Merry Christmas Evelyn Frances Turrell

Welcome to baby sister Evelyn Frances Turrell!

Born: December 25, 2010

Time: 8:17 am

Weight: 7 lbs 1 oz

Length: 19. 29 inches

Beautiful little Evie, born 4 weeks early, is in the NICU since birth with the same skin condition big sister Amelia was born with. We will be posting her progress here. Check back for updates and please, please pray for Evie's complete healing and good health.

It is a bittersweet New Year's Eve as I sit on the couch updating this blog as Amelia sleeps...while Ford rings in the New Year in the NICU with sweet baby Evie. But we are thankful, hopeful, and faithful. Here's to a healthy and happy 2011. God is good!

Country Roots

My Nashville born baby. Though Amelia's memories of living in Nashville are fading, if not sadly erased from her memory, Ford and I still talk to her about our life there. For example, when we see a country music star on television or hear a country song on the radio (I might point out we are not huge country music fans), we usually point out that the person singing lives in Nashville, where we used to live. She nods and listens intently. Tonight we flipped to the GAC station where a few Nashville stars were singing at the Ryman Auditorium...the original Grand Ole Opry. She wanted me to stop flipping so she could watch, well, mostly to check out the sparkly dresses. Rodney Atkins came on and she immediately jumped up and said..."Dad, he sounds like you!" Not sure how to take that, since Ford has never written or sung country music, he just laughed. She was then quick to point out..."and he's singing about beavers!" Well, there you go, Ford Turrell couldn't be any more like Rodney Atkins. :)
Listening to Carrie Underwood next, Ford pointed out that if he had written that song she was singing then we would be "rich." Amelia understanding only one context of this word, looks at him puzzled and said, "we'd be sweet, Dad?"
Yup, we'd be sweet.

My Neighbor

It has been a long week...wait...a long few months of illness around this house. Seems pre-school has introduced us to several new viruses and Miss Amelia has caught them all. The latest...she was home with me this whole week trying to lick a sinus infection. So sad. Especially sad in the mornings when she would wake up, eyes crusted with green gook, hoarse voice, stuffed up nose, cough and a warm forehead. Every morning, she'd crawl into our bed to snuggle, and cough, and cough some more...

Yesterday Ford was up getting ready for work and school while she and I snuggled. Since we were both awake, he came in before he left to say goodbye and give her a kiss. It was still fairly dark, but of course Amelia, regardless of her feverish, stuffed up and so sad state, noticed what he was wearing...khaki pants, a white button-down shirt and a gray cardigan sweater.

She quietly said, "Goodbye, Dad" and then as he walked away, she very seriously whispered to me...

"Mom, do you think Dad's friends and teachers will think he's Mr. Rogers?"

Halloween Treats

Pumpkin Patch

Ford carved a kitty! I am so proud of his artistic skills this year.

Treat for Amelia's first ever school Halloween party!

I know my blog posts have been very few and far between. A lot happening in the Turrell household these days. Hoping to catch up on this blog soon. But for now...a few pictures of pre-Halloween fun!

I'm Eighteen

Amelia and Ford came in from playing outside for dinner tonight.

Ford: "Did you know Amelia is eighteen?"

Me: "No I didn't! You're eighteen, Amelia?"

Amelia: "Yes!"

She begins to list her reasons that she came up with while playing outside...

Amelia: "My feet can touch the ground when I swing...I can skip and hop...and I can watch for cars! I'm eighteen!"

Prayers, the Moon, Donuts and Mammals

Prayers

Ford joined Amelia and I at the table for breakfast after we had already started eating. He folded his hands and closed his eyes to pray. Amelia interrupted him and said, "we already prayed, Dad." I then explained to her that it's okay to pray by yourself, before you eat, before bed, when you want to pray for someone or something, even yourself...any time of the day. She then hopped down and laid down on the floor underneath the table. Thinking she's was goofing around and avoiding breakfast, I didn't hesitate and began to instruct her to get back up in her chair when I heard her whisper..."Dear God, please bless my wholllllle family. Amen." Then she hopped back up in her seat. Guess she wanted to try out praying when she was by herself.

Moon

Amelia" "Mom, maybe tonight, after dinner and my bath and pajamas, we can go out to look at the moon. And if it's a new moon...then no moon. And it's it's not a new moon...then moon."

Donuts

Amelia was munching on and enjoying a yummy cider donut from Uncle John's with us at the table. She was studying the donut when she asked, "Why is there a hole in my donut?" Ford responded, "that is a great question, Amelia, I wonder why too." Amelia says, "I think it's the done hole." Ford, "the what hole?" Amelia, "the done hole. Because when you eat all around it, and get to the hole, then it's done."

Mammals

After watching an episode of "Dinosaur Train," Amelia learned a little about what mammals are. I asked her later about it and she said, "mammals are small mice." I reminded her that mammals can be any animal that has fur. I asked her, "do you have fur?" She said, "No, but Dad does, so he's a mammal."

Our last Friday...

Today is Friday. School starts Monday...and doesn't end until 2025. I just had to do the math...Amelia will graduate high school in 2025. I have many mixed emotions about this very important Monday. So much of me wants to keep her home with me until kindergarten. To sleep in, snuggle, stay in our jammies until lunch time, play...just be little. Really little. The kind of little that I take for granted every day. The kind of little that I already wish I had more photos of, more video footage of...so I will never forget what she was like when she was little.

So she goes off to school, 3 mornings a week, starting Monday...to learn, explore, socialize, create, grow and get to know herself away from home, away from me.

But today is Friday. We slept in, just the two of us. We snuggled together, laughed and talked in my bed until we got hungry for breakfast. We stayed in our jammies until lunch. We packed a picnic. Stopped at the community center to sign up for her very first ballet class. Went to the park, ate our picnic lunch under a shade tree, and then played and played. We walked by the river, just the two of us. We pretended to fish with long sticks, catching sharks and yellow fish. We wrote our names in the sand by the river bank. We explored among the old trees and sat on their low branches and imagined who lived in their hollowed out knots. We played in the cool September air until we were tired. We stopped at the shoe store on the way home to try on ballet shoes. We went home and rested on the couch while we ate a snack, and talked and played until Ford came home. We finished our day together as a family. Doing our family thing. And then we kissed her little 3 year old face goodnight and tucked her in.

Our last Friday, not to be forgotten as we head into this bittersweet Monday with excitement, a few nerves, and really big hopes...

My school girl. My big girl. We're ready.