8 Months!

 Happy 8 Month Birthday Evelyn!

Skeeter Cosmo Coffman

Skeeter has been with us for about a month now. He has been a very fun addition to the family. He is a very easy going puppy and very well behaved. He is funny, if he doesn't know what to do or if he is going to be naughty he just sits down and stares at you. It is crazy! I have never had a dog do that before. The kids love him and he loves the kids. Here are my favorite pictures of Skeeter so far:

Happy 7 Month Birthday!

Happy 7 month birthday...

to our spunky, energetic,

 sneaky, goofball of a baby!

You are beautiful! 

Kid Pictures From Iowa

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Captain America, Merida, Mickey Mouse and Minnie

Happy 6 Month Birthday Evelyn

Happy 6 Month Birthday Miss Evelyn Marie!

Evelyn is a very happy little baby. She has two full teeth and is working on a few others. Evelyn loves to giggle and she has quite a bit to say about everything.  

She is definitely a youngest child and has mastered her scream, she uses it quite often to try to get her brother and sister in trouble.

Evelyn is still working on crawling. She has mastered the army crawl and uses it to follow her mama all over the house.

Elijah is still by far her favorite person. She always has a smile for him. She already has him wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is fuss, and he will pick her up and take her anywhere that she wants to go. 

8 Years!

You are my favorite part of everyday. Thanks for " just bein' " with me for the past eight years. I have loved every minute! 

Evelyn Marie is 5 Months Old!

Happy 5 month birthday to my Pretty, Pretty Princess!

Evelyn is a very happy and content baby. She is getting more and more alright with entertaining herself, or with letting brothers and sister play with her instead of always just wanting mommy.

She has gotten really good at getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. I think that it will only be a matter of a week or two before she is crawling. We love our little Evelyn!

Mom Fail

This year we sent Elijah to a school out of our district, and because of that he does not get busing service. Yesterday and today I have been trying to figure out how to work the schedule to get Elijah to school and then Emme home in time to catch the bus. 

At Elijah's school they don't have a stopping drop off zone for parents. You have to park on the street and walk a good bit, or you can pull up and just drop them off. Either way the kids cross the street in a cross walk with a guard and then they cross through the semi circle drop off lane for the busses. 

With the other three kids in the car Elijah said I could just drop him off today and not walk him to his line. Confident little man! So I was like sweet, this will speed things up! 

I go over with him twice what he will need to do and where he will need to go once he leaves the car. Again he says "got it". 

I pull up he gets out and I watch him cross the two cross walks and then freeze. He starts looking around confused. I pull over into a no park zone and jump out. Across two streets I start dancing and waving my arms to get his attention. He notices me and follows my waves to the sidewalk and starts walking again. I start to get in the car and realize he is spinning in circles by the next bit of sidewalk not sure where to go. I jump out again and start waiving him on. Finally after a huge scene, by me, he makes it to the first grade lines. Relieved I turn around to head back to my illegally parked car and realize all of the crossing guards and parents are staring and smiling at me. Palm to face! Not cool Liz, not cool. Hopefully Elijah was not too upset, and tomorrow has to go more smoothly. Right!?  I am glad Elijah isn't old enough to be embarrassed by me yet. 

First Day of School

Today was Elijah's first day as a first grader! He was so excited and not nervous at all about going to school. Elijah LOVES school and he loves learning. Plus, he gets a lift top desk this year! "Awesome!"

Emme started 4K today. She sang her "awesome, excited 4K song" that she wrote herself, all the way to school. She was the first kid in her class line, and she looked a little unsure until the teacher asked her to hold the class sign. Emme looked at the teacher, took the sign and said "yes, I love to help and have jobs." "Best day ever!" She is going to do very in well in 4K!

Teeth!

Evelyn has her first two teeth! She is growing up and getting ready for solid food in a few months.

Words of Wisdom From a 4 Year Old

 Everyday Emme tells me whether or not she has had a bad day or a good day. Sometimes she says "this has not been a very good day for me" and sometimes she says "this has been the best day ever!" I love this! She lives completely in the moment. Even when something bad has happened to her or something made her sad, she still has hope that the very next moment might make her day amazingly great.
I have never been able to think like that. If I am sad or angry or unhappy, I have a much more difficult time than Emme does, coming out of my funk. The last few months have been some of the most trying times that I have had and I have tried to follow Emme's lead and not dwell on the negatives. 

