The Power Lead is back!!

Just a short post to say that things are going pretty well here in Belfast. Emily has had a couple of dodgy nights where we have been experiencing new types of behaviour from our daughter. They have led to less sleep on occassions and the odd paranoid state of - 'is everything alright?!?!' You'll be glad to know that everything is alright, we are justing getting to know Emily more day by day (and night by night!)
Here are a few shots from the days past: (and the lead is back!)

Emily visits Belfast Castle on a cold and wet evening. JA and I took our friends for a walk around here the day after we got married (6 years ago this Saturday)

The Castle

Sleeping beauties

We planned to have a picnic today but unfortunately the weather got the better of us. As we ate indoors the 2 girls decided they would sleep through it! It was nice for Emily to be with all her Northern Irish Aunts and Uncles. Emma wishes that Ellie-May would sleep as much at night as she does during the day!

Emily again looks on bewildered as mum shoves the camera in her face.

And there's more!

Emily likes it when people get down to her level!

Emily enjoys reading 'Fluffy Chick' for the 16th time in her short, yet wonderful, life!

Emily just loves posing!

Solution Found!

We managed to get Dad Patterson's computer working upstairs and were able to download some pictures so here we go!

Cousins go shopping together in their matching outfits!

Mother and daughter enjoy the sunshine in Bangor

Emily sleeps peacefully through her night time bath ... for once!

Emily poses for her portfolio shoot. Gid, what do you reckon?

Posting Problems

Well folks, it has been a little while since we have blogged but we have a reason for this. We brought our laptop here with us to Belfast in order to keep the blog updated with pictures and comments from our stay. However, on Sunday night, whilst packing, mum and dad Patterson mistakenly took our power lead with them to Romania!
As a result we have a computer with not very much charge so we are trying to save its use. We will not receive the charger until we are back in Manchester on the 4th August so must make 1 hours charge time last 10 days!!
We are going to try using our other family members computers but may have problems downloading pictures, which I believe is the most popular part of this site!
Anyway, we have had a great time visiting parts of Belfast, the seaside, hosting in our parent's home and being invited to other people's houses.
Emily is doing well and even managed to slepp for SIX hours on the trot the other night! Her parents were especially grateful. So, be prepared to wait a while for news but we will battle on through these tough times in order to satisfy you readers out there.

Emily's First Road Trip

Well, Friday saw Emily's first big journey on road and sea. She actually managed to make it to 3 countries in 1 day! We set off from Manchester at 3pm and managed a 1 and a half hour journey, took a break and then a 3 hour journey to our destination. Emily did us proud by sleeping throughout the whole thing. She really is a miracle child (not like her mum who cried for the first 18 months of her life)!
The boat set off at 10:30 and once again Emily set herself down and slept through it all.

After a quick boat ride (2 hours), a short drive (so nice to have our own car in NI for a change!) we were ringing the door bell at 1am.

Saturday gave the family a chance to meet - especially the first opportunity for cousins to see each other and the new Aunts and Uncles. An amazing experience, especially for the proud grandparents!

The afternoon provided another special moment. Emily went to visit her Great Grandmother at the hospital, but unfortunately Nana was unable to hold or touch her as she has an infection. It was a sad yet amazing visit as Nana is not so well but it was wonderful having 4 generations of the family together.

The evening ended with a surge of visitors in the Patterson house celebrating 2 births and 2 birthdays and a new house. They don't do things in singles at the Patterson house!

A tiring day but so nice to introduce Emily to so many expected family and friends, including 3 Uncles, an Aunt, a cousin, Great Grandmother and so many other Greataunts,uncles and cousins.

Lost blog

Oh I have just noticed the blog I thought I had lost has arrived/returned/been found today so you got the story of Emily growing twice!
Sorry about that!

