Update! Update! Update!

Wow! Can you believe it? I am finally posting something! Life has been full and busy here in the Coleman household and I have purposely put other things first rather than blogging first. : ) So, needless to say, blogging didn't happen. Life is so full isn't it? Some days I think I am doing such a great job getting things done and then realize I have totally forgotten to do some very important things. Part of that is pregnancy brain but I am trying to get more organized. I've decided to use this post to give you a quick update of many things going on. I'll post cruise pics later. Pics always take so long for me to put on here because I have to down size them from our camera.

Quick update on Merrae...
She is now 18 months, 2 weeks, and 2 days old
She grew 3 inches in 3 months and wears a size 6 shoe!!! Tall girl!
Her hair is getting longer and curling at the ends a bit
Very social
Started singing
Laughs loud
Walking fast with her arms swinging behind her...almost running
Goes and gets things for us that we need
Climbing
Loves to be outside and also go on walks
Carries a purse when we go out
Loves bubble baths and playing in water
Throws balls, kicks balls
Loves to wear dresses, hats, slippers
Church nursery helper they say....brings snacks and toys to other kids
Talks a LOT....tons of words....puts 2 words together
Tickles us
"Thank you", "Your welcome", "Here ya go", "Please"
Loves to jabber on her hot pink or any other color "cell phone"
We love her sooo much and are having a blast with her. We can't believe how big she is getting!

Quick update on the Colemans......
We've been very ill for several days. I ended up with Strep Throat but feel better with antibiotics. Merrae had a runny nose and diarrhea but is pretty much over it thank goodness. She would cry every time we had to change her diaper and we ended up just sticking her in the tub after every episode so we wouldn't irritate her rash..glad that's over! Thank you Jesus! Matt had ulcers all in his mouth, allergies, a cough, fever, chills, vomiting, headache. Thankfully Matt and I's illnesses hit at different times so we could help with Merrae. Thankfully Merrae didn't get strep or fever or anything.

While Matt was in Argentina on a job several weeks ago, I had to rush Lehya, our dog, to the emergency vet clinic at 12 am. She had to have emergency surgery costing $5,000! We have pet insurance thank goodness but it will not cover everything. It was so sad to see her whimpering, drooling, panting, pacing, etc. before I brought her. She is such a low key dog and never whimpers or anything. We decided it was worth it to have had the surgery because she is part of the family and brings a lot of joy to our lives. Merrae LOVES her. She recovered perfectly from that. Thank you God. During her surgery (her stomach had twisted and they had to untwist it and tack it down) the electricity went out due to heavy storms in the area. Thankfully, it was at the end of the surgery and they were able to just sew her back up. But, she only got flushed with saline one time instead of several. In spite of that she did very well and is back to normal. This August she will be 11. OH, and by the way, while Matt was in Argentina, he got to see the Olympic torch being handed off to the next person.

Baby #2 is doing great! We are 20 weeks along....1/2 way there. We find out May 15th if it's a boy or girl....We are excited to find out! If it's a girl we have a name....Marlee Carmen...that was one of our names for Merrae. If it's a boy we have tons of names we are trying to decide on. Right now in the running are Matthew, Max, Mylan, Marlon, Malachi, Maverick. We also have tons of other names (M names of course!) but those are the ones off the top of my head. Starting to show a bit but not that much...I'm feeling great.

Just had tons of car work done on both cars...maintenance...expensive (not to mention the expense of doctor bills and medication!)

Stopped our house hunt. We were convicted to build our savings before buying. We love our apartment and are very content and blessed. The baby comes Sept. 25 and will sleep in our room for several months anyway. We are doing some cleaning and organizing to make room...which is good to do anytime! Only problem is, we have new neighbors above us who are a bit loud at times. If we can find a house to rent for about what we are paying now, we may rent a house until we have built our savings more. But right now we are getting a GREAT deal on our apartment.

I have been continuing to pursue planning a Freedom Experience to come to the area I taught in for 8 years. www.freedomexperience.com. It's been challenging. This past week, after trying for almost 2 years, I finally got a school to give me a date to have it but now they are trying to back out. Many are praying and we'll see what God has planned. If this doesn't work out, I may do a one day outreach instead. Either way, it's exciting to have the opportunity to introduce people to God's love.

Matt's business is going great. God has been providing for us. The church job is a blessing and Matt enjoys it. His "Filmosaic" movie group is working on another film....writing and planning right now. They entered a film festival in the U.S. and ended up placing with their short film "Worth the Fall". We are still unsure if they were the winner or the runner up. Part of the prize was that their film would be shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France. It won't be screened like all the other huge movies. It will be shown in a lobby area or something like that. We are still finding out the details.

We are going on a camping trip with Matt's family soon. They all have campers and we are going to meet them there and hang out. We may stay the night one night.

My mom is retiring from teaching elementary school music at the end of this school year. She is going to continue helping with the after school daycare program next year. Speaking of my mom, she got me a "Chi" hair straightener for Mother's Day. I already had a cheaper version and didn't want another one but she insisted and wanted to spoil me a little. I am SO glad she did because that thing works miracles on my hair! Thanks Mom! : ) That was an unexpected and fun gift.

Matt is debating going on a planned mission trip to Honduras tomorrow. He has had a lot of ear pressure due to being sick and doesn't want it to get worse from being on the plane. Hard decision. He's been looking forward to documenting it through video.

Sooooooooooooooooooo...........................there you have it! The long awaited update on the Colemans!!!!

We love you!