It won't be long...

Little Liam is getting more comfortable on his feet and I know it won't be long before he is walking without the help. As much as I want Liam to be my "baby" forever - I am looking forward to the end of the crawling phase where EVERYTHING goes into the little guys' mouth. He finds every little speck on our floor and it immediately goes into his mouth. Charlie was nearly 15 months when he started walking, so my "aching arms" we're also thankful when he had improved mobility on his own. Still I can't believe my baby boy is almost 1!

I love how Charlie is in the background saying: "I can do it, watch me," after he saw all of the attention Liam was getting with his skills. Overall Charlie is a champ with the whole transition to big brotherhood. That being said, we can see his occasional struggle to share the limelight with his little brother. Emily, I have a feeling I was a lot like Charlie - sorry! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Jason's 'stache

I got this shot right before the beard came off... HOTTIE!

10 Jars of Peanut Butter

On the eve of our pack out from Virginia to NZ, I did my last Trader Joes stop. In a panic I threw twelve jars of Trader Joes peanut butter into my shopping cart. Although I am thankful for the peanut butter (NZ pb is just not the same) I failed to consider that all of the peanut butter would expire at the same time (Jan/Feb 2012). So here we are with 10 jars of peanut butter that need to be consumed in the near future. Liam has started eating it with almost every meal (peanut butter, avocado, spinach oatmeal was his tasty treat tonight). Charlie and I also made Joanne 's famous peanut butter balls tonight. Im looking for more yummy recipes! I'm especially interested in how to integrate peanut butter into a main course. Here we are making our peanut butter balls:




So excited to dig in!

Weekly Bath

Overall I'm pretty bad about frequently bathing the boys. I do think Americans have a tendency to take too many showers/baths but I may go to the other extreme. When Liam was a baby he would get these strange skin infirmities. I couldn't figure out what was going on for a few days and then I would decide to bathe him and his skin would immediate clear up. Oops! Jason does most of the heavy lifting with bathing Charlie, but I enjoyed giving both the boys their baths recently. I think we have many fun brother baths in our future! (I wish I had the cute/awkward bath pic of me and my three sisters all together in the tub - I think I was 12 yrs old). Here is Liam learning to splash.

And here is a fun Christmas throw back with Charlie. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Iron Lady

Just came back from the movie Iron Lady about Margaret Thatcher. The movie was excellent and it was also fun to go out with girlfriends without the kiddos. That being said, it was stirring to see elder Thatcher reflect on her life, family, and career... I find myself reflecting on my relationship with my children and husband, my decaying body, and what kind of impact am I having during this relatively short life on planet earth? I guess it can be somewhat unsettling... In this uneasiness I am thankful to cling to the hope of eternity with Christ with a new body and a renewed mind - that this life isn't the end of the story... Anyway - pretty pensive post-film - thank you Meryl Streep for a great depiction of MT.



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Body Pump at Home

Charlie is really into the body pump videos at home. This horse was his barbell and the cans of tomato paste were his free weights.

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All By Myself!

Charlie is growing in independence and insists on doing things "all by myself." At preschool yesterday he dressed himself and put his jeans on backwards. His teachers thought it was so cute that they let him keep them on backwards all day. Before dinner today he did a fantastic poopoo in the potty all by himself. He proudly strutted back to the dinner table dressed like this.



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My Dream

I'm sort of obsessed with the idea of jumping into the Wellington Harbour.  Look how much fun they are having???!   The air temp was about 65 degrees but it felt like 80 degrees.  I kept spraying 100 spf sunscreen but still burned.   The State Department welcome packet we received when we arrived highlighted the low crime rates in Wellington but emphasized the high rates of skin cancer.  Yikes!    I'm starting to look like I'm changing my ethnicity after yesterday and today in the sun (with heavy suncreen!), meanwhile the men in my life (Jason, Charlie and Eliam) maintain their snow white complexions.  :)

Doesn't that water look like so much fun???   It reminds me of summertime jumping off the pontoon boat in Shirt Lake in Northern Minnesota.  Yet so different...

