Family Pictures

We have hit the ground running for a super busy month of September. Matt, on top of his class schedule and looking for a job, agreed to fill in preaching for for two Sundays for a family friend, another pastor who is on a missions trip to Kenya right now. So last Sunday and this weekend, Matt and I have had the opportunity to visit Good Hope Baptist church in Wake Forest. The congregation was very hospitable and welcoming, and we appreciated the chance to meet them! After service last week, we went to eat lunch with Matt's parents and attempted a family picture, since we have very few recent pictures of the three of us. Let's just say that the combination of a windy day and a post-naptime baby did not a very good picture make! Here's the closest we came to a good one (can you tell how windy it was?):
And this one just makes me laugh. It is just so us.
Me: "Geez, it is really windy."
Kenna: "So then I said..."
Matt: "Ok, we can take another one."

Doesn't Kenna look like a toddler? Man alive.

We've also been busy having two yardsales for the posessions my Dad brought from the house in Orlando, most them were my Mom's. It has been a huge and emotional project of sorting, deciding which things to keep, deciding what to do with items we can't keep, and finding a few family treasures- that is another story to come soon. I've had two craft shows, and the remaining weekends of this month are each full of friends' baby showers! Our sweet nephew Beckley is turning one this week, my Dad and Jana are coming back to visit next week as they prepare to move to Geneva, and I have had the blessing of taking a class on Thursday nights through Southeastern's Biblical Women's Institute. Even though I balked at the idea of a formal class structure, and Matt had to strongly encourage me (haha) to agree to it, I willingly admit now (3 classes in) that it was a great idea. The course is taught by the Seminary president's wife, Mrs. Aiken, and several guest speakers. The information they are covering is incredibly helpful and on very applicable subjects such as missions, Godly parenting, and the development of women's ministries in the church. Other SEBTS students even provide childcare that Kenna goes to, since Matt is in class at the same time as well. Even though it's a little past her bedtime when we get out of class, she has done really well.

Sweet Kenna bear is on the move and growing much more quickly than her Daddy and I are comfortable with! I love to take these kinds of comparison pictures (especially fun when they happen to be in the same outfit, several months apart!)
Kenna at 6 weeks:
Kenna at 9 months:
She has taken off crawling in the past week or two... suddenly, overnight it seems, she is now chasing the dog and mobile enough to get into all kinds of trouble! She has also been teething, which has made for some sleepless nights for our poor babe, and for us as well. But God is good, and provides the patience we need and the mercy that this too is only a stage! She has started making a new face that is cute, sweet, hilarious, and a little sassy.
I love that gummy, scrunched-up nosed little grin! It is so amazing to see her little personality blossom, and boy is she full of it! She has never met a stranger (I keep waiting for "separation anxiety" but it hasn't happened yet!) and seems to love new people and new experiences. What a huge blessing in our lives, even on the trying days! Her new favorite thing is taking Pontouf for walks in her red wagon.
We are enjoying the last little bit of summer and loving this almost-fall weather we've had recently!