Picture Day

Today was picture day at school...doesn't she look like a little autumn princess?  Hee hee.

P.S.  Her hair was curlier this morning....yes, I actually took a curling iron to her hair.

Morning Playdate at the Zoo!

The weather has been absolutely fabulous for the past week or so here in Houston, so we couldn't pass up a chance to go to the zoo with some of Amelia and Ella's best friends.  It was Meganne & Mason, Kai, Anna & Nathaniel, and Nathan - the whole gang.  Ella Pearl was especially excited to ride in the wagon with Meganne, since she's used to being cooped up in the double stroller. 

We all met at 10am, and the weather was almost a little chilly.  The zoo was empty, and all the animals were eating and out and about.  It was the BEST time to be at the zoo.

Amelia is ready for the zoo in her little pink jacket!

Ella and friends had a great time brushing the goats.

Nathan wanted in on some brushing action!

Amelia bug taking a little snack break at the zoo playground.

After the zoo, we had a picnic in the park, and then another playground.

Amelia in her first pair of jeans....could you not just eat that up!?

Giggly, smiley girls!

The brat pack, attempting to all pose for a picture.

Ella's Fun Run

Ella participated in a Fun Run at her school.  For every lap she made, friends and family pledged her money to go towards the school.  Ella had a blast, and she ran 14 laps!!  The race took place in the atrium at the Met, and it was roped off with checkered flags and pom poms.  Parents and teachers waved and cheered from within the course, and Ella trotted along.

Here's Ella sitting with her class, conditioning for the big run!

Thank God for the pom poms, or else we never would've made it!

 

Every time they completed a lap, someone would holepunch their number.



Fourteen laps and we earned that water bottle!!



I just had to get a shot of Ella lined up with her class to go back to her classroom.  Aren't they so cute?!

This was just a shot to show what the atrium looked like all set up. 

Fun times!



Very Delayed Update

Yes, I have been a MAJOR slacker.  It has been too long, and even since I have posted, I have not posted any monumental events (like the fact that Amelia has been walking for almost two months now - in fact, she's almost trotting now).  Yes, our little baby girls are growing by leaps and bounds.

Ella Pearl is getting to be such a big girl.  She is in school twice a week at The Met's Lamb School program, and it is such a wonderful place to be.  She loves her teachers, Mrs Kelley and Mrs Hilton, and she even naps on a mat at naptime!  The school does such wonderful things with the kids, like fingerpainting, sand art, and making all kinds of neat artwork.  Last week, Ella participated in a Fun Run, and in a few weeks, we have a pumpkin patch.  Ella has been talking so much lately, expanding her vocabulary every day.  When she sees football on the tv, she says, "C'mon Tigers!" or "Go Saints Go!"  Ella has great manners, saying, "Thank You," "Bless You," and "You're Welcome," and we're working on "Please" and "Excuse Me" (mainly when she toots!).  She knows all the Sesame Street characters by name, and she and Amelia are planning to be who else other than Bert and Ernie for Halloween.  She's goes to sleep every night in her big girl bed, and when I tuck her in, she tells me "Good Night, Mom...I love you."  Completely and utterly melts my heart every night.  She loves rice, pasta and pickles...her favorite movie this week is Follow that Bird.  Her best friends are Meganne and IV, and I can't even begin to name her favorite song because the child is ALWAYS singing (sounds like someone I know....)

Then there is my little precious angel, Amelia.  Amelia has grown up so much quicker than I ever imagine, quicker than Ella ever thought about growing up.  She is constantly trying to keep up with her big sister, and she does an excellent job at it.  Amelia had six teeth which seemed to pop out all at once super early.  Then I was talking to some friends today trying to remember when Amelia learned to crawl....I just looked back, and she was crawling in June, so that would be seven months.  A month a half later, she was taking her first steps.  And now, she's pretty much jogging!  Ha ha...ok, maybe not jogging, but she is walking everywhere at 10 months.  She no longer crawls, and we're in that phase of bumps and bruises, but she's pretty good on her feet nowadays.  She's such a happy spirit.  I was so blessed to have my second baby be such a sweet, happy little pumpkin.  She has the most contagious, sweet laugh, and her little dimples frame her perfect little smile.  And of course, then there's that head of thick, curly hair...it is GORGEOUS, and people talk about it everywhere we go.  Amelia loves her big sister, and Ella loves her right back.  They have their moments, but I truly can tell Ella is just chomping at the bit for when Amelia will finally be able to play with her.  They play well together sometimes too....it all depends on the day and time.  Amelia loves rice and fruit, and she is hilarious when she slurps noodles.  She dances when she hears music, and she giggles when she sees Elmo. 

