Packing!

Emme and Elijah have been surprisingly helpful while I have been packing. Elijah wants to pack everything, "to make sure that it all gets to the new house and nothing gets lost." (this is one time when his OCD is actually a good thing) And Emme is very good at packing herself into every box that I put together. She also likes to walk around the house picking up random things and dropping them in any open box she can find. So, I am sure there will be alot of sorting to be done at the new place.

Oops!

So after I spent over an hour making all of these posts I realized that I had posted them in the wrong order. So please scroll down four posts and read them all from the bottom up. Sorry, I am dumb.

Jingle Bells

Lily found a cute stable where Elijah got to ride a pony named Jingle Bells. Elijah had a blast! He was so excited the whole time. He kept saying that he was a Woody Cowboy. The only thing he had a small problem with, was that he had to wear a helmet instead of a cowboy hat. But he decided very quickly that it was not worth not riding the pony over.

Jersey Shore

On Wednesday we went to the Jersey Shore. Thankfully Lily asked around and found a beach that the Greasers, Guidos and Juicers usually avoid. LOL The kids had a great time in the water and in the sand. Emme LOVED the sand so much, she even ate some. YUMMY! There were tons and tons of shells on the beach, and Elijah went around collecting all of the "really big, awesome, not broken ones." The guys spent their time swimming in the deeper water and riding the waves into shore. This resulted in lots and lots of shells in their pockets and scrapes on their shins and feet. It was perfect weather for the beach, and everyone had a great time.

New York

On Tuesday, Brian played tour guide and took Dustin, Andrew and I to New York for the day. Lily graciously volunteered to watch the kids for us. We got to visit Times Square, which was very busy and overwhelming. We also found a very cool fountain (in temperature as well as in appearance) where we were able to soak and rest our tired feet. We also got to see Trinity Church, Wall Street, Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. We were able to go to the site of the Twin Towers, and we walked through the museum/memorial. We also walked through Little Italy and Chinatown. Thanks Brian for showing us an awesome time in New York!

New Jersey

This past week we were able to go and spend a week in New Jersey visiting Nana and Pop-pop Coffman. Lily and Brian took us to see and do some really fun things, so I am going to make several posts with pictures from different parts of our visit. This post is pictures of Nana and Pop-pop with the grandkids. Elijah found the infamous pop-guns in the basement, and after that no one was safe from getting shot. ELijah had a great time being chased and shot by Pop-pop.

Fun With Dress-Up

Emme has gotten to the age where playing dress-up has become an everyday occurrence. Emme loves hats, shoes, pretty dresses and anything that is shiny or sparkly.

Sweet Moments

Emme called Elijah by his name yesterday! She calls him Eli-ah. It was so cute to hear her little voice trying to really talk to her big brother. I am so grateful that my kids get along. I feel like you can truly tell that they love each other and want to make the other one happy, most of the time. Now that Emme is getting older, we have had to start disciplining her occassionally. The main thing that she gets in trouble for is biting. When Elijah is being too rough with her, or she feels like he is not being nice, she will bite him (hard) on his arms or legs (sometimes his butt). Until recently when I got after her she didn't seem to care about or understand what I was saying to her, or why Elijah was upset. But the other day, she bit Elijah and he started crying. I made her stand up and I explained to her why Elijah was sad and then I told her to hug her brother. She teared up and gave him the biggest hug I have ever seen. Then she talked very quietly to him like she was trying to soothe him. Elijah hugged her back and told her "I love you Emme Ems, but you can't bite me. It hurts real bad." It was very precious. Sweet moments like these help make the bad days seem not so bad. They make me remember that even when my kids have grouchy days, that it just a moment (or phase) and that it will pass.

Tuggle Bear

Elijah has a bear from the Build-A-Bear store, that he named Tuggle Bear. The other day, we were at the mall and we went into the Build-A-Bear store. They have a new version of the "Tuggle Bear," that Elijah and I were talking about getting for Emme. After we walked away from the bin with the "Tuggle Bears" in it, a lady ran over and grabbed one. Apparently she had heard us talking about the bear, because she took it over to her son and husband and said "I think we should get this bear, it is called a Tuggle Bear and it is very soft and machine washable." She did end up buying the bear, and we watched them stuff it for them. When it was all stuffed, she handed the bear to her son and said "here is your Tuggle Bear, be nice to Tuggle Bear and love him very much." Awesome! There is another little boy out there now, who will be calling his bear Tuggle Bear. Too funny! (Tuggle Bear is wearing one of Emme's shirts and some of her old booties because after seeing all of the animals dressed up at the store, Elijah said he didn't want his Tuggle Bear to be naked. It was immodest! What a goof!) (Also Emme has decided that she has to be wearing her jelly shoes and her yellow head band at all times. She only takes them off for baths and for bed.)

Feeding the Geese

The kids and I went to the park today to feed the geese. Elijah did a great job feeding them. He even got bit by one goose, and he wasn't even phased. He just said "wow, that goose is very hungry."

Embry Elizabeth at One Year Old

Emme had her one year doctor appointment today. She now weighs 16lbs 4oz which puts her in the 1st percentile (sad I know) Emme is 28 1/4in tall (21st percentile) And her head is 45cm which puts her in the 46th percentile (she is kind of like an orange and a toothpick!)

E-L-I

Elijah has known his whole alphabet for awhile now, but recently he has wanted to learn how to write his letters. Since he already knew how to spell his name, we learned how to write E-L-I first. After just a few tries, he is a pro. E-L-I is our big and very smart man!