Proud To Be An American....

It's official! Max is an American Citizen!!!

We headed to Auckland on Tuesday to apply for all of his documents and everything is done now! He will have a passport by next Tuesday! I couldn't help but say the pledge, sing "I'm proud to be an American" and "My Country Tis of Thee" to him. (Not without Sam reminding me that other than Nazi Germany and North Korea we are the only country to sing a pledge to our flag. Funny what you grow up with that seems so normal. I love being married to someone in a different culture. Keeps me laughing at myself :)

The consulate was very different than I expected--not at all like The Patriot :) Granted that was the embassy but really?! It was a bank like room with tellers and chairs. There were American flags though that made me smile! And Max rather enjoyed looking at the pictures and loved chatting to President Obama's photo.

I love that Max will have so many options when he is older. It is fun to dream and think of setting Max up to be who he is created to be. Each night I pray that God would take us where we are supposed to be and where Max will best grow and become the man God has for him. He is a well traveled little boy and will be able to easily go between New Zealand, Australia, America and England.

After the consulate we headed to the bay to see the sail boats and have some lunch before heading over to Sam's Nana's house for the evening. Max was such a trooper and travels so well!

This is a classic Max picture! He loves kissing and grabbing your face for hugs! I have to laugh that this is what he tried to do to all the kids in play group. My little American boy in a world of reserved Kiwis :)

Play Group

Max cracks me up. I love discovering who Max is when we are in new situations. He is so serious when he is in a new situation or with new people. He is so inquisitive and watches intently. He also LOVES to hug and kiss the other little kids. He's the only ones that does. It makes me laugh every time to see him immediately reach out and try and hug and kiss the other kids. They just stare at him. I laugh to myself at the difference in American and Kiwi culture even at 5 months.



Of course we had this great idea to dress the kids in jeans and white shirts and then try for a few pictures. NOPE. The kids were not really having it. We finally got one that was semi decent. And one other one with all the balls. One of the moms is a PE teacher and wanted to put a picture in her monthly letter about "starting exercise early." I love Max's face in some of these pictures. He seems so unimpressed sometimes and it makes me just laugh. The little girl he is next to in the ball picture is a month younger than him! He is such a split personality...wants to be around people and hug them AND won't give away emotion to save his life. American - Kiwi Boy :)


This is his little buddy Jackson. He was born 4 days before Max. Yep Max is a tiny little firecracker! Weighing in about 2 or more pounds at least than his little friends.

Oh Maxers - full of life! Full of questions! Full of joy!

Makin' Cupcakes with Momma

Playgroup is at our house today and we decided to make cupcakes! Sam LOVES cupcakes and the fact that my non sweet eating husband likes something sweet makes me motivated to make them. AND HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS....I made them from scratch! WOO HOO for me. Sam then says while I was making them, "making them from scratch and the icing from scratch just doesn't suit your personality." I laughed a little with a tad of defensiveness and asked him why. He proceeded to enlighten me on the fact that it is too slow a process and I like everything quick. To make that stuff is nice and leisurely and fun but fun to me is fast and a lot. I can be as defensive as I want and hope to be someone else other than myself but at the end of the day my husband hit it on the head. He knows me well. It was novelty this week, but I am not going to lie the box with a little egg and oil is so much easier, quicker and less messy. Which is my personality to a T - quick, easy and less messy could be my favorite values!! It's not so glamorous for me to make them, yet I did get some cute pictures of Maxers :)

Breakthrough

Who knows if Max is teething, needing extra cuddles or just plain fussy, but man the last few days he has cried more, wanted to be cuddled (which is unlike my non cuddler) and rubbed his teeth constantly. Monday all that worked was a walk and a sleep at the beach. Which was actually quite good for Momma too.



I noticed how I have a VERY hard time being in the present. I am either in the past or future constantly. I can deceive myself into thinking that I am in the present because I am on my phone on Facebook, emails and texts, but in reality I am missing the present moment. I fought hard to stay in the present at the beach on Monday. I sat there and watched God do some healing work in me. Funny how healing comes in random to us and not so random to God moments. A simple article in my O Magazine by Martha Beck (April 2011 pg 59) led me to an exercise that I actually had space to do since my little boy was asleep at the beach and there wasn't much else to do. Most of you know there was some hard relationships and circumstances that I walked back into when returning to New Zealand. The process of healing, maturity, grief, and growth has been exactly that: a process. In reading this article the author challenged each person to take that person they are obsessing over, annoyed with, angry with, or just plain overly judgemental against and write them a letter saying all that you want. She actually phrased it "release your inner b*@^h." Then after finishing, cross out their name and put yours. Absorb it, be humbled, listen to the words. Her theory is that most of what we SO abhor in others is what we abhor in ourselves. Then repeat the process except this time choose someone that you over the top admire, gushingly tell them all the things you love about them. She referred to this by saying, "release your inner puppy dog." Then again upon finishing change the name to yours and allow yourself to receive those things. Her theory to being similar that what you are so drawn to in others is in your also. She likened it to mirrors. We seek out, subconsciously mirrors of ourselves, is her observation.

