The Sky is the Limit

My Princess an Prince

2009-11-15T20:44:00.002+11:00

Since I am away from my babies and I miss them something awful, I put together a little something of them today which I thought I would share with you all! Enjoy!!!

Berry in spring....

2009-09-20T16:38:00.005+10:00

... well, mainly my children in spring I should say, but there are a couple of pretty shots of our property to. The weather has really been warming up which makes me soooo happy, I'm ready to start getting my tan back after the long winter months! Ok fine, maybe they are not THAT long, but the sure do seam long.
Also Jimmy isn't smiling in any of these photos cause he has been a bit of a grump lately, grouching at everything and making me wait on him had and foot (thous Leo's!). I am pretty sure it is just his teething though, but boy is he a wuss!! But his walking is taking off, he is starting to do it on his own initiative now... like right this very minute! What a cute little man!

The grump himself.

Now... this isn't his bike, its another little girls.. I wouldn't do that to him.

My beautiful little princess in a RARE quite moment!

"Catching tuna" ... or so she says.

Our house.

Jimmy's first steps... some of them.

2009-09-15T19:28:00.003+10:00

I know its been way way to long since I have put anything up. So what better way to brake the 'silence' with a video of Jimmy take some of his first steps!! To be honest this one is for Steve, seeing as he is away in Japan at the FDTP and missed seeing his sons first steps in person, so I hope this vid makes up a bit for that.
But yes, I will start to put up picts again, I realize this is something that I do need to keep up for my family around the world who can't be here and see the kiddies and all the different stages of cuteness they go through! I love you all heaps!! I am sorry for the lack of input on this sight, it has been to long!

Now this little guy is so different to Jolie, the second Jolie took her first step she was trying to walk at every opportunity, she really got right in there! But Jimmy... I'd say it is a mix of being careful and well.. just happy with crawling.. he's not really in a hurry to learn how to walk. He can take steps as you can see, but he won't at all unless I am bribing him with.. you guessed it .. FOOD! Little fat. I am sure he'll get it down eventually ... in his own sweet time :-)

NL from second trip to PNG

2009-03-27T17:10:00.002+11:00

A few of the Kidos over the past month..

2009-02-10T20:52:00.002+11:00

a few random ones

2009-01-16T20:57:00.007+11:00

OK here are a few more of us all over the c'mas time, enjoy.

Beautiful Berry

2008-11-26T13:59:00.005+11:00

Well I promised to put up some pictures of where we live, so here they are. This place is just beautiful... most of my growing up years were in the country in Ireland so I'm right at home here, although Ireland didn't have any leaches, or snakes, or all the wild life that you see daily here - but its great, I'm not complaining!
This set of picts are mainly of our creek...

Fun with my babies!

2008-11-23T20:01:00.005+11:00

Here are the latest photos from the past couple of days... Jolie just loves squishing Jimmy with love, and Jimmy doesn't seam to mind it to much. I just love my baby's to much! They couldn't be cuter or funner!

My Baby girl with her FIRST EVER pony tail!

He loves his mummy's kisses!

Look at there beautiful chubby cheeks.

Fat monkey!

Wedding Poem

2008-11-18T20:39:00.004+11:00

I though I would put a little something up tonight.. Steve is gone again to PNG, this time only for 3 weeks, but I miss him and this one is for him (since he has been trying to get me to put this up for months now). Its a poem that David Komic made for us for our wedding, January 18th (First anniversary coming up soon.. fun fun!)
I love you heaps baby!

More on Jolie & Jimmy... finally!

2008-11-12T17:16:00.004+11:00

Ok, so here's a few more photos... should have posted many more of the little man by now.. but as they say better late then never :-D
And to make up for the long silence I am posting HEAPS of picts for your viewing pleasure.
Jimmy is getting to be quite a big boy, 3 1/2 months now, for sure bigger then Jolie was at this age, but I figure that makes sense seeing as he is a boy.
Another peace of news is that we have moved out of Sydney and are now down in Berry, I put up one pict of Jolie swimming in the creek.. will post some more of this beautiful place soon ....
xoxox love to all

Jolie in Boots

2008-10-23T14:42:00.001+11:00

Recently Jolie has been getting into shoes, as every girl douse... although I think she needs a bit of help with her style.. ha ha

A few of Jimmy

2008-09-05T22:21:00.003+10:00

Yes I agree, its about time to post some pictuers of Jimmy, and yes it has taken to long for me to get around to doing it... So hear are some I took on our trip to Brisbane (which we just came back from yesterday). Hes already five weeks old and boy is he getting big... in a small kinda of way :-)

Daddy and Jolie

2008-08-26T20:30:00.003+10:00

Here are a couple of picts of the two of them washing our new car, and one of Jolie looking cheeky.

Newsletter of our trip to PNG

2008-08-06T10:22:00.002+10:00

James Stuart Ryley-Hartingdon

2008-08-05T18:37:00.007+10:00

This little account of our latist little 'Hart' and how he entered the world, was meant to go up a lot sooner (I have been very busy sleeping :-).. but then its better late then never so here you go (as told by Steve)!

Jimmy's Arrival!

