Melly and the bub have been home a few days now. We left St Vincents on Thursday of last week. It’s been fantastic not having interruptions from nurses and cleaning staff, for what seemed to be, at five minute invtervals. The first few nights home were a bit of a struggle, getting Josiah to settle down for a sleep has been difficult at times, but we’ve been doing pretty good the past few days due to the support of our family. Settling into a routine will help things along, but that will take time and at the moment we’re just rolling with each situation as it arises. I’m so thankful to have Melly, we make a fantastic team!
Thank you to everyone who has lent us a hand over the past few weeks, thank you also for your lovely gifts and flowers. Bless you all.
It’s amazing seeing the hand of God guiding our decisions through the pregnancy and birth of Josiah! The very day after the delivery Mellissa developed a condition called pre-eclampsia (Hypertension with protein in the urine). This can be life threatening, and the OB told us that if we had waited only 1 more day to have the delivery that Melly would have been in intensive care.
Additionally, upon delivery the OB discovered that Josiah was in a posterior position (his face was facing upwards, instead of down), and this would have meant it would have been difficult a very long and painful delivery if we had have chosen to try a vaginal birth.
It’s so reassuring to see God’s guidance throughout the decisions we have made. All I can say is PRAISE GOD!
My son Josiah already has his own webpage, courtesy of Grandpa, with photos and all!
Cruise over to Josiah’s Google Page to take a peek! All the photos can be clicked on to get a closer view.
I’ve also created a YouTube account so that I can post videos of him in action, but I’m gonna need to be at home to upload it. So stay tuned!
Woohoo! I’m Dad to an absolutely perfect little baby boy!
First Name: Josiah
Middle Name: James
Weight @ Birth: 5 Pounds, 13 Ounces
Length @ Birth: 49 Centimeters
Time of Birth: 2:28 pm
Date of Birth: 4th January, 2007
I’ve never seen something so adorable in my whole life, he’s just amazing! I’ve almost died of the cuteness a dozen times over already 
Little Josiah’s birth has been captured on video, and I hope to be able to share it with whoever wants to see once I get it to DVD. I’ll get photos online as soon as possible, but right now I’m gonna go back to adoring my child.
Right now I’m not a daddy.
In 3 hours I will be.
HOW FREAKY IS THAT!
So, it’s been a long while. I’ve not written to update in so long, and there’s so much that’s happened since I last posted. Don’t really know where to start to tell you the truth.
Some of you may know that Melly and I had been trying for a baby for almost a year. Things just didn’t seem to be happening, and so we decided to make sure things were working ok. Turns out I’ve got problems that were preventing us from falling pregnant. Down for the count you might say. Basically, after much testing, our fertility specialist said that our only option to fall pregnant was through IVF. I was pretty messed up after hearing that. I got quiet down about the whole thing, as being a Dad is basically the only aspiration or dream that I’ve had. I’ve never really cared to climb the corporate ladder, or chase career accolades, being a Dad is what I’ve always wanted. This was basically my only dream.
After getting over the initial shock, and after having talked to my Dad about the issue, I was encouraged to leave it in God’s hands. Dad explained, quiet rightly, that if God could make Abraham and Sarah preggers, when they were both over 90 years old, and on top of that Sarah being baron, then God is mighty enough to overcome this issue. I’m a skeptic though, and even though I have very strong beliefs in Christ and his power, my automatic reaction to people talking this way is a reaction of doubt. I figured though that at this point I had no other option, because the incredible odds of us actually falling pregnant were truly stacked against us. Neither of us were prepared to use IVF, mostly because for the chances of success to be reasonable, they need to fertilise usually about 8-10 eggs. Apparently there is a fairly high attrition rate. Though, if only 1 ends up being required for a successful implantation we would have been left with a whole heap of fertilised eggs that would be discarded. We were not ethically prepared to do this, as we see this as no different to abortion. So I, and by I mean we, left it in Christ’s hands.
For a while I was really down about the whole thing (understandably), but I did my best to trust Christ and leave things up to Him. Against all odds, about a month or so after hearing the bad news, Mel missed her period. The first thing she did, of course, was to use a pregnancy test. Which to her surprise came up with a positive result. That night I come home from work and she tells me to close my eyes… Being the trusting husband that I am, I comply, only to open them to the impossible…two lines. My jaw dropped, I was speechless… All I could say for what would have been the better part of ten minutes was, “How?!?!”