To say I was skeptical would be an understatement, but the thought/exercise never left my head though. As I sat by the ocean with Max sleeping peacefully the exercises popped into my head once again. I decided to try it with an open heart. It was healing in ways I cannot even begin to imagine. It was nothing that I expected, but so personal and specific from God. Most things I share with an open heart, but these things are too raw and poignant to share at this point. It was worth it and the feeling of 3 years of heartache and struggle that seemed to wash away with the waves that day surprised me, but isn't it just like God to work in ways you are sure won't work. The people that I obsessed over became great teachers and tools of healing to my heart and soul.

Max on the other hand was not having much of a breakthrough with his fussing. He just didn't really want to settle, sleep, or be still. UNTIL we got out his new book from Grammy that has her reading him the story!



He LOVED it and we read it over and over and over for about 20 minutes or so. He finally sat still. Was quiet. Didn't cry. YAY!

Daddy's Home

Off to the beach with Daddy. He's pretty excited to have Daddy home.

Too much fun with Dad. But SO happy to be sleeping on his shoulder

The bubbs and I missed Sam and are both pretty happy to have him back home.

Day 2 & 3

We have been so busy! I had so much planned to do so I wouldn't go crazy that I realized today I got nothing done I wanted to while Sam was gone :)

I have a great coffee group of ladies through my prenatal class. They jumped into make sure I was okay and did walks with me and emailed me. I had a great talk with one of the other moms today while we walked our little ones around this beautiful new track I had never been on before. We laughed at all of our "I am going to DO THIS" with our kids and cracked up at all the things we said we would NEVER do that we now do. Her and I have similar stories in how we tried things with our kiddos and how now we are just so much more chilled out and wish we could do the first 8 weeks over again.

There are so many things to be thankful of while Sam has been gone. Here are some highlights for the Ackland family:

Mom friends that randomly text to hang out
Max cuddling with me up the mount
Screeches of laughter and giggles from a sweet boy
Loving emails from my husband
Free Starbucks most of the week
The crash of the ocean waves as I walked up the Mount
Free diapers from a mom that bought the wrong size--and Max is so little he's the only one in the group that fits them :)
New Mom friends that send sweet texts to check on me
Unexpected money in the mail
Sweet talks with Sam about our future



All in all we had a great few days. Sam is actually cutting his trip a bit short because he has got all he can get in Christchurch, so he will be back home with us by tomorrow lunch! YAY! We both learned so much over the last few days that I feel like we did a crash course in University. Funny how sometimes you think God is opening doors for one reason and it is actually a totally different reason He opens those doors. The lessons are just as important and powerful, but unexpected. So thankful for life lessons and a God that is good no matter what the circumstances.

Day 1

We survived! I knew we would but it feels good to not be too sad or scared or overwhelmed. Sam got off to the airport, not without some drama! We realized once we were there that he forgot his lap top and needs it to put his pictures on. I RACED back home to get it while he checked in and made it back with plenty of time to spare.

Max and I had a walk with a friend, a free Starbucks! (seriously those girls are great! In the last week I have paid for ONE drink!! A great talk with one of the girls at Starbucks who is Canadian and gets a lot of the frustration here (ie paying $50 for 6 gallons of gas, $18 for mascara that is $4 at Target, etc...) plus my Starbucks friend Amy adores Max (as do all the girls in there, they all race to get him out of his stroller) tomorrow I think we are hanging out with Amy on her day off. We also had another fun walk with a friend around the Mount where Max snoozed most of the time, a quick bath, a feed, a WAY TOO awake boy because of his said earlier nap around the Mount, a skype with daddy, a screaming fit at bed time, a cuddle, a quiet laying down while listening to Jesus Culture and then Momma had a quick dinner is sitting down to read her Oprah magazine that came in the mail (THANK YOU AUNT DENISE!!!)

Sam is safe and sound in Christchurch. We know he is supposed to be there and we are praying that he sees what God brought him down there for, that he sees stories and emotion that will tell the people of Christchurch story even this long after the quake, and open doors that only God can open. Pray with us and we trust God for the results.

California Boy

True to his California side the bubbs loved Avocado!!

We are starting to see his unique and distinct personality. He is funny and chatty and singing all the time at home, but when he is out he RARELY smiles. He is stingy and a little snobby I might add. A few of the Starbucks girls have won him over, but other than that you have to work really hard to get his smiles out. LITTLE TURKEY! This face with avocado all over it is a classic "I am not performing for you mom" face!!!

We have had a full week getting ready for Sam to leave for Christchurch. He heads down there tomorrow morning until Monday morning. I have to say I am a bit nervous with Sam being gone. Sam has been off work for the last 2 weeks so I have been spoiled with Sam time and Daddy help. Part of what I know to be true though is that we are a team. God created Sam to capture stories and see world events happen, documenting what God is doing in the world. He doesn't just capture disasters, buy he is a master at capturing the emotion and hope in people and situations. We want to put Sam in spots to do that and Max and my part right now is to hold down the home front so that Sam can go and use his gifts. Each story he captures, person he encourages, situation he calls hope out in we are a part of. I might have to remind myself of that these next 5 nights :) BUT I BELIEVE IT TO BE TRUE! Plus I have lots planned and back ups if I get too scared at home with just Max and me. Tom (Sam's brother) promised to have his phone next to him all week and every night in case a robber comes into get us :) Always need a plan!

