It's a Sunshine Day!!

What a fun day we had today!

Our day started off at a playdate at my friend Kim's house. She had baby pools set up in her backyard, and the girls just played and played in the water and sun. It was hot, but Kim's yard had a lot of shade, so it was really nice. Ella loves playing with her friends Meganne and Kai, and she made a new friend today, too, named Anna. Even Amelia broke out her swimsuit and splashed around in her own personal pink pool. The girls had a blast, and before we left, all us mommies were tickled at how they waved and hugged each other goodbye.

Ella and Meganne sunbathing on the deck:

Amelia loves the water too:

Ella NOT SHARING with Kai...sometimes Ella can be a little bully!

Meganne, Anna and Ella starting to lose a little steam after a long morning:

After we left Kim's, you would think that Ella would've passed out in the car on the way home, but the more you read this blog, you know that is not necessarily true. And so, while most kids from the playdate were drooling sleepy naptrails down their chin by the time they left Kim's neighborhood, my daughter was singing Barney at the top of her lungs. Clearly, this child is the energizer bunny.

We went home to refuel with some food and drinks, and then we headed to the pool to meet Ella's other friends from across the street, Kenzie and Zoie. These are two litle girls that live across the street that Ella adores, and I've become friends with their mom, Amy. And for some reason or another, we have not taken advantage of playdates nearly as much as we should. So, today we were determined. Amy had an errand to run, so while we waited by the pool, I took Ella to the playground behind the welcome center. Ella REFUSED to get out of the car without Big Bird, Ernie and Bert. She kicked and screamed and cried. Finally, I just let her take them with her, but I was just scared she was going to lose them. As you can see, Big Bird, Ernie and Bert went everywhere Ella went, including the jungle gym and slide.

We were late for our original time to meet, then Amy ran into a snag, then the pool ended up being closed....but we didn't give up! Luckily, the splash pad in our neighborhood was still open, and we took the kids there. Amelia slept the entire time, poor thing. She, unlike Ella, was so worn out from the morning. Ella ran around that splash pad with Kenzie and Zoie like a little mad woman. You would've NEVER known this girl didn't have a nap, and she again had a blast.

Amelia was in bed before 8:30, and Ella could've easily gone out soon after, but her daddy had her a little distracted. Plus, her friend IV came for a quick visit to give her some homemade brownies he helped make. How cute is that!?! She loooove IV, and she calls him "I." She hugged him before he left, and she was out five minutes later.

What a wonderful, summer day!

Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day was pretty quiet and lazy in the Farrell home. Bart and I actually got to lay on the sofa for part of the day and just veg out! We watched a cheesy movie and many reruns of Pawn Stars while the kids played around us and napped (yes, Ella actually napped for a whole 45 minutes today!) It was nice cause we rarely get to be THAT lazy.

Not a whole lot of news on the homefront. Amelia is trying REALLY hard to crawl right now. She rocks back and forth, and every so often, she pulls that leg forward, but there's no forward motion just yet. You can tell she wants to so bad though. She looks at her sister and wants to crawl right over to her. Today, she crawfished her way right under the slide. I really think she was just hiding from her sister, who proceeded to roll the stroller over her head today. :)

On her own, Ella set up a tea party for her and her special guest, Elmo. Can this get any cuter?!

On another note, I gave Amelia a bath tonight, and after I dried her hair with a towel, I noticed the back of her hair turned into a giant puffball of curl. It was soooo funny! I really think she's gonna have some curly locks...

DADDY'S HOME!

After seven LONG days offshore, daddy finally came home Sunday morning! It was an exciting homecoming, and Ella was like a little jittery gerbil when she saw his face. Even Amelia looked excited to see him, smiling and clutching to his scruffy, unkempt hair. Gotta love that offshore, scratchy look. We are soooo happy that he is home.

Tonight we went out to dinner as a family to a new place called "The Cajun." It was really good considering its hard to match Louisiana food, and it was definitely a family place, which was nice.

On an unrelated note, Ella has become a major chatterbox. Her favorite things to say are, "look," "watch," and "see?" She will call your name about a million times, and when you say, "yes, Ella?" she says, "look," and probably shows you her big bird little person or her train. This takes place about a hundred times a day. :)

Also, yesterday we were getting ready to leave, and I asked her where her shoes were (really just thinking I was talking to myself because I rarely get a real response), and she looks at me and says, "I dunno!" I laughed out loud because she's never said that before. She also wears bows now because they're "pretty," and she even looked at Amelia today in her cherry dress, and said, "ohhh, pretty!" I've also been hearing "ok" a lot too, which is something I'll say pretty often when I am in a sticky situation (I just repeat ok, ok, ok....something I never really noticed about myself until I had kids!)

My favorite "Ella-ism" of the week has got to be when I was eating a Lean Cuisine on Friday. I had some kind of chicken and broccoli concoction with peppers and whole wheat noodles. She came up to me several times for "bite," as she says, and I gave her a piece of broccoli. After a few pieces, she pointed further on to my plate and said, "nake." Nake? I asked her what she meant, and she kept repeating, "Nake! Nake!" I had no idea what she was talking about until it dawned on me....she was saying SNAKE, which meant noodle. Gotta love my Ella.