Still growing

I know babies are supposed to grow and grow quickly, but not this fast. Emily was discharged yesterday from the midwifery team, a healthy and portly 8 lbs 4 oz! She is feeding well and sleeping well. We still have only one get up in the night ( we know we are blessed!) We are starting to know what she wants, it is usually food, so all is going well.
We are taking her on her first holiday and road trip tomorrow. Jamie's nana is in hospital in N. Ireland and my parents are returning to Romania for the rest of the summer on Sunday so we are shooting off to see them before they go and intorduce Emily to her great grandmother, what a cool thing to be able to do!. We are also excited about meeting our niece. Ellie-May is doing really well, she too was discharged from the midwifery team at a slightly slimmer 7lbs 8 oz! It is Emma's birthday tomorrow, my dad's on Saturday, Judith and David have just moved house and nearly finished the DIY and we have two healthy babies in the family. All in all the Pattersons have a lot to celebrate and give thanks for.
The heat is lovely to enjoy and get out and enjoy being outside, but as Emily isn't so keen on wearing just her nappy she is pretty grouchy and sweaty- especially in the evenings ( we have to keep her in her vest!). We have invested in a fan, but we are draining the national grid, not a cheap or environmentally friendly thing to do! It is a relief when she nods off as she is so uncomfortable.
For all of you out there who are struggling to sleep in this heat, take a leaf out of Emily's book and 'sleep like a baby!'

15 days old on a very hot day!

Yes today is Emily's 15th day in the world and she is not particularly enjoying the hot weather. She doesn't seem to like being naked so it is a bit of a problem when we take her clothes off to cool her down!
Today she was discharged from the midwife at a mighty 8 lbs 4 oz in weight. The midwife assures me that it is encouraging that she is thriving and putting so much on so quickly. I am not so sure but I have to trust her!
My niece was also discharged today at a healthy 7lbs 8 oz so all is well there too.
We are taking Emily on her first road trip and holiday the weekend. We are going to Northern Ireland to visit with my parents before the got to Romania on Monday and also to visit our Nana who is in hospital. We are looking forward to introducing Emily to her great grandmother, cousins, uncles, aunts and extended family. We are excited about the visit but are also aware that the drive is pretty long with a 2 1/2 week old baby and with Jamie working this week, tying up loose ends at school and looking after us in the middle of the night, I know he is pretty shattered. We will flop after the weekend and chill out in the beautiful countryside and scenery of N.Ireland.

Back to school for daddy

Today was Jamie's first day back at work since Emily arrived. We have been spoiled having him around constantly for the past 2 weeks. I think Emily has missed his voice today, ( his silly songs, sounds and story times) I have tried my best but I just can replicate him.
We have had a lovely day. I think she has been zonked because of the heat and has slept for most of the day, but when awake she has been to visit Betty from church. She is an 86 year old lady who is awaitng heart surgery. Betty informed me today that she gave birth to both her children in her front room - in the house that she still lives in today! ( Her children are over 60!) What a lady!

We also enjoyed a picnic lunch with Auntie Dee, Emily slept through it all, but we adults enjoyed our sandwiches!
For all of you bath watchers out there, she is making progress. Last night we had to wake her up to have her bath and nightfeed. Either she pretended to be asleep to get over the upheaval and ordeal or she is just soothed by the whole experience! No more extreme baths! Look at that cute face!

She has grown so much she now can sit in her auntie Judith and Uncle David's bouncy chair complete with jungle and water music accompaiment! It is crazy how much she has grown. She gets weighed tomorrow, I am bracing myself to be told that she needs to go on a diet!

Emily was also pleased to see her grandad back from the southern hemisphere. After a delayed flight he arrived home from Brazil, with pressies and gifts from Cococabana beach! A little puppy called Russ! Again a busy couple of days!

Lazy Saturday afternoons in the sun

We have had such a busy week doing the rounds so we thought we would try the whole 'stay at home and chill thing!' We like it! Emily enjoyed her first sleep outside in her Moses basket from her great aunt and uncle and great cousins (thanks again) whilst we got to eat al fresco.

It is so great to have outside space to enjoy- especially in the weather we are currently having. We even had to go to borrow Grandmum and Grandad's parasol. ( thankfully it was easier to use than the pram one!)

A lovely day yet again, with her sleeping through her bathtime, ( not so extreme now granda!) and going down to sleep at 10 pm sleeping through until 3 am awake for 30 mins and back down until 6.20 am. I think the chilled out day really helped for a chilled out night!

Summer Fair

Well, we survived summer fair, Emily definatley was a star attraction. Poor Jamie and her were often backed into a space surrounded by a group of parents or children all wanting to get the perfect view. Emily slept through most of the commotion, even when we were waiting for her numbers to come up in the raffle that I, (as the guess of honour,) had the priviledge of drawing!
It was great to see everyone and say goodbye to my class and their parents. I have worked with a lot of them for the past 3 years and feel a sense of duty and responsibility for and tothem. They were generous with their smiles and well wishes. It was a nice ending to my full time teaching career, my teaching job is on the back burner now. Emily and family life is my priority now and St Marks will not enter my life until I go back at Easter 2007.
When we got home Emily recieved a package from Australia, thanks to Eifion and Esther who sent a cool blanket with a Koala on it - great aussie pressie! What a busy day. Her first trip to Manchester, back at school... she and I were pretty exhausted by the end of the day, a long sleep was needed for both!

