A typical Saturday...

Usually involves washing - there are so many more bodies to clothe right now, it's a full time job just to keep up. Of course on Saturday there are more hands to hold Nathaniel, giving me a little more time to iron. I love my washing space in the Kitchen. It's always full of washing and rarely looks as tidy as this, but the picture shows the ideal. I feel so blessed just to have this space, it's great.

I quite enjoy ironing. I love the smell and the look of clean freshly ironed clothes. It's a shame no one else quite appreciates their clothes being ironed. In fact thats not quite true, they appreciate it when they have nothing to wear and their drawers are empty!

Sweet little boy

This little boy is just so sweet, I could eat him up! However trying to get anything done round here is impossible. He wants to be carried around all day. I'm so glad a purchased a good baby carrier, or my back would be killing me. Today however, despite having him strapped to me all day, I've accomplished very little. I've been trying to work on the family budget for the month, but it's still not finished and I'll have to go and get the boys from school soon. Never mind. All is forgiven as soon as you look at that cute little face!

I guess I'm also a little crabby today, which is ridiculess because last night Nathaniel slept for the longest time ever - 11pm til 5am. I'm sure that as soon as you get a little more sleep, your body realises what you're missing and craves more. I'm not expecting this to be the start of sleeping through the night - though that would be lovely. We'll just wait and see.

My little boy

Well, here's the reason I haven't been blogging for a while. His name is Nathaniel Jason Robert Beale, and he is 5 weeks old. He was born just a day before his due date absolutely perfect timing! All went well with the birth - contractions started around 1am and he was born at 8:30am, just 45 minutes after arriving at the hospital. It could have so easily been a birth in the car, but luckily we just missed the morning rush hour traffic, and crossing my legs really helped.

Arriving that quickly meant no time for any pain relief, so I'm pretty impressed with myself. I noticed that Nathaniel was bright and alert the moment he was born, and was actually quite fussy. He definitely was going to let me know exactly what he thought and what he wanted - and actually still does!

So during the last five weeks we've been getting to know each other and trying to create a new family routine. Each day is different depending on the amount of sleep from the previous evening. Jason is currently taking the boys to school in the morning before going to work. Having two cars is really great right now, I love having a more relaxed morning. That doesn't mean I get to have a lie in, are you kidding? With 5 boys in the house (Dad and Jase included)? I literally work from 'son' up to 'son' down! But I couldn't be happier.

I miss blogging, scrap booking, and photography, so I'm going to make a little more time for those things. But I really do feel very fulfilled just washing, ironing, cleaning and running around looking after everyone else. Life is good!

Tiles

Just how excited can I get about tiles? Actually pretty excited. I can't believe how quickly these went up in Dad's bathroom yesterday, and they look amazing. Great choice Dad, you've got good taste. The floor tiles still have to be laid, which is a little tricky, but the tiler is great I'm sure he'll do a good job.

Yesterday really was manic in terms of work done on the house, the electricians worked on the new kitchen space, the tiler worked on the bathroom, the carpenter did the skirting boards and the plasterer worked on the walls. Today the ceiling should be fitted in the kitchen and the plastering should start.

We are still just about on schedule - move day is two weeks today! Can't wait, but so much to do before then.

Reflections of Christ - Book, DVD and CD

Well, I've found what to ask Father Christmas for. I was just sent an email from Deseret Book to promote this fantastic photographic book and beautiful CD. I just love it! I couldn't help adding a quick youtube video to it too - with one of my favourite songs as a backing track from the CD - just wonderful. If you'd like the link to buy the book etc it's here on the Deseret book website Reflections of Christ.

Reflections of Christ

Very much inspired

I was clicking through my usual list of blogs to check up on friends and gather inspiration when I came across this amazing clip from a recent Oprah show. I've always been a huge fan of Oprah, and over the years I've learnt much and been very inspired by topics she has covered. At the moment I don't have access to the Oprah show through my television and I really miss it.

Recently I've been a little low - I have my up and down moments, so much has happened this year I've kinda got stuck in a 'poor me, haven't I got so much to cope with' attitude, it's not very positive and not healthy. Well the short clip below has whipped me out of those feelings, it reminded me that life is an incredible blessing, even with it's trials, it can be celebrated! What a wonderful example Eliot's parents are. I feel so grateful to have my wonderful boys in my life, I feel more inspired to tell them and show them how much I love them, to be kinder and treasure them more. Watch the clip with tissues, you'll need them.

Wonderful Clip from Oprah Show

2009 Calendar is finished ...

I've finally finished my Christmas Calendar for my Beale mum and dad. I've relieved I finally got it done. A huge thank you to family sending pictures so it could be completed. My most difficult picture was of Tayler. He's such a monkey in front of the calendar right now, he just can't keep still, and never looks at the lens. I'm so glad I got this picture a few weeks ago in the park. I had him stand in the shade of the trees because the midday sun was just too strong, but of course I then positioned him wrong and ended up with shadows. Thank goodness for photoshop where I was able to lighten them. It's actually quite a good picture of him. I love taking pictures in the park or the woods - such a great backdrop.

So the calendar has pictures of all of the Grandchildren, most of which I took myself. I'm actually quite pleased with the results, it's much better than last years, and that was good. I do still really love taking pictures. When the house is done, Dad is here and baby Nathanel arrives, I'll get back too it on a regular basis. I may even teach Dad how to photoshop! Oh and of course the calendar project wouldn't be complete without a pregnancy brain mistake. I write '2008 family calendar' on the front cover instead of 2009. At least all the pictures were taken in 2008, but what a silly thing to do, typical of how my brain works right now!

Crazy house...

Well, I finally took pictures of the craziness which we call home. Of course it's not easy living like this, but at least I don't have to clean at the moment. In fact I'm really looking forward to a good clean, it's driving me a little crazy. It won't be for long, Dad's moving date is set for the 15th November, so we have just under 4 weeks to finish, and I'm pretty sure we can do it! I just can't express how excited I am about being closer, under the same roof, and having a new start in the home too. We're all praying it will be finished. I would love Dad to be settled, with a good routine in place for all of us before baby Nathanel arrives - only 9 weeks to go before he's scheduled to make an appearance.