A First Time for Everything

These past two weeks have been filled with new experiences for our girls, mostly good and one not so good.

Kaley received dancing lessons, an outfit and ballet shoes for Christmas and has been really excited to try them out. Our little dancing queen started her first dance lessons last week and she has been having a great time. Kaley and her two friends are doing the class together with about 8 other girls and they are so cute! She came home today and told us all about the new game that she learned and showed us all about it. It is so fun to see her having fun with the other girls and doing something that she really enjoys.




For Chloe, her Christmas present was swimming lessons! She loves being in the water and playing around, so it was a good time to start them. I was the most nervous about her going under the water for the first time, but she has a great teacher and she was a great help. Unfortunately, Chloe didn't quite think it was fun at all going under water and let us know under no uncertain terms that she did not want to do *that* again. She did great floating on her back, kicking her legs, and she really liked it when she could jump off the side of the pool. Hopefully next week will be all smiles and giggles and no tears!


The last new thing that happened this week was the girls going to daycare. They officially start next week, for two days each week, but Monday was a practice day and it couldn't have been more of an opposite experience for the girls. Kaley was excited to go back and see all of her friends again and had a great day! Chloe on the other hand, had a bit of a harder time. To put it mildly, she was MAD, all day and was not a happy camper. Chloe doesn't deal well with change, as most 18 months old don't, but it takes a little longer for Chloe to get used to new places and new people. We love the daycare they are in and are excited to see what they learn and how they grow in the next couple of months.

Lots of changes for a new year and this is just January! Can't wait to see what else 2012 has to offer.

Armed and Dangerous

against germs that is - and I hope with all my might that I will be victorious!

We have been blessed with really good health for all of us, but especially our children. When Mark came home from the doctors this week with the case of strep throat, we just did our best to keep the girls a safe distance away from him until the 24 hours passed when he wasn't contagious anymore. He had antibiotics and was resting and I honestly didn't give it much thought to doing anything for the rest of us.

Yesterday after coming home from a play day at our friends home, both girls fell asleep right away, which for Kaley is a rare event. She woke up an hour later crying, with a fever of 102 and complaining that her throat hurt- oh oh! I didn't want to jump to conclusions yet, but I wanted to catch it early in case she caught what Mark had. I went downstairs to get the bottle of probiotics out of the refrigerator and to my dismay, found out that it had expired. So then, I went to find the Tylenol and found that the four bottles of Infant Tylenol and the one bottle of Children's Tylenol had also expired. I gave Kaley some juice and a cool washcloth and headed out to the store.

It was on the ride to the store that it dawned on me that not only did the girls and I need to be taking probiotics, but especially Mark since he was on antibiotics - duh! A short while later, and having spent a small fortune on stocking up on all of the important items, I returned home to try and get everyone back to good health.

I pulled out the ingredients for the Natural Disinfectant Spray to make up a new batch, gave everyone the their "medicine" and prayed that we would get out of this quickly.

This morning I was so relieved that Kaley woke up and was her happy bubbly self, no temperature and her throat felt fine:-) Whew! Just to make sure that we are free and clear, today's job will be disinfecting our home which is a good thing to do anyways. I wish I could say the Mark is just as good, but unfortunately he has to let time and his body do the work of getting better . It is hard to watch him go through this, but I'm glad he is taking it easy and hopefully will come out of this soon.

Good health to everyone this new year!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Today is the day 10 years ago that I married my best friend. What a great 10 years it has been. In those 10 years, we have moved to a different country, bought our first family pet, lived in 4 different homes, moved our church once, had two adorable children and survived the sleepless nights, loved, laughed, prayed and have gained much wisdom along the way.

May the next 10 be just as amazing as the first have been.
Happy Anniversary my love!

God has given me
Someone like you
To have and to hold
‘Till our lives are through
Our lives together
Was planned from the start
It was there in the making
When love touched our hearts

By M.S.Lowndes

Look What I Learned How To Do Today!

Count Your Blessings

It was one of "those mornings" after one of "those nights." There was tossing, turning, getting poked in the back by arms and legs, nursing every two hours, and a dog curled up where my feet were supposed to be. Needless to say, there wasn't much sleeping going on. So when the alarm clock went off, waking up was about the last thing I wanted to do.

Count your blessings...

It started off as a fun sleepover in daddy and mommy's room with Kaley in the bed and Chloe in the playpen. We've done them numerous times and it was something that I had come to really look forward to and enjoy. But it just wasn't happening as planned this time. I woke up more tired than when I went to bed and I had to drag myself out of bed and try to muster up some energy for our big day.

Count your blessings...