Well when Teri prayed about this delivery she got that he would come very fast, and he sure did. On Sunday night we took Teri to hospital because we thought her water bag had broken, it turned out to be a false alarm but a good trial run all the same and it made us hurry up and clean the room, pack the hospital bag, and just get everything in
order. There wasn't any contractions or much news for the next few days. But on the Wednesday morning Teri was having light contractions again, and I was running around the house sounding the alarm (which really bugged Teri mind you ;-) I guess my Aries enthusiasm was getting the better of me once again HA!). At about six pm we started to time the contractions and they were coming every five minutes so I was urging Teri to call the hospital and telling everyone it was time to go. But by eight pm I still hadn't convinced her to call the hospital (as she said the contractions were still very light) so I did and explained the time and strength of the contractions to the best of my knowledge which once again seemed to turn in to Chinese whispers as I put my slight exaggerations on the situation, and doing another quick lap of the house to inform everyone that it was happening FOR SURE! I went back to the room and kept pacing. Teri didn't want to leave till she was 100% sure, and I'll spare you the details but she came back from the bathroom being 100& sure and we were off in a hurry to the hospital. Katja's parents had joined us for dinner and I went in to tell them Nick and Katja and my dad that we were off and I guess I was getting a little frantic and at one point thought I was going to hyperventilate.

We were off to the hospital around 9:15PM and checked in about 9:35PM the midwife put Teri on a monitor to check the babies heart rate and contraction strength and time etc. After doing that for about twenty minutes Mum, Heidi, and I just sat next to her and talked to her and gave encouragement etc between pains. They gave her an internal at about 10PM and I knew when I heard her say from behind the curtain "Oh your 9-cm dilated" that it was about to happen I turned to Heidi and said "this is just like Jolie he'll come anytime now" I called Nick and Dad giving them the news they both seemed shocked as it was very fast indeed, the midwife brought a wheelchair to take her to the birthing room and when I got off the phone and I heard Teri yell "I felt a pop I'm pushing" so right there in the admission area Teri gave three quick pushes the babies head crowned and the midwives calmly said well I guess where having the baby here and in a matter of seconds he was sitting on Teri's chest giving us a real grumpy leo cry.
FUN FACT: Apparently Leo's love their sleep and comfort someone told me they are like the lazy lion especially in the winter who would love to just curl up in a sunny corner and not be disturbed. Well Jimmy was like that 10 min before he arrived on earth the midwife informed us that she had to monitor his heart for a few more minutes because he had fallen asleep. Anyhow I guess the whole experience woke him up made him feel cold and uncomfortable so he was a little bit grouchy till he was able to cuddle mummy.

We then moved to the birthing room Teri got stitched up. This took them a good 40 minuets, almost the same amount of time she was in the hospital to have the baby. Apparently she wouldn't have needed stitches but when he crowned he gave an almighty fend pushing his arm and hand out next and the Indian doctor reckons he'll be a good spin bowler but that fend seemed to me to be a footy thing ;-) ;-). I got high on happy gas which I was sneaking in behind mum so that the midwife wouldn't see ha! It was very comical and I was laughing at Heidi when she realized I was having so much fun without her she came over for her little share of the action. Anyhow that didn't last long as we met our new midwife who was Nigerian and we talked with her about Africa for quite a while and she was a big help to us during the night took Jimmy for a while and we gave her an Activated and our email and she told us she'd keep in touch. Dad also came down with Krikket and with modern technology in a matter of minutes after Jimmy being born people were seeing pictures on there mobiles as well as Teri's parents knew in Ireland.

Anyhow it was another wonderful experience and I really believe that when the Mum can stay calm during the labor and delivery, and trusting the Lord it makes it so much easier and eliminates fear.

James Stuart Ryley-Hartingdon was born on the 30th of July 2008, at 10:08 pm, weighing 3.76KG and measuring 52 Centimeters in length.

Steve cutting the Cord

First moments with Mum

Proud Dad & tired Mum

Squshy little man

Two hours old

Holding Mums hand

First family photo

Big Sister Jolie

Home, two days old

Happenings over the past little while..

2008-07-25T15:59:00.003+10:00

A number of things has happened this past month, the first and most important being the team from PNG came back! It's so good to have each of the guys back I missed them all, although I have to say I missed Steve the most!
Jolie wouldn't' let go of him from the time he walked in the door. At first she seamed a little surprised to see him, but she went straight to him and just wanted to cuddle with him. Since then she hasn't been able to stop talking about 'daddy'.

Dave (Steve's younger brother) left us for the U.S. We are going to miss him but are very happy that he is going on to something new and challenging.

Libby hosted a baby shower in honer of little Jimmy, and she did a wonderful job of it! HERE is the link to all the photos! (Yet again I am directing you to her blog instead of up loading all the photos onto mine.)

Another thing is that I FINALLY (as promised) took some PG photos (2 weeks before my due date)...

And just the other day we had 'Christmas in July'. I never heard of this before I came here, but apparently they do it so they can have a 'cold' Christmas (although cold is extremely relative in this case as some winter days I have had here have been as warm as some of Ireland's summer days!) ... it was unusual but fun, and I have to say the setting, the dressing up and the music did make it feel c'masie!
Also it was the first time that Steve & I took pictures together in age's, we are even matching (that was my fault).
Heidi and a couple others made a delicious Christmas dinner, and after that we cleared back the tables and had some dancing.. I watched :-)

This n that

2008-06-28T20:33:00.004+10:00

I wish I had some new pictures to put up but when Steve and the team left up to PnG almost 5 weeks ago he took the cam with him.. so there is my good excuse :-D
When he comes back I promise to take some 'fat bellie' photos and put them up, PROMISE PROMISE! That will be a couple of weeks before my due date so I should be pretty HUGE!
So yea, this post is just to let you all know that we are still alive and doing well, a little sick with colds and sniffles at the moment, but there getting slowly better.
Other then that I have to say that since Steve has been gone I have been doing a lot more praying! I find when I pray for him and the team up there more I don't miss him as much.. of course I still miss him but its just not as bad if you know what I mean. It's bearable, and I also know that I am being a part of everything that there doing up there through praying for them, which feels good to as I really wanted to go on this trip but 'the bellie' is making me wait till next time.
Oh and also, this would be a good time to ask you all to pray for me as the due date is getting close, I even had some 'fake' contractions the other day for the first time. Please just pray for me that I will be prepared all around for the delivery, for no complications, and for the right staff to be on duty at the time of the birth.. and of course anything else the Lord lays on your heart!
Ok, I promise yet again to post some photos of 'Jimmy' when Steve gets back! xoxox

Every miracle begins with prayer. Every victory begins with prayer. Every success begins with prayer. Everything worthwhile begins with PRAYER!

