My first trip to the Square and Bunnings

Mummy and daddy's cleaner came today, so they took me to Shellharbour Square and then to Bunnings. They had lunch at Red Rooster.

Daddy carried me in the harness thing on his belly. All the old ladies laughed at him. That's what he thinks anway - I reckon they were admiring me.

I had my grumpy suit on this morning so daddy ended up nursing me from 4:15 onwards. By 5:30 I had settled, but he went to his office.

That's all for now.

Zoë

Back to normal now?

Well, today was the first "normal" day since I was born. Daddy got up, checked his flowers out the front (he's very proud of his gladioli), and went to work. That means he went downstairs to his office.

Mummy got on with her job of being a household engineer.

And I got on with my job of sleeping, dirtying nappies, and annoying mummy for food.

Oh yes, and BJ got on with his job of sleeping, filling the litter tray, and annoying daddy for food.

Yesterday at church all the nice people there gave me a hamper full of goodies to help mummy and daddy look after me. It filled two washing baskets, which they also gave us!


This is the hamper!


And here are some of daddy's lovely gladioli.

When daddy knocked off work, he went to the post office to mail Grandma and Grandpa Brook and nanny and da Farrell each a DVD of the movie he made for me.

Mummy and daddy put me in the carry thing. This is daddy setting off.
And that pink thing is my little beanie keeping my little head warm.
I had such a good time that daddy got this picture of me laughing at one of his lame daddy jokes.

That's all for now, it's time to annoy mummy for some food now that daddy has given me some clean pants.

Bye for now,

Zoë.

I went to church TWICE today!

Hello everybody,

What a big day! Daddy went to church three times (he is a minister. I'm not sure what that is, but apparently it means I'm a preacher's kid or a PK). Mummy and I went twice.

In between morning churches and night church, daddy slept for, like, 5 hours! Then mummy slept. Of course, I slept too. That's all I seem to know how to do. It's funny. When I slept in church everyone said how cute it was. When daddy did, everyone said it was disgusting. And it wasn't just because he snored.

Daddy made a video for me to keep as a memento. I've change the resolution a bit so it's easier to download, and you can view it here. There aren't any gross bits or anything. (Note from daddy: You'll need broadband because it's a big file. And you need to turn up the volume to maximum after the recorded music ends so you can hear daddy singing to me at the end).

See you,

Zoë.

Lots of visitors... and a visit to the Kiama show

I had a big day today, with visits from Mr and Mrs Pocknall and their daughters, Jessica (nearly 2) and Sophie (6 months). My baby capsule is on loan from the Pocknalls.

Then Grandma and Grandpa Brook came for lunch and Grandma Brook got to nurse me lots and change my nappy and pick me up when I cried and all that stuff.

Then Mr and Mrs Purvis came to visit, with their sons Lachlan (nearly 5) and Matthew (8 months).

After all of that, mummy, daddy, BJ the cat and I all had a sleep (but all in our own beds! Don't want to share with BJ or mummy and daddy!), before daddy drove us to Kiama to see the Kiama Show. I liked the bullock team the best. We left during the stunt motorcycle display because one of them crashed and looked very sick, and daddy said that as a motorcyclist he couldn't bear to see the rest of the show.


This is Mrs Pocknall giving me a cuddle.


Mr Pocknall looks on...


This is Mr Purvis with Matthew (l) and Lachlan (r). Mrs Hrebeniuk (Mrs Purvis) somehow missed out on a photo!



Ever since they started going out, mummy and daddy have had a tradition of taking a 'monthly photo'. Boy have they changed in that time (read: put on weight)! Well, for nine months I was 'in' the photo inside mummy. Now they want to include me in the family pic. Grandpa Brook took this. Ta!



This is mummy enjoying the bullock display at the show, as seen from my possie in the pram. It's just two weeks since they went to the Albion Park Show (check out that link!) and I was born the very next day!

Bye for now,

Zoë

I got a garden of my own today!

This is my nanny (Nanny Farrell) who came down from Sydney and helped daddy fix up the garden (ok, so she did all the hard work). They also made me a garden, but more about that later on.


