay for fellowship meal afterwards because by that point, Brennan was DONE.

He fell asleep in about 5 seconds and so we took a detour to check out Himatangi Beach.

We arrived at sunset.

I LIVE HERE!

Isn't that crazy? What a perfect little detour date!

and what a glorious WELCOME to the first day of Spring!