Holding Hands...

I love this photo. Lukas is holding my hand on our way to the airport last month. Look how gorgeous his hand is....he was holding on for his security and comfort. He tends to do this more often than Han and Kye, I love it. We have a very special connection.

Lukas seems so much more mature than his ripe old age of 2.

He always opens the door when I get home and helps me carry in shopping or bags from the car. At a bbq recently, he helped himself to the buffet and served me a plate full of food. He was so proud of himself, as was I! He is always with me and makes sure I am ok in his beautiful way. Come to think of it, I tend to hold his hand for my own comfort.

Lukas has been such a wonderful influence in my life thus far. I can't wait to see what the years develop and watch him succeed in life. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to conceive when all the odds were against us.

Valentines Day

Last night I received a gorgeous surprise at my front door.

The husband is away at the moment for business. I really miss him when he is gone and count the days to when he will be back.

As we have been together for nearly 19 years, Valentines Day has changed since the early years of going to restaurants, flowers, chocolates and stuffed toys. We progressed to cards, home cooked dinners and remembering that the meaning of Valentines Day should be in our marriage every day not just that one particular event!

So, when I found a gorgeous red box at my front door step I screamed and questioned "who has sent this?".

Scott had arranged for 12 long stemmed yellow roses (my fav colour), chocolates and bottle of Bayleys to be delivered in sexy red box with a gorgeous card. He never ceases to amaze me!

When I spoke to him last night to thank him, he explained that the gift means so much more than Valentines Day ...... and it does. I just feel very thankful that we are still Valentines after all these years.

The Brady Bunch

My sister in law recently gave me the box set of the Brady Bunch, on favourite of mine from when I was a kid. I remember watching the Brady Bunch every night before dinner and wishing I could be in their family.

Now I am watching the show from a different perspective - I want Alice living with me full time!!!!!

Can you imagine life with a full time cleaner, cook and second hand around the house? This allows Carol Brady to look after her children with 100% attention, love her husband and always be around for him, go shopping, lunching with friends and enjoy her hobby of sewing. No wonder she was always a happy wife with no complaints or stress in her day to day life.

Realistically, most of us can not Alice living with us on a full time basis BUT we can organise a little bit of Alice every week or fortnight to help us with the day to day life of being a mother.

The one area I really dislike is cleaning!!! I would rather cook for 1000 people then clean my house. I am house proud and love to decorate, but to scrub a toilet does not bring me the same pleasure.

So for years I have had a housekeeper clean my house every fortnight. There have been times when we did not have the extra money, so I would place her on on hold until we had the extra funds.

The day that our house is cleaned is always a happy day in our house. I love walking into a clean house knowing it has been cleaned properly! For me to maintain the cleanliness is bearable as I know it will be cleaned again in a fortnight.

I encourage you to give it a go. Just make sure the cleaner can clean better than you otherwise you feel like you are wasting your money as you could do it yourself! Start with once a month and then gradually book every fortnight. I would rather cut back on take away, coffees, spending to save for my weekly clean. As this gives me so much more pleasure and sanity!

WICKED

We have a star to be in our family - Kye!
Kye adores musicals, dressing up and acting out all characters. One minute he is Cinderella, the next he is Superman.
For Christmas, Scott surprised Kye and I with tickets to WICKED. We were so excited.

It was a fabulous day. The three of us had a ball and it was so lovely to spend time with Kye on his own. When the show started, he did not move one inch until the show was finished, except of course to buy a wicked glowing glass during the break! He was enthralled with the stage, the costumes, the songs, the story and the actors. During the first half, he asked if I could ask Glenda (the good witch) if he could go on stage!!

Kye has taught us so much in his early years of life. One of the biggest life lessons he has taught us thus far is to be confident with what you love to do and don;t let anyone stop you from doing so!

I cant wait to see Kye on Broadway and for our family to be sitting in the front row applauding his performance. How lucky is he to have found his path in life at such a young age as there are so many adults still trying to sort out what path to take.

Growing before my eyes

We have just returned from a very special family holiday. It was priceless. Scott and I watched in amazement at the development and growth of Han, Kye and Lu in just a week of being together with no interruptions.

Time is flying by so quickly and in amongst the busyness of being busy we often do not have the time to watch the growth of our kids. Sure, we see them grow in height and other physical aspects, but to watch them grow emotionally and achieve milestones is an awesome experience.

A family holiday is a must for every family. It does not have to be an expensive trip. It just has to be time together. Your kids will thrive on the excitement and love the time together.

A tip = try and lock in a holiday once a quarter for a weekend or a week. If you are too busy and can not get away, start to adjust your priorities, remember, your family is your foundation of life.

Reward yourself

This is my baby, well, toddler, well nearly 3 year old Lukas! He is so cute I could eat him!!!

We just found out that Lukas has been accepted to attend our children's school and he starts at the end of February. Our school is a wonderful place of learning, however, the only requirement they do have is that children start from the age of three and attend five mornings a week.

When Hanna started at three years of age, I was reluctant to send her as I felt it was too much for her. However, when I observed how much fun she was having, I questioned my reluctance was based on what I thought not what she needed.

Then Kye started at three and I was ready for him to go five mornings a week. He was ready to explore and needed other people in his life beside Scott and I.

Now, its Lukas time to attend school. He is starting a few months short of turning three years old, but my big boy is more ready than any of his siblings. He is already walking around the house with his school bag and asks if he is going to school "today". He even decided to become toilet trained in 2 days because he knew this was the deal to be able to go to school.

As he is my last baby, I am hesitant in cutting the umbilical cord, but know that it is the right decision for Lukas. He is going to have a ball!

A girlfriend asked me yesterday how I planned to celebrate on the day that Lukas starts school. I was not sure what she meant, so I asked her. She explained that I should book in a massage or a treatment to celebrate the last child going off to school. She went on to tell me that I have done a wonderful job raising all three kids to this point and now its time to let them go and congratulate myself on the hard work involved.

Now, who would have thought of it this way! I was so impressed and thanked her for her wisdom and encouragement to celebrate the past 7 years of raising kids and entering the exciting new phase of our lives.

If you have a child starting school this year, take on this advice as well and book yourself in for a treat! We all deserve it.

What will 2010 bring....

Welcome to 2010! This is Scott and I on the veranda of our holiday house down the South Coast on New Years Eve. The sunset is magic. I like to think it is glowing over us with good luck, happiness and health for the year ahead.

The beginning of the year is always a great time to sit down and set goals for what you really want to achieve out of your life. For mum's, it is time to become a little selfish and do something for you. Whether this is committing to exercise, taking a long bath once a week, going for a manicure once a month, starting yoga, trying meditation or booking yourself time to be with yourself once a week to have a coffee and read a magazine.

We all seem to busy to ever do anything that feels indulgent or selfish, but the secret is that everyone including ourselves benefit from taking time out to re-energise. The kids can wait, the house can wait, the husband can wait and the bloody mobile phone and emails can wait.

Make a pact with yourself right now to do the one thing you love to do once a week and stick to it!

I am very excited to watching Miracle Beginnings evolve into what the vision has been all along to help women get through their tough times through premature births as well as the women who have lost their spark and need reigniting. We have huge plans to bring joy, wisdom, laughter and confidence into your life this year.....hold on and enjoy the ride!!