Mummy and nanny got out my daddy's baby photos to see if I look like him. I don't. Daddy has always said I look like mummy, which is funny 'cause mummy prayed when I was in her tummy that I'd have her looks!



So they compared me with mummy's baby photos and decided that I look more like mummy than like daddy. But I reckon I just look like Zoë!

I gave nanny a cuddle to say no hard feelings for not looking much like daddy.
And da and I had a real good yarn.
We're still going!
This is me trying to smile. Well, I was smiling but daddy stuck this stupid camera in my face again.
This is the garden that nanny and daddy made for me. It's got rocks and ribbon grass and a grevillia and a superhedge, and in the front bit (between the rocks and the wooden boundary thing), daddy's planted some Impatiens and some special surprise flower seeds. I can't wait!

(I think it's called Zoë's garden because it's a new garden in the house and because it's the garden I can see from my bedroom)

Bye for now,

Zoë.

My first Australia Day!

Australia Day! My first ever... but mummy and daddy have a special tradition on Australia Day of getting together with mummy's bridesmaids and their husbands. Aunty Rachelle and Uncle Richard are in England, but Aunty Cathie and Uncle Paul still came and joined us. It was so much fun! I had so many cuddles I didn't want to go to bed. Daddy was not impressed.

I saw Uncle Russell's mob again today.

Uncle Russell and Aunty Melanie and all their clan are staying at East's Beach Caravan Park and today mummy and daddy took me to see them.

First of all, however, we had to go back to the hospital to see the "Lactation Consultant" to help mummy feed me properly.

My oldest cousin, Geoff, was there at Uncle Russell's holiday cabin, so I got to meet him for the first time:



This is the clan (minus Stephen) in the cabin:



Anyways, daddy has finished making caramel slice, pavlova and rainbow jelly so he says it's bed time now.

See ya,

Zoe.

Some photos from the last few days...

Hi there everyone.

Sorry there haven't been many photos. Since I came home from hospital, it's been very hard getting internet access. Mummy and daddy want me to sleep all the time. They think they know best! As if...

Anyway, here are some photos from the last few days.


This is my daddy's big brother Uncle Russell and Aunty Melanie. That's my next-youngest cousin Lizzie on the right, with Jonnie and Timmy visible at left (and Da, too!).


This is Lizzie. On daddy's side of things, she is the closest cousin in age to me. (On mummy's side there are no cousins).

How's this for a proud uncle? Uncle Russell is very excited... I am, after all, only the second girl in my generation to bear the Farrell name! It's time to balance things up again I say! Go girl power...



Not one of my better moments, if I do say so myself. This is bath-time! The less said the better. Daddy, please take that photo down!



This is a very proud Grandma Brook having a little cuddle.



And here is a very proud Grandma Brook having a little cuddle too.




And speaking of pride... BJ clings to his!

Well, I've got some windy pain now and I think I've just filled my pants, so bye bye for now. I'm going to cuddle up to SleepyTed and get some well-earned rest.

Hope you're enjoying my blog.

Love Zoë!

I've had some big days....

I have missed blogging the last few days because I've been so busy settling in to my new home and getting lots of visits - some from new people (Like Uncle Russell, Aunty Melanie and my Farrell cousins) and others I already had met like Aunty Linda and Mr and Mrs Thomas.

I also went to church yesterday. That was fun. Everyone was very excited to see me.

Grandma and Grandpa Brook rang today to say they were coming for dinner, so mummy and daddy took me to Woolies for my first big trip to the shops.

Here we are shopping at Woolies:

And here is a better view of me in my pouch that daddy uses to carry me:

Tomorrow I'll post some of my other pictures including Uncle Russell's mob and Grandma and Grandpa Brook.

See you!

Zoë

What a busy day...

I've had a busy day today but mummy is happy that so many have come bearing gifts. She says I am a spoiled little kid... but I know she loves me.

