Trucks, Trains, Super Heroes, Cars and lots of Cricket and Rugby

We have lots of fun ahead of us! There is a crazy little moving busy boy inside of me! He is a puncher and a kicker already!! Everything else looked great in the sonogram and the baby is little as of right now but healthy and in line with all the measurements they were hoping for on this sonogram. Sam was 10lbs and I was only about 6lbs...

Bring on the BLUE!!!!

Half Way There

Today marks 20 weeks with a little bubby inside of me. I started feeling it kick last weekend, where I knew for sure that was a kick and nothing else. Sam has even got to feel the baby kick tons of times. The baby quite likes Daddy. One night I told Sam that I didn't think it was a strong enough kick for him to feel. He put his hand on my growing tummy anyway and BAM! A strong little kick....I'm thinking that Daddy and baby maybe a tag team that shows me just who's in charge.

Here are a couple pictures Sam took today. I am starting to look pregnant. Most of my clothes hide it and the maternity clothes are still way too big but I thought you might like these shots.






Tuesday at 7pm American time we will know if our little kicker will wear pink or blue :)

Life is in the Details

And sometimes I miss those details....

Finally after putting it off for weeks, I went through all our paperwork for the business and our life. I came across the letter from the hospital telling me I wasn't eligible for free health care for the baby/delivery. I looked at the brochure that came with the letter, which I hadn't previously done before. Evidently on the back it has a list of criteria of who might be eligible.

YEP we are safe and the baby will be born into this world without us paying for it! I had to laugh at myself as I saw at the bottom of the list: "If you are married to a NZ citizen or resident." Sam always thought it was strange that I wouldn't be eligible and he was ready for a good old fashion Kiwi fight if that were really the case because the baby is half Kiwi and he can't have it so that leaves me to have the baby so therefore we should be eligible. :)

I see the world in the big picture of life, I dream, I plan, I look forward to the idealistic outcome. I do not always see the pieces that go together to make up that big picture and this situation was a classic Dana move. Sometimes I guess life, even little ones that are only the size of a mango this week, are in the details. Glad I finally read the details.

Happiest Place on Earth

Life is such that sometimes you need emotional support and sometimes you need practical advise and most times you need both sprinkled with a little humor. A friend of mine this week gave me a great suggestion for when I can't sleep. She mentally walks through California Adventure and Disneyland until she drifts off from the Happiest Place on Earth to the Sleepland that makes sure that life stays happy. She said she rarely makes it all the way to It's A Small World before she is fast asleep.

I LOVED this idea and thought I would try it especially since I have been missing Disneyland so much this last month. I woke up the other night around 2:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep, so I quickly pictured myself in California Adventure. I walked all through there then caught myself smiling as I "walked" into Disneyland. I have been to Disney WAY TOO many times that this was such an easy process, but having a Disney Pass for 4 years can do that to you. I revealed in walking down main street and it was as if I could smell the carmel apples, the ice cream shops and the popcorn. I could hear the giggles of little girls skipping around in their princes dresses and see little boys flying though the air pretending to be Buzz Light Year. I didn't even make it to Pirates of the Caribbean before I was fast asleep.



It made me smile when I woke up and it actually helped me not be so stressed when I went to bed that I might wake up and not fall back to sleep...plus I got to travel through Disneyland enjoying all the favorite things I love there! Thanks Carmen that was the PERFECT idea for me!!

Anniversary

What is a 4 day weekend without a little Anniversary Celebration?!?! It was a 3 day weekend here in NZ in honor of the Queen's Birthday and I took an extra day off to celebrate our anniversary today. It was such a great weekend! We walked up the Mount on Monday, albeit a little slow, we still made it to the top. I kept reminding Sam that I am building a baby that is why it is taking me longer than usual.







On our actual anniversary (today) started out GREAT. I got to catch up with Kimberly and loved every minute of video chatting. Sam slept in and I chatted with Kimberly all morning. It was so good to catch up and laugh! To see all that she has accomplished and hear all the exciting things ahead for her just made me smile today. Plus hinting that a trip to NZ needs to be in her near future was fun too....January or February is nice and warm and we live by the beach!!! Thanks for calling sweet friend!

Sam and I spent the day just being together and driving down the coast. We did this all the time when we were dating and it brought back such good memories and even laughter and shock as we realized that never in our wildest dreams did we think we would be walking along the same beaches on our year anniversary and expecting our first child!