Vegimite!

2008-06-18T21:30:00.002+10:00

Here is another one.. i promised my bro Paul that I would post this one for his Birthday (which was on the 11th.. same day as mine). Sorry it has taken a while in coming, its a little older, like two months or about that, but still supper cute! Enjoy.. and Paul HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BRO!

Something for Steve

2008-06-16T20:21:00.002+10:00

Seeing as Steve is away.. and he is already been gone for two week's.. we wanted to put up a little video for him. The only thing is that Jolie seams more interested at looking at her self on the computer screen then anything else.. no matter how many tries I took! Oh well.. it will have to do!
I love you baby and we miss you heaps! You are in our thoughts and prayers every day!
xoxoxox

A Baby is..

2008-06-01T18:56:00.003+10:00

A baby is a small member of the home that makes love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, the bankroll smaller, the home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten & the future worth living for.

I love Autumn..

2008-05-21T21:58:00.001+10:00

.. and I love Jolie!!

Week 25.. 2/3 of the way there!!

2008-04-23T08:40:00.002+10:00

I skipped last weeks report as it wasn't all that interesting.. but this one is better.

Week 25: Turn it around... and around

From head to foot, your little one is now about 13.5 inches long, and they're about a pound and a half in weight. They've also started to finally put on the baby fat, which will be the one main ongoing change in appearance in the upcoming weeks.
Fetus in sixth month Your little grower’s physical proportions are evening out at this point and most of their remaining development will largely be weight gain and lots and lots of nervous system development. The good news is: if your child is born premature now they’ll be more likely to survive without too much trauma as their lungs began to produce “surfactant” last week, which means their tiny respiratory system is getting stronger with each passing day. Yes, now’s a good time for a minor sigh of relief and a quick pat on the back. All that hard work and conscientious living is really getting your child prepared for a healthy delivery. Keep up the fabulous work mama! This week they’ll be scootching slowly out of the old breech position and start rotating (already!) into a better position for exit during their birth. Their head and feet are slowly rotating so that the head is pointed down towards the birth canal. Time is short (or really long, depending on who you ask)—just (still!) 14 weeks left before you can go back to being a single-resident human.

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-04-20T17:02:00.003+10:00

I know this is very late in coming as your birthday was on the 14th, but I did still want to put something up as you are a very important part of my life. Looking back it is amazing how it all happened, from one day to the next I knew that life wasn't going to be the same again. I knew that day in Rwanda that you were the one for me, the one I had prayed for. I think that's why I was very comfortable at the thought of having kids with you pretty much right away cause I knew that you were 'It' so why wast time? hea... impulsive I.
From that time on everything changed and I don't regret an single bit of it! Meeting you, falling in love with you, having a family with you... its just better then i could of hoped for! I am looking forward to every day to come with you this year, your 26th. As life is never lacking excitement and enthusiasm when you are around. You always seam to bring this whirl wind of activity, ideas and possibilities where ever you go and it makes being with you so fun!
I also love and appreciate the way you have so much patience and understanding for me when my pregnancy emotions go wild.
I love that you are a family man & love kids. It is such a special quality about you as the way you have time and love for them shows how you do put others above your self, something so rare to find now a days.
I love it how you can always seam to make me laugh when I am grumpy...
I love your care for people. You are so genuine in your concern for them.. its one of the first things I fell in love with you for.
I love it how you are always quick to bounce back no matter how discouraged you get.. the up side is always the one that we see the most with you.
I could go on and on... but I've never been very good with words or putting my feelings into coherent sentences. But... I think you know I love you and that is what is important to me. So I'll leave it here and end with saying how thankful I am to have shared another birthday with you.. I love you!

Week 23

2008-04-09T10:51:00.002+10:00

I thought I would start to do a weekly post of little 'Jimmys' progress since he is already a big part of our life's and since its not like I can post many photos of him, hea. And yes that is the name we picked out for our little boy, James Stuart, we actually picked it when I was PG with Jolie...
I'm getting my weekly progress reports off a sight called www.baby-gaga.com definitely an interesting mums corner!

Week 23: Dancing baby alert!
At this point you’ve pretty much adjusted to the fact you’ve got a moving little gymnast inside of you, but now they’re going to kick up the party a notch because they can hear and react to sounds from the outside world. Sounds from your alarm clock, a thunder roll, or that darned car honking at you across the intersection can actually jar their little ears enough to elicit a kick or violent bout of squirming. Of course this also means that their little ears are picking up the sounds of your voice and those near you. So go ahead, sing a lullaby to your little angel—if they start kicking, it’s likely they just want you to stop… or maybe it was a kick of approval? You decide. Your baby's tiny taste buds are still growing and their bones are continuing to ossify (harden), their tiny veins are visible through their translucent yet wrinkly skin. (Think of it this way: they’ve been swimming in the equivalent of a long hot bath for the past 23 weeks, so you can’t blame them for being a little prune-like.)

