Bye Bye Pathfinder :(

So about month ago, John was in rush hour morning traffic on his way to school when our 1993 Pathfinder died. It was alot of fun for him to push it off the side of the road on Sunnyside during hectic traffic. While it was an easy problem to fix..... We felt this was a sign of things to come and decided that the Pathfinder (being nearly 17 years old) had seen better days and thus it was time to get a different car. I was not prepared for how sad I would be to see the Pathfinder go though... I bought that car my freshman year of college with a loan from my parents (thanks guys!) and I absolutely loved it. We were lucky and it sold with in a week of being posted on KSL. I must admit I did cry when it sold... but then I drove my Honda Pilot and got over it.

Not a good picture of our new addition, but it was late and it was the night we bought it. Here it is in its new home- our driveway. It is fun to drive and much easier to get the kids in an out of than the Camry was. Plus John is really enjoying having a heater on the way to school this winter!

Edie's Photo Shoot

Edie had a photo shoot a couple months back and they turned out adorable!! Thank you Pam for taking such wonderful pictures! We love all of them! And thank you to Nichole too, because she helped set everything up and attempted to keep our subject happy. Oh and Pat too for watching Alec and Clara while we had our fun. I'm a couple months late posting, she is bigger now and looks a bit older, but here they are- better late than never!

BOO at the ZOO

Last year we took Clara too Boo at the Zoo at the Hogle Zoo and she absolutely loved it, so we decided to make it a tradition and go each year. So we went and had a blast. Edie said she had a good time too.

I didn't know John was about to take this picture- but I had to post a picture of Edie in her witches hat!

I am so blessed to have such an easy going baby! I can't believe sometimes how mellow and chill she is. She is so portable and quiet sometimes I forget we have a seven month old with us!

The new baby elephant. TOO cute!

John helping Clara count out her loot.

We had to take a visit to the park on our way out and let Clara play. It was so much fun to see all the other kids in their cute little costumes.

Finally Some Help Around Here.. . .

Clara's new thing is to "clean somethin", usually makes more of a mess than she actually cleans- but its cute to watch and it distracts her so I can clean...

3rd BIRTHDAY!!!!

Here is Clara on the morning of her Birthday, which was September 9th. (I know I'm so behind ) She came out in the morning in her nightgown and put on her apron and just got down to business and began to cook! I let her eat a cupcake for breakfast, so she pretty much thought she had died and gone to heaven! It was a great day. I posted most of the pictures that turned out decent.

Here is John putting together Clara's kitchen set we got her. He put it together a couple nights before her party. I said I would help but I ended up laying on the couch and reading Harry Potter instead. I felt bad because it was intricate and as it turned out they had forgotten to screw a bunch of the holes in it when it left the factory. So he had to sit and screw in each hole for each bolt. I eventually went to bed, cause ya know, watching him do all that was exhausting. He wasn't done till 2:00 a.m.! Poor guy- but atleast he did it all himself and was so handy!!

Grandma Lelis at the party with our Bean.

Here is Edie and Alec at Clara's party. Nichole took this picture- we were holding them up to compare. I love Alec's hair in this picture. Edie looks like she might EAT Alec. She is 3 months older though.....

Mommy and Edie Bean (Our Chubby Thing).

Clara's handsome Daddy being such a good videographer for her party.


WHOOOO!! presents!!

Here are the cupcakes I made for Clara's Birthday party. She wanted pink and Orange Cupcakes with sprinkles. These ended up being a bit of a nightmare for me! I bought two cupcake mixes and a bunch of canned frosting and food coloring. And when I originally baked the cupcakes the night before they completely fell apart as I was getting them out of the pan. It was about 11:00 at night so I just chucked them and the batter I had mixed up from the other box, thinking I was just going to forget being Donna Reed (okay I guess Donna Reed wouldn't have used a mix. . . .) and just buy a bunch on her birthday. So on her birthday I woke up and called all around- yeah you kind of need to order two dozen cupcakes the day before... the only place that could make them that day was "Mimi's cupcakes" (Ironic name since I was really wishing our Mimi lived nearby all day long so she could just take over the cupcakes...) and they charged $2.50 per cupcake.... so at 2:30 in the afternoon while both children were napping I realized I was just going to have to make the dang things myself. So I made them from scratch, the tasted a tad different- but they were decent looking so it ended well. It took me 3 hours and a hideously messy kitchen- but I did it!

More fun presents!!

Farewell to Summer 2009

So it is now September 3rd! I can't believe summer is pretty much over. I could have done a lot better with blogging- but I will do better in the fall (possibly...). I thought I would post a few pictures as a re-cap to our summer. Here are my brothers with Clara. Clara is the cocoon in all the blankets. We had our annual sleepover while my family was in town. Parker is missing from the picture because he flew back to TX for his internship at Huntsman.

Here is John and I with our Edie Bean. We blessed her July 5th. I am so bad at posting! If your interested in more extensive pictures of Eden's blessing they are on my parents blog. (The Grumpy and Mimi link).

Clara at Eleanor's house enjoying a little pool party. Unfortunately Eleanor's mom finished up her residency and got a job offer in Missouri. So sad : We'll there you have it. We obviously didn't have a whole lot going on!! I'm a little sad summer is over- but mostly excited because I absolutely LOVE Autumn.

Pics of our Girlies

I can't believe how big she has gotten! She is now four months old and it makes me sad how fast time has gone. Atleast I have cute pictures of her fat little face though :)
And of her cute little feet too....What a cutie! And so good at Mr. Potato Head creations. I just love her stance and expression in this picture!