We stopped at a beach we always found ourselves stopping at two years ago. It was one of our favorite beaches on this coast drive. It was so peaceful and good to just stop and be together. This beach makes me laugh at myself and smile with memories. I can remember adamantly telling Sam that we were just friends and that is all we would ever be while we were at this beach. Then moments later taking a picture and looking at it on the camera and I was cuddly and cozy as could be with Sam. I remember seeing that picture knowing that there was more to us than even my heart could fathom at that moment. So today almost 2 years later I had to stop for another picture...unfortuntanetly my eyes are shut but you get the idea.



We then headed down the coast and stopped to get a coffee and a chai latte. I laughed to myself as I got my "large" latte. I sometimes forget how big we get things in America and today throughout the whole day I remembered and just laughed to myself. Yet everything I got was just enough not too much. It is just ingrained in my American psyche that I must have it big!!





As we were leaving the last beach I saw this sign and died laughing!



We finished the night by going out to Mexican. There are 2 Mexican places in our little town and I have been dying to try one of them. Notice the size of chips and guacamole you...again just had to laugh as we paid $14 dollars for a small bowl of chips and a child size bowl of guacamole. Honestly at most places the guacamole comes in a bowl the size of our chips came in! "When in Rome." But it was still incredibly fun to be out to Mexican, eating yummy guacamole and being with Sam and some how just feeling AT HOME.

It is winter here if you remember hence our warm clothes and being all bundled up. This is outside the restaurant and I thought Sam might die that I was making him take a picture. hehehehe Yet another reason he is PERFECT for me!



Feeling at home has been a feeling I think I have been searching for this last year. The transition this last year was quick, filled with crazy circumstances, way TOO many moves, new countries, new families, no more singleness, new marriage and a new baby. Yikes I get tired even thinking about it. But one thing I continued to hold onto and remember throughout this year was what I saw God doing in my life and my heart. I always wondered if a "first anniversary" would be in my story. If building my own home with someone else would be part of my life and to look back and see all the little details of this last two years I can't help but my smile and be so assured that God was aware of, saw my heart, and answered prayers that I didn't even know how to pray.

To feel at home and settled is a feeling that is unmatched. Today I know why I kept fighting when life was hard to hold on to and when I searched and searched and searched God begging Him to make sense of my circumstances. The faith that was grown, the love that I am sure of from God, the home that I feel that has nothing to do with a little house or a country or little American extras is what God has been doing all along. I know that life continues to swirl around many of us and as it swirls may we remember to hold on. There is a day coming when life does make sense and faith is restored. You can't always predict the time or the way it will happen, but it will happen. For me it wasn't a pretty path with my emotions and my very little faith, but nonetheless it's happening. Celebrating one year with a man that I love and can't imagine life without and knowing that God has been and is smiling down. A Perfect Day.

Residency Paperwork Round 2

This week after sending my Residency Packet, and I don't use that word 'packet' loosely; it was a small book I sent off to NZ Immigration just to have it returned to us on Tuesday. I had out of date Medical records. When I say "out of date" I mean 20 days over what they require. After many phone calls to figure out how not to spend $400 again doing them all over it was all complete. We had to get a few things signed and authenticated and then once again I sent our small book off to NZ Immigration. We have no idea how long it will take to hear anything significant, but we are praying that it all happens fast and with great success.

Once that was done we headed into a 3 day weekend! It is Queen's Birthday Weekend here in NZ. No one is really sure which Queen's birthday we celebrate but all I can say is "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!!" that we have a 3 day weekend on our wedding anniversary weekend. I took off Tuesday as well so for us it is a 4 day weekend.

The weather is rainy and stormy, but we did happen to get a walk in around the Mount before the weather turned horrible. Now we have a few more days to just be inside, try to stay warm and enjoy time off.

In the midst of our week Sam did get to hang out with a dolphin one afternoon. He saw in the harbor by our house a national star--Moko the dolphin. Evidently the dolphin has been followed around NZ over the last few years. It doesn't have a dolphin group of "friends" so to speak, but seems to be happy following fishing boats up and down the coast. On Thursday it was in our harbor for the day. Sam got his camera and jumped in the ICY FREEZING COLD water and took some pictures of the national dolphin. Go see some of them on his website to see just how close he was.

We will keep you updated on the residency process and Sam will take more pictures once I start showing properly :) We find out on June 16th if it will be a boy or a girl....!!!! We will definitely post an update to let you know if it will frilly pinks or boyish blues to look forward to in October!