Jolies' Birthday Photos

2008-04-06T23:17:00.000+10:00

I'm just making a quick post before I go to bed, but I wanted to put these as soon as I could for all my family on the other side of the world so while I'm sleeping you can be having a look! Click HERE for a link to the picts!

One Year Gone By!

2008-04-04T22:04:00.000+11:00

Tomorrow is my little hunny's first birthday! Time fly's and oh they change SO much in such a short amount of time! I have to say being a Mum has been the most rewarding experience in my life so far. Nothing beats it! Watching there unique little personality develop with each passing month, the first smile, then the first laugh, first learning to crawl, and then the first steps... I wouldn't trade in a second of it for anything in the world! It's thrilling, exciting, and almost scary at the same time realising what a big responsibility you have... but I suppose the best rides in life have a mix of all of those things in them.
I'm sure all you out there who have had kids know what I am talking about...
The latest news on Jolie (besides, of course, her up coming birthday ) is that since the past 3-4 days she has taken off! Walking all over the place, and just LOVING her new found freedom! Sooo adorable-!! Her little legs wobbling all over the place!
And the other thing is that we went down and got her ears pierced for her 1st birthday. She was brave, the little thing. The only thing that really bothered her was that she had me holding her body and hands, Steve holding her head and two strangers each pulling on an ear, that got her angry! But as soon as everyone let go of her she calmed down and started playing with her earrings right away. There so cute as they make her look so girlie, and they have a little dark blue crystal in them to match her eyes.
I am including a couple of videos that we took today of her waddling around.. I couldn't decide which one was cuter so I have to put them both. And for good measure I'll put in some photos to.. :-)

Photos from the other day...

2008-03-18T18:05:00.000+11:00

Here are a few recant photos of us.
And yes I'm offishly posting my first PG shot at 20 weeks. For some reason I look bigger in one of the photos then the other, must be the angle as I took them seconds apart.

Watermelon Fun!

2008-03-16T20:23:00.000+11:00

Photos!

2008-02-20T21:01:00.001+11:00

Since it has been close to FOREVER since I have posted any photos.. heres a mix for your viewing pleasure!

News Flash

2008-02-19T21:49:00.000+11:00

Here is the latest: I went down for an ultrasound today, been looking forward to this moment for a little while now. All the curiosity mounting as to exactly how far along I was,etc. What we found out was I am exactly 16 weeks to the day. So that makes the babies due date on the 5th of August (a Leo).
The nurse wouldn't tell us wether it was a boy or a girl, just because she said at this stage it is easier to make mistakes (and she had made a bad one before) so she wanted us to wait for the next scan at 20 weeks.. but.. she let something slip! Steve was really eager to know wether it was a boy or a girl and he figured if the lady was pointing out to us the babies nostrils she must have been able to see something, so he asked her again as we were walking out "are you sure you didn't see anything" but again she said that she didn't want to say and it was best to wait, but then he got talking to her & told her we had another child, she asked what it was and when we told her it was a girl she said "oh another girl!" I saw her catch her self... but it was to late! She had let it slip!
So there you have it. It could very well be another girl! That would be fun, imagine a little Leo & Aries girl together, they'd set off fire works! But we will see for sure when I get the next ultra sound, if there is a confirmation on that.
Come to think of it, when I was PG with Jolie, Steve had a 'premonition' (or something like it) he was lying down to go to sleep, but wasn't quite asleep, and he saw me there asking him to go get the girls, and just then around the corner these two little girls come running out! Not to mention about two weeks ago I had a dream that this one was a girl. AND, when I was PG with Jolie I had a dream that I had two girls then a boy & I was PG with another girl!
Not to say that the is the gospel truth or anything, will just be interesting to see what comes out of it.
Anyway, I am including the ultrasound picture of the little alien, and no, don't worry, i won't be offended if you don't think 'it' is cute!

A NEW MOTHERS THOUGHTS

2008-02-04T21:15:00.000+11:00

I wrote this on the 1st of Jan... and, of course, was meaning to post it sooner. Better late then never :-)