Photo update

She's doesn't look like a little porker to us, although she has put on 15 oz in 9 days!

It's all official now, Emily Beth McCulloch

Where does time go?

When I was waiting for Emily to arrive the weeks seems to drag by, plodding along at 2mph. Well since she has arrived the days just zoom by. We can't believe that she has been home with us for a week and a day. What a week it has been. Yesterday we visisted Jamie's Mum's work and had a gaggle of cooing women to hold, cuddle and spoil her. We also took advantage of the scales and had her wiehged. She keeps putting on the weight; she is now 7lbs 15 oz, she has nearly put on a whole pound in 9 days! I was reassured that this is ok, "breastfed babies don't tend to be porky", I am not sure myself, it seems like a huge weight gain ina few days! In the afternoon Emily went to her first football match. 45 mins each way, 11 a side. (We start as we mean to go on in this house.) The quality was a bit debatable, - it was Jamie's staff against another local high school. Her daddy played ok, set one up but failed to hit the back of the net. ( I blame tiredness!) Emily had a great time in the sunshine and seemed very content to lie around waiting for her dad, she is such a patient baby!
We had more visitors with Andrew and Dee calling by. Andrew confidently burped her and Emily seemed to pick up on his calmness and fell asleep in his arms. Andrew commented, "We'll pay you to babysit her!"

Before the day was out we also noticed that Emily's umbilical cord finally fell off. The average is 10 days but Emily's took 9! Any excuse to think she is above average!

"Look, no cord!" (Dad tries to preserve dignity)

Today we visited Manchester to register Emily's birth. It was a great morning out. Not only did we collect her birth certificate, but Emily is now the proud owner of a bank account. ( It is never too early to start saving those pennies!) After a visit to the Arndale Centre, a walk down Kings street, a stroll by Urbis and the Triangle and a quick dash through St Anne's Square we feel that Emily is a true mancunian who has visited most of the sights. Next time we will do Piccadilly Gardens, St Peter's Square and Manchester Cathedral.

A visit from Amanda and Olivia ( from Ja's work) rounded the afternoon off nicely.

Tonight we are off to JA's school fair, the last visit to school this academic year and the last time I will see my class before they transfer to their secondary school. This is a good ending for me, as I am so looking forward to the summer holidays with Jamie and Emily and the following months being a mummy and a domestic goddess.

As I said at the beginning time seems to fly by, we have been very busy running around getting things sorted. It has been made so much easier in the fact that during the night Emily usually sleeps from 10 or 11pm to 2.30 or 3.00am, wakes for 30 - 45 mins then sleeps through until 6.30 or 7 am; so we are not as exhausted as we could be. She is also so flexible and patient and willing to let us learn to be parents.

We truely do feel blessed!

Emily's first day at school!

Yes, the pushy parents took their 8-day old daughter to school. Learning can't start quickly enough in this family! Not only did we make it to Primary School but we thought we would check out Secondary education too! You'll all be glad to know it was a quick visit with all the people who have been waiting and wondering who the latest McCulloch would be.
Emily thrived in this environment with lots of cuddles, plenty of oohs, lots of 'she's gorgeous' and JA's Year 6 girls quickly told off when they commented how they wanted one to play with. Obviously the recent Sex Ed lessons had been well listened to!
We also managed to have a lovely walk out this evening to Grandmum's for tea. We think Emily likes her pram as she immediately closes her eyes when the journey begins.

Tonight also finished with another 'extreme bath' (so called by JA's dad after witnessing the 1st one!) but thankfully Emily did not cry tonight and wanted her Granda to know that she really enjoys them!

Uncle David Mc ~ Sargeant

Congratulations to Dave who yesterday passed his sargeants exams and assessments and now is a fully qualified 'Sarge'. We are really proud of you Dave, you have worked so hard and deserve all the success you have achieved. It is nice to know that Emily will always have her Uncle Dave to protect her from all those nasty boys out there!
Well done Dave!

