And Then There Was One...

Poor Claire...now that school has started she sure is missing her siblings! She keeps standing at the stairs yelling out "Ali...Cole...Josh...Boys..."  She is so cute! Her new favorite thing is to climb up on the kitchen table.  She is full of mischief lately - constantly unloading the pantry, the lazy susan, any and all cupboards or the kids art boxes.  She could not be sweeter though - she is the best snuggler ever - she is growing up so fast!

Kindergarten

Yesterday was Alaria's first day of Kindergarten.  She has been counting down since she graduated preschool last spring, and it did not disappoint! She was in heaven to find out that she was in Mrs. Lamb's class!  She is also in the same class as Sophie Riggs, Kennedi Robinson, Garret Rasmusson, Sicily Pedler, Vivia Fitch, Linus Harker, Tate Pizzi and Linkin Jeide!

 It feels so surreal to have all three of these cuties in school now! They are so excited that they all get to walk home together!

Yesterday I told Alaria since it was her last day before school started, I wanted to make her a special lunch. I told her she could pick anything she wanted and I would get it for her.  She thought for a minute and responded with "you know that pink medicine you get at smith's? (Amoxicillin) I really want that. It is so yummy!"  After a good laugh, I made her tomato soup!

Back to School

School started on August 21st this year. Josh is in the first grade and his teacher is Miss Richards. She is super nice and he is happy to be in her class. It is a long day for him now that he's at school all day, but he is doing great - loving extra recesses and eating lunch at school! 

 Cole is in the 3rd grade and was thrilled to find out Mr. Morley was his teacher. He is reading "Holes" right now. He also got 100% on his first pre-spelling test today which means he doesn't have to do any spelling homework for the week. Cole and Josh walk to school together in the morning and will pick up Alaria after kindergarten and all three of them will walk home together. They are all so big and we are so very proud of each one of them!

Such a Blessing

Yesterday was Claire's Blessing Day.  She looked beautiful and was such a good baby.  She received a beautiful blessing by her Dad.  We had a great day! Thank you to all who were able to come out and be with us.  We sure love little Claire, she is a wonderful blessing to our family.



She was blessed in the same blanket that I was blessed in as a baby



It's great to have a big sister to help you get ready!





Grandma and Grandpa Gamber and Uncle Jerry



Grandma and Grandpa Gillespie



Grandma and Grandpa Bellows

The Gillespie Fam

Re-Naming Party

Do you remember when we announced 5 weeks ago that we had a baby girl named Mariella that was 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19” long?

Well, most of that information was correct...

We realized that we got the name wrong. We love that name, but after spending some time with her, we’ve come to the realization that it just isn’t her name.

We are happy to announce that she is
Claire Christine Gillespie!

                   We had a little "re-naming party" last night to help make it an easier transition for the kids. 

We are all very excited about Claire!



Alaria's 4th Birthday

Alaria turned 4 on Tuesday!  She's been talking about her birthday for months (literally) and I wanted to make it a special day for her, especially with a brand new baby in the house. 

Grandma was here, Kris took the day off work, and we pulled Cole out of school.

All ready to head out for a fun day!

Alaria has been asking FOREVER to get her ears pierced, so I decided to suprise her and we started the day by going to the mall and getting them done!  She was SO excited and did so good!

Checking them out in the mirror

Showing off the new earrings!

Next we headed to lunch at Cafe Rio.

Then we went to Monkey Island and the kids had a blast!

Mariella pretty much just slept through it all (it was a good first outing for her!)

Then we headed to Emmett and Ethel's for ice cream!

The kids always get to pick what they want for their birthday dinner.  This year Ali picked chili which made us laugh so hard...because she doesn't really like chili.  But she insisted.

So we had a chili dinner

And of course princess cake!

She also got spoiled rotten with great gifts!

Happy Birthday Alaria!  We can't believe you are already 4!

Alaria is such a sweet and happy girl! She sure is a girly girl - she loves to get her hair curled and her nails painted! She loves shoes, purses, jewelry, make up, dolls, barbies, princesses, and singing and dancing! She is such a good helper and is always right at my side. 

We love you! 

Having Too Much Fun!

One Week Old

My friend came to visit Mariella last week.  She reminded me that I haven't been good at taking pictures

(I get so frustrated because the camera just can't capture the actual cuteness!) so we took some one week photos.  Thanks for making me get my camera out, Shelley!

First time in the swing

The Arrival

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday the 7th.  When Kris came home on Friday (the 4th), I was super uncomfortable and so anxious about having the baby and going into labor. I suddenly didn't feel ready and kept telling him that.  I was having a bad pain in my side, so went upstairs to lay down for a minute.  About ten minutes later my water broke!  My mom was coming up the following morning so she could be here to watch the kids.  So we called the Hortons, who graciously invited the kids to come and sleep over.  We checked into Timp Hospital at 6:30 p.m.  They were extremely busy and said we were getting one of the last two labor rooms they had available.  I was dialated to a 3 when we got there, but my contractions were already about 3 minutes apart.  We got all settled in and I got my epidural, and awhile later when they checked me again, I was still at a 3. I was preparing for a long night.  They said they would wait one more hour and if I wasn't progressing they would start me on Pitocin.  An hour later I was at a 6 and thirty minutes later I was at a 9 and about ready to push!  My doctor had 4 patients at that hospital at that time, and right as we were about to get started, a nurse ran in and said another baby's head was showing.  He ran over there and looked, then ran back and said mine was coming first.  I pushed through two contractions, and my perfect, tiny, sweet girl was out!  She was born at 10:39 p.m.  Mariella was the first baby born of that round of laboring mothers and within one hour and one minute of her birth, 6 babies had been born! It was such a crazy night!

Our first meeting

6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches (my smallest baby)

First bath at the hospital

So happy she's here!

Cole

Joshua

Alaria - finally a big sister!

First night at home, so comfy and cozy

First bath at home

I love this picture with Ali in the background just watching the bath.
The kids love her so much and have adjusted really well.  They are such great helpers!