A NEW MOTHERS THOUGHTS

I think this is the longest stretch of time where I haven't really posted all that much .. I'm not going to start rattling off excuses, I just wanted to give you a look into my thoughts at this moment in time, well at least the main once that are bouncing around.
Life is all about learning, changing, evolving, but sometimes those things aren't so easy, particularly when it comes to major things in your life, like becoming a Mother. Don't get me wrong, I would never trade Jolie and the big part she plays in my life for anything - but it is still a massive adjustment.
You see, even though I am the oldest girl of ten children I have never had much... well I guess you could say patience and the like, to care for them. So much so that when ever my mom needed help with the kidos she would always first ask my two older brothers, and send me out with my Dad.
Thats what I loved. I loved getting out, I just loved being on the move seeing new places experiencing new things. I loved witnessing. I remember when I was 10 we stayed on a campground in Ireland for a month and by the time we had left I knew all the kids and parents on the camp ground and and prayed with most of the kids to receive Jesus. No one told me to do it... it was just the natural thing to do.
When I was 17 I went to India, and it was there that I decided that being a missionary is what I wanted to do with my life. Not necessarily because of the country, but because of the things I went through while there. So I went all out. Right after that I joined up with a road trip team, traveling to all different countries in Europe & Africa. Now that was a time to remember! Since our team was all a bunch of young people we were able to fully focus on getting out there witnessing, we had nothing really to hold us back or get in our way of doing that. Not even a house to get comfortable or lazy in, ha (well, to clarify, we had houses but just different ones for short periods of time in different parts of the world).
3 and a half years into that whirl wind of action and movement, I found out I was pregnant, the best thing that could of happened to me. Why? Well, there are the obvious reasons of how gorgeous Jolie is, and the beautiful experience that one has to experience for them self's of the love between a mother & a child, but I think the main one is that the Lord just has a whole different set of lessons for me to learn. Ones of patience, of self sacrifice, of giving when you don't feel like you have anything left to give, of doing what he did for us, giving our life to the little ones he gives us. Adjusting and changing ones habits and life to accommodate and care for another. And on a practical level, just getting the hang of how to keep your little one happy and challenged.
It's one thing doing what you have the knack for and have done practically all your life, but something completely different trying to master how to do the things that you have never had much talent in, or were even interested in doing. But I am SO thankful for it! Like I said it is the best thing that could of happened to me, its made me so much less confident in my self and so much more depend on the Lord for his strength and answers. Of course, I have my moments of discouragement at times, wondering if I am ever going to get the hang of being a good mum that I so want to be for Jolie and others that will come along, but I talked to a friend the other day, she has two kido's now and she really encouraged me by saying that it always takes up to a year or so for new mums to get 'in the groove' so to speak. And I have only had 9 months of this so far, ha.
Besides all that, life is all about learning new things, and what I am learning right now is definitely new for me! So I think I just need to let go of the past and what I did before and through my self into what the Lord is asking me to become for today. Sounds easier said then done but, as well all know, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me". And who knows, once I get the hang of motherhood and all it requires (well I don't think I'll ever fully master everything, but at least get into the flow of it) who knows what the Lord will do then?!
And one more thing to end on, for all of you who didn't know I wanted to make an official announcement that I am pregnant again with no 2! I'd say I am between 10-12 weeks, but i'll only know for sure when I go get a check up. So that would make it either a Leo or a Virgo.
Believe me when I say I am SO happy about it! :-D

Wedding Photos!

2008-01-22T11:42:00.000+11:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to post! Anyway.. to make up for lost time here is a link with LOADS of photos from our wedding. Libby was one of the photographers at our wedding, so the link go's straight to her flickr account... would of been to much of a hassle to load them all up on the blog. I also nicked the mix of pictures she put together, I thought it was beautiful so I wanted YOU to enjoy it to! :)
I'll put up a few more later on when I get them!

This is the link.. enjoy!

PS. Just in case you don't know there is a little icon on the top right of the photo that gives you options for photo sizes.

News from Down Under

2007-12-10T14:23:00.000+11:00

We've been here in Australia now for almost a couple of weeks, so there should be something new posted... I couldn't agree with myself more! So below are a few recent photos of some of Steve's family over here, I'll post more when I take more, but for the past week I haven't been able to take any pictures as Steve took the camera with him on the road to Brisbane. Yup Steve & Nicko have been on the road for the past week (well tomorrow a week), they should be back this evening. And tomorrow Steve & I and Rob, with Jolie of course, will be going on the road down to Melbourne.
Its going to be really fun as we are getting a camper van down. They do this thing called "Relocatable Campers" where you get a camper van for free,petrol allowance puss a few days of course, to move the Camper from one city to another. So it gives us enough time to go slow, enjoy the ride and witness along the way!

Trip to Oz

2007-11-29T17:03:00.000+11:00

So here they are, a few photos of our trip to Oz. We did a bit of an extended trip and went a bit early so that we could stay with my brother, Steve, in London for a day. The last time he saw Jolie was when she was about 2 weeks old. So we took the ferry & train to london, my younger brother, David, came along to visit Steve & help us carry our stuff. We stayed a night & day there and in the evening went to Heathrow where we caught our first 12 hr flight to Shanghai, where we waited 4 hrs to take the next 10 hr flight to Oz.
It was a long trip, but quite a good one, no dramas to speak of thank God!

Sorry... :-D

2007-11-27T14:51:00.000+11:00

Sorry.... it was not my intension to not post for the past 20 days , same old excuse - to busy! Well I do have some news for you all, we arrived safe and sound in Australia on the 26th, 10 am. We had a 26 hr journey, Jolie took it well so that was nice for us. Rob & David (Stevo's brothers) were there to pick us up. And the best part about everything is that we got to surprise Paul & Joy (Steves mum & dad) as they thought we were coming on the 7th of December...
Anyway, I'm going to upload the photos from our trip to the computer soon so I'll post a few as soon as I do that... bare with me!
Catch ya later..

Stevo!!!!

2007-11-07T10:25:00.000+11:00

Don't have much time to write much, but I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite photos of Stevo. These are just a few that came to mind on the spur of the moment, I didn't have very long to sort through them all, but I like these ones!

Please Pray...

2007-11-06T22:07:00.000+11:00

Hi All,

Just wanted to put something up quickly, please keep the little girly in your prayers as she is not feeling so well. Thank the Lord her fever broke last night, so she is getting better, but she still has quite a bad cold which makes her all congested and miserable :( so please pray that it heals up quickly and is not one of those long drawn out colds. Thank you so much!!
Have a great day!

Strongbow's Castle

2007-10-31T07:53:00.000+11:00

So, I made it back safely from Portugal. I had a great time! .... But this post isn't going to be about Portugal, the next one will be when I get the photos together. I'm posting some photos that I took right before we left.
We found Strongbow's Castle!!! I read about Strongbow when I was a kid, an English knight that married an Irish princess and made Ireland his home. Very romantic to say the least. I always loved the story but never knew that I would find his Castle... one day some one told us they were going to take us out to some ruins and low and behold Strongbow's castle!
I didn't take very many photos of the ruins.. Jolie was to cute!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Oh how she grows!

