LOTS of Changes!

Well, we are on overload. Grant and I both are full of so many different emotions at the moment - excitement, hope, stress, thanks, and exhaustion! Last Wednesday, we moved to Louisville, Kentucky. Ever since that moment, we have been busy from morning till night. Grant started work, doing demolition on the farm property where we are going to be living and working. We moved every last one of our possessions still in Indiana to our new place. Along with lots of help, I have painted the baby's nursery (yippee!) and our living room and hallway. It is thrilling to get settled, as we have been in a bit of limbo for almost a year. Our hearts are so grateful and we're having a blast. But each day is so busy and full of nonstop people that we're ready to actually move in and put things away. We think tomorrow night will be our first night sleeping at our new address! In addition to all of this, I am wrapping up finals for grad school and writing a large paper. Needless to say, the blog continues to slack. But I have full intentions of getting into the full swing of it after this week. :)
The above picture is, of course, our precious Christmas sweetheart. She is the joy and light of our lives! Below are a couple of pictures of our new, beautiful surroundings. The top pic was taken from standing in our backyard, overlooking the farm where much of our involvement in ministry will be. The barn on the right side is where worship services will happen, as well as business meetings, a small coffee shop and roasterie (which Grant will head up), and other gathering ideas are yet to come, I'm sure! The log cabin on the left is where another young couple, Jenny and Matt, will be living. We already have lots of plans for swapping dinners and hanging out often.
Below is a picture of the house where we will be living. We will actually be living on the lower level walk-out, while another family will be upstairs starting in the Spring. We are beyond grateful to have a place to lay our heads, not to mention on a property with such a gorgeous Kentucky view! Currently, the land is blanketed with snow that continues to fall. It is wonderfully cozy, putting us all in a mood for Christmas. But alas, studying awaits. I'll write more soon...

First Thanksgiving...

We are wrapping up our time in Kansas City with the Thanksgiving season, as we will move to Louisville this Wednesday. We couldn't have had more gratefulness welling up in our hearts as we joined in celebrating with three branches of family. My mom's table looked so pretty, as it does every year...
And this Thanksgiving was a special one, with two new lives at the table. Naomi and Lillian were the pride of the house this year, as we all surrounded them, taking pictures and watching them show off their skills. Lillie is amazingly brilliant, as we all already knew - she is turning over! She must have flipped over from belly to back six times in just a few minutes! Likewise, Naomi is quite adept at grunting next to her cousin and not moving anywhere. We couldn't be more proud.
My little chunker just wasn't quite full enough after her own turkey - she thought Lillie's hand tasted quite good! These are just the few pictures that will start out hundreds I'm sure we'll collect over the years. And we're all anxiously awaiting the arrival of girl cousin #4 in March to get in on the action!
In the evening on Thursday, we hung out with Grant's dad's side of the family. Sweet Hanna, our niece, held Naomi much of the night - she's a pro with that baby! Wish we could steal her and her sister, Aly, away to Kentucky for some live-in babysitting!
And, yes. My four-month old baby girl has had her first pedicure. How do you get around that with older girl cousins?! So fun.
It was a great day. On to Christmas... :)

Blog Slackin'...

We've just been chilling lately. Went to Louisville for a week and got excited about the big move coming up next Monday. And we're getting excited about Thanksgiving with our families here in another day... what a wonderful holiday to celebrate with Naomi for the first time. Needless to say, we are so thankful this year. :)
On a wall at my mom's house she has four framed pictures of all of her children as babies. The baby in the photo above is my little brother, Drew. I sit in a chair often with Naomi and she sits and smiles at "Baby Drew" for impressively long times. It's absolutely precious. This was a cell phone pic, so it's not the greatest. I just had to try and capture the moment...
Speaking of capturing moments...

First Big Family Pic

Last Friday night was "Senior" night at Will's football game. All the families go out onto the field in support of their player. This is the first full family picture with both of the new grandbaby girls! We are expanding!!!!!! Almost don't fit in a cell phone pic! :)

Trick or Treat!

