Melbourne Newborn, Baby, Engagement and Wedding Photography in Melbourne.

Today is a post of little words.  The pictures can do the talking this time.  I’m too tired, and too full of leftover pudding. I’m just not capable of translating my thoughts into anything legible. 
But I will say, quickly, that we had a wonderful Christmas. Simply perfect in every way.  The kids loved it. And we loved that they loved it.  We can’t wait to do it all over again next year.
And I should add that I suspect this will be the last year we’ll all manage to sleep in until 8am.  Were we the last parents up on Christmas day? – that was the best present ever! 

I hope it was a beautiful day for you also. 

See you in the New Year.

Narrelle x

I’m not ashamed to admit I stole this post idea from a fellow blogger.  I always love reading her blog, and when I saw her likewise titled post (yep – I pinched her title and all…) my first thought was to give it a go myself.  So here is 2009 for me.

1. What did you do in 2009  that you’d never done before?
Got pulled over for speeding. *blush*

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for  this year?
I don’t think I made any this year. If I did I obviously didn’t keep them.  I’d be terrible at resolutions anway – I have no will-power or self-discipline. Unless it was something like ‘Give up trying to give up chocolate’…

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Hawaii, Bolivia, Canada, New Zealand. All in my head, of course.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
More patience. More confidence. More chocolate. Another L lens or two. Or three. Time.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
7th of February. Black Saturday.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
It was my first full year in business, and I’m incredibly happy with how it’s gone.  I’ve met some beautiful people, so willing to share a glimpse into their lives, and to let me be a part of it.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I try not to dwell on those but none spring to mind, so I guess that’s a good thing.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Apart from the occasional annoying cold, nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
If I rule out chocolate and Baileys, probably the Dirty Pictures plug-in for Photoshop. And it’s not as it sounds – I promise. Go check out the link if you don’t believe me. 

12. Where did most of your money go?
Back into buying more gear. And chocolate.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Booking the Jasmine Star workshop for January next year.

14. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Alicia Keys – Go Ahead.  I bought her album a couple of months ago, and for some reason Jaedon took a liking to this particular song (probably because of all the ‘nah nah nah’s) and every time he gets in the car he asks to listen to his favourite song, singing merrily (and ignorantly) along.  He has the sweetest little voice and even though I’ve had to listen to the song more than anyone should be forced to in a lifetime it still manages to make me smile every time I hear it.

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder?
Definately happier.  But where’s the ‘tireder’ option?

b) thinner or fatter?
Pretty much the same. Don’t ask me how.

c) richer or poorer?
Comfortable. But feeling blessed.

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleep.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Sitting here, staring at the monitor.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
I’ll let you know in 24 hours.

19. Did you fall in love in 2009?
I didn’t fall out if it.

20. What was your favorite TV program?
Toss up between House and Flash Forward. And Rules of Engagement.

21. What was the best book you read?
I think I’ve managed to get two books finished this year, the second just this afternoon.  It was Hide, by Lisa Gardner.  Loved it.

22. What was your favorite film of this year?
Is is too sad if I admit the last time I went to see a movie was in February – Ghost Town. Nearly peed my pants laughing though.  Gotta love Ricky Gervais.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Went to see Ghost Town, and nearly peed my pants laughing.   

24. What kept you sane?
Matt. My children. My camera.

25. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I wanna say George Clooney, but I haven’t actually seen him in anything this year. So it’s gotta be Joseph Fiennes. Mr doe-eyes himself.

26. Who did you miss?
Too many people.

27. Who was the best new person you met?
Possibly with woman who stopped me mid shopping, while Jaedon was mid melt-down, to tell me I was doing a wonderful job, that these moments are just blips on the radar that pass with time, and that she could tell how much I love my children in just 30 seconds of watching me. I could have kissed this random stranger, who I’ll likely never meet again but, instead, dissolved into a tear-fest right there in the middle of the supermarket. So me. 

And that’s enough of me for now. Mostly because I heard on the television this morning that Santa doesn’t visit those who aren’t asleep, so I’d better hit the hay before I miss out. 

