Thursday, April 29, 2010

Trip to the U.S.

The highlight of March and April was our trip to the US. While there, we were able to attend the sealing of an adopted son (Dhiren) to our friends, Marc and Paka Martial. Since Marc was one of Jay's mission companions, he invited Jay's mission presidents... weren't they excited to hear that he (and his family) will be heading back to Cote D'Ivoire.





Another highlight was Simon’s baby blessing. Aaron and Alexandra were able to come to the blessing, which was a really nice surprise. Also, Jay’s older sister drove up from CA, so we were fortunate to have many family members present.







As usual, we had wonderful time seeing and spending time with all of our friends and family members. James’ long term memory is getting pretty good, because whenever we talk about the Family Reunion in August, he gets really excited. He remembers how much fun it is to play with cousins!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

A Shot in the Arm


In February, we spent a good portion of the month building immunity. We had weekly visits to the embassy medical unit for vaccines and check-ups. James was a pretty good sport through all of it, mostly because he knew that gummy bears would follow soon after the jabs.

Em was perusing the CDC website the other day and realized that (by the time we depart for Cote D’Ivoire) we will have received almost every vaccination available… except Japanese Encephalitis. Aren't you glad to know your pets will be safe during our future visits… the Biddulph family is up-to-date on rabies. Merci Louis Pasteur!

One fun thing we did in February was to visit our friends, the Millers, who live in Dusseldorf. We traveled to some of the surrounding towns including Bonn, Germany. We stopped off at a HARIBO outlet store and stocked up on gummy treats and also saw the house where Beethoven was born. Bim was enthralled (favorite composer and favorite candy- gummy bears- both in the same day). James’ favorite was the indoor Legoland we visited.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Adjusting

As was reported in our last entry, Simon’s delivery went very well. Everything happened easier and faster this time around, so we certainly can’t complain. Em and Simon recovered quickly and were itching to leave the hospital after a couple of days. Belgian docs want moms/babies to stick around for 5 days after delivery for recuperation, observation, and blood work. Em was bored and longing for her own mattress, so she managed to escape by day 4.

It was so much fun having Mom and Dad here. They helped us finish up several projects and spoiled us with great meals and several mornings sleeping in. James was positively ruined by all of the attention and (even 10 days after their departure), he continues to mention them on a daily basis. We have been on our own with 2 kids for a several days now, and we’ve decided that the crazy/hectic factor in your home doesn’t just double with the addition of another kid… it increases exponentially. Em has flown solo with the boys only a few times and is a bit nervous that Jay’s paternity leave will be finished after this week. She is trying to be positive and take a lesson from James’ favorite book…”I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…”

Simon is doing well and growing quickly. He looks a lot like James did as a newborn only he has chubby cheeks, so his face is rounder. This is due to Simon being a skilled and voracious eater from the get-go. He has gained 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) in 4 weeks. We are grateful that Simon is such a mellow baby and puts up with James’ over-zealous expressions of adoration. We are very excited for Simon to meet some of you during our visit to the States in March/April.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Arrival of Simon Douglas Biddulph





He’s here!

Simon Douglas Biddulph, was born at 11:25PM on January 3rd, 2010.

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz
Length: 20.5 inches

Mother and Baby are doing well and James is still in denial.

In other news, we enjoyed Christmas and the New Year with Mom and Dad (aka Grandma and Grandpa) Peterson. Belgium has received an unusual amount of snow in the past few weeks which James has enjoyed immensely. More news and photos will follow in a few more weeks...

Love,
Emily, Jay, James and baby Simon