Amelia's adjusting to being home...

My precious little angel asleep in her bassinet.

Amelia is adjusting to being home. I have been breastfeeding her exclusively, and it's going really well. I am so shocked at how well it is going, but I am very new at this whole breastfeeding thing too because I only breastfed Ella for a few weeks. But I am figuring it out, and she's doing great. The first couple of nights, she's been up all night and sleeps good all day, so thank God Bart and mom are here to help me with Ella during the day. I have some time to nap what I missed at night.

Ella has been so great with Amelia! When we came home, Ella was kinda looking at her with a fake smile as if to say, "oh, she's staying here?" Ha ha ha. No, she really does love looking at her and pointing to her. Mammy has convinced her to give the baby kisses on her hand. Now, all she does is come by and wave hi to her and then goes off to play again. It's so funny how much she really does pay attention to her.

Everything is going well at the Farrell home. Tomorrow we're going to give Amelia her first bath!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, although we missed our family back in Louisiana immensely this Thanksgiving holiday, my wonderful mom still made us feel like we were at Aunt Yvette's enjoying the traditional dinner. The only things missing were the old fashions, crowding around Perry's keyboard for Christmas carols, and a reference to my Thanksgiving prayer. Ha ha.

Mom single-handedly cooked us a turkey, sweet potato dressing, peas, shrimp & rice casserole, dirty rice and candied yams. All she let me do was empty the can of cranberry onto the plate! It was DELICIOUS! Did I mention there was sweet potato dressing?? Even Ella gobbled up everything like a little turkey. We spent the rest of the day watching football games and hanging around the house. Although it wasn't our ideal Thanksgiving, Mom made it so special. Plus, we're all so thankful that Amelia Rose is here, healthy and happy.

Here's a few pics of my two little turkeys!

Mammy was pooped out after cooking a great dinner (and chasing after Ella in between!)

Welcome Home, Amelia Rose!

Today we came home from the hospital. Mommy and baby got released today because everything was going so smoothly, and we really wanted to get home before Thanksgiving. This whole experience has been just wonderful. The surgery went perfectly, and I have not been in much pain at all. It's been very surprising. So much different from my last delivery.

We almost didn't make it because Daddy forgot a piece for the carseat (oops!), but being the McGyver that he is, he rigged it for us to make it home safely with our little bundle of joy.

We rode home, and Mammy and Ella were waiting for us with open arms! Ella was so excited to see her little sister in her own house. She really was!! She even said "baby" for the first time. I've been so surprised at how much she pays attention to her. She "checks in" on her in between her playing. It's funny.

More pics of Amelia's arrival!

Amelia's very first photo!! The first time I really got to look in her little eyes....

It's a girl!!

Precious little angel.

Proud parents...

Ella's first reaction to her little sister.....hmmm, I'm not so sure about this little person!

Proud grandparents!

I'm so glad my family was there for all this...

Nanny Shelly's first pic with her godchild.

Welcome Amelia Rose Farrell

We welcome our new baby girl

Amelia Rose Farrell

to the world! She was born on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 12:43 pm in Houston, Texas. Her weight was 8 lbs 9 ozs, and she was 19 inches long. She has a full head of dark hair, and we're not sure about the eyes quite yet. She is beautiful!!

Ella is so happy to be a big sister. She looks at Amelia and points, but she's not too sure yet who this new person is. She just calls her "baby."

We are soooo blessed to have another healthy, baby girl. As you can see from this hilarious picture above, we're in for the ride of our lives!! Fun times ahead!

Momma is doing fine. It's amazing how much easier this time was compared to the first - I feel like a pro. The doctor said everything went smoothly, and I should be going home on Wednesday. I actually feel pretty great. Amelia is such a good baby so far. She sleeps a LOT, and she's doing soooo well with the breast feeding.

Aunt Kelly and Nanny Shelly are fired from blog-duty since they failed to post pictures on the day of birth, but I managed to get some in tonight from my hospital bed. I'll be sure to post much more tomorrow when I get home.

Thanks for everyone's well-wishes, text messages, phone calls and emails!!

Tomorrow's the big day!

Well, tomorrow's the big day, and it's been a great weekend. I managed to get just about everything I wanted to get done done before my visitors came in. All my Christmas decorations were up (or at least all the ones that were going up this year), most of my Christmas shopping was done, and my house was clean! And everything was ready for the new baby....major weight off my shoulders. I don't know how I managed to get it all done! That nesting is a powerful thing...

