Our Flower Garden

ELijahs first time playing in the sprinkler!

Our Flower Garden in the front of our apartment

Snap Dragon!

Walk Walk Walk!

Here is a video of Elijah walking...it was taken right after he first started. He is now walking all over the place and usually walks, not really crawling anymore unless he needs to chase his older cousins!

Happy 3rd Anniversary David!

Our First Anniversary

Our Second Anniversary

Almost our third anniversary

Sweet Victory!

David, Elijah and I spent the last two weekends out in Hasting at family camp. During one of the last services we sang Victory in Jesus and it really touched my heart. Its an older song but it sure is powerful. Here are the lyrics:

I HEARD AN OLD,
OLD STORY
HOW A SAVIOUR CAME
FROM GLORY
HOW HE GAVE HIS LIFE
ON CALVARY
TO SAVE SOMEONE LIKE ME

I HEARD ABOUT
HIS GROANING,
OF HIS PRECIOUS BLOOD'S
ATONING
THEN I REPENTED
OF MY SIN
AND WON THE VICTORY

OH, VICTORY IN JESUS,
MY SAVIOUR FOREVER
HE SOUGHT ME
AND HE BOUGHT ME
WITH HIS REDEEMING BLOOD

HE LOVED ME
ERE I KNEW HIM
AND ALL MY LOVE
IS DUE HIM
HE PLUNGED ME TO VICTORY
BENEATH THE
CLEANSING FLOOD

I HEARD ABOUT HIS
HEALING,
OF HIS CLEANSING POW'R
REVEALING
HOW HE MADE THE LAME
TO WALK AGAIN
AND CAUSED THE
BLIND TO SEE

AND THEN I CRIED
"DEAR JESUS,
COME AND HEAL
MY BROKEN SPIRIT"
AND SOMEHOW JESUS
CAME AND BROUGHT
TO ME THE VICTORY

OH, VICTORY IN JESUS,
MY SAVIOUR FOREVER

A little behind!

So its been a while since I last blogged so I thought I better do some updating on here! We have been quite busy at the Coffey household experiencing new things. Elijah and I go to the library every week and get new books. He loves to listen to them. Eli is enrolled in the summer reading program and this week he finished the first level and got a cute little pirate ducky (He picked it out of the bin!)

.

We also went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago and Elijah LOVED looking at all the animals. I don't think he quite understands the whole animal thing but he loved looking at everything.

We also went camping for the first time and stayed in our tent. It fits our queen size air mattress and Elijah's pack and play perfectly in it with a little extra room to spare.

Elijah also had his first trip to Family Camp out at Hastings Winding Creek Campground. That was a lot of fun and he got to play a lot with his Coffey Cousin's! (Xavier learned to ride his bike with out training wheels!) Elijah has also accomplished something new...taking steps! He has taken five at the most during a try! He is getting there. Soon he will be walking. One of his favorite things to do is once he gets up to the standing position is clap...another new thing he learned... he does it every time, its so cute! David has been picking black raspberries, and tonight he is picking some blueberries..YUM!

We have taken Elijah down to the farmers marker in Holland on Saturdays and Wednesdays and that is a lot of fun. He loves looking at everything and I enjoy the fresh cut flowers for my kitchen counter. :)

Kids

Wonderful Children!

Elijah, Colton, Lincoln, and Nyla

Elijah Russell 9 months old

Best Friends and Cousins, Nyla and Colton

Cousins Nyla and Elijah

Sibblings

Nyla Marie 2 years old

Mommy's Peanut

Colton Robert 19 months old

My Little Man

End of May

- Memorial Day Weekend - Lincoln Richard Deppe

Memorial weekend was a lot of fun, David Elijah and I all went up north with my family and Uncle Bob and his family. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy myself for a change. Things had gotten to be so busy I never was able to relax and enjoy myself and that weekend I did. So it was wonderful of course! We hung out in the cabin (didn't have a single bon-fire or play games outside - so unusual), we walked to Bitely and went to the Up North Store and some garage sales, and then of course had to make the trip to Baldwin for Jone's Homemade Ice Cream! I let Elijah had just a little lick and he liked it but no more until he is 1 year old!