I love my two babies so much, and every day is a new adventure bringing them up.  I am so blessed to have the opportunity to witness their daily progress, and I love being Ella and Amelia's mommy.

The Farrells and Eagle Football!

Last night we went to our first Woodville Eagles football game.  Our nephew Taylor has been playing varsity football for four years, and being this is his senior year, we're trying to cheer on his team as much as we can.  Ella is still on anitbiotics from strep throat, but we'd already missed the first two games, so we just had to go (don't judge me!!)  Bart's been to every game, but Taylor's been asking about his two little cheerleaders...

It was HOT! Super humid and hot, but the girls really had a great time.  It takes two hours to get to Woodville, and the ride was not so pleasant as both girls were super whiny and tired.  But as soon as we got there, they looked around and were mesmerized.  They loved the band and the cheerleaders, and they definitely had their fair share of people watching.  I had them dressed in two outfits I made....Amelia had a t-shirt dress on that said "Go Eagles, #22" and Ella had a pillowcase dress on that I literally put together an hour before we left.  Phew!

We drank LOTS of water, and Ella ate the world's largest pickle (and let me tell you, she nearly ate the entire thing...) 

Unfortunately, the Eagles lost, but Taylor played AWESOME as usual.  He's the team's kicker, but he also plays other positions as well.  It seems like he is ALWAYS on the field.  He scored the last touchdown of the night - that boy is a jack of all trades. 

Texas is ALL ABOUT their high school football.  One of their many cool traditions is at the end of the game, whether they win or lose, the band plays their alma mater (or maybe it's their fight song), and everyone on the field and the stands holds up their finger in a "number one."  The fans are all singing, and it's really a touching sight to see.  Ella raised her finger....completely confused.

Two years ago, Ella went to her first Eagle football game at a tender age of 3 months old.  We have pictures like this of her decked out in a flannel bodysuit because it was November and very cold.  Last year, Ella was a little older, and every time we would take a picture with Taylor at the end of a game, she would scream!  He tried taking off his helmet, taking off his shoulder pads....nothing worked (personally, I think a shower would've done the trick! Ha!) 

So, here we are a year later....Amelia really did go willingly, but when she saw me, she cried.  Ella STILL would not go with Taylor...I totally think it's the sweat.

We tried walking her next to him with daddy, and she still wasn't hip on the idea. 

We finally got Taylor's girlfriend Mindy to hold her (she loves the cheerleaders), and she was ok with him being in that picture.  Ha ha.  So funny....they both love their cousin "Taywor."

Amelia was loving up to Taylor's little brother Dawson...isn't he a cutie too?

We had a great time, and the girls slept the whole way home and ALL NIGHT.  We had a blast, and we can't wait to go back!

GO EAGLES!  #22

Let's go to the zoo! Let's go to the zoo!

Labor Day Weekend, we decided to take the girls to the zoo.  It was a great thought and the weather was beautiful in the mornings, but PHEW if it wasn't HOT in the middle of the day with thousands of people pushing a double stroller.  Ha!  But we had a great time.  Ella was really aware of the different animals, and her favorite was still the elephants of course.  We snuck into the reptile room to get a little a/c, and Ella got to pet a snake and a giant lizard.  Gross!!  She had no fear of just putting her hand on their scaly bodies and petting them though.  That girl...

Amelia looked around a lot too, and she enjoyed the view from her daddy's shoulders every so often.  She was hot and tired at the end though, so we left just in time.  We had a blast, and we can't wait to go back when it's cooler.

Amelia's 9-month and Ella's 2-year pics!

My little girls are growing too fast! We took our pics today for Ella Pearl's two-year and Amelia's nine-month. Now, the last time we took photos, Amelia was the little ham, and Ella wanted nothing to do with posing, pictures or smiling. This time it was the complete opposite. Amelia was whiny, and Ella was hamming it up! It all worked out, though.

We took some in their matching red and white dresses, that Kelly and I actually originally purchased for Ella and Christina to match in. Then Amelia took some in one of my favorites on her pretty olive skin. And Ella wore her new pink smocked dress from Aunt Anna and the Farrell family. They looked just beautiful, and I always get teary eyed for picture time.

Here are some of the better (and more comical) photos from today...

Ella-isms

I have SO much to catch up on in my last month or two of SLACKING as a momma blogger, but I have got to record some of the Ella-isms that my character of a daughter has been presenting to me in the last few days.