Saturday, Shelly and Kelly and Camryn and Chloe came to visit. The twins were soooo excited to play with Ella and to be here for the birth of Amelia. They were so cute with Ella, too....they played with her all day, and they even bathed her at night! I kept saying...I need to get me some of those!! We "tailgated" for the LSU game (which was a major disappointment), and we ended the day with a fabulous meal at Los Cucos, of course.

Sunday, we all went to church, and Kelly was highly upset because we didn't catch the Saints game in Houston. Bummer! But the Saints won anyway (10-0!), and we went shopping instead at the outlet mall down the road. Shel and Kel racked up on clothes for themselves and the kids, and I just kinda tagged along with my slow-moving, preggie self! Kelly cooked a gumbo, and Shelly cooked potato salad, so we had some goood Louisiana cooking. Bart and I were in heaven! Bart put up the Christmas lights, so that's one less thing we had to do after Thanksgiving.

That night, Mom and Dad came in from Ole Miss, would you believe!! They sure had a long day of driving, but they made it. We all played a few games of Buzz on the Playstation 3 (fun times), and then it was time for bed. It was a great weekend, and I am so glad my family is here for the coming of baby #2.

So, here I lay in bed, a little nervous about tomorrow. I know I will be fine because I love my doctor, and I trust his judgement. As always, I am concerned about the health of my newborn, and I just hope everything goes smoothly. At least I know what to expect this time, and that's a huge weight off my shoulders. Amelia....I cannot wait to meet you, my little girl. You've been kicking me and rolling around in my belly what seems to have been forever, but now it's time for you to make your grand entrance. I love you.

My last doctor's appointment...

Yesterday was my last doctor's appointment before the big day!

I went to Dr. Montgomery's with high hopes thinking that he'd tell me it's time (even though I'm not feeling anything), and that we have to deliver this baby today. No suck luck, of course. He did an ultrasound to take one last look at Amelia, and he said her lung development looks tip top! She's ready to greet the world on Monday, so we just wait till then.

I feel fine...I can't stand for long periods of time without having to rest my back because my belly is sooo heavy. That's the only way I can describe it. I feel like I may topple over sometimes. But she is still moving...slower, since she's in cramped quarters. And sleeping....well, it's overrated. Last night I had a hard time flipping over in bed...wow.

Anyway, my sisters are coming in town today, and my parents are coming in Sunday, so I am excited to spend some time with all them. I know Ella will enjoy the company of the twins who are coming too. Today is my last day to "nest," as I am not doing any more housework or preparing after today. If it doesn't get done, it can wait.

Amelia, in case I don't have time to post again before Monday, I love you already, and I cannot wait to meet you and welcome you into our family. See you soon!!

P.S. I'll have someone posting pics of Amelia on Monday to the blog, so check back for updates!

Patiently waiting...

Ella and I went to Carter's yesterday to get her a few more pairs of the footy pajamas that we love. Super cute!! Well, of course, every time I go to Carter's, I always have a coupon that saves me 25% if I spend $40 or more, so I feel obligated to do it! So, I got Amelia a cute little onesie, and I got Ella her very own Big Sister outfit. It's a air of navy boot cut pants and a hot pink Big Sister shirt (2T, might I add...but it ran small). She looks SOOO grown up in it, but we wore it today to check out. Doesn't she look so excited for the coming of her baby sister? Ha ha.


I looked up this morning, and I saw her snuggled up to her bear in her wagon, watching Sesame Street. She was so funny...just chilling.

There's a cool story behind the bear...my mom gave her that bear on our last trip to Louisiana. It's the same bear that my Aunt Yvette Baron gave to my mom when she had her car accident in 1993 (I think). Of course, my mom healed from the whole experience better than ever. When my mom had her first grandchild, she gave the bear to them when they were a baby. Then it passed on from grandchild to grandchild...I think it was stuck on the twins for a while, she said. But low and behold, now Ella is the owner. Pretty neat.

