Rice Cereal!

Though I didn't plan on doing it so soon, a couple of weeks ago, we tried some rice cereal with the baby. She LOVED it. She did really good with it, breathing heavily and making noises to "ask for more" between each bite. It was so sweet!
That bib says, "Always Jolly," which sums up that baby in two words! She continues to be so content and good natured. But boy are we glad that she's not crawling yet... it sure has made the moving process much easier to have an immobile child. :)

I Have Not Forgotten Thee...

Blogging, oh blogging. We have no internet at our new house yet. It will be hooked up Wednesday. So stay tuned for many blogs to come. I apologize for the gap. Many fun pictures in store!!!!!!!!

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. :)