Fearfully and Wonderfully Made...

We have not yet had a post celebrating the life of our new little one who is due December 12th. This is certainly inexcusable... (although I will try and make the excuse of life being crazy this summer!) As with Mark, throughout this pregnancy I have been drawn back to Psalm 139. It makes me smile to think about how much care and thought God is putting into forming this little one. Please pray with us for the health of this baby and also that he or she will love the Lord their God and Maker with all their heart, soul, and mind.

profile
baby feet
"How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" Rom 10:15
baby's arm and hand

In this pic, the baby is looking right at us and it looks like he or she is giving us the "ok" sign. When we go in for this ultrasound, I get nervous because this is when they test for signs of health problems. When we saw this picture, Chris insisted that the baby was saying... "I'm Ok Mama... Relax!"

About 26 weeks down...14 left to go!! We can't wait to meet this new little one!!

Praise the Lord!

Chris and I have been doing the "read the Bible in 90 days" challenge this summer. It has been an amazing experience to say the least--- especially doing it together. We were amazed by the commitment of Chris's younger siblings (Molly, Ben, and Ross) and their youth group who are all doing it and are currently in the New Testament.... (Way to Go!!) Chris and I are in Psalms and I can't think of a better place to be right now. First of all having just read through the history of the children of Israel and the many trials and victories in the life of David, the Psalms have a greater richness this time around. Secondly, reading a large selection of them in a day makes me want to mimic their writers and shout for joy, praise the Lord, and sing praises to our Maker :-) Finally, on the more personal side--- August has been a month of many trials (actually... I should say frustrations). No, we haven't had any loss of life, hospital stays, or job tragedies. It's just been material mishaps with our home or cars that come one right after the other and my silly daily stomach pain... but they've been threatening our daily joy and praise to the Lord. That said, I want use this post to praise the Lord. God good--- all the time!

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" -Ps 107:1

"I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them. His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever." Ps. 111:1-3

"Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord's name is to be praised. " Ps 113:2-4

"I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer: My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised!" -Ps 18:1-3

"In Your presence is fullness of joy... As for me, I will see your face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with Your likeness." Ps 16:11 & 17:15

"Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!" Ps. 31:23

4 Years Ago Today...

4 Years ago today we made our pledge to be husband and wife. I couldn't imagine loving you more than I did that day, but I do. Four years of journeying through life together--- living dreams, dreaming dreams, and seeing the Lord lead us day by day--- has made that wedding day love seem so miniscule compared to the love I have in my heart for you today. When God made you He certainly was thinking about me too :-)

We danced to this on our wedding day and its truth is more apparent today than it was then.

Its always been a mystery to me,

How two hearts can come together,

And love can last forever.

But now that I have found you I believe,

That a miracle has come when God sends the perfect one.

So gone are all my questions about why,

And i've never been so sure of anything in my life

Oh I wonder what God was thinking,when he created you.

I wonder if He knew everything I would need,

Because he made all my dreams come true.

When God made you, He must have been thinking about me.

I promise that wherever you may go, wherever life may lead you,

With all my heart I'll be there too.

And from this moment on I want you to know,

I'll let nothing come between us, and I will love the ones you love.

So gone are all my questions about why about why

Oh I wonder what God was thinking when he created you,

I wonder if He knew everythin I would need,

Because He made all my dreams come true.

When God made you He must've been thinking about me.

He made the sun He made the moon,

To harmonize a perfect tune,

One can't do without the other they just have to be together.

And that is how I know its true,

Your for me and i'm for you and my world

Just cant be right without you in my life

He must have heard every prayer I've been praying

I've been praying He must've knew everything I would need

When God made you, He must've been thinking about me.

I love you, Christopher Harrington! Happy 4th Anniversary!

Hilton Head

In the beginning of June we began our summer travel schedule with a trip to Hilton Head Island, SC. Thankfully we (actually, Chris) drove through the night so our sweet, little boy traveller was a champ :-) The week was packed with too many fun evens to document, but here are a few snapshots of our wonderful memories.

10 minutes before we left for our 12 1/2 hour adventure we were blessed with witnessing an entire rainbow over our street!! Wow!! Thank you, Lord, for the beauty you allow us to enjoy!!

Somebody looks like he just woke up. Here's our champ eating his McD's hotcakes after a 12 snooze (i.e. trip).