As we celebrate the birth of Christ tomorrow, I hope you all have a joy-filled, peaceful day, full of love and abounding goodness. And laughter.

Happy Christmas to all our dear friends, new and old, in-person and on-line. Much love to you all.

Narrelle (and Matt, Jaedon and Alicia-Rae). x

Well, we have two kids down, or should I say up, with croup at the moment.  It seems whenever they get colds – bam – they get knocked for a 6.  And Matt and I have been burning the candle at both ends, which I’d say is to be expected this time of year, but it’s become too close to being normal these days.  We might just make it to bed on the right side of midnight one of these days.  So, needless to say we’re all pretty tired at the moment.  And some of us are grumpier than they should be.  Well two of us are – the other two just get on with life as they always do.  Can you tell who’s who? 

So I have but just a couple of shots today of my beautiful, worn out babies.  I really wanted to get out and do a stop-motion film with them but it was never going to happen.

And just because I needed to shoot something bright and happy, that didn’t yell at me to put the camera away.

Only three more sleeps left till Santa comes – I seriously think we’re just as excited about it as the kids are.  But not excited enough to be kept awake all night as I remember it once being like.  I’m clearly getting old, and turning into a grown-up. Maybe I just need what sleep I can get these days.

Warning:  somewhat radical deviation from the normal programme follows.

If you’re like me and, apparently, the vast mast majority of the population, you know very little about what’s going on in Copenhagen at the moment.  You know, all that stuff about treaties and climate change and carbon trading. All that stuff. That’s my technical term for the discussions going on at this very moment, and the deals attempting to be brokered.

I have just confessed to be ashamedly low on knowledge regarding COP15, not even knowing what the 15 in COP15 stands for.  But am I alone in this limited understanding?  I should beg that I’m not alone but, rather, I should pray that I am. That the rest of you out there are even just a little more educated than me, that you have faith in our leaders and what their intentions are in adding our names to this treaty, on our behalf. Supposedly for our good and for our future. And the future of our unborn children.  This is what I’ve been led to believe anyway, and I’ve for the most part I’ve simply accepted it.  As have most of us I assume.  I mean, it doesn’t really affect us. Immediately anyway.

Because I have a frightfully low understanding of what’s going on, and an equally worrisome ability to just accept what I’m told (or not, as the case may be) I thought I would throw a few links at you. Discussions that I have only very recently paid attention to, though I have been aware of in my periphery for some time.  Is it time to take the blinkers off?

If you know me at all you’ll know that I rarely, if ever, get involved in political discussions or debates.  Either because I know what I believe and why, so I see no need for debate, or because I have no idea what I believe or why and don’t want to come off as ignorant, which I probably am.  So it’s probably a BIG suprise that I am even blogging about this in the first place.  It’s a big surprise to me.  But you know what, I’ve been thinking all night that perhaps things aren’t as I think they are, or I’ve been led to believe.  Or maybe they are.  But if I’m as surprised by some of these ‘revelations’ and feel compelled to think about what I actually do know about climate change and the copenhagen treaty, then maybe I’m not alone.  Maybe I am.  Watch, and listen to, the following links and decide for yourself.  Dismiss them as propaganda, or embrace them as the truth. Make up your own mind. It’s up to you.

http://www.2gb.com/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=4998 - Radio interview  between Alan Jones talksand  Lord Monckton, British climate change sceptic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMe5dOgbu40 - A four minute excerpt from the speech that Alan Jones was referencing, in which Lord Monckton gave a presentation in St. Paul, MN on the subject of global warming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzkB5DuveDE - Lord Monckton addressing a greenpeace campaigner on global warming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBce3UXrm_c&feature=related - Part one of Leaked Danish Text and Treaty Documents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9URNTpu5s1g&feature=related - Part two of Leaked Danish Text and Treaty Documents.

Just to add that I’m not expressing a particular veiwpoint here. It’s simply something I feel compelled to look further into myself, and figured maybe I should be encouraging others to do likewise, whatever conclusion either one of us comes to in the end.  Let’s just pray, at this 11th hour, that the right decisions are made.

And just because a post is always better with a photo:

Narrelle x

SERIOUS HAT : OFF