Our first little Son, Yay!

On the 9th of September Chester was blessed by his Daddy Sam. Assisted by John  (Grandad) Samuel  (Uncle), James  (Grandpa), Daniel  (Uncle) and Ben  (Uncle). 

This is everyone who came to share in Chesters special day. Going from left to right we have: Sam , Mariah, Milly, Uncle Sam, Aunty Miele,  Grandad, Tootsie, Hanisi, Aunty Jasmine, Uncle Josh, GNB, Aunty Alice with Chester, Uncle Ben with Luci, Aunty Belinda, Eli, Grandma, Grandpa, Ella, Uncle Daniel, Zoe.

We are grateful to everyone for coming and sharing in this special day with us. I love this photo of Alice she looks so happy to be holding Chester. Hanisi is taking photos with Aunty Jasmine's mobile, she cracks me up. Families are wonderful it is so nice to belong to such a big family unit (and this wasn't even all of us!)

Hanisi and Milly enjoyed running around outside after sacrament meeting. They are such gorgeous girls (yep I'm buy-est). Check out Milly's tongue. She must've been getting hot : )

Tootsie having cuddles with Milly and her first Grandson.

GNB having cuddles with Chester her 3rd great grandson.

Aunty Miele and Uncle Sam thought that the occasion required a special prayer : ) It was really nice having Sam and Miele with us as we hadn't been altogether since their wedding.

Here is the Bounds/Sullivan/Terry Clan. The only way we could get Hanisi to participate in the photo was by Sam placing her on his shoulders (She just wanted to keep on running around).

However we pushed our luck with a family photo and this is what we got. A good lucking bunch!

Our gorgeous son wearing a tux for his blessing (it is actually a bib)

Aunty Jasmine having cuddles with her first Nephew.

The four generations photo.

Milly took a break from running around and asked Grandpa to help her open her lunch box as she told him about our trip in Sydney (that blog is yet to come).

Jas, Chester and I. You sure can tell we are sisters :)

Having Chester in our home is such a blessing, he is a wonderful baby. I love how no matter how old or young someone is when ever they see a little baby they can't but help smile.

A couple of weeks ago the children and I went and visited our neighbour who is dying of cancer. She has her good days and bad days. The day we went over she was very frail and weak. However she asked to have a hold of Chester.

Watching her as she held Chester in her weak arms and spoke to him was gorgeous. I wish I had a camera. Our neighbour was smiling from ear to ear, her whole countenance lit up as she cuddled and spoke to him. You can't but help feel something so special when you see, cuddle or/and speak to a baby. They are so special.

I'm so grateful for family love and to know that as long as we live worthy our family can be eternal, what a wonderful blessing!

N.b this is my first time to use picasa to do the photo collages (not to bad eh?) 

Asking for help

THANKS EVERYONE who took the time to help out with this. I am presenting the feasibility study to the organisation next Tuesday. survey really helped me out.

THE SURVEY HAS NOW FINISHED!!!


I am finishing up at Uni in a matter of weeks and I need some help.

 As much as I love my Study Buddy, I need your help as well.

As part of my major assignment I need to do some market research into peoples perceptions of coloured vegetables and if people would be interested in eating a range of brightly coloured snow peas.

If you have a spare 3 mins and could complete the survey it would be greatly appreciated.

CLICK HERE

THANKS! :)

Fathers Day

I had to go to the doctors yesterday as I was feeling a little unwell. I was flicking through the newspaper when I came across an article titled "Fathers want more time with children." I was intrigued by the headline, so I continued to read. It was the findings of a survey that found that men are no longer so concerned with their salary, and are wanting to spend more time with their family.

I thought of my current situation and how lucky that I am that I am able to spend so much time with my children while they are young. I was saddened a little as I recognised that I often take it for granted, and do not use all the opportunities that arise.

As much as I could remember my Dad was always around, or I was around him. He and I are so much alike. We share very similar interests, we both carry the gene that prevents us from loosing our hair :), and we love to be outside.

This is my Dad with Chester a few days after he was born.

One of the fondest memories I have of a child was going wood cutting. I enjoyed going. I don't recall if I complained about going, but as far as I can remember it was a whole lot of fun.

I have been a few times since we have had our new home. I normally go with my brother, or brother in law, or by myself if no one else is around. I've always looked forward to going wood cutting with my own little family, as I know how fun it can be in the bush, with so many new and amazing things to look at.

 

Like lizards. 

And puddles. Muddy puddles.

Notice the snow in the background!!! Welll.......

It wasn't long before the girls discovered that these were VERY COLD muddy puddles.

I didn't take this photo, but the sequence of the events suggested that this was the moment the cold mud reached Hanisi's toes.

This looks like they were discussing how far it would be to walk home and wondering if they would make it.   **I don't know why this photo won't rotate for me.

Once the work was done, we joined together for some family photos.... well that's what I told them :)

Then it was Mariah's turn to have a go behind the lens. She managed to get in a couple of great shots. 

Sharp shooter! not just once, but twice!

Then we both abandoned the kids.....

We did get a family photo in the end, minus Chester, who was too busy sleeping.

What day would not be complete without a silly photo!

I loved the day we had together!

We topped it off with a stop at the lookout, where Chester got out for a quick look. We live in such an amazing part of the world. 

 It was a nice day. My very first family wood cutting day!

Chester

Let me introduce you to Chester Lloyd Terry, our third child and first son.

Tomorrow will be a week since we brought little Chester home from the hospital and I must say it is nice having a baby in the home again. So far so good, he is a good baby. He eats and sleeps when he should and is tolerant towards his sisters who just love him so much. 

I recall when Hanisi was born, she was so sensitive and cried at the drop of a hat. I recall kissing her one day as a newborn and she just burst out in to tears. If we sneezed she would even get upset. But Chester just takes it in his stride and gets on with things. Others have told me that this is a "boy thing."

Milly thinks he is "so cute." Hanisi just loves a hold and mother him.

 He was born late afternoon and by the time we called the girls it was getting late and they were most upset that they could not come for a visit. Grandma was looking after them, and stayed the night to help out. I am so glad that she did stay. I woke up at 5:30am and thought to myself, oh Milly slept right through. Gee that is good. (Milly is a dreamer and will often wake through the night). 

I praised her in the morning for sleeping through. She gladly accespted the praise. Later in the morning Mum (Grandma) was telling me that she has been up with her for 3 hours through the night. I must have been pooped. 

We waited for toots (Mariah's Mum) to arrive from Hobart before we set off to the hospital. Grandma stayed behind and did some cleaning for us. What a great Grandma, sacrificed a cuddle just so Mariah could come home to a house that was cleaner than what it was when she left. :)

 Milly didn't want a long cuddle, and is taking he time in building up the desire to have long cuddles. Milly is not a cuddler. It can be difficult to get one out of her at the best of times.

 The ever inquisitive Hanisi was looking to make sure he had feet. she was a little upset that she could not see any under all those blankets. They were there, she just needed to look a little harder.

Hanisi has been full of questions. What it this? What is that? Why does that happen? When you eat chicken, will Chester eat the chicken in your milk?

 Milly was more interested in the buttons than the Baby.

 He is a very attentive baby, when someone talks to him he will often look at you in the eye and it looks like he is listening to your every word.

 And a thinker.

 This was today, getting ready to go for a walk with the girls.

We love him so much. I look forward to my daily cuddles. We recognise that it is a great blessing to have him hear with us.
 


Here begins the next chapter in our lives parents to 3 beautiful children.