Happy Baby!

My sister-in-law is almost 6 months pregnant and is having a girl! I already love this little niece probably more than she will ever know and have been praying for her long before she was even a blip on the ultrasound screen. I can not wait to meet her and hold her sweet self (yes, I have determined she is going to be a sweet one)!

Here's her little profile:

We got to celebrate this weekend by having a shower for Steph-

The men in the family had to make their appearance as well:

I can't wait for October so I can meet Baby Kling!

Come ye weary...

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
bruised and broken by the fall,
if you tarry till you're better
you will never come at all

And that folks, just about sums it up. It is how I have felt lately, coupled with the fact that I find myself believing that God isn't big enough or powerful enough to solve my problems. And let's face it- I have lots of them, and some days they feel overwhelming. But today in church our pastor challenged us to examine ourselves and see if we really believe that God's kingdom is at hand- that He is in fact here working in our midst. And is all-powerful.
The hymn continues:

Not the righteous, not the righteous
sinners Jesus came to call


So, instead of trying to get it all together myself (my tendency when I feel like God is not answering my prayers), I can kneel at the throne of Jesus and take comfort in the fact that He has already conquered the world, my sin and He is working in my life every day!

Birmingham

After Chattanooga, we headed to Birmingham to hang out some more with James and Steph (they came to Chattanooga too to be with us and help watch the kiddies while we went to the graduation festivities).

It was, of course, awesome to be with them and hard to leave. But we will get to see them again in about a month, so that always helps!!

Graduation!

This past weekend, Ginny (Nelson's youngest sister) and their cousin Liz, graduated from Covenant College (pretty much the best school ever, in case anyone was wondering). We got to go and celebrate her big accomplishment with her. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, but definitely worth it and something I did not want to miss. And in the words of Tripp, in reference to Ginny's graduation weekend/celebrations "I gotta be there for that!" We are so glad we were!

Congrats Ginny and Liz!

Tripp's Birthday (or birth-week)

We had an interesting week leading up to Tripp's birthday, but I am pretty sure he did not mind. We celebrated his birthday with his friends at his party the Monday before:

Then he got to celebrate at school a few days before his birthday. Of course, in keeping with the crazy few weeks we had had before, he almost missed this celebration because as soon as he walked into his classroom (after I had dropped off his special treats, he was wearing his special "4" shirt and got his crown from his teacher), one of his teachers noticed a rash all over his neck, back, arms and heading onto his face. So he had to leave immediately, go to the doctor's office, and get checked out before he could go back to school. Thankfully it was just the end of the virus showing up as a rash, and we made it back to school just in time to pass out his treats to his friends! Then the next day we headed to Chattanooga for Ginny's graduation (more details to follow in another post) and Tripp got to celebrate again, this time on his actual birthday! He enjoyed breakfast with the family, lots of presents, and then a cake after dinner. I think the highlight of his day was his new costumes that he got plus the anticipation of getting to use all his new water toys outside when we got home. 

It was a great birthday (birth-week) and I can not believe we are celebrating the fact that he is four! 

When it rains, it pours

It's been a loooong almost two weeks. Everyone (except the dog, thank goodness!!) has diarrhea, vomiting, pink eye, etc and it has been that way for 13 days. But who's counting? Oh me, I am! I'm tired- tired of sickness, tired of rain, tired of laundry, tired of feeling like I am barely making it by. But I am also amazed at God's provisions through it all- amazed at the strength He gives, the mercies he show, the grace He pours on our daily lives. We've also had some good laughs through it all:
Lily threw up right on the remote so I had to wash it out and soak it in some rice. And now it works great (except if you shake it you can still hear some rice rattling around in there).

We had to postpone Tripp's birthday party due to rain and sickness but again, God worked out every detail- every person could still come, the cake could be postponed, and the pavilion/park was still available. The only major bummer was that Nelson couldn't come since it was during the week. He already missed a lot work last week tag teaming taking care of the kids and me so he just couldn't miss another day (and good thing too- since today he is home from work sick). But here's one tired, happy boy and his little sister who had just as good of a time playing on the playground. Boy, are we ready for a break!

The World's Best Babysitter

Just a shout out to the world's best babysitter (and more to come soon on Tripp's birthday party)! We love you Sally!