The Coffeys in front of the Cabin

Elijahs first taste of ice cream

A tradition at the cabin is to give the babies a bath in the big pans... Elijahs turn!

Playing in the kitchen/dinning room/ living room

Chelsea and I goofing off at the Cabin. We were sitting in the big wash pans that we use for the babies.

Then ...

Lincoln Richard Deppe was born at 9:32 am at Zeeland Community Hospital via c-section. He weighed in at 6 lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches long. He has so much dark hair on his little head. Elijah loves looking at Lincoln, He kept laughing and giggling and wanted to touch him! Nyla is a great big sister and got to hold Lincoln and she even got to watch him get his very first bath. The other day I asked her if she wanted a brother or a sister and she said brother and I asked her what she wanted to name him and she said Cheese. But they went with Lincoln Richard and he is a cutie!Look at all that hair

Mommy and Lincoln

Elijah Loves his Little Cousin

Aunt Kristina and Lincoln

So little!

So much in May

This month we have been quite busy. We have celebrated my first mothers day, and a trip to Binder Park Zoo, Elijah's first hair cut and beautiful weather to play outside with! Here is a collection of pictures from the month of May. Enjoy!

Elijah by the turtle at Binder Park Zoo

Elijah's First Train Ride (at the zoo)
He loved moving and watching things go by, which is why his head
is turned in every picture I took while on the train!

A Family shot while riding the train

Daddy and Elijah
Elijah loved to look at the giraffes, especially when they were up close!
He was so excited to watch and check things out.

Growing up!
I bought a new push walker toy at a garage sale for a buck and Elijah loves it!
He can walk across our living room while pushing it with out falling over.

Play Time Outside
Elijah is just like his Daddy, He is always moving...here daddy is flying him
through the air and he loves it as you can tell by his expression!

As you can tell, Elijah is growing up fast, he is 8 months old already. He is a very happy boy and love playing with mommy and daddy and all his cousins.

SO BIG!
Elijah is now starting to stand...well kind of...
We hold him up and then let him go. The longest he has stood up
was about 8 seconds but hey its a start!

Mommy and Elijah

Me and my 'E' man

Daddy and Elijah

David and his very first home made rhubarb pie

A before shot of Elijah's hair...
This picture was taken while he was playing in some water that we put in his high chair tray...
at first he didn't know what to think but he loved it!

The Final Cut
Mommy was so nervous about cutting Elijah's hair but it turned out really good. It was kind of hard to cut because he is constantly moving but we got the job done!

A busy Boy is a tired Boy
Elijah fell asleep in daddy's arms and it was to precious to pass up.

Good Night My Love!

The Price of Children

The Price of Children

Here is something absolutely positive for a change. You have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time you may have seen the rewards listed this way.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140.00 for a middle income family. Talk about price shock! That doesn't include the cost of post-secondary education.

But $160,140.00 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month,
* $171.08 a week.
* A mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is: don't have children if you want to be 'rich'.
Actually, it is just the opposite.

What do you get for your $160,140.00?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night..
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles and flying kites.
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140.00, you never have to grow up.
You get to:

* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs,
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:
* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watch Saturday morning cartoons,
* go to Disney movies, and
* wish on stars.

You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For a mere $24.24 a day, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat in history to witness the:

* First step,
* First word,
* First bra,
* First date,
* First time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits, so one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren & great-grandchildren!!!!!!!

It's the best investment you'll ever make!!!!!!!!!

Worth EVERY penny!

Garage Sale

It the time of the year when everyone is cleaning up and organizing their homes (including myself) trying to get rid of extra stuff they no longer need. This weekend we had a garage sale at my Grandparents house and we made a combined total of around 600 bucks which is pretty good. I got rid of some nick knacks and some baby clothes and made some money...then I also went garage sale-ing to buy more stuff...but just stuff for Elijah. I've found that almost all the garage sales that I have been to only sell girls clothes and that's not good for me! I did eventually find some boy stuff and got Elijah some pj's and clothes. My seal of the day is a little ride on toy that I got for a buck!