Wiggly Waffles

This morning I made Ella some Wiggly Waffles (like on Sprout TV), which is basically waffles with some pizazz. So, this morning she had strawberry waffles with whipped cream. She loved them!

Ella's sick but Amelia's happy!

Well, we may have found somewhat of a solution for Amelia's colic. Ok, not a SOLUTION so much as a way to soothe her a little while she's going whack! There's this Rainforest Cradle Swing that the daycare at the YMCA has (actually they have like 5 of them), and every time Amelia starts crying, they put her in it, and she magically stops crying, so they say. Well, Bart and I both agreed we NEEDED one of these baby wonders! So, I went on the hunt on craigslist.com for the past few weeks, and this Monday, I found one priced right and close by. We picked it up that night, and when Amelia has her crying fit that night, the swing worked for a good 30 minutes. Hey, it works for me! See how she stares at the moving mobile in amazement?! This thing must send her subliminal soothing messages or something.


We already have a swing, but she hates it. She won't stay in it for more than 5 minutes without crying to get out. The difference between our swing and this swing is that this one is a "cradle" swing, so it can swing from back and forth or side to side, which is what she loves. So, we'll see!
Ella Pearl has a nasty little cold this week. It started with the sniffles, and now it is full on runny nose and cough. Yuck! Yesterday, she had a little fever, but I honestly think it's just a cold. I mean, who blames her considering it went from a four-day freeze to 75 degree weather in like one week, right!? Only in the south!

A cold doesn't stop Ella though. Here she is eating dinner (rice, of course!). Only bad thing about a runny nose and the way she eats rice....rice sticks to snot! Notice the grain of rice gracefully placed in her snotty trail beneath her nose. Niiice one, Ella.

Even though she's got a cold, she still went for a walk in the gorgeous weather we had this weekend. Don't you just love her hand-me-down outfit from Nanny Kelly? Gotta love having eight other female cousins to mooch off of.

Beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day Monday!

Amelia Rose's Baptism

The time has been changed to 1:00pm.

Slugger Takes a Fall

Oh my goodness, Ella Pearl got a fat lip today!!

Daddy took her to the YMCA, and he said when they first got there and he was checking her in, her shoe came off. She picked it up and was bringing it to daddy, when she tripped and hit the check-in desk right on the corner. She busted her lip and it looks like her nose too. He said she cried and it bled and bled, but after he cleaned her up and put some ice on it, she was fine. In fact, she still wanted to go play.

When they came home, she was looking pretty rough. Her lip had swelled, and there was a red line from her nose to her lip. Her nose was puffy and red too. Poor little thing...I just wanted to snuggle her all afternoon to make her feel better. She had a nap, and she didn't take long to go to bed that night. I hope she feels better tomorrow.

Pippy Ellastocking

Today, Ella wore pigtails for the first time. They were so stinking cute! She would just look at you with that bright smile, and the pigtails seemed to make her smile even wider.

She really didn't even notice they were there, but I was making so much of a big deal over them, she got curious.

Don't you just love her shirt too? That's from her Aunt Stina, and Amelia has one to match.

Ella Pearl has been quite the helper lately. If Amelia is crying, she finds the paci and puts it in her mouth (shove is probably a better word for it). And if she sees a bib lying around, she tries to put it on her. This pic below is adorable because not only Ella trying to put the bib on, Amelia is just laughing and laughing at her while she does it.

Later that night, we had dinner, and Ella had mashed potatoes. She even started to eat them with her very own fork. Unfortunately, the hands won.

Amelia Rosetta

We went to the doctor's office this morning to check on Amelia's colic. I just wanted to make sure I had her on the right formula and that it wasn't anything more than gas (since it's been going on since SHE WAS BORN). So, the three of us went see Dr. Nguyen, and they just did her two month checkup while I was there too. First things first, Amelia is doing GREAT. Dr. Nguyen said she is so alert and aware of her surroundings. And she smiled and cooed at her, so she already knew how to get on the doc's good side in hopes there won't be as many shots. Ha...unfornately all that cooing was in vain because she had to get THREE shots...two in one leg and one in the other. It was horrific, but luckily Ella was distracting me from having to watch or think about them mauling my little angel. She was a trooper too...only cried for like 20 seconds!

She weighed 12 lbs and 12 ozs, which means she is in the 90th percentile for weight! Wowser! She's definitely not missing any meals. And she measured 23 inches, which also put her in a high percentile. As far as the colic goes, Dr Nguyen just said to tough it out. She said if she is sleeping and eating good, and she's growing properly, she should grow out of it soon, but if it lasts for longer than 4-6 more weeks, let her know. WHAT!? Four to six MORE weeks?! I digress.