Naomi had a lot of fun Sunday night on her first Halloween! I'm not really much for this holiday... our costume choices as children were always monitored at my house, typically nothing too spooky or evil. With safety issues anymore, we might be candy getters with Naomi at malls and with family and close friends. But I always had such fond memories of this night as a kid - my brothers and I would pour out our stash after getting home and trade loot. My sweet tooth couldn't wait for Halloween every year. And I don't want our kids to miss out on the fun side that can be had with trick or treating! It's just kind of sad that we live in a world where we'll have to be so much more careful than we had to be when we were kids. With all that said, it sure was a fun excuse to stick my baby in a lamb outfit and give her a black eyeliner nose. And what a fun excuse for Grant to think he should dress up as a shepherd to coordinate!
Naomi with Aunt MeganA lamb and a ballerina!Hanging out with all the Steen cousins after the costumes had lost their appeal. We had a great night driving around and seeing grandparents and friends. Can't wait till next year when the baby will be toddling around with her candy bucket. :)

Three Whole Months!!

Our baby girl has now been alive for a fourth of a year! She is getting bigger every day and starting to really discover lots of new things... like her hands. It's so cute how she sits and stares at them, well, it. She likes her right hand a lot.
She is just about filling up her travel pack 'n play too! It's about time to break out the real crib soon! We are so excited that we'll be doing this soon when we move to Louisville. I'll post about that in the next couple of days, as we have more definitive information about what we're doing and where.

Sweet girl!

I'm so relieved that this child actually likes her dad's beard. I was worried it would make her cry, because it's kind of sharp, but she seems to not mind at all! We are so in love with this baby and so grateful to have had these first days with her. Children truly are a heritage from the Lord...

Powerwash Fun

My husband has a new love: my brother's powerwasher. If you question Grant's affection for this machine, look closely at the porch and see the symbol of his devotion...
He spent the entire day yesterday washing off my parent's back patio...
Their sidewalk and part of the driveway...
and the entire fence...
I have to admit, we were all blown away by the power of that thing! We just stood and watched him like deer in the headlights. It was amazing!!!!!!!! We just might have to save up for one of those things!

Shopping Will Wear a Girl Out!

Mom and I took Naomi to the Holiday Mart in Overland Park today. This is what we came home with...

Naomi Meets Blaire...

Last night, my daughter met Blaire. Blaire is a special friend because she is the daughter of my childhood friend, Abbey. Abbey and I were born six weeks apart and our mothers were the best of friends. We grew up together through our little kid years and have so many wonderful memories - and some great home movies! She now lives in KC with her sweet family and without planning one bit, we ended up having daughters just six months apart!

It was so fun for my mom to see Abbey and I with our girls, and it certainly was fun for Blaire! That sweet little girl, at just nine months, has an uncanny love for babies! It was so cute... she just couldn't get enough of Naomi.

Maybe one day, Abbey and I will be taking pictures of them with their daughters... :)

Not Quite Ready Yet...

for sunglasses! Lol...

More Visits!

We visited Grant's mom on Sunday, had a nice catch up with her, then went over to my brother's house for dinner.

The girls took a little nap time on the flowery chairs...

And Grant and I got to hold Lillian for the first time! We were so excited!

Friday Night Lights

One of the most fun things we have been doing during our time in Kansas City is going to all of my brother's high school varsity football games on Friday nights. We take the baby every week and she does fabulously. She typically sleeps the whole time and onlookers gaze upon her in all her baby cuteness. :) Such a fun memory to be here this season. The team is doing incredibly, by the way. 6-1! On our way to regionals - GO LANCERS!!!

Cousin Annie was at the game this last weekend - such a cute shot with her and her soda!

Sitting on the dock of the bay...

Saturday, the three of us went out to see the land where G's dad is building a home. It's on a beautiful lake and we had fun envisioning the baby years from now, jumping off the dock in her little life jacket, begging to go tubing. We are so excited!

First time on the dock!

First time in the house!

Bill had fun showing us all around...

but he really just had us out there so he could stare at his grandbaby.

She had soooo much fun on first trip to the lake.

But it wore her out!

Sweet, Chunky, Sleeping Baby

(don't worry... I was in the same room with her as she napped on her tummy. :)

Picnic!

Last Saturday, our little family had a picnic in Loose Park, a great park here in Kansas City. We sat under the only tree with changing leaves, ate lunch, read, played some blackjack, and watched the people. There was a couple having engagement pictures taken nearby and we couldn't believe how much it felt like yesterday that we were doing that... but there we sat with a baby bag, activity mat, and a jogging stroller. Oh, how time flies!

What Do We Do All Day?

We go on morning walks.We drive around town. We stare at the barnyard animals.

We take baths in our new "big girl" bath seat.

And the best part - we smile at each other a bunch.
(Napping also happens in there, but there are no recent pics of it!)