Babies are vastly interesting. Their lives have so little personal history it is simply amazing to watch how they learn. People keep telling me kids grow up fast, in fact I've heard it my entire life. In some regards children do grow up fast, but only because at first there is so much to take in that each new development, each new discovery, is a milestone in their short historical record. And yet I find it hard to document the minutia of Emma's life for public consumption.

Next week is my last week at my current job. While I was on leave I have a job offer to work from home doing the same type of work I was already doing, and I'd make a little more money. Three weeks with Emma convinced me I want to have as much time as I can with my baby girl. She is quite the little bundle of preciousness.

My pastor and I meet on Thursday evenings to talk ministry and get to know one another; eventually I will be more involved in the church's ministries, maybe even doing some preaching. The Thursday before Emma's birth I gave Holly a good-bye kiss and drove to my meeting. When I came home forty minutes later I looked at Holly and remarked that Emma had dropped. Holly tried to quietly dismiss it, but I insisted she had dropped, which I proved by feeling her belly and pointed out that the top was like pudding, and not a hard knot like it had been.

The full story of how Emma greeted the world and her first day of firsts will come later, when I get a chance to sleep, collect my thoughts, and stop letting Emma take naps on my chest. This is the Reader's Digest version of the event, but for an even shorter version I have one word to sum it all up: OUCH!

It's official and confirmed by the doctor's blood test: we are pregnant! Sometime in June we should bring home a little bundle of stress, worry, "innocence", and a tax-break. Am I excited? You bet! Am I nervous? You bet! Am I scared? You bet! Would I do it all over again? You bet!

More news to come as it develops. Eegads. I'm going to be a father!