2007-10-18T06:26:00.000+10:00

Well I am off to Portugal with Jolie on Saturday for a week. We are going to go to a parenting meeting, and poor Steve is going to be left behind in rainy Ireland.
I don't know if I am going to be able to post any photo's before then, so I'll just post a few up dates on Jolie and what she has been up to.

- She has weaned her self or dummies... first sign of independence. When I first got PG I was quite happy with the thought about an independent little child.. but now I'm not quite sure if I like it all that much.

- She cut 2 teeth (about 2 weeks ago). The teething time wasn't to bad, she did have a number of fussy days, but thank god no Fever or anything like that.

- She says "Ma ma ma ma ma" & " Da da da da da"... although I don't think she yet associates it with Steve & I .... soon though.

- She fell of the bed for the first time the other day :( hopefully the last although with her being the Aries that she is I have my doubts... they always seam to have plenty of adventurers and manage to hurt them selves along the way.

- She is not yet crawling but she will very soon! With her determination to to put everything she sees in her mouth I'm sure any day now the crawling position scooting backward (which is what she douse now) will turn into the real thing!

- She has already been to 2 continents (N. America & Europe) and 5 countries (Ireland, Germany, Austria, Canada & U.S. by Saturday 6)!

The making of Jolie

2007-10-13T07:34:00.000+10:00

Sadly, I didn't take as many photos of the different stages of when I was PG as I should have :( Oh well, we'll just have to make do. I put together a few that I could find for fun.... to give you a bit of an idea of the 'Making of Jolie'. They go by order... The first, what it starts with, second 2 months PG, 4 months PG, 4 and a half, 7 months, next two about 8 and a half and last two 9 months, a week or so before I popped!

A few from the Emerald Isle

2007-10-09T03:24:00.000+10:00

Here are a few recent ones from the past couple of days.. You'll see some of Stevo & Liam (my youngest brother) stacking turf, Lots of work! The Irish use it like wood or coal, and burn it in winter. A true Irish experience!

Some more

2007-10-09T00:29:00.000+10:00

Sorry it's taking awhile to get these pictuers up... but here are some more from our time in the U.S.

From Canada

2007-09-30T07:22:00.000+10:00

OK, so here is the first batch of photos. These are a few that we took up on our trip to Canada. We loved it there! The country is beautiful (at least the small part of it we saw), the people are genuinely friendly (a refreshing brake from... well other countries :D), we would love to get another opportunity to go there and see more of the country as our trip was, regretfully, short.

On the plane the first thing the stewardess said when she saw Jolie was.... "IT'S A CABBAGE PATCH DOLL!!" I've always thought she looked like one to...

Jolie with Carol, I'm not quite sure how you would say they are related.. but they are some how.

Chillin' with her Great U. Bill.

Below are photos on Fred & Margos farm... beautful place, and beleave it or not they keep lamas on there farm!

About time for another post I think!

2007-09-29T07:20:00.000+10:00

What can I say, I know I have been delinquent in updating this blog recently, but just give me a second to explain my self :D ... Last you heard of me we were in L.A., a few of days after that we flew up to Canada for a week to visit Steve's relatives for a week, and of course to show off our cute little pumpkin, who (of course) won hearts with her smiles gurgles and kisses. (Yup she kisses now.. well its more kinda of an open mouth on any random spot on your face with a bunch of slobber... in fact just recently she managed to leave not only slobber on Steve's nose but leave parts of her regurgitated lunch to! The joy's of fatherhood. Your a great dad Stevo, I love you!)
We had a great time in Canada, that parts we saw of it was beautiful and that was just the parries!
We said good bye to Canada only to meet up with Joy, Steve's Mum, whom he hadn't seen in almost 4 years! We spent a wonderful 5 days with Joy & Ange, and all the beautiful people on that side of the world! Wish we could of stayed longer! Part of the time while there I had a fever:( but thank God I got better the day before we had to fly back to Ireland!
So now, yes, we are in Ireland once again, helping out with things over here as the home is very short staffed at the moment. It took a little while to get back on schedule with the Jet lag and all... that part wasn't so fun with Jolie as she is also teething which means she is a lot fussier and wakes up a lot at night (thus keeping Mum & Dad up) but I suppose a set of pearly whites is going to cost something, so in the end its always worth it ( I just have to keep telling myself that when she wakes up 5 times a night demanding on no uncertain terms that she MUST have comfort boob.. oh did i fail to mention that she has a VERY good set of lungs?)
So that is just a thumb nail of what has been happening recently... Sorry about the long silence, I'm just still learning how to juggle things at the moment.
I will also be updating this blog with pictures from the past month in a day or so, to be honest I have been so busy that I haven't even uploaded the picts on my cam for the past month! Shame on me.

Well, thats all for now, it's way past my bed time... and I'm thinking that I would like to loose these bags under my eyes. Bye for now .. I'm off to lala land...

Tell me what you think..

2007-08-31T16:35:00.000+10:00

Seeing as this Blog is for all you dear visitors.. what do you think of the new back ground? I can't decide weather I like this one or the previous. What do you think?

Toes Are In!

2007-08-31T16:11:00.000+10:00

Well the latest thing Jolie has been doing is devouring her toes at every opportune moment! It's so adorable! Its even a comfort thing for her, if I put her down and she starts to cry the first thing she go's for is her toes!

They start early these days!