Clara and Edie crashed out on the couch after church. I know I'm exhausted after keeping up with them for 3 hours of church.

The other day when Clara woke up from her nap she asked if she could help me make dinner. I told her if she went and used the potty and got dressed she could come help me cook. So she was gone for a few minutes and when she came back- this was her lovely get up. I about died laughing! I think the socks are my favorite part :) And yes- I'm ashamed to admit that my near 3 year old still has a binky.... (But only for naps and bedtime).

John was at the kitchen table studying and I was trying to give Clara a bath- so I put Edie in her Bumbo by John. It made for some cute pictures. And Thank you to Grandma Lucia for the beautiful flowers in the background!

John's College Graduation (MAY 2009)

It has been almost THREE months since my last post, but I am trying to do better and play catch up tonight. In May John graduated with Highest Honors from the University of Utah. I am SO proud of my husband. He is just amazing. He got home from his mission November 2004 and started College at the U in Jan 2005. He went full time straight through (not a single summer off!) college. During this time he got married, had two babies- and ALL the while he worked full time as an arterial line technician at IMC to support our little family. I am still baffled as to how he has managed to maintain such a high GPA. John walked on Friday May 8th and then he started his graduate program (PA school) on Monday May 11th. Despite this crazy schedule (He is also the Elders Quorum President in our ward) he still manages to spend time with the girls and I and even helps do the dishes - on occasion. What a sweeitie! A lot of people ask John why he would do PA school when he could do Medical School and it is quite simply because he wants to be present with our family, we think doctors are marvelous- but we just felt it was best for our family if he didn't have to be away quite so much. He has almost completed his first semester of PA school and is loving it. For those of you who aren't too familar with what a PA is exactly- it is like a Doctor but different (as in less prestige & less money!). PA school is 7 semesters long instead of 8 with med school, but there is NO residency- he can specialize in different fields of medicine. He will have rights to prescribe and they can even run their own clinics etc.. We are so thrilled he got in here, the U is one of the top 5 PA schools in the nation. They took 40 students this year out of over 900 applicants so it was quite competitive. I am proud to say that John was a top 5 pick for PA school. GO JOHNNY GO!!

Life with Two

The past 5 weeks with Edie have flown by! Now that we have adjusted we are enjoying have two children very much! Edie is an absolute cuddle bug, which I love, since Clara has never been interested in snuggling with me. She isn't the best sleeper, but I am enjoying every minute of her anyway. She has started to improve some since I have implemented "The Baby Whisperer" routine with her. Clara is VERY sweet to Edie and loves to comfort her and asks to hold her constantly. Here are a few pictures of Edie over the past few weeks:

Here I am with both girls- I realize I look drunk. Just hammered from a lack of sleep I assure you!




This is Edie at 4 days old. I love how chubby her little face looks hanging over my arm.



This is Edie at 2 weeks old. Her eyes are still very blue. In fact John thinks they are getting lighter- so who knows, maybe we'll have two blue eyed children? Who would've thought!

And here is my most recent picture of our sweetie Edie. She is 5 weeks 1 day old here. As you can see she is filling out nicely :)

Eden

So I realize that it has been almost three weeks since I updated on our new baby. Her name is Eden Jocelyn Lelis. She goes by "Edie" (Ee Dee). Her middle name Jocelyn is after John's grandma. We had a very very hard time naming this baby, it was about ten minutes before we checked out of the hospital that we finally decided on it. We've both had a few moments of doubt- but in the end it was what fit her best so we have decided to stick with it. She is an absolute sweetheart and we have been enjoying her thoroughly. I am of course exhausted but I am loving having a new baby again. Clara has adjusted surprisingly well, (our dog on the other hand has had a harder time!) and we are all starting to get int0 a routine again too.

Our Sweet Baby Girl Has Arrived

On March 17 @ 6:10 a.m. our new sweet pea arrived.

Weight : 7 lbs 8 oz!! (yes almost TWO pounds bigger than Clara!)

Height : 19 inches

We have yet to decide on a name.... stay tuned for more details to follow!

When will this end??

I went to my midwife yesterday and discovered that I am nearly 5 cm dilated and 90% effaced. Oh how I wish these numbers would mean my baby is coming quickly!! I am getting increasingly large and uncomfortable. I am set up for an induction March 19 @ 5:00 a.m. at IMC. I pray I don't actually carry to 41 weeks! I am sure hoping this baby decides to make an earlier appearance!

Dinosaur Museum

On Wednesday I met my good friend Lindsey down at Thanksgiving Point so we could take our kids to the Dinosaur Museum. Clara is fascinated by anything "scary" so we had a great afternoon. Mason and Clara had a blast. Clara keeps imitating dinosaurs and asking when we can go back and "pet them".

Here we have Nichole and I both pregnant. Nichole is having a little boy sometime the end of June (I believe she is 24 weeks in the photo). We had a lovely afternoon out. We went to Trio where I ate the Garlic Chicken pizza. This pizza is supposedly known for inducing labor. Now I am no fool and I know that most of this is just old wives tales, but I was just so uncomfortable that I didn't care! We also got a pedicure afterwards (more myths about starting labor). Unfortunately I am still sitting here pregnant a week later...

BEACHED WHALE

Here I am with my big baby belly at 38 weeks pregnant. I have already carried this little baby longer than I carried Clara! I am really hoping to go soon. My house is clean, my bag is packed, I have washed all the little baby clothes... I'm beginning to run out of things to do! We are still working on a baby name, so if any of you have any suggestions of a name that works with Lelis (quite a feat- trust me) and that isn't too terribly common - feel free to send them our way!