3rd times a charm

I am not the healthiest eater...

Therefore I am not the healthiest cook. 

We're working on that in the Akers' household. 

I have tried making turkey burgers twice before.  Let's just say we weren't jumping up and down with excitement to eat the leftovers.  Tasted like cardboard.

I came across a recipe in my Real Simple magazine and we loved it.

Turkey Burgers with Creamy Romaine Slaw

Max assisting me in making bread and butter pickles

I would love to hear about your favorite healthy recipes.

Hardcore

One of our favorite things to do is go to concerts.  Matt and Abby are our concert buddies.  Last weekend, we went to the Ichthus Festival at the Auction park in Auburn.  

1st of 5 spots we tried out.  It felt like a wind tunnel.

Waiting for The Afters to get started

Forgot to have Matt and Abby interpret their hand signs...

Playing Trivial Pursuit with the boys.

They definitely cheated.

We called this seating area, the "Chaperone section".

We felt old.

Getting ready to rock with Family Force Five in the "non-chaperone section" with all of the teenagers.   

 I know, we're hardcore.

Sidekick

Max has an amazing dad.  I thought Wes would be awkward.  I thought he might not change diapers.  I thought he wouldn't know what to do.  I was wrong.  He's a natural.  

Now don't get me wrong.  There have been many times when we have both said, "It's a good thing Max is resilient because we have no idea what we are doing."  

Max and Wes - June 27, 2010

1 day old

1st Tincaps game - 1 month

2 months

Helping Dad with his new bike

I think we have a sidekick in the making. :)

Wes, I'm so thankful to be stumbling through this parenting gig with you!  

What a face!

I'm told all of the time that Max has so many expressions.  Here are a few to make you a believer. :)

"Seriously, Mom, another picture?"

"Ummmmm...no thanks."

"You think that's funny?"

" What do you mean it's not time to eat yet?"

"Mom, you're so beautiful."

"I'll smile for you, but it's going to be a fake one."

"This is what my dad does when he doesn't want to get his picture taken...."

"Can you believe that?"  

"Don't ask me.  I don't know."

"Can you repeat that question please?"

Nursery Loves

I love the changing table.  I got this dresser at a garage sale. The lady asked me to give her an offer and she didn't even bat an eye when I said $8. I should have offered $5! The dresser drawers didn't function, so we took them out and Wes made a base to hold all of the baskets.

I love the glider.  It was my Grandma Myers'.  

I love the bookcase.  It was given to me at the end of my first year of teaching. The teacher across the hall was retiring and she wanted me to have it.  She had gotten it when she started teaching in the 60's.  Maybe I'll give it to Max at the end of his first year of teaching. :)

I love my curtains.  Both fabrics were shower curtains that I got at Target.  I wanted something original and couldn't find any fabric that I liked.  Who knew I'd find the fabric in the bath section?

I love this painting.  My dear friend, Joce, painted it for Max's nursery.  It definitely is one of my most treasured gifts!

                         

I love my Max.  The nursery wouldn't be complete without him.

Chuck E. Cheese Meltdown

I could have sobbed. The kind where you make crazy, uncontrollable noises. The kind where your face makes some unsightly expressions. The kind that gives you the worst headache ever. But I didn't.

Right in the middle of the chaos of Chuck E. Cheese, I was watching my son being held by his birthmom. It was beautiful, awkward and humbling all at the same time.

It was beautiful.

She was staring at him and Max was staring right back at her. I could see the love she has for him and I would love to know what is going on in her mind. I will never know all that she thinks and dreams about for our little Max, but I do know one thing. She loves him bad.

It was awkward.

There were times when I felt so insecure. I found myself being very guarded about what I told her in fear that one of my parenting choices would disappoint her. I need to get over that. It's also hard to know how much to tell her. Does she want to know that he smiles now when I go to his crib in the morning? Or that he's especially fond of "Merle the Monkey" on his activity mat?

It was humbling.

It hit me. She gave her son to us. Talk about feeling unworthy. I wish everyone could know what that feels like.

I wanted Max to smile for her. He didn't. The entire 2 hours we were together he didn't crack one little grin. I was so bummed. I wanted to give her that gift. As we were heading to our cars, Max woke up and she wanted to take just one more picture. She leaned down to him and said, "I love you" and he gave her a huge toothless smile. I'm pretty sure she did a little dance.

I think we were both very satisfied with how well the evening went and we're ready to do it again in December.

Oh yeah. When I got in the car, I sobbed.

Blog Brain

Since I have started this blog, my brain only thinks in blog titles. As I go about my day, I'm always thinking, "What would the title of that blog be?"

Blog title #1 : Grins and Grunts

Max is smiling a lot more. It doesn't take as much effort on our part to get him to smile. Now that I think of it, maybe that's why he is smiling more. His mom and dad aren't 2 inches from his face making a zillion different funny sounds just to get a glimpse of that sweet, heart melting smile.

Max doesn't coo, he grunts. That's all.

Blog title #2: Our Missing Piece

On Thursday, Wes and I went to Chicago for a mini-getaway. This was the first time that we have gone away since Max has been born. I'm sure my parents were thrilled to be able to have him for a couple of days, but it was strange to be without him. We would be in the car and I would start to say something to Max or I would look back at the mirror to see his cute little reflection that wasn't there. It's amazing how someone who has only been in your life for 2 months can so quickly become such a huge part of your life. It's good to have our puzzle complete again. :)

While in Chicago:

We went to an ice cream store that we had seen on the Food Network called i cream. Check out the website. It's amazing how they make the ice cream. I had pomegranate green tea ice cream with gummy bears and Wes had Key Lime Pie ice cream.