She is such a sweetheart though....she smiles all the time, and we started a little tummy time to let her exercise those neck muscles! She's my little rosebud...

Girls Night Out (ok, in...)

Every year, I get together with some lovely ladies, and we have what we like to call the SPS Christmas Partay. We started this eleven years ago so we could all see each other during Christmas, and originally, it was a small group of us who graduated from St Peter's together. Well, our little group has grown, so we're not comprised of just SPS ladies anymore, but we still keep the name all the same. It's the one time of the year that we can all bet that we'll see each other.

Well, this year we ran into a few snags since I had a newborn and Lacie also moved five hours away to Monroe. So, we planned our eleventh annual partay for January instead. So, that's what we came in for this weekend. Bart wasn't exactly thrilled that we came in JUST for that (ordinarily, it wouldn't be so big of a deal, but I will admit, travelling five hours with two babies isn't as easy as travelling five hours with just the two of us). Nonetheless, we did it, and I am so grateful we did. I had a BLAST hanging out with my best girlfriends, and I really needed that time away from the kiddos to relax and unwind. I laughed till I cried...fun times.

Ella and Amelia enjoyed themselves too, as Mammy and Paw Paw babysat them (with a little assistance from Bart) while I was away.

Sunday, they made us a delicious shrimp stew....it was a very quick but wonderful weekend!

Ella's new baby doll

Be afraid...be very afraid. Here's Ella Pearl pushing Amelia around in her baby doll stroller. She must've pushed her around the house for about a half hour. Tired them both out!

Who's Who?

This was some photos I found looking through the blog in the past. I was trying to decide if Ella (in the middle in pink), looked more like me (to the left) as a baby or Bart (to the right). I definitely think Ella looked a lot more like me. So, to compare, I added Amelia in (in between Ella and Bart), and does she look like Bart or what!? The mouths are almost identical!

Amelia cooed tonight for the first time. It was so cute...she was smiling and looking at me, and she just made a big coooooo. Soooo precious! We switched to Similac Sensitive tonight per the doctor's recommendations to see if it helps with the colic. I hadn't mentioned much on the blog about it, but Amelia's got really bad colic from around 9pm to midnight at least four times a week. It is pretty nerve racking, and I feel so sorry for her because her body gets really stiff and she wails and swings her arms and legs around. It's been going on since right after she was born, and we just dealt with it. Yesterday she cried from 7pm to midnight, and I was just at my wits end. Our checkup isn't until the last week of the month, so I called my doctor to see what she thought. Hopefully this works but tonight was another banner night.

Even with all the crying though, she is still a wonderful, beautiful little baby.

Sisterly Love

It's been a very good week so far because Bart has a class in The Woodlands for two weeks, so we have to go to bed early and wake up early so he can make it on time. I love it because we're all on more of a schedule now.

Last night, I made a slow cooker roast, rice & gravy and corn on the cob. I looove corn on the cob, especially when it's fresh. Ella apparently loves it too, and although I didn't think she had enough teeth to eat it, she never ceases to amaze me.

And here's Ella playing nice with her little sister. She's gotten a little better. She tries to shove the paci in her mouth now (and her ear and her nose). She did try to put the stroller on top of her in the bouncer today, so we're taking baby steps!

All in a Sunday afternoon

This past Sunday, Bart and I attempted to take the whole family to church together. Well, everything would've been fine had we not been running late (us? never!). Anyway, at our church if you're running late, you're most definitely standing in the back. So, we schlep the baby in carrier, Ella on hip, and diaper bag in tow into the back of the church only to find that the daycare is full. Why wouldn't it be? So, we decide to tough it out. Everything was going well until after the homily when they began baptisms for about six kids. What is this, God? A joke?

After mass, our friends Greg and Rebeca invited us over for lunch. We had a great time hanging out with them, and as always, Ella had a blast playing with IV. He was trying to teach her how to do a tumbleset, and she was hilarious, rolling all over the floor.

Ella is ready for Mardi Gras!! And she loves dinosaurs. Don't you love the way she is trying to "ride" the plesiosaurus?

Ella and her pal, IV.

Saturday Night dinner....priceless

With this cold weather, the main thing Ella gets all dressed up for these days is the daycare at the gym! When our neighbor Necoy pointed out to me that Ella's hair was long enough for a ponytail, you know I had to try it out. And it was just precious! Her nanny would've been proud.

After we all went to the gym, I came home and tried to make a nice, romantic meal (as romantic as it can get with two babies in the house). I made roasted asparagus, a baked potato, and our old favorite that we used to get at Outback (back when Outback used to do the grilled fish), tuna steaks.

It was a picture perfect meal...until Amelia woke up from her nap just as we were sitting down, screaming for a bottle. Greeaaaat! So, we rigged up a solution!

