Due today

I cannot believe that I am already 40 weeks today. The time has passed so quickly; I feel like it should still be my 2nd trimester. I am scheduled to be induced on Tuesday, September 1, and seeing as I am still not having contractions or anything to speak of, chances are I will be induced.

We are excited to welcome Bee Gee into our family, and we will let everyone know when he is here.

I am also excited to sleep with one pillow, for my shirts to cover my entire belly, and to be able to get off the floor without grunting.

The widow's offering

In thinking about the blog I posted this morning, I wanted to follow up with a story I heard about a homeless man at Brookside. What happened was witnessed by a family that was cleaning the dining hall after they had served the Sunday morning breakfast. A man came late to the breakfast, after everyone but a homeless man had left. There was no more food. The man was distraught because he would not get to eat that day. The homeless man that was still there had a plate of food to take with him for later. He said to the man, "Here, you take this; I've already eaten today." As I am writing this I am tearing up. It reminds me of the following story:

Luke 21:1-4
As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. "I tell you the truth," he said, "this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on."

God's Provisions

I am so amazed each day by God's provisions. J and I have been in such awe this last year at how God even chooses to bless and provide for us. We spend time each week with people that are truly poor, homeless, and cannot seem to catch a break no matter what they do. However, they also seem to know that each day God provides for them so that they can eat and survive.

J and I are obviously far from this position in life. J has a great job and makes oodles of money compared to 99% of the world. So, why would God choose to bless us too? Shouldn't he be focusing on those that really need it? It is fantastic that his grace, love, mercy, and blessings are LIMITLESS!

In the past year, we have had so many people give us things that we "need" without any prompting. 3 good friends of mine have blessed us incredibly with maternity and toddler clothing. I haven't had to spend hardly any money on either. My neighbor's daughter gave me all of her son's used clothing and Thomas the train toys. Incredible! Our neighbors gave us their lawnmower when ours broke down and told us to keep it! Amazing!

Fortunately, the cycle of God's love doesn't stop there. J and I truly believe that we are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. So, when we don't have to spend $150 on a new mower, that money can then go to those who need it more. However, I am hesitant to say that we are blessing those people that we see weekly, because the more I get to know them, the more they bless me. But that is for another blog...

A week of celebrations!

Last week was a time of celebration. We were able to celebrate the birthdays of 2 of our favorite children: little miss Sweet Pea turned one and big boy LA turned 3.

OE next to the birthday boy.

Awesome fire trucks!

Our hosts were such good (and hot) sports. I think it was 93 degrees out! I can't image the temp inside the suits.

OE is ready to model for the Firebaby calendar.

Also, we were so excited to find out that my friend Amy and our neighbor Wes both accepted new jobs last week. Congratulations! This is certainly something to celebrate in the current economy.

I hope the good news keeps rolling in (perhaps the birth of a baby boy - we'll keep you posted on that one!).

My first week of being 30

I was excited to be 30 - to me it just seems like the age when you are officially grown up and responsible. Well, after experiencing my first week of my 30's, I'm not so sure that I like it now.

I would love to report that in my first week I suddenly became the perfect parent, wife, and friend, not to mention that I was able to feed the hungry and find housing for the homeless. Ok, maybe those goals were a little ambitious.

I spent most of my first week on the couch either with severe back pain or fever and chills, not to mention the 4 hours in the hospital. I turned 30 and instantly my body fell apart. Apart from being super uncomfortable in my 36th week of pregnancy, I had 2 separate unrelated infections and pulled 3 different muscles in my back on 2 different days causing sharp pains in my lungs with every breath.

The only word that I can use to describe the last week is ridiculous. Ridiculous!

I would like to leave you with pictures from the good times. Thanks ladies for the wonderful baby shower/birthday party last Saturday. Thank you to my loving husband for the date night on my birthday. I love you! (I also have to brag about my hubby who offered to sleep on the couch when my back was bad so I could use the whole bed.)

The lovely hostesses and my in-laws. Thank you for the great party!

My sister and also a "Kristin Expert".

Amy and me.

Shannon, Elisha, and me.A gift card from all the ladies for a manicure and pedicure. Woo hoo!!!

Fugo de Chao - yummy! I ate enough meat to last me for a while now.

My birthday dessert on the house - mango something or other. Yummy!