While Sam has been home we have done a few fun family things.

Quite a few walks to Pilot Bay by our house. Max still isn't too thrilled with the cold water but likes to watch the ocean

Heading for a walk up the Mount. Max is loving having daddy home so much.

It's always worth it at the top

The sheep are back!!! And Sam even wore the front pack, earning his daddy stripes and wearing the thing he swore he would never wear!

We watched Daddy play a bit of cricket with his friends and Max enjoyed grass for the first time.

He thought it was rather weird, but kept moving his feet to feel it.

Max and I took a walk with Nana and Poppa and spent a bit of time at the beach

My little beach baby!

Represetin'

I found this GAP "RED" outfit at a consignment shop here and had to have it! Max is still a little bit too little for it but I was thinking about Nathanael (my roommate from college, Stacie's, little man) and Addise and Judah, April and Brian's little treasures! Praying for little children in Ethiopia today and teaching Max even know about loving the world.

He would not stop wiggling

I tried again but still wiggle wigglerson!!

Finally had him lay down but that didn't do a whole lot :) At least you can see him sportin' our love for Ethiopia and support!

Grandpa's Boy

Having a little Kumra (aka Sweet Potato) in his Grandpa bib. He LOVED this too! The little turkey just loves food I think!

Kiwi Boy

True to his Kiwi side, Maximilian LOVES pumpkin!!!

We started Max on solids this week because....well he was grabbing food off Sam's plate Sunday night and trying to eat it. I had pumpkin on my plate so I gave him a taste and he gobbled it up. Since I had pumpkin in the house I made some up for him the next day to give it a real try at eating. He ate and ate and ate. He was "supposed" to eat a 1/2 a teaspoon to start. NOPE. Maximilian gobbled up about 2 tablespoons worth of pumpkin, then the next day did that twice!

He's mad at me here because one: he's not getting to do it by himself and two: momma isn't going fast enough.

The boy loves to eat! He gobbles and gobbles and gobbles.

The biggest annoyance to him is that he isn't getting to do it himself. He takes my hand and pushes the spoon in his mouth and then looks at me as if to say, "See I did it myself." I love his zest for independence and his personality that seems to be shining through more and more each day. I love that he is a learner and tries things that aren't "age appropriate." I love that he is risky even as a baby that can't even crawl yet!

Four Months

MAX IS FOUR MONTHS OLD TODAY!!!

Max loves his walker and spends time in it every night while Sam and I are making dinner. One night this week Sam couldn't resist and caught a couple shots of our little turkey!

Oh this cheeky boy is going to keep us busy

Play Group

I finally made it to my antenatal play group. The prenatal classes here are called antenatal and they encourage you to get together with the other moms for coffee groups once your kiddos are born. I have yet to make it to one until today.

It was good to have some time with other moms. Maximilian was quite funny and wasn't to into just laying on the floor. He of course wanted to move all over the place. I enjoyed talking to the other ladies, too. I realized that I don't really have good friends here and how most of that is my own doing. Trying to reconnect now is hard and frustrating and a bummer sometimes. I thought friends/friendship would look so different than it does here. I am missing friendship the way I used to know it and in all the transition this last year I am finding I just want to scream, "Things aren't the same." Which is true, but doesn't really get you anywhere. I am glad I went today and know the reality is the more you go to the things the more friendships have the ability to blossom.

And They Say Americans love Convenience?

Kiwi's might just like things a bit convenient too.

Exhibit A - Ready to make cupcakes....not in a box mind you, but in a bottle.

Exhibit B - Said bottle is all you need to make the batter. Notice the "Just add milk and shake" portion

Exhibit C - Done cupcakes. Made while Sam was giving Max a bath.

You add milk. Shake bottle. Pour into cupcake cups. Bake. Frost. DONE.

I will confess though that I did do something a little Kiwi tonight. I made my own frosting. The jar was $5 and I knew I had "icing sugar" aka powdered sugar that makes frosting pretty darn easy. I wasn't exactly sure what to do even though my mom used to make her own frosting and I have seen my mother in law and sister in law make frosting since I got here. I added water and waited to see if that worked. Sam also wanted butter cream frosting that a friend had made and let me use on Valentines day. She said she made it with tons of butter, so I decided to try just adding butter as well, which I swear I saw my sister in law do once. Not sure if that's the recipe or not but it sure was yum! And my hubby that hates sweets sure did gobble them up! SUCCESS!

But seriously? I get teased or shall we say harassed for making cakes out of a box--which for the record is absolutely baking a cake! I think the teasing should cease AND I think Kiwi's should embrace their inner convenience love!!

Max and Daddy chilling out watching one of Daddy's documentaries :)