Emily's first walk through Burnage

Yesterday we decided to take things easy and go for a walk in our neighbourhood. We also got to try out the pram on the pavements instead of the glossy floors of soul-less supermarkets! We had lots of fun trying to attach the parasol, position it in the right place to avoid blinding our daughter by the sun and avoid the pot holes. (Note: I became aware today that it must be very difficult for wheel chair users when people park on the pavements and when the pavements are in poor condition! ) Another thing I have noticed is that Jamie now walks at 3 mph. He seems to be so engrossed in watching Emily that he danders along at a slow pace. I am not complaining, it is just an observation of how life has changed. He also tells me that he now drives slower and more cautiously and resists the temptation to 'nip and tuck' between traffic. I wonder how long that will last ~ but he always has been a safe driver!


We also enjoyed a visit from Lucy, my great freind from university. Emily had a really settled visit with her (usually she is slightly grouchy in the eveinings) 'Lucy, you must have the special touch.'
All in all another good day.


For all you people who normally read our blog and who aren't interested in baby stuff, I apologise. I realise this has turned into a baby splurge, however family and freinds who don't see us or live near want it this way. I want to reassure everyone that we are still aware that life is going on out there!

She's growing so fast

Emily was weighed yesterday. This midwife warned us before she took the reading that most, if not all babies loose weight initially and then begin to put it back on. Not our Emily. She has put on 4 and 1/2 ounces, and now weighs 7lbs 4 1/2 oz!

We think she has changed a little in her face, see what you think?

Auntie and Uncle

Just over 24 hours later Jamie and I had the joy of also becoming an Aunt and Uncle. Emma and Paul are the proud parents of our niece Ellie-May Fawcett, born the 5th July, 2:20pm, 7lbs, strawberry blonde hair. All is well. We hope to introduce cousins in the next 3 weeks.

Note: Any similarities are coincidental.

Hallelujah Emily

Our baby seems to enjoy keeping her hands in the air - hallelujah style!
It was a real joy for us, her grandparents and auntie to take her to church on her first ever Sunday. She enjoyed it so much she slept all the way through (However, some of us thought she was simply deep in prayer). She didn't even flinch when Andy was hammering joyfully on the drums and her dad was contentedly strumming away.
A steady stream of well wishers and cooing women temporarily blocked the light as we fought our way out of church. It was wonderful to see how Emily was instantly welcomed into the church family.

All dressed up nicley for church like a good 'Northern Irish girl'

( Jamie is pleased that not only is she English, but she is a Mancunian!)

Lots of firsts

Well... we have had an amazing couple of days since we brought Emily home. Some successes and some failures, but one thing for certain.. lots of firsts.
She is truely amazing. Sometimes she sleeps, sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes she feeds well, somtimes she doesn't. Sometimes she likes visitors, sometimes she ignores them as she sleeps comfortably in the corner.
So far she has enjoyed her first story from Daddy...

















Her first bath at home...

And a visit to Tesco! ( She slept, we got the groceries and had time for a latte and tea in the coffee shop whilst waiting for photos to be developed!) Not bad eh?!

One of the nicest firsts for us as a parents has been the joy of sharing our daughter with our parents. Again another first. For them, a grandchild. Their smiles are broad, thier eyes glisten as they coo and gurgle at their grand daughter. A beautiful sight for us.

The pride just oozes from them. This little girl is truely and deeply loved!

Emily comes home!

Well, yesterday started brilliantly when we were informed by the hospital that all was clear and that we could go home! We started throwing all our things together and began getting that nervous feeling that this is where it all began.
So after her last checks (and JA's too) we brought up the car seat and began to get her ready. After our final farewells with the staff and the couple across the ward, we headed towards the exit with our mid-wife escort. Finally outside the mid-wife left us.....alone.....with Emily.....oh boy!!!

Now back home without any issues in the car - in fact Emily loves the car (a valuable piece of information for desperate moments later!) we unload and our neighbour is already upon us checking out the newest addition to the street. Home seems different now we're back and it all feels much smaller now that we seem to have stuff everywhere!

Lots of settling in ensues and Emily seems a little more agitated today - nappy issues. JA realises now Emily is reliant on her for food but grapes and kiwis are not good for the nappies, as I am finding out! Plenty of Sudocream put on.

Family come round to visit and Emily gets another squeeze but unfortunately she shows them all the power of her lungs. Bath time comes and this thankfully relaxes Emily before bedtime.

Amazingly two uninterupted 3 hour sleep sessions follow with a further sleep from 8am until 11am. Our first 24 hours at home with Emily end wonderfully. Hopefully you notice an improvement in the parent's faces from the following photo!

Well lets hope tomorrow is more like this for Emily!