This is her 'Snowflake' look, with the naughty gleam in her eyes, lol.

I hope you Dance!

2007-08-31T16:05:00.001+10:00

I've been meaning to post the words of this song for some time now, just never got around to it. It's a song by Lee Ann Womack , & the moment I heard the song I loved it! What the song talks about are choices that we all have to make in our lives at one point or another, and the tougher choice usually seams to be the right one.
You tell me what you think.

I Hope You Dance

I hope you never loose your sense of wonder,
Get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed.
I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance, I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance,
Living might mean taking chances but there worth taking,
Lovin' might be a mistake but its worth making.
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to selling out reconsider.
Give the heavens above more then just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance, I hope you dance.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the oceans,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
.........DANCE! I hope you dance.

Lost in the L.A...

2007-08-31T15:50:00.000+10:00

Yes yes, I agree completely with you all, its about time that I put up a new post! So here are the latest. We were looking to get lost in L.A. and this is where we ended up, a beautiful little nature reserve which helped you forget that you were in a big city! Believe it or not it worked!

To be honest I think this is the best picture of Jolie & I yet! What do u think?

Eli displaying his 'Spider-man' skills, or so he told us.

Who said Tarzan is fiction?!!

Here is the little Aries protégé, Josh showing off as usual (is that an Aries thing or is it just me?) he's great fun!

Some good shots

2007-08-18T14:30:00.000+10:00

OK,so this is the story. One of the girls on our team, Sharon, met and witnessed to this man who turned out to be a professional photographer. He then offered to come over and take shots of our team. Here are a few of them.

Our beautiful Brazilian, Sharon.

Dylan & Jolie, the third generation on our team. Soooo Cute!

One of all the girls on the team...Hot bunch, hay?

Here are our Gentlemen.

Me & my good friend, Grace (Jolie's Godmother).

One of the whole gang.

Daddy's girl...

Chunky Monkey!

2007-08-17T04:35:00.000+10:00

Recently it has been so hot here that we've just had Jolie in her dipper. It's sooo cute cause she is getting all these roll's & a little belly which makes her look like a little Buddah!

Pool Party-Happy Birthday Amber!

2007-08-16T14:31:00.000+10:00

To celebrate Amber's 25th (Happy Birthday Amber, how does it feeling being a quarter of a century? Don't worry i'll be there pretty soon..)we had a pool party at a friends house! Below are some of the shots.

Taking Jolie in for a dip, don't be deceived by her grouchy face, she actually LOVES the water!

Beautiful Grace doing what Frenchie's do best.

The girls taking the opportunity to witness to the neighbors..

Steve showing off.. (teehee)

Mexican Tequial! 1 Tequila, 2 Tequila, 3 Tequila, Floor... no I didn't have enough to do that to me.. i'm a responsabul mother now remember?!

Steve having some personal time with the Ladies!

Bathtime!!

2007-08-16T14:05:00.000+10:00

Ok, once again I am SO SO sorry for not updating more frequently. But as I explained and will say again, recently we have not had a lot of access to the internet. So to make up for the lack of picts.. here's a bunch more!

Sleep Head..

2007-07-31T16:52:00.000+10:00

Here is a few more cute ones that we took of her today right after she woke up from her nap.

Oops!

2007-07-31T16:32:00.000+10:00

Humm... well that didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted to! You'll have to excuse me cause I am just experimenting so next time I should get it just right. I think I will go have a chat with my computer brain brother Paul! Sorry, just click on the link below & you'll see more photos.

Flash Cards!

2007-07-19T14:12:00.001+10:00

Over the past few days I have started doing Flash cards with Jolie, she just loves them, and amazingly enough they keep her attention. Dylan is also very good with Jolie and loves teaching her!

Little Rose

2007-07-19T14:01:00.000+10:00

Here's a few of Jolie moddling her new rabbit bath robe that her antie Ange gave her... such a cutie!!

A couple more cute ones..

After 4 Years!

2007-07-19T13:06:00.000+10:00

Just today Ange & Emma dropped by for a couple of hours... first time Steve has seen them in almost 4 years, and first time ever for me! It was so nice to finally meet you girls, looking forward to spending a bit more time.

5 Auzzies in a row.

Some more cute faces!

2007-07-16T12:53:00.001+10:00

Coming to America!

2007-07-16T12:02:00.000+10:00

13th of July was the day that the three of us flew to the States, for the first time! The flight was direct 10hrs, no stop overs, which was very nice with Jolie! She was such an angel and made friends with everyone, particularly the air hostesses, as we
were getting of the plain about 15 people came to us and said "she was such a good baby, so quite.. ect" and then went on to tell of there horror stories of being on a plain where three babes were screaming none stop for 4 hrs! Thank God that wasn't

Having a little bonding time with Amber...

and Bex.

An Auzzie reunion.

Our Greek girl, Jana having school time with Dylan.

And He Does It Again!

2007-07-10T06:36:00.001+10:00

Ok, so we went to the doctor this morning to check Jolies 'click in the hip'. He look's at the X-ray and says "She is completely fine! In fact she is more then fine, the development of her hip is the development of a 6 month old not a 3 month old. A perfectly healthy baby!"
Thank you so much for praying! The Lord told me that it wasn't just a mistake of a doctor but that he healed Jolies hip & and made the development of her hip twice as good just to prove that He touched it!

Call on the power of the Keys for fantastical, supernatural, miracles & healings!

A few Random Group Shots

2007-07-08T05:54:00.000+10:00

We got a place on the west cost of Ireland for a couple of weeks. A few of the folks made it out to boon docks to come and visit us! Left to right: Mat, Melanie, Nina & Angelo, Steve & I, and Sam Holding Jolie.