Momma's little shopaholics

Amelia woke up a tad later than 6:30am this morning, which made mommy happy. :) I was still so tired though. Ella woke up much later in a great mood, and we played around the house all morning. She had a fruit smoothie for breakfast, and I don't think I could've planned this shot any better. Ha!
So, I've been obsessed with this diaper bag. Ever since I went to a local boutique a few days ago, I got to touch and feel all the diaper bags I've researched and written about. Well, I fell in love with this Ju Ju Be bag that by far surpasses all other diaper bags. It looks fabulous, it feels durable and well-made, and it fits EVERYTHING. But of course, they're not the cheapest bags in the world, so I have been on a mission to see all the sample fabrics and sizes to make sure I get the one I want. Anyway - different story for a different blog! So, I schlepped the kiddos across town to Baby's First Furniture. It's this huge baby furniture store with a maze of made-up nursuries and kids' rooms, complete with toys and play things. I don't know what I was thinking bringing Ella there, but I did - and she felt the need to touch EVERYTHING in sight.

Isn't this the cutest little piano?? Too bad the keys really didn't play that well.

I thought Aunt Amber would get a kick out of the way Ella ran straight up to this kangaroo and hugged it and loved on it like they were best friends. I thought she was going to try to crawl into "karoo"'s pouch, but she just tried to lay down across him.

She had a blast, of course...

Afternoon in the Park

This afternoon, I took Ella and Amelia to the Coles Crossing Park (which is really for their neighborhood's residents, but I just pretend like we live there...hee he hee). It is sooo nice, but Ella wasn't really in the mood to play too much on the equipment. She was more interested in the pool area which they foolishly place directly next to the playground. What child wouldn't be distracted by that!?! Here she is staring at the people through the fence as they enjoy their day by the pool.
While Ella pouted, Amelia decided to check out the slides.

"Oh my gosh, mom, this is so much fun!"

"Hey, where'd you come from?"

After we played on the playground, I took them for a long walk through the nature trails and the jogging path. It was so beautiful, and desite the heat, it was a gorgeous day today.

Amelia got to ride shotgun for once.

When we got back home, the girls were pooped out. I fed them, bathed them, and they were in bed by 9pm. Amelia still likes to stick her tongue out or make raspberries instead of actually eating her peas. :)

Mommy's gonna sleep good tonight. Phew!

Looooong day with my girls

Today felt like the longest day ever!


We started off with a 6:30am wakeup with Amelia for the second morning in a row, but she fell asleep right after I fed her, so we snoozed a little longer until her sister woke up. Then we got on the road, and we headed to a really great park on Cypresswood to meet my MOPS friends for a playdate. The park was very shaded and really nice, and it was teaming with other moms and kids. Ella ran straight to the big-kid equipment, and she took t the tallest slide on the grounds....AGAIN! I think she covered every square inch of the playground! Amelia just looked around and took in the sights (and the heat!) Towards the end, Ella climbed a smaller rock wall ALL BY HERSELF. I was so impressed as she figured out where to put her hands and feet and scaled the mini wall. When she got to the top though, she couldn't figure out how to swing her legs over the top, so she let go and slid down the entire wall, bumping each notch along the way! Soon after, I was tending to Amelia, and she went back to the big-kid section, and I see another mom coming around the corner holding Ella's hand while Ella is red-faced and crying. I rushed to see what happened, and the mom told me she climbed all the way to the top of the BIG rock wall, and then slid all the way down. This wall was TWICE the height of the first one she climbed. She is NUTS.


We left there, and we met the group at Chik-Fil-A. Ella ran around the play area like a wild child. She managed to eat a few nuggets, but she was quick to run from her seat to go play with the other kids. Amelia was again, an angel, sitting in her high chair and people watching. I love that she can sit in a high chair now.


Then we went visit my friend Kim (she actually let me use her printer), and Ella played with Meganne for a bit. She loooves Meganne, and she cried when we had to go, yelling MEGANNE for a while after we left. I love that she has some friends now that she can play with often. They are so cute together.


I spent the next hour or so running a few errands hoping now this crazy child would take a nap, and it NEVER CAME. It wasn't until we pulled into the driveway that her eyes closed and she napped for a half hour. I wasn't about to let her be revived, so we went to the YMCA and I took her swimming. She had a blast running from the pool to the splashpad, back and forth, back and forth. She wore me out, so I KNOW she had to be tired. She finally pooped out at 10pm. The child is BIONIC, I tell you.


Here are a few pics from the playground. The pic with Amelia shows you the mega rockwall Ella slid down. Fun times!

Amelia's Six Month Photoshoot

Amelia turned six months this week, and today we took our six month pictures. It was all about Amelia today, but of course we had to throw Ella in a few of the shots so she could borrow some of the limelight. Amelia was a natural...she is soo smiley and happy, and that reflected in her pictures. She was super easy to photograph. Now, Ella P is a different story. She played while we took Amelia's pictures and she was sooo good for me, but when it was her turn to jump in, she wanted to nothing to do with smiling for the camera and posing. She's so funny because she's almost like, 'I don't have time for that.' The girl reeeaaaally had her work cut out for her, but they still managed to get a few good shots of the two of them.

Happy 6 months, my baby girl!!