My Love

13 years ago I married my best friend. We waited six years for that day!
It's been an amazing 13 years so far and I know there'll be many more!!!!!

It was fun looking through some photos from back then....

We left our reception in Jonathan's Mazda!

Earlier this year, I made the terrible discovery that my diamond had fallen out of my ring! I can't describe the feeling I felt .... I searched my whole house! I had to have it sent away to get a new diamond and setting put in. About a week before our anniversary, my ring arrived. I so missed wearing my engagement ring for those months!

We celebrated a week early (its always such a crazy time of year). We went to a very popular Thai restaurant and then for chocolate and coffee afterwards. It was such as treat that we don't get very often these days :)

I have prayed for this child......

.....and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 1 Samuel 1:27.

I could never get tired of talking writing about how special my boys are to me. I prayed for them for a very long time. I cried for them many, many nights. And now I have the amazing blessing of seeing them grow. Experiencing every little moment with them. 

Maybe this is why I cried when I read the kindergarten information booklet for this little boy...

I'm not quite sure how this could happen to a tiny, precious baby like this .....

He finished preschool last week. He loved going to preschool! He loved making friends, He loved block corner, He loved his teacher, Miss Grace.

On the last day of preschool, they had a little class party. I made bumblebee bickies for his bumblebee class. 

And the class had a little concert to perform. They sang several songs they had learnt throughout the year. Lachlan had told me weeks ago that his part was the Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. I was proud of him. 

I love being his mummy and can't wait until he starts kindergarten {although I know it will be a miracle if I can hold myself together!}

This Day.

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.



This photo is from 2008, it took me hours to try to get the right photo.... But this one was the first one I took!

Advent

This year, we made a quick pocket/envelope style advent calendar.

Inside each envelope is an activity for that day (read the Christmas story, go for a walk, watch a Christmas movie, Christmas craft, Christmas baking, some have a chocolate inside). I was going to put a scripture in each pocket but that doubled up with the Christmas readings I have done before.

There is a little green piece if card. Each day I'll replace the pocket with the green card after I write on it something I/we are grateful for.

A fun way to count down the days till Christmas!

Going Back

Today {Monday} I had an early start. Paperwork, numbers, waiting to hear my name called.

'Are you ready?' he asked. 
I smiled and nodded and held out my arm. 

But am I really ready? Am I ready to go back? Those days seem so far away now. They've been buried in joys, relief, photos, singing birthday songs, visits to the park, dinners for four, bath times, washing, ironing, 2 year old tantrums, scraped knees, sandpits. It feels humbling to sort through those memories, those everyday moments. Those moments that were once dreams. I've lived them! I thank God that I've lived them.
So today, I think I let my heart wander back. But it's not a pleasant place. That old companion, Fear, is there. How can I go there again? I don't want to, but I know I have to. Not that I have to feel it all again, but I do have to face it all again. I'm a different person now, so I'll face it differently. I'm a little stronger, a little wiser.

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; 

my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoices; 

and with my song will I praise him.

Nehemiah 8:10 The joy of the Lord is my strength

12 Days of Christmas!

This blog is feeling a little neglected, so I thought I would try to do 12 days of Christmas - or really just 12 posts before Christmas. Here is the first!

I wanted to be so much more organised than I was today, but was happy that I went through our Christmas decoration boxes and set some things up. The boys had fun and we listened to some Christmas CDs. We even drove to our old street to see how our old neighbours had decorated their homes.

I have a few more plans for decorations, craft, baking, activities for the boys. Hopefully they'll make it on my blog over the next few weeks. But what a busy few weeks it will be! And it all starts with out Pastor Installation service tomorrow, but that's another post altogether :)

My boys.....a video made by Jonathan

I am looking forward to painting our home. At the moment its painted in a very thin  coat of yellowy-cream paint.
I may paint it myself, we're not sure yet. I don't think I understand what a big job it is. I also want to paint the door frames and skirting boards. Maybe if I just start with a room, and go from there it will get done sooner or later.
Anyway, here is what I'm loving......

These are from Camille Roskelley's home.

The paint she uses is called Aloof Grey by Sherwin Williams. I am guessing I'll need to find an equivalent australian brand's colour.

And wouldn't a mantle be great ;)

Can't wait to start!

The Spoken Word Of God

I know how powerful the Word of God is!
It was the Word of God that created the earth and everything in it. The Word of God delivered the Israelites from bondage. It was the Word of God that Peter stepped out on as he walked on the water.
In my life I know the power of holding onto the promises of Gods Word. He is not a man that He would lie. When He says something it is true.

Last night during the worship service we were singing the song 'Made Me Glad'. I was rejoicing in the fact that God is my shield, my strength, my portion, deliverer, strong tower, my very present help in time of need. I know he is all of these things because He has proven Himself to me time and time again.
I looked down at Lachlan and became so much more thankful that God is all these things for my children. I try my hardest to protect them, shield them, provide for them, help them, but I know I am limited in what I can do. Especially with Lachlan at preschool and starting full time school next year! I can't be there all the time. I can't shield him from hurts.
So, I picked Lachlan up during that song and spoke the Word of God into his ear. 'Sweet Jesus, thank you that you are always there for Lachlan. You are always there to protect him. When he feels sad or lonely he can always count on You to be there for him. Please be with Lachlan when he is at school tomorrow. Please help him be a kind and caring boy, strengthen him each day, keep him safe.......' Then Lachlan prayed. It was a precious few moments. Of course I pray these thing each night, but last night God's presence was with us in a very real way.