First of all, she wants to be a dog so badly. If dog food were bad for humans, Ella would be in trouble because she sneaks a morsel of puppy chow on a daily basis. I often catch her at the doggy bowl, pull her away, and finger sweep her mouth to find a mouth full of crumbs. She's a quick one, alright.

When my dog Zoe eats her food, she puts a few pellets in her mouth, walks over to the living room, drops them on the floor, and eats them up, one by one. Let's not even cover the uncleanliness or lack of hygeine here. I know! But I digress...so a few days ago, I found Ella on her hands and knees in the living room, putting her face to the carpet. What is she doing now, I wondered. When she lifted her head, I saw a few doggie crumbles on the floor. She had gone to the bowl, put a few pieces of food in her mouth, came to the living room and dropped them on the floor. She then proceeded to eat the food off the floor, just like Zoe. After you stomach churns, how can you NOT laugh at that?! Needless to say, we had a long talk about how dogs eat off the floor and people eat at the table....with much more appetizing food.....and utensils.

And she has been saying "Thank You" and "Your Welcome." Makes a momma proud to give her lunch, and she says, "Thank you, mom!" We're still working on "Please." She also says, "Good Morning" to everyone when she wakes up (as long as she wakes up in a good mood). Even Zoe sometimes gets a "Good Morning!" She's been quite the chatterbox, even saying sentences now. "Where Daddy go?" "Ella get in tub" and my personal favorite, "Ella eat!" Another one of my all-time favorites is when she says, "I love you!" Seriously, I do not want her to grow up! Stay this age forever!!!

Another thing Ella is notorious for is singing (surprise, surprise, I know). Seriously though, this child is ALWAYS singing. And she knows songs just after hearing them once or twice. I made a Sesame Street CD as a party favor for her birthday party, and we listened to it a few times on the way to Louisiana with my mom a few weeks ago. That was the only time she had listened to it, and yet now she goes around the house singing Big Bird's Song and Bert's "Doing the Pigeon." She's always surprised us by singing in key (*even before she could talk!), but now she's proving to either be a master of memorization or truly just loves music. Either way, I'm a happy momma!

The last Ella-ism, if you may, happened tonight, which really made me smile. Bart had gone to our nephew Taylor's football game, so I was making dinner for me and the girls. I had put a few nuggets down for Ella to tie her over while I fixed Amelia's fruit and cereal cuisine, and I noticed Ella hadn't started eating yet. I told her she could eat her nuggets and dip, and I continued running around the kitchen getting the rest prepared. Then I hear her say, "Father, Son, and Spit - Amen!" I just about busted out laughing...but I kept my composure and said the grace with her. It was PRECIOUS, and it made me so proud! Maybe some of the things we do every day ARE sinking in!!

Have I mentioned how much I love being a mother??

Testing a video

I learned how to post on my blog via my iPhone. This is truly awesome!!

Ella's First Day of School

Today was Ella's first day of school. She loved it. She walked in with out even turning around, and she even took a nap (granted a very short one). She was so cute in her little outfit. Mom was okay too, once I knew she was happy.

Sisters Sharing on a Super Saturday (say THAT five times fast!)

It was a super lazy day today, but the girls were having a grand ole time in their playroom (aka my LIVING ROOM) playing it up. Amelia wore her new duds...doesn't she look like a sweetie?

Apparently she is doing some major teething because she has been majorly whiny, which is very unlike her. And it's literally like a moan...poor heart. She currently has two teeth out in the open at the bottom. And two at the top have cut skin but they are on the left and right of her two front teeth. It's so weird! If they come down first, she'll have fangs! Nonetheless, she hurts! But she's a trooper...keeps on trucking around town with us and keeping on!

A little later, Ella was being so sweet to her sister, she read her a book. Ella was all about the books today for some reason. Must be that new ABC book I got her the other day, but she has been "reading" up a storm. Here's a video of her "reading"...I catch a few words here and there: elephant, airplane, house....she's so funny. (p.s. if you're reading this via Facebook, you may need to go to my actual blog to see the video, which is at http://www.babyfarrelldiary.blogspot.com/)

Later in the evening, Ella found an empty bottle and proceeded to feed Amelia (aka torture her) with the empty bottle.
They were so sweet today. At one point, Ella brought all her Little People toys to Amelia, and surrounded her in barn animals and Sesame Street characters. It was so nice to see her wanting to make her sister happy. I KNOW Ella can't wait till Amelia can actually play.
Amelia has been really sleepy lately. She JUST learned a few days ago to pull herself up from a lying down position to sitting. And she rocks back and forth, I know it's any day before she'll be crawling. Meanwhile, here she is, just chilling. She is totally posing.