Grandma Brook wrote me this poem:

A glimpse at yesterday
Sees us at a windy June day
When we greeted Glenn and Michelle Farrell
Joined as one in heart and mind

Then the news
There was to be a little Farrell
And the preparations began
With endless lists and shopping sprees

The room slowly came together
As items found their place
Beautiful embroided items
For the little Farrell

Saturday evening and final touches
And all is ready
Before the rising of the sun
Heralds go out to say, "It is time"

In anticipation we wait
For the first cry
The agony turns to joy
As Zoë Nicole is held for the first time

The Love of Michelle and Glenn
Embracing their beautiful girl
With brown locks and dark eyes
As a new page begins

Thanks Grandma!

I went home today!

Hi all,

Another day with no photos, but I've been so busy.

Mummy and I went home today, and I got to meet BJ. He is a very nice cat and he seems to like me so we'll get along real fine.

Nanny and Da (Farrell) are here tonight to help mummy and daddy work me out and Aunty Linda and Nicole and Mr and Mrs Thomas came to see me tonight.

I'm hoping Grandma and Grandpa (Brook) might come on the weekend.

Love Zoë.

Well, it's very late and Sleepy Ted says I have to get off the internet and go back to sleep. I never argue with Sleepy Ted (well, daddy reckons I never listen to Sleepy Ted...). So good night everyone. I get to go to my new home tomorrow. 

This is Uncle Peter, mummy's brother. He came to see me. He has a new car, a Mini Cooper. Mummy and daddy checked me into the nursery so they could see the car.  

This is daddy being silly in Uncle Peter's new car (see next BLOG). 

Aunty Linda and Kelly came to see me again. Aunty Linda helped me get rid of a big pain in my tummy and when this photo was taken I was doing my first poo since 4am the day before. Thanks, Aunty Linda! 

This is Uncle Simon and Aunty Erin. 

Mr and Mrs Thomas came to see me today (Thursday). 

This is me sleeping soundly with Sleepy Ted (given by Grandma Brook) keeping a watchful eye over me. 

These are the flowers Grandma Brook and Grandpa Book brought me on the day I was born. 

Mr and Mrs Davidson came to see me on Wednesday. 

These are the flowers Aunty Sharon sent on Wednesday. 

This is my mummy's and daddy's cat BJ. He is like a big brother to me. He has his own little friends, like Mr Green Cicada who is here with him under mummy's car. 

My daddy sings me this funny song all the time:

"Jesus loves all the Zoës,
all the little Zoës of the world,
Red and Yellow, Black and Brown,
even Zoës with a frown:
Jesus loves all the little Zoës of the world!"

Mummy says he is making up silly words...

Day 3: The Baby Blues day

I'm tired and grumpy and I won't settle down for mummy and so I'm not in a good mood as I write my blog. But Mr Sleepy Ted, the teddy bear who watches over me in my cot (and who Grandma Brook gave to me) told me I had to write about my day.

Mummy has a thing called the baby blues that is meant to happen today. She was all right all day but when 9pm hit and I got hungry (and boy did the whole hospital know about it!), she got a bit upset. Daddy was pretty useless - he just called for the midwife. As if that can happen once I get home!

But today Mr and Mrs Davidson, who helped make mummy's and daddy's wedding happen, came to visit. So did Mrs Doyle, the other helper with the wedding. She brought her mum, Flocky who is 91. Wow! Imagine being 91! And I'm only nought!

Two very special surprises. Aunty Sharon sent some lovely flowers. They are up on the shelf next to the lovely flowers Grandma and Grandpa Brook brought with them on the day I was born. And then Uncle Simon and Aunty Erin, my godparents from Wee Waa, dropped in. Mummy and daddy were soooo surprised to see them! I was a bit unsettled, so Aunty Erin and Uncle Simon each helped to settle me down. They brought me a lovely toy - a 'hickory dickory dock clock'. Can't wait.

Well, Sleepy Ted says it's time for sleepybise now, so night night and see you tomorrow.

Zoë.

Today's visitors.

Daddy forgot to photograph the Hyams so this is taken off the video (in full 16:9 aspect ratio - durr daddy). Michael Hyam went to Youthworks college with mummy and he works at the Wollongong Youthworks office where mummy was a volunteer admin assistant all the time she was pregnant with me. Jody is Michael's wife. They are about to go to Moore College where daddy went to learn to be a minister.