Flamingo Doughnut: It has become a favorite to visit this amazing doughnut shop when we're in Hilton head. I can honestly say they make the best doughnuts I have ever tasted (I bet they're the best in the world!). We were all smiles that morning :-)

Mark had no idea was his taste buds were about to encounter...

Can you say "Yum"??

"The best thing I ever ate..."

Family Worship: Each morning we begin with family worship. It's an amazing way to begin each day.

Who needs a Little Tikes playhouse?? -- an empty cabinet is just as fun!!

Date night: Mark's Mimi and Papa graciously watched our Mark for us while we went out for a night on the town. It's always a splendid time being with the love of my life :-)

Me with 3 of the Kirk girls

The Wreck of the Salty Dog: So we voted that this year we had to eat at Hilton Head's famous "Salty Dog" restaurant; however with 2 pregnant women and a wait of over an hour, we made the decision to visit "the Wreck of the Salty Dog" instead. Great decision!!!---We had our own balcony overlooking the harbor and the same delicious menu as the Salty Dog.

Dancing with Mimi

our view from "The Wreck of the Salty Dog"

cousin friends: Olivia and Abby

Balloon Animals

Ice Cream Trough: a fun (but unsanitary) Hilton Head tradition

Bike riding with Papa: One of my favorite family activities is bike riding. Having our little boy join us makes it extra special. Throughout the week Mark got to join his Papa on many bike riding adventures. Mark got to witness sunrises over the ocean from the back of his Papa's bike, and Mama and Daddy got to enjoy several relaxing breakfasts without a child :-)

Memorial Day Weekend

Chagrin Falls Blossom Festival

I love summers in the Cleveland area. There are hardly any weekends that go by without at least one festival. Memorial Day weekend sports the Blossom Festival in Chagrin Falls. This summer we had the added bonus of bringing my mom and sisters to it. Although it was extremely HOT, we still had a blast soaking up all the activities. We also enjoyed feasting on the yummy corn dogs, lemonade, and funnel cakes (of course!) :-)

Mark got a temporary tattoo-- I couldn't tell if he was fascinated or afraid-- either way, Chris and I thought it was cool :-)

Spending Time with the Fam

The rest of the weekend we spent gardening, playing badminton, going to see a movie, and visiting with my Poppie and Loie. My mom brought out some wonderful plants to spruce up our front flower beds. When I said "we gardened" I really should have said everyone but me gardened. I was in my first trimester of this second pregnancy and boy was I wiped!! Everyone was very understanding and super sweet to beautify my flower beds for me :-) It was a superb weekend!

Great Poppie brought Mark a very cool interactive book. It was an excellent distractor at the restaurant.

Mark was loving the idea of sharing food with Great Poppie. He especially loved his soup!

My sweet little boy is growing up too fast --

doesn't he look exceptionally dapper in this photo??

Aunt Molly's Graduation Party

In the middle of May we celebrated Molly's high school graduation with an open house. The entire family was able to share in the excitement (& the delicious food). Molly is an amazing woman of God. You know how much she loves the Lord through the way she lives her life. The weekend was filled with the testimonies of how the Lord has used her in great ways. Chris and I were especially excited about her graduation because she will be heading to Grove City in the fall!!!---only 1 1/2 hours away!!! Hooray!!

Family Pictures

A dear and sweet friend of Chris's family took some family photos for us. An unusual amount of wind kept us inside, but we were still delighted with the outcome. I've always loved seeing how families change and expand through the years as displayed in their family pictures!

Growing by Two Feet

Our family has done a lot of living this past month including a girl visit from the Hanlon side, a week in Hilton head with Chris's extended family, and my trip to NJ to be with my mom during her surgery. I'm looking forward to posting about our adventures but this post is dedicated to a different adventure.... the Kirk family adoption. Chris's aunt and uncle (Stephen and Amy Kirk) are in the process of adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. We cannot wait to welcome this little one into the family! In anticipation of his arrival, the Kirks have started a blog to document the process. All I can say is you are in for a treat if you have not seen this blog yet. Please check out their blog. They also have some sweet giveaways this week (can I say Vera Bradley?!? and an adorable baby quilt?!?). Here's the link for "Growing by two Feet" Check it out soon (especially if you're interested in the giveaway....it ends soon!).