On Weaning

Oh, this topic has plagued my mind for some time now.

I breastfed my first baby until he was 14 months. When my second baby turned 1 I thought about when I would wean him. We had a trip planned up to the Torres Strait in the coming months, so it seemed sensible to keep feeding him so as to not have to worry about bottles while travelling.

When we arrived home, we put our home on the market and I got busy with preparations and packing. I continued to breast feed my 15 month old. After buying our new home, our settlement dates didn't coincide so we moved in with my in-laws. It seemed sensible to just continue breastfeeding my 16 month old as he didn't sleep well in a port-a-cot and was just plain cranky about the lack of sleep he was getting.

We eventually moved in to our new home. On the second night in our new home my 17 month old slept all night - 14 hours! This was amazing as previously I was surviving on around 4 hours of sleep a night for the past year. I felt like a new woman! Of course I didn't want to interrupt this new found energy we all had, so I continued to breastfeed my 18, 19, 20 + month old.

In the back of my mind I knew I would have to tackle this soon. We wanted to start thinking about having another baby, and unfortunately that was definitely not going to happen until this boy was weaned. I set Lucas's 2nd birthday as my limit.

I tried, I really did! But oh, the tears and the cries almost killed me! He would look up at me and cry 'mama, booboo!' over and over again until I would eventually give in. Then I stopped trying. I read all sorts of things on the internet - replacing the feed with something else, a bath, a story, a cuddle. I did all this but then whenever it came time to go to sleep the crying would start again. I read about going cold turkey. I tried this, but oh the screams! How could I do this to my little boy?! Then I read about lemon juice.......one night I actually squeezed the juice and put it in a dish in my bathroom. I couldn't bring myself to use it.

One night I thought I would make up a bottle and try again. Lucas has never liked the bottle. I explained to Lucas that first he would need to drink some milk from his bottle, then he could have some boobie. This worked! He only had a very little bit of his bottle, but we made a big celebration of the fact that he drank from it and continued his usual feed. I did this for a couple of weeks (slow and steady!).

Then of course, we went away for nearly 2 weeks and Lucas got a bad cold so it felt like we went a step back. Then I decided it was time to go one step further. I explained to Lucas that he would have to have his bottle first, then he would have his dummy (num-num) and go to sleep. He protested a little, but to my surprise he asked for a bit more bottle, took his dummy and went to sleep. We tried this the next day and then the next. It worked! He would keep asking a few times for some boobie, but I would whisper in his ear how he is such a big boy now, how much I loved him, how good he was......

And now, although Lucas hasn't forgotten about breastfeeding, I can now say he is weaned. Oh what a journey!

Just thinking ...

I'm thinking about my little brother. He's in PNG at the moment, doing Kokoda. He's so brave! I'm wondering what he's doing right now (probably in his tent, sweating and listening to mosquitoes). He gets home on Friday. The boys are going to make some signs to take to the airport.
God, please keep him safe!

The Centre Of It All

A Little Bit of Perfection

How long can one week be?

Too long is my answer!!!! Which amazes me, because I am always trying to find more time, wishing there were more hours in the day. Dreaming of living in parts of Greenland where the sun never goes down (well, not really but at times it sounds fantastic).
This week I have been sick, and my boys have been the most sick I think they have ever been. We have all had the flu, poor Lachlan has been so lethargic and ran high temperatures for days. Lucas has been really blocked up. Each day has been slow. We are finally feeling a bit better today! Lucas is probably the last to start feeling good.
But, all this time has had me thinking a lot. For around 3 weeks now, I have reassessed a few areas in my life and slowly trying to change some things. It feels good, and I know I have a long way to go in other areas. But I have a plan, and a plan is always a good place to start. I know that when I am not happy with things in my life, before I do anything else I need to look at what I can do to actually change things. I know the tricky part will actually be implementing some things, but I pray that God will give me enough determination, strength and patience to do what I need to do.

There is no plan to this post, and it is really just an excuse for writing one......so here are a few photos that made me smile this last week. I finally went through a years worth of photos ready for printing!

 Lucas's little reading corner.

 My big boy - on his first day of preschool (he got his first report this week.....so proud :))

 Always makes me smile......

 .....and again!

 An old one - it feels like so long ago that Lucas was this little!

 Off to the Torres Strait! Lachlan often asks when we are going back. He misses his friend Ali! We're hoping Ali and his family make it to conference this year and are able to stay with us. Lachlan told me he will sleep in the car so that Ali can stay in his bedroom (this is what Ali did for us!)

 Such a big trip for a little boy!

 One of Ali's beach toys.

 Mmmmm...

 On Murray Island.

We enjoyed watching the recent movie on the ABC 'Mabo'. Seeing Murray Island was nice, I also enjoyed all the documentaries/interviews leading up to the premiere.

 Lachlan and Edward

 Lucas was so hot, sweaty and sandy when this photo was taken, and the water had been turned off for the afternoon. Jonathan took him for a very quick dip in the ocean while I literally kept an eye out for sharks!

 Fun with the kids after a service and 'Minute to Win it' competition.

 Just before a hair cut.

I love these two people!!!