Nardeen, our parish secretary, came in to visit me tonight. This is a picture of her with mummy. The midwives say I'm very advanced for my age to be able to take photos and submit them to my own blog. I just shrug and say I'm a child of my times... 

I'm in the paper!

You can see a notice about me in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Illawarra Mercury: Check out the SMH here. I'm in the Illawarra Mercury but their link takes a bit longer to appear.

Mummy and I catch up on the day's news...

This is one of daddy's favourite photos from today. It's a picture of mummy and me having what he calls a tender moment, while mummy and I catch up on all the gossip I heard over in the nursery last night and all the comings and goings of my entire life. My mummy and daddy love me very much. 

Our first real-long cuddle!

Mummy and I thought we'd be having lots of cuddles by now but with all the things that have gone on in my short little life, I didn't get a really good cuddle until about 10 o'clock tonight - more than a whole day since I was born! 

This is daddy's boss and Mrs daddy's boss

Daddy's boss and his wife came to see me tonight. That was nice. Here he is taking pictures of me to put up on a thing called the 'data projector'. Boy have I got a lot of learning to do about this crazy world! Mr daddy-boss is also going to do this thing called a baptism on me. I don't quite know what it is, but it's a bit scary sounding. It involves godparents, like Aunty Linda and Aunty Erin and Uncle Simon (see below). 

These girls are from mummy's and daddy's youth group

These girls are from a thing called youth group that mummy and daddy lead. The rightmost two are Aunty Linda's daughters (see my next post below!). They are so excited that I've happened along and they want to babysit me when I'm old enough. I'm looking forward to some groovy girlie times. 

This is one of my godmothers.

This is Aunty Linda who is a friend of mummy's and daddy's from church. She's going to be one of my godmothers (I don't know what that means but it has something to do with a thing called my baptism). My other godparents, Uncle Simon and Aunty Erin are moving Wee Waa where Uncle Simon is about to become a thing called the Vicar. 

The view from my room at the hospital

This is the view from my room at the hospital. Mummy and Daddy both love the bush. They keep telling me they hope I do too. They keep talking about the Lord Jesus and his love for us and their love for him. Apparently they've been praying since before I was born that God would have written my name in the Lamb's Book of Life or something like that. I guess I'll have to wait until I'm a little older for that to make sense. 

This lady helped me enter the world!

The midwife's name is Marilein (pronounced Marylin) and she was on shift for all the hard bits of the delivery. Dr Davis was a wonderful obstetrician, and Dr Cowling a wonderful anethetist, but Marilein was the one who coaxed, cajoled and generally made mummy's delivery of me work out. So daddy took a photo and she was very happy that a patient gave her a photo. 

Sleepy time

Today I decided to try sleeping on my other side.

 

Hi everyone, I'm here!

Hi! It's me! I've finally arrived. I was born at 2.21pm today, 15/01/2006: 8lb 10oz (3.9kg) at birth and 52cm long. My daddy is a bit mean because he calls me a little sumo. Like HE can talk! Mummy is very sore and tired - I broke her waters at 4.30am and I didn't come out until 2.21pm. BJ the cat is very confused. More about me later on so stay posted!

BJ is very confused

It's 5:05am on Sunday 15 January. Mummy woke daddy up at 4.46am to say her waters had broken and they rang the hospital. The hospital told mummy to have a 15-minute-long shower (good thing they fixed our hot water on Friday) and to try some other things then to call back in an hour. BJ, mummy and daddy's cat, is very confused about all this activity. He often wants them to be up around this time and tries his best to wake them, but this is too much even for him and he has gone back to sleep.

Hi all,

My name is Zoë Nicole Elissa Farrell and this is a photo of me at 13 weeks gestation.

My first name means "life" in biblical Greek and I began life on 8 May 2005.

I haven't been born yet but Mummy and Daddy are ready for me to arrive.

On this blog I will tell you all about my growing up.

Love Zoë.