We did some people watching. Top winners: A very classy 30-something in a business suit, pearls and very high heels on a mo-ped and this.

Hopefully, you can see the horse-like dog in the back.

We found some adorable cupcake/cake soaps at Mojo Spa.

We met up with Matt and Abby at Holiday Inn and had a late night run to McDonald's. Much talking and lots of laughs.

We went to the BMW Championship Golf tournament. We had beautiful weather and got to see some great golf and some really cool golf clothes. Golfers with my favorite attire: Dustin Johnson and Matt Jones

Blog title #3: Confessions of a Teacher

Being a teacher, I would love to say that I read for enjoyment all of the time. I don't. It's not that I don't like reading. I actually love to read. I think I just forget that I love to read.

Here is the ultimate confession: I have never read a book that has been made into a movie. I'm going to fix that. I decided to read Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe. I've never seen the movie in it's entirety either. We'll see if I get to say what every avid reader has said at least once in their life, "The book was SOOOOO much better than the movie."

Sidenote: Blog brain is very similar to a condition I had in college...Tetris brain. My friend Abbie's gameboy (I have 2 fabulous Abigails in my life) was often found in my possession. I would play it so much that when I would go to bed, my brain would still be placing the pieces into their proper place.

Our Adoption Story

This is the short version...kind of.

I have always wanted to be a mom. When I married Wes, the desire to become a parent became even stronger. We waited a year and a half to "start trying" (spring break 2005). The possibility of being pregnant and starting a family together was so exciting.

Nothing happened.

Fast forward to January 2007. I took a pregnancy test the morning we were to go to a fertility doctor. It was positive. I canceled the appointment and was in complete shock. 2 days later, I took another pregnancy test. It was negative. Next day - blood test. Negative. I had what they call a chemical pregnancy. Whatever it's called, it's no fun.

November 2007 - May 2008 - 2 rounds of IUI. Nothing happened, but me being an emotional mess.

Wes and I felt God asking us to wait and do nothing. This was hard.

Fall 2008 - I started thinking about adoption. Wes wasn't thinking about adoption. I remember telling my mom when I was younger that I would like to adopt some day. I wanted to respect Wes. The last thing I wanted to do was pressure him into such a life changing decision. I began to pray that one of our hearts would be changed.

January 2009 - Our dear friends, Matt and Abby, (who, by the way, are responsible for the name of this blog) adopted a baby girl. Wes and I were able to see a real life adoption story and the blessings that come out of it.

August 2009 - Wes said, "Abby, let's adopt." Abby said, "Ok." Wes' heart changed.

October 2009 - Wes and I attended an informational meeting at Adoption Support Center in Indy. Matt and Abby's neighbors adopted two boys through this agency. Looking back, I can't even tell you our reasoning behind choosing this agency. We just went with it and trusted God that He would close the door if this wasn't where He wanted us. We loved the agency and decided to start the process.

January 2010 - A birthmom wanted to meet us. We found out that she was from the Gary area, but was in a rehab center in Fort Wayne. She would be having her baby in Fort Wayne. This for sure was the baby God had for us! We met her and the meeting went really well. She had it narrowed down to us and another couple. We were her #1 pick. The counselor said, "Birthmoms almost always go with their first choice. It's just to make sure that they made the right decision." She didn't pick us. That was a humbling experience and we would love to know the reason she went with the other couple, but we know that God had other plans.

February 2010 - Another birthmom had chosen us and wanted to meet us. She was having a boy that was due in April.

A few days after we were matched with birthmom #2, we got a call from the agency saying that there was a baby girl waiting for us at a hospital in Indy. I was so confused. After freaking out, praying and talking to Wes and my parents, I remember saying to the agency, "As hard as it is to turn this baby girl down, we really feel like we are supposed to stick with birthmom #2. We know it's not a guarantee, but we also know that God is in control."

We met birthmom #2, the dad and her 2 kids. Everything went very smoothly. We were so excited and couldn't believe this was really going to happen!

Sidenote: The couple that adopted the baby girl are friends with our friend, Matt's (mentioned earlier) sister. God is amazing!

March 2010 - Found out the 2nd birthmom was a scam. Once again confused, but trusting Him. At the end of the month, we were matched with birthmom #3 who was due July 3rd.

April 2010 - We met birthmom #3. We loved her and later found out that she loved us! Over the next few months we met with her another time, went to a few doctor's appointments and had quite a few phone conversations.

June 27, 2010 - Our birthmom was scheduled to be induced at 5 pm. During church that morning, we got a call from her mom saying that she was in labor. We got to South Bend around 1:00. At 5:50, both Wes and I were able to see our son, John Maxwell, come into this world. His sweet birthmom wanted a chance to hold him first. Although this made me a little nervous, I wanted her to be able to do whatever she needed to do to help her cope with this heroic decision she was making. Then I heard her say the words that I had been waiting for. "Max, would you like to meet your mommy?" With a smile on her face and tears in her eyes, this amazing woman gave me the greatest gift anyone on this earth could give.

We love Max's birthmom. We love our story. We love Max.

Can't pull the trigger

Type and delete. Type and delete. This has been going on for the past 45 minutes. Waste of time...yes. Story of my life...pretty much. It's late. I'll try again tomorrow.