Comfy Clothes

You know those clothes that when you put on that make you feel happy, comfy, like the world is all in order? Or those "go to" clothes. Those clothes that if you are having a day that you need to feel confident or you woke up feeling less than confident you know that this shirt, pair of pants, sweatshirt, sweater...whatever it is will do the trick, even if you did wear it the day before you still put it on justifying to yourself you will see new people today. Heck, the need for confidence trumps pride at this point. I LOVE those clothes. I have a quite a few of those in my closet and some I have sadly had to say good bye to as they ended up in shreds after years of comfort. Everyone has at least one in their closet. My dad even had a pair of bright yellow sweats that he LOVED. They were fuzzy and bright Turlock High yellow, aka the 'gold' in Turlock Bulldogs 'Blue & Gold' school colors. I liked them, my mom--not so much and my mom's friend who came over a lot teased my dad relentlessly about them. See we all have those comfy clothes. Sometimes we do have to get rid of them (or in my poor dad's case when he was on a trip they mysteriously disappeared in one of my mom's clean outs) but do it begrudgingly and wonder if we could ever really replace them.

This weekend it was beautiful but very cold. Winter is settling in here in NZ and I am not ready for it at all! But I am gravitating towards those comfy warm clothes that bring a little warmth and make me feel comfy as I try to get warm in the non heated houses here. I realized on Saturday and Sunday morning though that sometimes a place or a person can generate that same warm feeling. I got a call on Saturday morning from a friend that is like that old college sweatshirt that is perfectly baggy, warm and reminds you a good moments. We chatted for a bit, I cried--blaming it on the pregnancy hormones, but reality is it is just me, we laughed, made fun of our craziness and laughed at ourselves and both felt a little less crazy about who we were and the life we are leading. Sam got up shortly after I got off the phone and by the smile on my face he knew which friend I had just chatted with....some people are like those comfy hoodies that make your day better.

Sunday morning though, I realized in a new way that a place can also serve that same purpose. We tried a new church on Sunday where a couple that Sam went to school with goes. We had them over for dinner the other night and enjoyed them and their little kiddos. It's interesting in this town, no one really enjoys their church. They told us where they went to church but quickly said they don't love it. It seems like that has been the same thing I have heard over and over. I took for granted what I had in Redding, at home, and in LA. Church is very different here for me and I am adjusting to a new culture where English is spoken but the cultural differences are enough to make you wonder if English really is the same language. I grew up LOVING church and enjoying the experience. I had great Bible teachers, models in the church from young to old that weren't perfect but lived out loving Jesus and God's grace and went to churches that tried to love people and follow Jesus and His ways. I noticed while I was here last year and again am noticing that my experience is very rare to what most people have experienced. Most of my conversations with friends that didn't go to church then and still don't centered more around sharing my experience and my interaction with God and was left there. Questions were asked sometimes, and I often received surprised looks at what I experienced but then the conversation ended until they were ready to talk about it all again. Such an interesting dynamic in this place. I bumped into a couple on the beach that noticed my American Accent and told me that for them this area was much like the Bible Belt in the South. I only lived in North Carolina, but the analogy gave words to some of my experiences.

As we walked in Sunday morning I had that 'comfy hoodie' feeling. The songs were from when I was in high school and college, we ended up sitting in the middle of the "older people" section (One lady sweetly introduced herself and said, 'you two should be sitting on that side of the church.' She was so sweet and it made me laugh that there were unspoken sections) and it was like being transported back to my home church when I was a little girl. For me that was the perfect combination to help me have a good experience. I cried all through the songs, some pregnancy emotions, some walking through the doors of yet another church after a hard experience mixed in within the feeling of comfort and ease that I felt, much like a comfy hoodie. I needed to feel that familiar feeling, the place where God came so naturally, where I understood life, where memories of God's power, love and forgiveness came rushing in two at a time. For me it was what I needed and I was thankful for this sweet little church in the middle of this tiny town. It restored something inside of me. It was such a great morning for me and one that I needed. Comfy clothes, comfy friend, and comfy church. Comfort zones aren't always the best to stay in, but at times I think God loves us enough to give us all three in one weekend.

And just to make you all smile I had Sam take a picture of me in my new maternity clothes my mom sent. I was trying so hard to wear them and while they fit to a point please notice how long the dress is in the front...I guess I need that tummy to start sticking out to make it fit right. :)