As we hurried through breakfast and got everyone out the door and into the car, a familiar feeling settled over me. The feeling of "lots to do, so hurry through this thing in order to get to the next thing" which leads to the next thing and the next thing and so on. As things get ticked off the list, it isn't a feeling of accomplishment that settles in, but rather an emptiness, of time wasted with those that I love dearly.

Count your blessings...

This morning as I sat in the drivers seat of my car, something different happened. Right on the heels of this empty feeling was a little voice saying "Count your blessings." As it always is with the little voice, there was peace, quiet, and a gentle nudging to try something different, to make a shift in my thinking. I had been viewing last nights events as tiring, stressful, not at all enjoyable and wishing there had been a different outcome in the morning.

Count your blessings...

When I began looking at the almost sleepless night as a blessing instead of a bother, a beautiful thing happened. I became thankful, appreciative and very blessed!

I am blessed that our girls are still little enough that a sleepover in mommy and daddy's bedroom is fun to do.

I am blessed that the arms and toes that make their way onto my side of the bed mean that our toddler is growing healthy and strong.

I am blessed that our baby is still nursing and it is a beautiful thing.

I am blessed that I can watch our girls drift peacefully in and out of their sleep cycles.

I am blessed to be the first one to watch their beautiful faces greet the morning with eyes twinkling and smiles on their faces.

I am blessed to hear the words "Mama" come from our little baby and she peeps her head over the top of the playpen.

I am blessed that our toddler remembers first thing after she wakes up that today is her and mommy's special day together.

I am blessed that God still speaks to me in his clear and distinct "little voice."

What a blessing motherhood is and especially the time when our children are little. Don't take for granted the time that you have when your children are little. Savor the moments, drink them in and enjoy this precious time that is only here for a moment.

Have a blessed day!

2 new additions!

Wednesday was a good day in the Coulter house. The girls and I went on mini road trip to visit our good friends down in Toronto for the day and had a great time. Kaley loved playing with the older girls doing dress up, playing house and of course getting her first "tatoo." It was great being able to sit, relax, and catch up on everything that has happened in our lives over the past few months.

When we got home, I had two surprises waiting for me.....a gift from our neighbor and a beautiful new desk that Mark made!

I had been saving up for a piano since the start of the summer, but wanted to pay cash for it when I found what I was looking for. Since I learned on my parents piano when I was little, I knew that I wanted to find something similar to that- you know, being sentimental and all:-) I knew how much it was going to cost to move one and get one tuned, so I had a figure in mind and a goal. Well, my surprise came when our neighbor called to talk to me, and her friend had two pianos similar to what I was looking for. The answer to prayer? It cost exactly as much money as I had saved! I immediately fell in love with the first one that I saw and just *knew* that this was the piano for me. It is in beautiful shape and has a crisp, clean sound to it. Time sure flew, because it was ready to be delivered the very next day!!! So very exciting.


But the fun doesn't end there my friend! Not only was the piano a huge surprise, but Mark also had a surprise for me. I'm a big fan of antique looking furniture, but not such a fan of the price that comes with it. Awhile back, I found some pictures of secretary desks with a flip down lid that I really liked, so Mark asked me to print them off and keep them until he was able to build it. Mark had a week left of vacation in August, so he decided to take that time to build a desk. As always, he is a genius with woodworking and very talented as well. I gave him the look that I wanted, and he got to work. He found a supplier that had rough pieces of beautiful wood available, so he picked up some, used a planer to get them the size he wanted, and then started piecing them together to form the desk. (Hint, hint- If you talk to Mark, he would have a much better description of the process with more technical terms than what my limited knowledge of woodworking can give). And this is the final product!!!






I love both additions very much, as have the girls. Although, on another note, my next challenge it to figure out what to do with all of the brown that we have in our livingroom now- the couch, the coffee table, piano, desk, entertainment unit and bookcase- they ALL have the same shade of brown:-) Oh Shannon- I need you!!! :-)

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!

Happy birthday sweet Chloe! A year ago today you entered our family and have been such a blessing and a treasure to us. We just love your sweet spirit, your beautiful smile and infectious laugh. We have enjoyed seeing that little bit of "spunk" in your personality come through and how much you really love playing with your sister and Baracus. It is amazing to watch as you learned how to roll over and hold your head up, seeing you smile for the first time, learning how to sit up on your own, how to crawl, your first words, eating food for the first time, your first laugh, and just yesterday learning how to stand up on your own.

We thank God for you precious one and look forward to how God is going to use you and the talents he has given you. Happy birthday Chloe! Love always from Dada, Mama, KK and Baracus.