I’m on holidays, and it’s fantastic. Had the chance to catch up with my friends the other night which was great, I’ve hired out some movies that I’ve been wanting to see for a while, enjoyed the outdoors with my dog, and there’s still another week to come with much planned.
The best things about holidays, other than not having to go to work, is that it gives you the chance to catch up on chores that have been needed, but not urgent, for quiet a long time. It feels really good to have them out of the way. I’ve had my car door panels reupholstered… they had been falling apart for months now. I’ve gotten the locks in my doors fixed so my car will open from more than just the passenger side… I will still open the door for you though Melly 
I’ve also caught up on a bit of reading so that hopefully I can give some books back to people. Some of the above I feared would set us back a few hundred dollars but we’ve been blessed financially and all up the work on the car has come to just under a hundred bucks. This means that we should also have the funds to get the car & lawn mower serviced sooner than I expected.
Next week Melly and I plan on going to Brisbane to visit the breeder we bought Gypsie off, Siberhowl Kennels. We thought it would be nice to see the new litter of pups and give Gyspie a bit of Siberian Husky socialisation. I’m really enjoying my time off and think that I just might have to schedule some more as soon as I get back to work. No more 4 letter words though for at least another weak though.
Oh how wonderful it is to be able to simply relax and unwind.
The concert was really great. We had a really good time rockin’ away just the two of us. Stage presence was pretty cool, there was some pretty impressive pyrotechnics and to top it off Melly bought me a Nickelback T-Shirt.
Security was pretty tight, more so than any other concert I’ve been to in the past actually. You should have seen how many times I got frisked by the security guards… Mostly because we kept forgetting things. First I realised that the pair of fold-up scissors on my keyring wouldn’t make it through security, this came to me as I was standing in line….back to the car. Second try they wouldn’t let Melly take in her handbag because it was too big, so I took that back to the car also. Third time around we forgot the tickets… I was starting to think I wouldn’t actually make it in to see the concert, but we eventually got things sorted.
The tickets Melly got us landed us right up close to the stage, so that was awesome, could even feel the heat off the stage fires and fireworks. One of the coolest things I thought was how the stage crew had compressed-air canons that they used to shoot T-Shirts into the crowd. That was a nice touch I thought.
Took us an hour to get out of the carpark, but people were really nice about it so that was ok. Melly did some knitting while we waited. My wife is such a nerd. I love her for it though.
In about 2 or three hours Melly and I are off to Brisbane to see Nickelback in concert. I’m heaps excited and can’t wait! I’ve never heard of the Australian band they are touring with, “Small Mercies”, but the track on their site sound pretty good. Will update with details later on how everything goes. Hooray for days off!!!…..and double hooray wives for buy their husbands concert tickets just because!!!!!
Ponder if you will the fact that Christianity is the only religion in the world whose Deity’s name is used as a curse word. That speaks to me.
Homer J Simpson: “Marg, I don’t hate your mother. I just wont be sad when she dies.”
Now, while I no problems whatsoever with my mother-in-law, there are a few others that would fit this statement rather well.
Note to self: Store one-liner for future use.
… I just love The Simpsons.
I’m going to talk here about some things that have been really getting me down lately. I apologise in advance if it comes across negative or like I am whinging, but there a some things about people that I simply don’t understand, and I’d like to talk about them here.
One thing that has really been frustrating me lately is that I sometimes feel as if I am being let down by others. One of the things that contributes to this is people and their commitments. Whenever I am asked to be somewhere or do something for or with someone, I will never, ever, promise or commit to it unless I am 100% sure I will be able to follow through with the commitment. This, to me, seems reasonable and fair because a) you are being honest and b) you are not setting the other person up for disappointment if it turns out you can’t actually do what you’ve promised.
This ideology doesn’t seem to be a common theme shared by those within my circle. There have been so many times lately and also in the past where I’ve been given a person’s word that something will take place, or a commitment toward something has been made and the very thing promised has not been delivered, and I end up saying to myself “Typical, why did I even expect more??”