Ok, the meal continued. And then Ella, in rare form, decided she did not want to eat the meal I fixed for her. So, for the first time in the past three months we've been eating off of a plate, she decided to throw the entire plate of food off of her high chair and on to the floor. Now, all items on her plate are things she eats...she just did not feel like eating them tonight. Wonderful. So, on my hands and knees I go to clean it up so our already obese dog does not treat herself to a feastomondo.

So it wasn't the romantic meal I had planned...it was still full of excitement and drama, as always. Plus, it was delicious! Shall we review?

Baked potatoes - $3

Asparagus - $4

Tuna steaks - $12

Seeing our two little angels, pooped out after an adventurous meal, lying next to each other, ready for bed = priceless!

Baby, it's cold outside!

It has been the coldest winter I remember in a long time, or maybe I just pay more attention to the weather these days (a sign of old age??) Anyway, this week has been unbearable! Yesterday evening, it dropped down to 28, last night it was 25, and today during the day it was 35!! It's midnight, and it's 22 degrees, which is just insane for southern Texas! I don't like to leave the house when it's that cold (especially with Amelia), but Bart took Ella to the gym tonight to let her exert some energy. We had to bundle her up though! Doesn't she look like Miss Fancy Pants in her little red jogging suit Mammy and Paw Paw got her for Christmas?

Amelia wanted in on the action too!

Ella's Potty Partay!

A few days ago, Bart and I had an interesting night. I had hopped in the bath with Ella, and we took a nice, warm bubble bath. We decided to kill two birds with one stone, so Bart threw Amelia in the tub with me too. It was so funny having both my girls in there with me....especially since Ella is a splasher. Anyway, Bart took Ella out and brought her to the living room to dress her while I finished bathing Amelia. All of sudden, I see her coming around the corner buck naked. Well, I know what that means....she somehow got away from Bart, and chances are, she peed somewhere in the house. When she is naked after a bath, she pees. Sure enough, Bart comes around the corner, "Ella!! You tee teed on the carpet!!"

It was hilarious. He quickly slapped a diaper on her and proceeded to clean up the tee tee off the floor. Having a dog, we are quite experienced with cleaning pee off the floor, so he knew just what to do. After that, he went back to the living room to finish dressing Ella in her PJs.

Totally distracted, I looked down at Amelia in the tub with me, and she started turning red. I hear two grunts, but everything kinda happened in fast motion. She started POOING. Pooing IN THE TUB that I am sitting in. Are you KIDDING ME??! I start yelling out for Bart, but it was too late. We had a floater. Bart took Amelia, and I began trying to scoop it out with a cup.

It was a wild and crazy night, I tell ya.

So, after that whole wonderful experience, we thought we would take advantage of knowing that Ella pees right after a bath, so we brought out the princess potty that Paw Paw Tom bought for her. I know, I know...it's early to start potty training, but hey! You never know! She can "say" tee tee and poo poo. She knows when mommy makes tee tee. We introduced her to it, and of course, she tried to stand IN the hole. It's a work in progress.

We put it in our bathroom, and we were going to try it tonight after her bath. I got in the bath with her again tonight, but when Bart walked in to take her out, he said the water looked might yellow. Wonderful. She sat on it and tooted, but that was about it. No such luck on the potty tonight, but like I said, it's a work in progress.

BCS Bowl...Amelia's First Party!

It's been so cold, we've barely gotten out of the house. This Monday Amelia turned six weeks old. Since Mommy got the ok to hit the gym again, and Amelia meets the age requirement for the daycare at the gym now, we all headed there Monday night as a family. It was great getting out and being able to exercise in peace and quiet, and Amelia did well at the daycare. Everything's so nice and fancy.

Thursday night, we all went to our friends Greg and Rebeca's house to watch the BCS Bowl. They're big Texas fans (and so was everyone else there), so the only thing I could do was pull for Texas. I mean, we surely weren't pulling for Saban, I mean Alabama. Nonetheless, we dressed Ella in LSU garb to support the SEC. :) Even though "our team" didn't win, we still had a great time, and of course, Ella had a BLAST playing with her friends IV and Brandon.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Farrells!

Amelia Rose at 6 weeks!

Hasn't she grown so much in just six weeks. She's a smiley baby, too. She has been since we brought her home (which must mean she's got a heck of a lot of gas!!)

Yes, I know I am a major slacker, and I have a lot of "splaining" to do as to why I haven't updated this blog since I came home with Amelia. Needless to say, we have been some busy parents, and the busiest month of December went by like a blur. I'll be trying to play a little catch up on some of the highlights I missed since it was Amelia's first Christmas, and I promise to be more faithful to the blog!!!