Paw Paw's Weekend

This weekend, Paw Paw Tom came in to see Taylor's playoff football game (which he won by the way!!). Ella had a BLAST with her Paw Paw. She spent all day Saturday showing him all her toys, letting him read to her, and doing all her little dances for him. He really got a kick out of the way she gets into everything (and I do mean everything), and he loved to watch her climb! He also thought she had a BIG appetite, especially Saturday night when we went to Los Cucos. She said Paw Paw all weekend long. Between Paw Paw Tom and Paw Paw Larry, they seem to have Ella monopolized to say Paw Paw before she even THINKS about saying Mama or Mammy.

This morning after Paw Paw left, we went to church, and Ella just looked so darn cute, I just had to get a snapshot.

And this afternoon, I was so frustrated because Ella kept taking her bows out, I snuck some pigtails in her hair. SO STINKIN' CUTE!!! She left them in ALL afternoon, too!

I am feeling fine...just still incredibly huge. Amelia has been moving a lot...nothing new, and I've had a few MINOR contractions...nothing to write (or call) home about. Meanwhile, I am trying to get all my ducks in a row this last week before we welcome little Amelia into the world!!!

Fall mean playground days.

This beautiful fall weather means perfect playground evenings for little Ella. On days when daddy is working late, I like to take Ella to the neighborhood playground to exert a little extra energy. She looooves the playground....especially on days when there's lots of other kids there too. She loves to ride the elephant and the whale bouncy thing, and she just started getting brave enough to go through the tunnels. It's so fun to watch her take risks and explore!!

Mother's Day Out visit.

Today, I took Ella to visit the Mother's Day Out program at Cypress Bible Church.


If we decide to enroll, it would be for once or twice a week from 9am-2pm where she can interact with other kids in a classroom setting. It was really nice...her teachers that she would have seemed really great, and the facilities were well-kept and secure. The class has a music teacher that comes in every day, arts and crafts, playground time and nature walks, lunch, storytime, a nap, and then it's time for me to pick her up. Seems very fun for her, and she got to join the class during their playground time today, which of course, she LOVED. We're not positive that we're going to do it, and if we do, we'd probably just go once a week and not start till after the Christmas holidays. So, we'll see...but I think she'd love it.


This afternoon, after her nap, she spent a good fifteen minutes reading her book...she LOVES to "read" books and age through them, looking at all the pictures. I have some good video of her talking to the book, but it's not too exciting so I'll just show you a pic instead!

Arts and Crafts

Today, Ella and I had Arts and Crafts time together. I put her in the high chair, and I painted her hand with a paint brush and tempera paint. She had fun squishing it in her fingers....then we made some hand turkeys....well, the start of them, at least. I figured we could use them to decorate for our little Thanksgiving dinner we're going to be having in Houston this year. It was fun....but she was done with it after about 10 or 15 minutes. She much rathered playing vroom vroom with her alphabet snail and play with her football. Go figure!!

Hopefully she learns to love Arts and Crafts like her mom!!

We have a date!!

This morning, I went to my doctor's appointment. I am officially on weekly visits now. Bart stayed home with Ella so I could get through the appointment in peace and quiet. Dr Montgomery said everything looks good with my blood pressure, my weight and the baby's heartbeat. He did a quick ultrasound, and we saw the baby's head and breathing chest. She's upside down, in position, and he even said my placenta is showing signs of changing, as it should. He said the baby's lungs have begun to mature as well, also an indicator that baby time is near.

So, then he asked if we could schedule the c-section, since we know I have to have one. Now, my family members have been emailing me their "special requests" of when they would like me to schedule the c-section. Ha ha. We all agreed that we'd love it if we could have it on the Monday before Thanksgiving, but I knew his surgery days were not Mondays. He said ultrasound indications show my due date being as early as Nov 26th, and with me not knowing when the baby was conceived, we really have no idea when the due date actually is. I asked him when he normally does sections, and he said Tues-Thurs. Great. So, he suggested Nov 19th. I told him, "Holy crap - that's two weeks from tomorrow!" I was a little worried, but I figured, he knows best! Then he went check his calendar, came back and kept staring at the calendar. I finally asked him what he was thinking, and he said he's trying to decided between Nov 19th and Nov 23rd. Ahhh, I told him Mon, Nov 23rd would be ideal!!!

So, we set the date! Monday, November 23rd at noon, we'll finally meet our little Amelia!

He said he normally doesn't do sections on Monday, but he does do hysterectomy's. He only has one scheduled for that day, so he can do my section as well. I told him to make sure he doesn't get us mixed up! Ha ha. So, woohooo....now let's just hope this little angel doesn't decide to come early!!