New Pictures

I don't have time to write, but thought that I would post new pictures of the family!!!

Our crazy wonderful life - Longest Post EVER!

It is amazing that I have a spare second to finally do an update. I wish I had more time to post pictures and stories about our fun, crazy life. Right now my mother-in-law is at the park with Ella and both babies are asleep!!! (That's funny - about 2 seconds after writing this Elysee woke up, so now she's on my lap)

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be the mom to some amazing children. I have been having a difficult time keeping my sanity, but at the same time I wouldn't change it. The kids are all so different. I just keep telling myself that they are only this age once and as hard as it is, I will miss it. This is where my little family is right now.

Ella just turned 18 months and she is the smartest kid I know. She is so curious about everything and soaks up information like a sponge. At her check up she was in the 3rd percentile for weight and in the 85th percentile for height. She loves her baby brother and sister. She calls Dean "Dee" and Elysee "A". For the most part she is very gentle with them and wants to give them lots of hugs and kisses - with the exception of last week when she had it out for Dean and kept trying to smack him in the face! She is our little dare devil. She loves slides; the bigger the slide the better. It doesn't matter if it's at a play ground or in the water. She also loves books. We usually read at least 10 books a day. She has her favorites and especially loves her books that I made on shutterfly, because there are pictures of family. Ella is our dancing queen. As soon as she hears music she is ready to dance. She knows how to turn on the radio and knows where the volume button is. Ella likes to be outside and she's a little water bug. She likes to go to the pool in Lehi with Nona Eisenhart and likes to go on walks with Grandma Briggs. Coloring in her coloring book is a fun inside activity, although Ella would rather color on the furniture and on the cupboards (this happened a couple of weeks ago). She is really picky about what she eats, except when it comes to snow cones and Slurpee's - she'll take any flavor. Her favorite thing to eat is ramen noodles, which she calls "newnews". She is a ball of energy and a little actress. She makes us laugh everyday.

Dean is now 4 weeks old. His favorite thing to do is eat. If he could have it his way he would be eating all day. He looks like a mini version of John. He cries a lot because he has acid reflux! He is a total mama's boy and doesn't like to be alone. Dean loves to be held and he likes to be outside. He is a handsome little guy. He is getting bigger everyday. He loves to look right into your eyes and give a little grin to show off his dimple just like his daddy. He doesn't like to sleep at night and loves to keep mommy awake. I just love that little guy.

Elysee is also 4 weeks old. She loves to be held and cuddled. She is generally good natured, except from the hours of 6:00-9:00 when she has colic. Elysee has big beautiful eyes that are mesmerizing. She looks like a little angel and is starting to get little chubby cherub cheeks. Both Ely and Dean like car rides. Ely is sleeping pretty well at night. She is truly a special gift from God.

John is now 30 years old. He is currently working for Wells Fargo Investments. We have been married for 4 years. I couldn't have asked for a better guy. He is absolutely amazing. He is my saving grace. He is the most hands on dad I know. He works the graveyard shift at work so he can be home as much as possible. He is always playing with Ella. In fact today while I was feeding the babies and watching t.v. I had to push the mute button just so I could hear him read a story to Ella. The kids are so lucky to have such a wonderful father. John has been interviewing with the FBI for the past few months. He had his final interview in Arizona this week. We will find out next week if he got the job or not. John is always staying busy. Not only is he working at Wells Fargo, he is also working for Special Olympics (which he has done since we met) and he also has an EBay business which keeps him in the basement quite a bit when he is home. John is an amazing cook and is always cooking delicious meals. He is also really good at doing laundry. In fact I don't know the last time I cooked a nice meal or did laundry (I'm starting to sound like a dead beat mom!) I love John more than anything in this world and I don't know what I would ever do with out him.

Then there's me, Kelli. I am now 27 years old. I quit my job as a school teacher to be a stay at home mom. I have a whole new respect for stay at home moms. Teaching was much easier than staying home. I'm not up to a whole lot lately. I am a human milk dispenser and that takes up most of my day. I love to read books and sing songs with Ella. I have a little home business that I have had to put on the back burner for a while, but I am wanting to get back into it to make some extra money. I sell Scentsy Wickless Candles. I am absolutely obsessed with them. So if any of you would like one, or want to host a party, you know who to call! (*WINK WINK*) Being a mom is the greatest job in the whole world. Some of my favorite things about being a mom are: having your child give you a big messy hug and kiss, seeing your child's eyes light up when they have just discovered something, being able to make up dumb songs and having your kids love it, the sound of babies eating while breastfeeding them, staring into your babies eyes and you know they know you, watching your kids sleep.

There are so many more things that I could write, but I have got to get some other things done. I started writing this at 2:30, and with all of the events of the day, it is now 11:00. I just wanted to quickly say thank you to all of you who have come to help out with the babies, Ella or even a meal. Thank you! Mom (Sue and Donnalee) - thank you for seeing how truly crazy it is and helping as much as possible. I love you!

Fair Fun

Last night we were able to go to the Utah State Fair with my mom and dad. We had a lot of fun and even ran into a few people that we knew. I must say my favorite thing about the fair is "people watching". All you have to do is pick a bench and look at all of the strange people who attend the fair. Then it hits you... who is sitting on a bench right now looking at me?

Ella had so much fun! She absolutely LOVES animals. She wanted to pet all of the animals. We saw cows, pigeons, rabbits, goats, sheep, and lots of other fun things.

It makes me laugh when we all go out, because we look like a train going by. Dean and Elysee slept for most of the adventure.

Of course we couldn't resist getting a "bucket of fries". Ella decided that the bucket made a beautiful hat. We sure had a lot of fun and can't wait until next years fair!