The New Year bundles of joy for families

First to arrive was little Charlotte Elizabeth Salter, at 6lb 4oz, who made her appearance at 12.51pm.

This little bundle of joy was followed by another baby girl, 8lb 5oz Beulah Ealasaid, who was born at 10.44am on January 1st.

Talking about Charlotte Elizabeth’s arrival, mum Zara Macarthur, described how a diagnosis of pre-eclampsia meant the birth had to be a week ahead of schedule, however despite this all was well now.

She said: “We were only two nights at the hospital, as I was keen to get back home and into a routine.”

And on returning to their home in Stornoway her little one has proved as good as gold for her mum, although dad Darren, hasn’t been getting such an easy time!

“She is a good baby - even last night, she was only up twice, although she hasn’t been so good for her dad,” revealed Zara.

When it came to picking the baby’s name Charlotte was a firm favourite for the couple with Elizabeth being chosen for Darren’s mum.

Doting big brother, 11 year old Kai, Darren’s son, has also been enjoying the arrival of his new little sister and can’t wait to pick her up and cuddle her at every opportunity.

Now the family can settle into a new routine with their little girl before dad Darren returns to work at Stornoway airport at the end of the month and mum Zara returns to her job at the DWP offices later on in 2020.

Another new addition to the Islands this January 1st was little Beulah Ealasaid, a little girl for the Rees-Evans family, who themselves are new to the Outer Hebrides, having only moved here from Cardiff six weeks ago.

Describing their move to the area, mum Ruth, said: “We moved because of the connections my husband, Leo has with the church in Cross, Ness (Free Church Continuing).

“Leo came to visit the island four years ago and became a Christian hearing the Gospel preached in Cross, Ness FCC.

“He then came down to Cardiff on a short trip and met me while attending a local church there, we got married in Cardiff and he stayed a bit longer than expected!

“After we had Moses we came up to visit together and after visiting the church and meeting the island folk, having fellowship, I straight away shared the same longing to move here and hoped if God allowed us to, we could raise a family on the island.

“We began praying that if it was God’s will, we would be able to move here and that He would make the way for us to raise a family there and be members of the church in Cross. God answered our prayers and we are here!”

Ruth added: “He has given us another child in the meantime and we were so pleased to have her born on the island with such lovely, caring hospital staff. We are feeling so excited about our new life and what God has planned for us.”

Talking about the names chosen for her little one Ruth explained that the couple’s Christian beliefs inspired both choices.

She explained: “The name Beulah comes from the Bible (Isaiah 62:4) and means ‘married’. This is a very meaningful text to us being Christians, being a picture of the relationship we have with Christ once saved from our sins.

“The name Ealasaid was chosen because we wanted to choose a Gaelic name for her having now moved to the island and setting our roots here, being introduced to Gaelic in church singing Psalms.

“Ealasaid means ‘God is my satisfaction’, which is of course also very meaningful and true for the both of us.”

Also pleased about the new addition is big brother, Moses Obed who is 17 months old.

Ruth continued: “Beulah is a good girl and a real gift from the Lord to us. We rejoice in the Lord’s goodness to us, a wonderful start to 2020!”