Half of my family ended up at Eurock '06. Left 2 right: Paul (24), Me (22 & 2 months PG with Jolie) Jono (19), Mum, David (18), and Esther (16).

One of our Team enjoying a brake on a beautiful Greek Island!

Heres one of all the girls on our team, ready for battle on the paint ball field in South Africa! I was 5 months PG at the time so unfortunately couldn't join in on the fun... but I took picts!

A few of us celebrating Jolie coming home with Champagne Strawberries & Dark Chocolate! (And I am not in the photo again as I am the one taking it)

I Turn to You!

2007-07-08T05:11:00.000+10:00

You know how the medical system paints the picture so.... BLACK! Well, they did that with Jolie. Yes as far as we know she still douse have a click in her hip, and yes we are still going to see the specialist on Monday, but no matter what happens we KNOW that Jesus is in control of the situation, and he wouldn't let anything touch Jolie unless it was for the best!
We are so thankful that we have faith to hold on to!

The keys of faith can give you My perspective, to help you see things as I see them, to understand why I have brought them to pass, and to know that it will work together for your good.

Please pray with us!

2007-07-06T04:55:00.000+10:00

Dear All,

We wanted to ask if you could please pray for Jolie. When taking her for a check up the Doctor confirmed that she has a 'Click in her Hip'.
This means that the ball of the right hip joint douse not stay properly in place, and if left unattained would most likely lead to problems that would require an operation when she is a bit older.
The general treatment is to immediately put her either into a cast or a brace for up to 14 months followed by physiotherapy to strengthen and help the development of her leg muscles.
She will have a check up to confirm on Monday the 9th of July, so please claim the keys of miraculous healing so that the only thing that will be confirmed on Monday will be the normal development of Jolie's hip!
We love you and thank you so much for fighting in prayer with us!

Lazy Days

2007-07-03T01:49:00.000+10:00

Some friends of ours, Angelo & Nina. They are expecting there baby in September, pray for them!

Steve blending into the irish country side.

Kevo found some tasty grass to munch on..

Baby Faces..some cute, some grumpy.

2007-07-03T01:30:00.000+10:00

Look at those pretty little lips!

She just loves her dummy.

Jolie looking' a little worried.

Jolie: "Nooo.. I don't want to be in another photo"

Expressions....

2007-06-24T02:25:00.000+10:00

Few more odds n' ends

2007-06-22T02:35:00.000+10:00

Jolie out shopping with Ma & Da

Guess what..THEY BOTH SNORE!! Woe is me!

At the beach..

Cliffs of Moher

2007-06-22T02:12:00.001+10:00

Sorry we haven't posted anything new for a while, had the pics, but never got around to putting them up! Well here they are, some recent ones of when we were at the Cliffs of Moher, the longest stretch of Cliffs in Europe.. and very beautful, Enjoy!

From the past few days...

2007-06-12T23:24:00.000+10:00

A weary traveler.

Jolie talking with Mum.

"Thats the tastiest finger I have!"

Aries enthusiasm. Excited to start the day!

Going out with Mum and Dad to celebrate Mums 22nd!

This is Ireland...

2007-06-12T23:17:00.000+10:00

Well, a part of it.

A few random Picts....

2007-06-07T08:43:00.000+10:00

"Give us a kiss Luv."

Jolie arguing with Mum.

"Another quiet moment with the beer, this is life!"

"It was SUCH a tough day! The chariot broke down & my slave was being lazy and not bring my dummy fast enough!"

"MY Daddy tells me that I'm a PRINCESS!"

How many is too many?

2007-06-07T00:26:00.000+10:00

Taking the love bug for a walk.....

which with out fail puts her to sleep!

The blue eyed partners.

Here is Jolie advising Dad on his work.... she always knows best.

I think as new parents you always tend to go over board on taking picts of your little ones... especially if it is a first. I mean, EVERYTHING they do is just soooo cute you have to catch it on camara! Right now about 85 % of our iPhotos is pictures of Jolie, and she's only 2 months old!!
All that to say, here are a few more pictures of our love bug, Enjoy!

Moving along a couple of months....

2007-06-04T07:39:00.000+10:00

Ok, were skipping ahed two months & Jolie is already proving her self a travel lover! At 5 weeks she had a blast on a road trip around Ireland with Mom & Dad, charming the hearts of every one she came in contact with & being the best icebreaker we could ever have! At 7 weeks she went on her first plain ride to Germany to visit her Great Oma & Opa ( German for Grandma & Grandpa).

Steve & Opa enjoying that good Bavarian beer! They have a law in Bavaria that they are not aloud to use ANY preservatives in there beer.... making it PERFECT!

Four Generations!

In Opa's Garden

Life Will never be the same!

2007-06-04T06:51:00.000+10:00

Yup, life will never be the same now that we have our little Jolie Róisín! She came into our life's on the 5th of April 4:22 am. Here are a few pictuers of when she was born.

The first moments in this world with Mum....

...First moments with Dad

Granny & our wonderful Midwife

Our First Posting

2007-06-04T06:28:00.000+10:00

Dear Family and Friends,

We are proud to anounce that we have started a BLOG. Not that we agree with them LOL, but after much thought we have decide to post some pictures (with poor grammer and spelling included) of our little family to share with the ones we love dearly but that we always don't have time to communicate with. Hope you find it interesting and we pray it is a benefit to all who see it.

Love and Prayers,

Teri, Stephen and Jolie