2012 - the year of 'BIG'

Here we are on the cusps of 2013 and I just need to say “What a year it has been!”  I think for me/us it has been one of the biggest, with the biggest changes, the biggest challenges, the biggest growth and a year of the biggest blessings (in more ways than one).

Of course our biggest blessing would have to be the birth of our sixth child, Jesse. Born at home on the 5th December 2012, in the midst of family and some of the people that will love him the most.  Biggest being ‘our gift from God’ and our biggest being a rather impressive 9lb 15oz!  He was also a surprise breech which makes his birth all the more amazing.

Father and Son meeting each other for the first time!

   He is so adorable and he is VERY well loved by all his siblings who fight over who is going to hold him first, who got the longest cuddle and who is going next! 

 I am so in love with this little man and I can only wish I realised the short amount of time they remain so small and dependant when I had my first and second.  Being number six he is getting so loved on and I recognise in myself that I am so much more relaxed, I know how I want to and should  parent and  pretty much no one tells me to do it any differently.  This is me. And if I am going to cuddle him all night long then I am going to do it.  “You’ll be making a rod for your own back if you do that” has been tossed into conversations with me in the past.  And now my response would be (even if it would be in my own head)  “My rod, my back - now leave me alone!!”



Every year our traditions on Christmas Eve is to give the kids one present to open just before bed and its always brand new PJ's (all washed and ready to wear).  The older ones of course know what the present is but never say anything to the younger ones for whom it is still a surprise.  The photo below is the first photo we took of all six kids together.  Aren’ t they a good looking bunch?



Do you know how hard it is to get EVERYONE looking at the camera all at the same time AND smiling!  Near impossible!

 Our biggest change and the biggest challenge this year would be Jamie been at home for a whole entire year.  I am not going to call it being ‘out of work’ anymore because that isn’t where we are anymore.  For the first half of the year we were trying to make sense of all that happen and grieving for the loss of job (and income) and were busy looking and trying to replace what we had loss with the exact same thing. The money, the car, the position and the responsibility.  We prayed hard for a new job for him, believing that we couldn’t survive much longer but GUESS WHAT we have!  I feel quite triumphant about that but also very humbled by it.  There is no way that we could of survive and survived well without the blessings and provisions from God.  Yes we have had to make some changes, big changes.  What we buy, where we go and what we do has all been effected. But our vege garden has NEVER looked better! 



 

 

 

I am not saying that it has been easy because it hasn’t.  At times we have been discouraged and down about not being able to have or do the things that we think we need and want to have and do.  But we used to have those moments when Jamie was working.  By the second half of the year we both really felt Jamie is to attend Ministry Training next year and once we decided that we felt there was a great weight lifted off our shoulders and the last six months of the year has been a time of preparation and rest.  I know that the coming year is going to be a huge adjustment for us all, a huge shift in thinking and it will more than likely be filled with its own kind of hurdles and bumps in the road to overcome.  But we will just take one day at a time, put one foot in front of the other and keep on walking.

2012 has been a year for growth for me personally as I have had to put all my trust for everything in our Saviour.  I have gone deeper in not only in the Word but in also in some of my relationships with people.  Growth is inevitable when you open yourself up and have a determination to learn from whatever struggles and challenges come your way.  I now know more about myself than ever before.  My friendships have grown deeper and stronger because that’s what happens when you are in need of the strength and encouragement of others.    
 

 

 

So as we close the Chapter that has been this year I can say that I will look back on it with fondness and gratitude. I will cherish the year forever.   I am also ready to receive 2013 with open arms, an open mind and an open heart - as scary as that maybe.

 

Photo by Kaysha Leigh Budd

 

 



"I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit". - Dawna Markova

Happy New Year!

Tears for Time

For those who know me, you know that there are a number of things that can reduce me to tears.  Sad stories, Happy stories, Christmas parades (parades of any sort actually) Bag pipes, Medal Ceremonies, New Zealand Post Ads, Happy endings, other peoples tears....my list could go on and on!  Some are rather embarrassing and I would rather not mention them.  Some tears are on public display but some are private and only share with a few.  And at the moment tears come easily, especially when you are an over-reflector/thinker like me.  Oh I am so an over-thinker.  Normal people, think, feel and then move on. But not me. I think, think, reflect, analyse, analyse some more, feel, feel and them FEEL some more. Sometimes I write this process down, sometimes I pray and sometimes I just need to talk.  Thank you to the person that listens.

Time is really getting to me.  We don't have much and it goes far too quickly.  I mean my little man is TEN days already!! Where did the time go?  Casey is 11 now and I know that it is such a cliche but where has the time gone?  I may have only 7 years left of him being at home.  SEVEN short years - that's not long enough!

Time is relative to whats going on in ones life.  Time in the past has gone quickly. But if you are a kid, this time of year will be going at a snails pace.  The end of pregnancy can go slowly. A deadline can loom up at an impressive speed.

We all have the exact amount of time in the day and some people can pack a lot into their day, others plod through it.

The speed of which time is going, makes me very aware of how I spend it. Am I doing the things that really matter, things that are of lasting value?  Or am I just going through the motions just doing the things that steal moments or memory-making opportunities.  I am really trying hard to be better organised. I wouldn't say I was dis-organised I just feel I could be better at it.  Being disorganised is a time stealer.  I am making an effort to fold my washing AND put it away on the same day ( this is such a biggy because I REALLY hate folding washing).  In the past washing would pile up for a few days until I would reluctantly fold it!!  I am getting better.  So if you come to my house and fold some washing - I'll love you forever!



 

I am making an effort to have my bench clear by the end of the evening - I don't know why but my bench is a dumping ground for poor homeless objects! I am determine to win the war on bench-dumping practice!

I want to soak up the moments and time spent with my husband, my children, my family and friends!  Time with good friends is absolutely  priceless and I can't get enough of it.  It leaves me refreshed and uplifted.

 

Birthday picnicing in park with special friends!

 



 At the moment I am basking in the precious moments I have with Jesse, nourishing and nurturing him.  Especially at night where I can have him all to myself (during the day I have to share him with 6 other people - and just sometimes I don't want to share).  He oozes snuggly-ness and by golly I love it when I can lie in bed at night and envelope him into me and he suckles away and then drifts back off to sleep making all those delicious noises that only wee babies make.  Only God himself can make moments like that so delightfully precious!

 

 

 



Very VERY proud big sisters!

(although I have heard Kaitlyn pray on a number of occasions for a baby girl!)

 

 We have a poor wee sick Sophie at the moment who hasn't left the couch since yesterday morning.

As sick as she is, she loved having her toes painted bright pink!

 

 

 



We can only make a conscious effort to spend our time wisely, on people we love and things that matter!  To live intentionally!  To do away with time and moment stealers.  To be more organised!

Now I am off to get the washing in and FOLD it! 

 

But I might just have a cuddle with this wee little man first!

Isn't he delicious!

I'd like you to meet....

 

 

Jesse Ryan Budd

 

9lb 15oz (4500g)

Born at 1031pm

on

5 December 2012

at home.

Welcomed into this world by people that love him!

 

We are so pleased to finally meet you!

 

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him"

Psalm 127:3