When Gideon started having seizures, it was the first time in my life that I had been truly afraid. It was "a not very good day for me." But at the same time, I think it was the closest that I had ever felt to my Heavenly Father. I realized how much He loves Gideon and I knew that no matter what happened Gideon would be taken care of.
 A few weeks later little Evelyn joined our family and it was very refreshing to feel so much joy. Just pure sweet joy and awe at the little miracle that Dustin and I had created and the sweet spirit that she is. Evelyn was the distraction we all needed. She has been the happiness and calm that I especially needed. Evelyn has been one of my "best days ever!"
In May, Dustin started to get severe allergic reactions that lasted for several weeks. The hives and swelling got severe enough that there were several visits to Urgent Care and a visit to the Emergency room. His poor face and lips were so swollen they made the "funny" allergic reactions in movies look like no big deal. And even though we joked about all of the things that could be causing the hives, we were both pretty worried. Dustin has never really been sick before and he does a very good job at remaining calm in stressful situations. But I could tell when he got uncomfortable enough that he started to get truly concerned, and that scared me. What would I do without him? "Not the best day." But finally after several weeks the hives got under control and although he does still carry around a EpiPen, I feel comfortable threatening that I will stab him with it as a weapon instead of actually thinking about having to use it on him for medical reasons.
Father's Day was also Evelyn's blessing day. I love baby blessings! They are my favorite. Hearing Dustin bless our little babies with such wonderful things and feeling so hopeful for their futures, and then seeing such strong men stand around them in a big circle of love...it is awesome. "Best day ever."
We have been able to start weaning Gideon off of his anti-seizure medicine. The lower his dosage gets the more we see our Giderman. "Best day ever!" He is so happy. I love being able to look in his eyes and see Gideon's light again. He gets more and more focused everyday. Seeing how much he has changed these last few weeks has made me less concerned about the seizures coming back, and more worried about possibly seeing those parts of Gideon go away again. Those thoughts can make for some "not best days." I tell myself that Gideon will be fine. I feel comforted that no matter what happens Gideon will be exactly who he is supposed to be. 
And now we are moving to Iowa! We are leaving our home for the last five years. We are leaving the very comfortable little cocoon we have made here. I do not enjoy change. I hate meeting new people! :) "Not a very good day." But we are moving to Iowa! We are starting a new chapter. We will have new adventures and we will make new friends (ugh). We will get to live in the middle of a corn field (literally.) We will make a new comfortable little cocoon and we will make the new place we live our home. And we will be happy, after all there is a Hobby Lobby, Target and Costco nearby. We are looking forward to lots of new "best day evers."
I love Emme. She has a glowing inner happiness that I am so grateful she is willing to share with me. I truly think that she will cause every single one of my gray hairs. But jeez, it will be fun getting them with her. Emme will always make sure that the people around her have a "best day ever!"

Happy 4 Months Evelyn Marie

Happy 4 Months Evelyn Marie!

Evelyn always has a smile to give! 

Now that she can roll over and scoot around a bit she is a lot of fun to play with

She does think that she can sit by herself. Which is hilarious because she can only balance for about 2 seconds before she face plants, but those 2 seconds are the best ever for her!

New Zoo Fun

We needed a break from packing, so we spent the morning at the zoo. 

We fed the giraffes!

Sat on turkeys

Enjoyed the ride 

Saw peacocks and baby peacocks

Rode the little train around the zoo. (Gideon doesn't look it, but he was super excited!)

Elijah LOVED the penguins. They are his favorite animal!

Embry Elizabeth is 4 Years old!

Happy birthday to our silly, stubborn, opinionated, loud, goofy, energetic, compassionate, loving, caring, thoughtful and helpful little girl. Our lives wouldn't be nearly as interesting without you. Love you Emmers! And even with all of you protests, you will always be our baby.  

Milwaukee With Uncle Andrew

Uncle Andrew was in Milwaukee for work, so we went down and spent the day with him. 

We went to the Milwaukee Museum where there were cool Mammoths and dinosaurs. 

There was a butterfly room. Andrew was very determined to get on to land on him. 

As was Gideon. He LOVED the butterflies. 

He even stood still enough long enough to hold a pretty butterfly. 

The boys liked the bug exhibit. 

We had a great time in Milwaukee. And as always it was great to see Uncle Andrew.