I HEART SURPRISES!!!

My parents bought us a crib yesterday and the company said it wouldn't take long maybe by Friday. (We bought it from a place in Auckland) I came home from work today and drove in the drive way and saw the crib through the window in the baby's room ALL SET UP!!!

SURPRISE!!!

Sam had today off and was so tired from working 8 days in a row, but he SURPRISED me by not telling me it came and then getting it all set up!! I was ECSTATIC!!!





I still have to get the mattress and then bedding but I am SOOOO HAPPY to finally have a crib up. Cribs here are pretty expensive but I found this one that I fell in love with and that turns into a toddler bed and a small couch. I looked around at all the stores I could in the town we live in and there was nothing that was below $600 for flimsy made wood cribs. UGH! (I might have whined a bit as I looked at the Target.com sight one day and saw all the cute crib options even there) I was so disappointed. I kept going back to this one because it was SUPER cute and it was $500 off the original price and was cheaper than anything, even the yucky made cribs I was seeing. I called and doubled check yesterday afternoon on what the shipping really was. It said $7.50 but that just didn't seem to make sense, yet the nice lady said that was the total and we should have it by Friday. Instead we got in less than 24 hours!!!

Maximillian's room will be in chocolate browns and navy blues with old toys as a theme. Sam has old cars that his mom saved for him and we just got a Thunderbirds HUGE poster from his parents that they bought after it came out at the movies years and years ago. THE POSTER IS MASSIVE, but will be so fun and nostalgic to put in the room. His mom also has an old fashioned wood rocking chair she is painting for us that we will put in there too. As we put the room together I will post more pictures.

It made my day that Sam not only put it together when he was so tired but that he knows me so well that he knew it would make me SMILE HUGE---and that it did!

IRON

Who knew that one little pill could make such a difference! I just had a midwife appointment this week and evidently had VERY VERY VERY low iron levels. The normal range is between 20-200. I had 11. YIKES! No wonder I was so shattered after work and falling asleep by 7:30 most nights. POOR SAM :) I started the iron pills yesterday the midwife prescribed (which is double the dosage that health food stores carry and she has me taking 2 every day) and the difference in my energy was IMMEDIATE! I didn't feel like falling over at my desk at 3 and I even did the dishes and got things done in the house without making myself. My energy level even overwhelmed Sam a bit, plus he was a little sad because he always got to watch what he wanted at night on TV because I was asleep :)

Funny how you can change one thing and feel like you re entered the land of the living again.

HAPPY DAY FOR IRON PILLS!!!

Flowers or Chocolate

Last night I was SO craving chocolate and I am not really supposed to eat sugar right now. I whined a bit then even asked Sam as he went back to work last night if he was going to bring me back chocolate. I knew he wouldn't because it just isn't good for me right now. But I did whine a bit :)

He came home from work and didn't have chocolate but did have these...



I smiled HUGE when I saw daffodils in Sam's hand when he came home. I am a pretty lucky girl. It wasn't chocolate but I think was better!

Virtual Baby Shower - everyone invited!

Hi out there to all of Dana's blog follower's. My name is Carmen and I'm inserting a post on her blog to invite you to join us in a virtual baby shower. Many of you may have already gotten the evite or facebook invite, but if you didn't the information is below. We're excited to see what we can do to support Dana and Sam in this new baby adventure!



Starting today, you are invited to participate in Dana (Evans) Ackland's Virtual Baby Shower! Even though we would like to get everyone in the same room with Dana, that's not realistic. SO, we want to help welcome Baby Maximillian Ackland into the world by giving online (and saving on international postage in the process!). Simply follow the link to www.ourwishingwell.com : you can either search by the last name 'Ackland' or type in the following registry number to find Dana's registry: 166363415. Look for the super-cute picture of Dana.

You don't have to wait for a certain date to give...start today. Also, feel free to send a nice e-card or leave a note here on the blog. By the way, the Due date is October 30th

World Press Photos 2010

Sam finally had a weekend off and it was so great to spend the weekend together. Even more fun was that at the last minute on Saturday he saw that they had a World Press Photos 2010 Exhibition in Auckland.



So off we went on Sunday morning. We headed up for the day and had such a good time. We LOVE being in a city and had a great time walking through the city, getting a coffee or two and just feeling the chaos of city life. It was very packed in the exhibition and was slow going looking at each picture. I teased Sam it was like being at a theme park, and his response: "This is my kind of theme park." And that it was.



I have always loved pictures and enjoy looking at all types of pictures. I love watching Sam critique and inspect each picture and get so many different inspirations from the same photo I am looking at where my response is usually, "Cool" or "EWWW I don't like that." He has such an eye for photography and telling a story. We stopped by some family friends and had dinner. They are a couple that are in the photography business and have invested in Sam and each time we go I just smile with how much they have encouraged him. This week we stopped by and they even had a gift for him! A cool photo book--perfect :)

We drove home tired but so thankful for the small things like a weekend off and time away. The whole weekend left me sappy and just so thankful in general for where we are at. The road was bumpy...like it is in life, but I feel like I have got a better handle on life these days. Of course the transition is slowing down a bit (well before the bubby comes and changes it all once again!), but more than that just more growth in life challenges and taking it all with a smile and a laugh.

Thanks for being with us in this journey that has had so many twists and turns. Thanks for encouraging us in the down times and celebrating with us in the up times. We are so thankful for the support we have and the support we continue to receive through emails and texts and packages. All of those small things add up to so much for us! THANK YOU!!!

Pictures by the Mount

Sam took these a couple of weekends ago by our house. This is the harbor/bay side of the Mount where we live. He was so sweet and came home after a long weekend of taking pictures and caught these right before the sun set. I would love some at the beach, but for the best light we would have to do it at sunrise. I would be fine with that...Sam, not so much the morning guy, but he said he really wants to take those shots so hopefully the next one will be on the Ocean side.

I am 6 and 1/2 months (28 weeks) and in my third trimester....so close to the end that I can't wrap my brain around it. We have decided to name our little bloke Maximillian Ackland. He has quite a personality already too! We needed him to kick the other morning for something the midwife was checking on and the little turkey didn't kick all morning. When we finally had to go hear his heart beat at the hospital he gave two massive kicks just to let us know that he was not amused with all that was going on. Then the cheeky little bloke kicked the rest of the afternoon. Welcome to parenthood :)