I was out with a friend "treasure hunting" this afternoon.   Basically we prayed for clues to guide us to specific people in the city - God's treasure.  When we prayed, we got words like star, lion, green cardigan, to name a few.   Going into the city was really stretching and actually a lot of fun.   We had some really good conversations and were able to pray with a few people.  One girl had become a Christian only a few weeks ago before she left her old life in Auckland for Wellington.  She was so excited when we shared with her what we were doing.  She was desperate to find a church community and she is actually coming to church with us on Sunday.    It was really encouraging!  


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Bloody toes

I finished my next to last long run before the marathon.  Here is a 3D rendering of the run in Google Earth (give it time to buffer before running the route) .  It is was a beautiful day and the run is just gorgeous - I'm so thankful to be able to run in this city!   That being said, it ended in pretty severe leg cramps at mile 21 (I miscalculated the route by 2-3 miles, it was only supposed to be a 20 mile run).  Jason was home with a sleeping baby, but fortunately I was able to catch a cab for the last mile or so home.   When I got home and pulled my foot out of my shoe it was bleeding (just a scratch from my nail).  Charlie saw it and asked if he could kiss it - so sweet but SO disgusting!

Flat White Coffee Art

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Birthday Princess

Okay - I admit it... I'm certifiably a birthday princess.  Maybe it's because my sister was born on my 2nd birthday and because of that there was a high emphasis on making us feel special on both birthdays and half birthdays.  I don't know... but sometime I feel back for Jason trying to figure out exactly how I want to celebrate. I caught myself telling Jason that I wanted a party with friends for my birthday.  I wanted him to tell everyone that it was my birthday but that I didn't want anyone to know it was my birthday.  That's a little psychotic...

One of the worst incidents was my first birthday with Jason in Turkey.  He was new to the community on base, so I typed up the birthday dinner e-mail invite (before evite.com) and gave him the list of friends to send it to.  He forwarded the e-mail without making any edits and simply wrote his name at the bottom of the e-mail.  Anyway - the e-mail was full of my jargon ("heaps of fun,"   "peeps," etc) and when Jason forwarded the e-mail it changed the color of the font to only his name - clearly exposing that I had wrote the e-mail.  I was humiliated and I think we broke up soon after (and we were married less than a year later - hah!)  

Anyway - this year my birthday was a beautiful day!  Jason and Charlie surprised me with a coffee and muffin in bed, Jason made a yellow cake from scratch. and a friend offered to watch the boys while we went out to dinner and a movie (Mission Impossible - very fun).    I also found a friend in NZ who is ALSO a birthday princess and celebrated half birthdays!  Fun to find a kindred spirit...

Speaking of spirit, Charlie is confused by the Spirit and spears...  He talks about the Holy Spear.  He also thinks Jesus is in my heart, sort of like Baby Liam was in my belly.   Looking for wisdom!

Promise pictures soon - Jason is helping me to clean up my iPhone tonight!

The Shave

It's nice to have my husband's face back...

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My Precious

Glitchy

My iPhone is acting up and I'm not able to post any pics for the blog.  I'm hoping to have it solved by tomorrow...  I can't believe my mom is already gone.  So glad she made it back to MN safely.  She was even able to venture into Sydney and check out the opera house during her 7-hr layover.

The Wellington weather turned horrible - with howling winds and driving rain.  You can literally hear the winds screeching and howling -- they sounds strong and angry....  I don't know why- but I'm enjoying the intensity of the weather...  You can really only take so many days of basking in the 75 degree sunshine on warm beaches with the crystal clear water lapping at your toes... you know?

I'm looking forward to the normalcy of the the week...

More pictures very soon!

Departing the South Island

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Sun-drenched golden beaches....

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Hikers of the World ... UNITE!

3 CRAZY amazing hikes today!
We'll upload Jason's pics later, but here's a taste...

Nana and Charlie getting psyched up for the hike at a cafe

Hike #1 - The Grove Scenic Reserve (Clifton, Golden Bay)

For some reason, Charlie insisted that I wasn't a hiker - only daddy, nana and Charlie could be hikers.  I grabbed a hiking stick and told him he couldn't boss me out of the hikers club.

Nana in front of the Northern rata tree - check out its roots weaving through the rock

Hike #2 Te Waikoropupu Springs (Takaka, Golden Bay)

Hike #3 Wharariki Beach (Puponga, Golden Bay)

Stumbled upon a seal

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