Birthday snow

One of the major things that happened on our weekend was celebrating J's third birthday. He isn't actually three until next month, but his birthday is really too close to Christmas for him to really enjoy it, so being his parents, and slightly omnipotent in these matters, we moved it to a more suitable date.

He had a great day. There was snow, balloons, the birthday boy badge, presents and cake. The presents he opened one at a time and played with each one before he moved on. This was strange boy behaviour that we hadn't seen before.

The cake was constructed with his assistance (mostly he helped check that it all tasted good). He found it in a recipe book (all the cool two year olds read recipe books after all), and specifically requested it. And he blew out the candle with great enthusiasm. (You can see how healthy his tonsils are).

We said thank you to God for giving this boy three years of life, and pray for many more years. Most of all we pray that God will grant him eternal life through the Lord Jesus. JMB

Marvellous News!

We are in! Finally, after three years, Mark is officially in the DPhil programme. Oh, he's written a substantial amount of the thesis and done lots of thinking around the topic. But we were just missing that fine detail that meant he could submit the thesis as a DPhil thesis and get a DPhil at the end of the whole performance.

So, the much prayed for, sought after paper has arrived, and we are relieved and grateful. For those of you who kindly pray for us from time to time, please join with us in thanking our generous God for providing again. JMB

Serious Apples

I like apples. Which is another reason I quite like England. In England, they grow serious apples. Not just the easy-to-eat kind we get in Australia, but apples with attitude. They bite back.

These are 'Howsgate Wonders', which we got at one of the many apple festivals about the place this year. I am happy to report that these are fabulous apples. And the name reminded me of Hogwarts, which is cool as well.

(Very tired this week; this is the best I've got!) JMB

View From My Window

So, we don't really update this. And I was thinking about this on the weekend and thinking that it was a shame and I missed writing these posts. I don't have time to write them, but I don't have time for anything and won't for several years.

So, I thought I'd post anyway.

Nothing too interesting or dramatic, and if you, dear reader, decide it isn't really up to scratch, that's OK. I don't really have time to deal with that, but I'm sure Samaritans or LifeLine would be glad to help you work through that struggle.

So, our boys have been sick all of October. We've done high temperatures, chest infections, vomiting, diarrhea, wheezing, coughing, steroids, antibiotics, many trips to doctors, many sleepless nights. Hurray for last week, where we had two well boys on Tuesday and things just got better from there. And hurray for patient boys who coped really well with being sick.

And it's Autumn, which always surprises me with its wealth of colours and crisp, cold air. It starts so gently and crescendoes with freezing rain, frosts and gold, red, brown whipping about in the chill wind.

I like autumn. JMB

The New Boy

Some of you who may read this may not have received an email announcing the birth of our son, despite being in email contact with us in the past. We apologise for that. We're beginning to realise that we need to migrate our email addresses from one computer to the next. How we do this is beyond us. But at least we know exactly what to feel guilty about, which has got to help. Somehow.

So, without further ado, let us announce the birth of Samuel Charles Baddeley on 3rd May at 12.16pm, weighing in at 3.49kg which includes a respectable head of hair. The birth was reasonably straight forward and quick (albeit intense).

J is very pleased with the 'cheeky baby', also known as 'San-u-el', 'my own bwover' and 'my baby'. He tries to help the baby play with his favourite toys and hugs him frequently, and enjoys 'checking' on the baby, announcing with gravity that the baby is asleep and making shushing noises. Few babies have been welcomed as enthusiastically by their siblings as little Samuel.

Things are going as well as can be expected under the circumstances. We get somewhere in the vicinity of 'enough' sleep every few days and are muddling through in that haphazard, quasi-competent way we Baddeley's have of making it from point A to point B, often with a couple of unintended detours. This has included Mark passing a kidney stone on the weekend, something we think it would be good to avoid in future.

In the fog of sleep deprivation, we are enormously thankful for many things. Samuel is a gorgeous little boy, and he has come to us safe and sound, and is now growing and thriving; Jennie was kept safe through the delivery process. Mark has been painfree since the weekend, which is a Very Good Thing and something we pray continues. We've found and sorted a house for when we move at the end of June, which is something we are grateful to not have to think about at the moment.

So, as God watches the little sparrows, he continues to effortlessly provide for us and we are grateful. JMB

So why is April 23rd so special?

No reason.

Well, there are probably heaps of reasons. But there's no reason why we should choose today to actually post something on this poor, forsaken blog. Except that life has slowed down slightly for 15 minutes and we thought we should update those long-suffering souls who check in from time to time.

Thanks, by the way.

What have we been up to?

We've survived a really intense six months. Mark has passed an important exam and is now in the process of applying to the DPhil programme. Jennie is busy with an energetic two year old and a slightly less energetic unborn baby, which we're due to meet in about three weeks. J. is busy playing complicated imaginative games which both baffle and intrigue us, as well as continuing to make friends with anyone he meets. And we all had a marvellous holiday about three weeks ago, which was genuinely relaxing and refreshing for all of us.

That's about where we're up to.

The next few months will bring an enormous amount of change. Obviously, the birth of our baby will change our lives fairly radically. We also have to move in late June and have probably got a place on the other side of Oxford. We're looking forward to this in many ways because while it won't give us more space, it does come with a backyard and a lovely kitchen.

Baddeley's, Christmas, 2009

If you pray for us, we'd love you to pray that our baby will be born in good health and in good time, and both Jennie and the baby will be kept safe throughout the process. Pray also that we would navigate all this change well and in ways which honour God, and that we'll understand how this affects our little boy and be wise in the ways we help him. Please also pray that this house will be settled quickly or that we would find another one swiftly. And please thank God with us for the extraordinary gifts he's given us - of another precious child, of great time together and of his kindness towards us and preservation of us through a really tricky eighteen months. And thank you for your prayers. We appreciate them.

Thanks for those who keep in contact with us, even as we struggle to return the favour (though we have been doing better lately!) We love to hear from you and pray for you more than you might suspect. JMB&MDB