Ellary's First Few Days in Pictures...

We wanted to share some of our favorite pictures from the hospital and from Ellary's homecoming.

First day and a half at the hospital...

Ella was so awake and aware the first 16 hours following her birth (a possible result of having her natural) that her mommy and daddy didn't get much rest, but we didnt' mind!

Ella...asleep in her mommy's arms.

Ella at day two...
Wide awake and taking the world in. We wonder if her eyes will stick to the lighter shades of blue or if they will gradually turn to her sisters' or Oma's shades of brown.

Ella...Content in her sister Alyson's arms...

And content in Nana's arms too!

Lots of love to go around.

Last Day in the Hospital...

Time to take Ella home. It was a family affair...

These are the beautiful flowers Kris got for Ellary and me.

These are the beautiful dandelions Alyson and Kourtney picked especially for Ellary.

Finally Home...

Ellary was welcomed home with a large inflattable stork that said "It's a girl!" and Nana made a special sign with Ellary's date of birth and measurements on it.

Ellary is Here!

Ellary Evelyn Allee was born on Tuesday, April 22nd at 2:27 PM. She weighed 8 pounds and seven ounces and she measured 20 inches in length while her head, waist, and chest were all exactly 34 centimeters.

Here is a picture of her beautiful face.

She was much longer and bigger than our first two girls, here is a picture of her stretching out.

Here is our first picture of her!

Here is a picture of her first exam! You can see she was ready to eat right out of the gate.

Proud Mama only minutes after Ellary's birth.

Proud Papa with his newest little girl.

Our first FIVE MEMBER family picture.

Proud Nana with her Allee girls. It was great to have Nana here to watch Alyson and Kourtney and give Jessica and I some bonding time with our newest addition.

Alyson holding her baby sister for the first time.

Kourtney is so excited. She kept saying that she can't wait to change Ella's messy diapers. We shall see ...

This is my favorite picture (so far) of our little Ella. She PASSED her first test, a hearing test, and she looked so cute, cool, and relaxed doing it too.

Blog for Our Home

Hey everyone,

If you know of anyone moving to Bloomington, Indiana please tell them about our home for sale. Jessica and I are going to try to do a "FSBO" for a while and see if we have any luck. I just made a blog with pictures of our home on it. Take a look here (http://bloomingtonhomeforsale.blogspot.com/).

Kris asked that I, Jessica, share my perspective on how we chose Michigan State University as the start of Kris' career and how excited I am for the future. Here it goes...

The decision as to where our next move would lead us was difficult mostly because it is one of the biggest decisions we have ever had to make since we've been married-where to start Kris' career. We had many good options, which included Michigan State University and our alma mater Brigham Young University. The possibility of "returning to our roots" in Provo, Utah was incredibly appealing, and the thought of being close to family even more so. Still, we tried to keep an open mind to the possibilities of other universities and their individual appeals.

After Kris went to Michigan State University and met with the faculty there, it was evident that the decision had come down to two very good schools, MSU and BYU, each with their own uniqueness and beauty, and yet with certain respected commonalities that make good schools great. These commonalities included the incredible faculties made up of great professionals and people, and friends, and the idea that Kris could excel at either of these two universities.

As we prayed and contemplated our choices, we were given great advice. We took it all into consideration, but through it all knew that we, as a family, would be happy at either of these two places.

To those of you at MSU who have welcomed us so graciously, we thank you. Kris' reception and mine as well, was very warm, welcoming and encouraging. We look forward to associating with all of you in the Broad School of Business at MSU and are excited that Kris gets the chance to add to the special uniqueness of your program. Having the opportunity for Kris to visit the East Lansing area twice before accepting the offer, and me once, gave us the opportunity to see ourselves living and thriving there, tipping the scales in favor of MSU.

For all those at BYU, associates and friends, we say most sincerely, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Your perspectives on professional matters and ever so weaving spiritual elements have been very much appreciated. We look forward to continuing our life-long friendships.

We also look forward to adding our own special elements to the East Lansing area including sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, and allowing the positive influences of MSU and the people associated in the area to put it's own special stamp on our lives.

To all, our Heavenly Father, family, friends and associates, we love you and thank you for your support!

Spartans

We have decided to go to Michigan State University!



After much deliberation and prayer, Jessica and I decided that Michigan State provided the best opportunity for our family, my career, and our overall welfare. We are SO excited to get on with the next phase of our lives. However, before that begins, we still have to:

1. Have Ellary
2. Prep our House for Sale
3. Go to a couple Conferences and a Program (Kris' Stuff): CARE Brown-Bag at Notre Dame, the Midwest Summer Research Conference, and the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Doctoral Student Program
   
4. Defend a Dissertation
5. Move to East Lansing

It should be a pretty busy summer!

Michigan State University and the University of Oklahoma Now in the Running...

Kris received two more calls from universities he applied to requesting that he interview with them-Michigan State University and the University of Oklahoma. As a result, Kris spent the last several days in East Lansing visiting with faculty from the Broad School of Business Accounting Program. Things went well, and Kris received a great job offer. They even asked if I would like to visit that way we can make the best decision for our family. Kris and I have already made arrangements for Alyson and Kourtney to be taken care of so we can spend several days at the beginning of the week visiting MSU together and touring the area. Kris then leaves on Thursday to go to Norman, Oklahoma to interview with the faculty there.

Kris says that the landscape is a little flatter in East Lansing than he expected, but that there are tons of trees and he hears that the camping and hiking is great especially north of East Lansing. Property taxes are pretty high, but the schools are exceptional, and home prices are affordable.

So, for those of you who took the poll as to where Kris will get a job, thank you, but we have to add two more schools in the running-Michigan State University and the University of Oklahoma.

It's crazy that Kris flies out to Norman, Oklahoma just two weeks before baby Ellary is born. Wow-how exciting these last few months have been, and how exciting they will continue to be in the months to come.

Successful Surgery

I am happy to report that Alyson had a successful surgery this afternoon and she is recovering nicely. She was a big trooper through the whole thing, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt or she wasn't uncomfortable during or after. I am sure the picture below will give you a good idea of her feelings toward the whole thing. Jessica and I sure had our own troubles just watching the surgery. It is tough to explain to a four year old that she has an extra tooth and that it will likely cause her pain (and us orthodontia bills) in the future so she has to go through some pain now to not have those problems later. Luckily, Aly is a great girl and accepted it quickly.


If you didn't catch Jessica's first blog on this issue, Alyson had (past tense) an extra tooth in between her adult incisors. You can see it in the x-ray below the doctor let me borrow (I just had to show everyone this). As your looking at the picture below the teeth on the top (on the very outside nearest the black) are her current teeth and she actually lost the one that looks like it is the "tallest" a couple of weeks ago. The extra tooth is the one that caused the first one to fall out (we actually blamed Koco - sorry kiddo). It is round and pretty large and sits in between her two adult teeth (the big teeth you can barely see through her gums in the x-ray). I thought it was pretty cool, so I decided to help out the blog and give Jessica a rest. Hope you all share my sentiment!


If you want more information on Aly's condition take a look at this Wiki page: Hyperdontia. Alyson had what is called a mesiodens - which is what you will learn about on this second page (if you are really interested). The doctor told us that only 1 in a 1,000 kids have this, but according to the International Journal of Paediatric Dentistry it is actually more like 2 in 100 (and boys are twice as likely). FYI. Can you tell that I like to do research or what? I guess I chose the right field!!!