Dear Diary,

I think this will be a long post so prepare yourselves....

First of all, Colin and I would like to say thank you to all for your telephone calls, prayers, emails, cards and kind words after the passing away of his mom. It was very much appreciated and comforting to know that we were in your thoughts and prayers these last few weeks.

Secondly, an update on the Colorado situation. We are leaving at the end of May (date to be determined) but only after Colin spends the next three weeks in Denver. He is leaving on Monday to set up the office and start the installation and return home on or about the 16th. He also hopes to have time to find us a place to live, arrange for a company car, cell phone, locate the shopping malls, restaurants, hair dressers, etc... phew, he'll have a lot to do and I'll give him a list to make sure he doesn't forget anything! In the meantime, I will stay behind and really buckle down on sorting the house and packing up. We have collected so much stuff in such a short period of time! We have managed to sell off many items and hope to still get rid of our sofas and kitchen set in the next few weeks. Sadly, I sold my granny-mobile, aka my Nissan Micra. The only truly sad bit being now I'm completely reliant on my legs for getting around. Good thing I still have baby weight to lose!

Speaking of babies, the lil' missus is doing well. She has had her 8 week vaccination and passed with flying colours. Just a little squeal but after a hug she was back to sleep, hardly worse for wear. At that point she was 9 lbs 6 but I weighed her today and she is 11 lbs 2 at 9.5 weeks old. That super caloric formula is doing the trick - she is even developing tiny rolls on her wrists.

You may recognize the little sleeper she is wearing. If you look at our post dated 18th February she was wearing it but it was miles too big on her but now she is nicely filling it out. She holds her head up quite well and we've been putting her on the floor on her tummy but she doesn't seem to like it very much, she prefers her back. She is a really good sleeper lately as well. We give her a "dream feed" between 10 and 11 and she sleeps until at least 5:30 and one time she even slept until 7:00. We're so proud of her! The morning she slept until 7:00, Colin thought I was lying when I told him I hadn't been up with her during the night. After the early morning feed, she goes right back to sleep again until about 09:00 or 10:00 so we've, or should I say I've, been getting some decent night sleep which is very much appreciated after 4 or so months without it (yes, lack of sleep starts before the baby arrives). We're hoping that once she hits the 3 month mark and moves into Oma and Opa's house, she'll be sleeping 10 hours and doesn't interrupt too many of her Opa's naps.

Isla loves bath time. She's really starting to splash up but sadly she only gets 2 or 3 a week because she has dry skin. I've been putting bath oil in the water as recommended by the doctor and it seems to be helping a bit.

She's all smiles when she gets bundled up in her towel!

The cats haven't bothered too much with her although on the rare occasion when she is hootin' and hollerin' for her bottle, they look up at her as if to say "be quiet, I'm trying to sleep".

Here she is enjoying a nap with Pearl.

On the subject of cats, we haven't posted too many photos of my furry girls as someone else has been getting our attention. They are coming with us to Denver and both have had their vaccinations. We're a bit concerned taking them on the plane will stress them out but we've been advised to put some sort of phermone in their cage that reminds them of their mom and it should relax them. With Dixie in the car on the way to the airport, we'll need alot of it. That little cat has a good set of lungs on her!

This is Dixie with a new friend, Lil' Ginge. Lil Ginge, as we call him, is a kitten that is allowed out all day. He is a bit smaller than Dixie so she has decided that she can take him on. If he comes near her, she goes after him and shows no mercy. After this photo was taken, the paws were flyin' and my window got a beating! With the exception of Lil Ginge, she is a such a chicken....

I washed my duvet cover today and this is where I found her this afternoon enjoying a nap.... Cats always manage to find the most comfortable seat in the house, don't they?

So there you have it, the latest and greatest news from us.

We hope this post finds you all well, wherever you happen to be...

God bless,

Heather, Colin & Isla