emma and michael

granma (portrait by michael)


michael holding emma


michael coming home from his first day at nursery. bonus points for the parka!


emma on her chair (note the pyjamas - current uniform of the black household)


would you trust this man? (portrait by michael)


granny with emma


grandad, granny emma and isla


clair, lee and emma.......



....and michael getting in on the photo


one thing we've noticed all of a sudden is how tall, heavy and grown up michael is. we still think of him as a baby, but as he says "i'm not a baby - i'm a little boy!".

emma's feeding better and it's less painful for sarah. emma's sleeping for most of the day, but seems to come alive at night.

michael's doing ok, but i think he's beginning to notice that he's no longer the sole focus of attention. we're trying to keep him occupied, but i think he's starting to feel the pinch.

emma's being quite active through the night, and I'm afraid that I'm not much support. the other morning, sarah told me i turned over to her in the middle of the night and asked her if she was ok. she said that she was having difficulty getting emma to stay asleep when putting her into the moses basket. apparently though (i have no recollection of the conversation) i just turned over and went straight back to sleep. luckily michael's been sleeping quite well through the night, as there's not enough room for all of us at the moment.

the blacks came over on friday night, and it was great to see them. granma (adam) also came down on friday night and stayed the weekend. they've all been really helpful to us, and it's greatly appreciated. they've brought us a small mountain of food, which on top of the meals that church members in alloa are bringing us, is greatly appreciated! i'm still not well, and can't be the help i'd like to be, but at least emma sleeps most of the day and doesn't move around too much.

i got released from the stake presidency today (church thing for non-mormons). It's for the best, as I've not been able to do anything because of my health, and it's been another pressure on me. Sarah and I were both initally sad, as I really loved doing it, but there's no doubt it's for the best and will help me recover. even when i'm feeling better, i won't be out of the woods for a good few months. For me though, one of the major plus sides of getting released is that I'll be able to sit beside michael, emma and sarah at church. i'm really looking forward to that.

Granma gave emma her first bath today, and her hair is really smooth. she's starting to smell like baby too, which is a really nice smell (smells loosely of cheese).

Michael has got really into playing games, and is beginning to show a lot of imagination. he keeps inventing new games and derivations of existing games (e.g. running cricket, which consists of him batting a ball then running around the living room - hilarious!). it's really a joy to see him growing up.

Michael's also discovered how to operate the digital camera, and has taken tons of photos (see above portraits). I'll blog some more of those photos soon.