Steve and Jenny Valentine

Having a baby drastically changes your life.  This is a statement that several people told me before the birth of our daughter.  When people would give me advice about parenting and life after children, I would try to glean from the wisdom that was given.  Obviously, some people give you more than you want to hear most of the time, but I tried to respond with grace in most cases and thank them for what they had to say.  One of those ways that having a child 'drastically' changes things is your sleeping habits (or lack thereof)!  I can't say I haven't had a full nights sleep because Karis is sleeping through the night now (on most nights) but it never seems like enough.  It's like my body is trying to recoup from the sleep I wasn't getting after Karis was first born - even tough I know that's not how the body operates, I like to think that's what's going on!  So I try to catch a nap when I can on the weekends.  Steve and I have diligently trie...

It has been a busy month in the Valentine home! Here are some things we're excited about: We're having a baby girl!  I'm 25 weeks crossing into the third trimester!  I had a moment the other day where this really hit me and I thought, 'oh no, I'm not ready to have this baby yet'!  Good thing the Lord has a plan and purpose for a pregnancy and Lord willing we still have 3 more months to prepare for our daughter's arrival.  We're currently attending birthing classes that we really enjoy and are both learning a lot.  The baby moves around all the time now and it brings a smile to my face whenever she moves around-even early in the morning!  (Pictures of me at 24 and 25 weeks below) Steve is almost done with his first year of seminary, I'm so proud of him!  He will take a break during the summer from classes and focus on raising support for his internship. We're moving into a house (if all goes as planned)!  When we found out our rent ...

Been in hiding for a while-or we've just been busy-probably a little of both.  After Steve finished finals, we had the Christmas time upon us with family in town and then I went into a crazy couple weeks of working twice what I normally would in a week's time.  We finally had a time to escape the busyness of life this past weekend and get away for a night in Tampa.  What a blessing and time of refreshement this was for our souls, our marriage and our sanity!  We're preparing for the next semester for Steve, he's been busy buying books and working extra hours as he's been out for his winter break.  In the midst of all of this, we have seen the Lord's faithfulness to us as we wondered several times of how we were going to pay the bills for this month.  The Lord provided.  He continues to provide.  And our hope has been in that He will continue to do so as we are in the journey of seminary life.  Some verses that really encouraged our hearts las...

Steve turned in his final papers and is studying like crazy to take the last of his tests for the semester!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with dad coming to visit and spend a week here with us.  I traveled to Chicago this week for work and have decided very strongly I hope to never live in a cold climate again...I was cold from the moment I got off the plane Monday morning until I got back to Florida last night!  I will say, though, that it was a great time to get away and spend some me time just reading and relaxing at the days end of work.  I never thought I'd say this, but I was so excited to get back to Florida-to see my husband, friends, co-workers, family and feel the great Florida heat! Here are a few pics of Steve and I recently taken-Thanksgiving day-yes my  hair is shorter :) It seems lately, there has been much endurance, heartache, pain, grief and healing taking place (some in our lives) but also in the ...