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 :)

Mold gone. Cold gone.

Maximilian miraculously is over his "cold." The mold is gone out of his room and he is feeling so much better. Funny piece of NZ trivia: Mold isn't a big deal here. The more I mentioned it to people the more I realized that it seemed equivalent to having dust in your room. That struck me as odd, so I asked my American friend Jen about it. She confirmed what I thought. Mold isn't a big deal in NZ.

It seems to me that in America it feels dangerous, you can't sell houses with mold, you can complain to your landlords if you are renting, parents do everything they can to make sure their kids don't have mold in their rooms so they aren't sick. Here. Nothing. You get rid of it. You make light of it. You move on.

I think I fall somewhere in the middle. The non reaction is probably a good thing, but to me it still is a big deal and I will scrub and scrub and scrub to keep Max's room free of it. There are so many things I can learn from this non dramatic culture. Hmmmm maybe that is why God moved me here. :)