Why do people do it? Why do people commit to certain things that they know may not be within their capabilities. I don’t do it, and I can’t understand while others do? There are examples everywhere. Functions, relationships, errands… why commit to these things unless you are sure you’re capable of doing them?
This afternoon I got home from a frustrating and difficult day at work. I sat down on the couch with Melly to tell her about my day. So often I am glad that I have her to talk to and lean on. Today especially because it kinda sucked.
Being the patient wife that she is she took the time to listen to what I had to say. Afterward suggesting that perhaps I should take my briefcase into the study and put my things on my desk with the suggestion that it would be the first step on my way to winding down for the afternoon. It was, though, just a ploy. No sooner than had I walked into the study did I noticed a glimmering row of perforated cardboard pieces baring in capital letters across the center, “NICKELBACK” above this the words “BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE”, and below “Thu 4 May 2006 8:00pm”. I thought I must have been day dreaming for a sec, and it took a double take to convince myself that I was in fact staring at two well seated tickets to my favourite rock band’s Brisbane show!
I’d been wishing for weeks that I had the money to buy some tickets. I thought the tickets would probably sell out in the first hour, and I couldn’t be bothered taking the time off work to make sure I was available to make a phone call when the tickets went on sale. Melly however, being the incredibly intelligent girl that she is, must have done some snooping around, because apparently she managed to pick up the tickets in a pre-sale. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE my wife? Well…it’s VERY true!
Yesterday Mellissa and I had our 4 year togetherness anniversary. The anniversary date of the day we started out as a couple. I arranged a week or two ago to use some of my time in lieu to spend a long weekend with my wife. Being the good husband that I am, I kicked off the day by making her breakfast in bed. Aren’t I nice??? After a lazy day spent together we had a late lunch in Laurel Bank park, I bought us Red Rooster. Melly had a variation of this, and I had this. It was yummy. It was really nice just being able to relax among the trees eating and spending time together.
Today, as you know, is Valentines Day. Melly woke me up today with a lovely valentines card with a cute puppy on the front that says “I love you”. I adore it. This morning we went to see Heath Ledger’s new movie Casanova. It was a lot better than I thought it would be. I really enjoyed it, and my frozen coke. Oh….and of course the company of my darling wife.
After the movie Melly and I got another late lunch, this time at the Valetta Cafe. The cafe was really nice. Cool breeze, nice garden setting and so forth. We sat outside enjoying the environment, it was quiet relaxing. I had a Tandoori Chicken Burger and a Coffee Frappe, Melly a Soy Latte and a Ham Foccacia. The food was delicious, and we were very full afterward. Seeing as though the cafe was across from Queens Park, after we finished our meal we took a long stroll together. It was romantic.
It’s hard to believe it’s been 4 years already. It feels like four seconds. Like we’ve said on Melly’s blog, we know we are meant to be because we’re not sick of each other, after all this time. Which is good considering we promised each other forever.
After our lovely day out together we’re back at home now, relaxing for the rest of what’s left of my long weekend. Kinda bites that I have to go to work again tomorrow, but it has been really great having an extra day to unwind. This long weekend has confirmed the fact that I’m overdue for a good long holiday. Hopefully that wont be too far away.
**Warning! Geek Post ahead**
I just read a slashdot article about a new extention to the X.org X Server on Linux. See here to learn about Novell’s new Xgl extension
I recommend downloading the videos and taking a look. As far as eye-candy goes I think this is probably the biggest development GUI-wise for the Linux desktop in a long while. Some of the features are really cool. Desktop rotation, True Transparency, Zooming, all very cool indeed. While it’s obvious that much of the work has taken from other ideas (such as 3DDesktop), I think if this kind of thing were combined with Sun’s Looking Glass technology we’d have the best looking desktop environment on the market.
While I think that linux desktops like KDE and Gnome dump all over the current Windows XP interface, I do believe the playingfield will be levelled when Windows Vista is released. Tools like these however will more than likely give the GNU/Linux communitiy the edge over Vista, which is important in winning interest from the wider desktop community.
Now all I have to do is wait for it to be placed into Gentoo’s Portage system and I can have a tinker myself.