Exploring New Mexico!

   Almost hard to believe, but this week, Nick will celebrate the one year mark of living in New Mexico (Nora and I moved one month later but you get the point). Although it does seem that time has flown by, I do feel like we have sure done a lot in those short 12 months. As a family familiar with moves, we enjoy the opportunity that we get, to go and experience new places. Since we found out we were moving to the Southwest, we had already made a long list of things we wanted to do while living here.

  Someone posted on their facebook awhile back about the number of weekends you have with your child before they graduate from high school and usually leave you alone....(only 940) this just confirmed the fact to me that we need to make each and every weekend count with our baby girl. Of course, we along with everyone else have the normal weekend chores we need to get accomplished, but we make sure to schedule in our family time first!

I am always on the lookout or have my ears open to hear of local events, festivals or hot spots we need to check out. Of course, they all need to be kid friendly but the beauty of having a well behaved and adaptable toddler, makes it easy for us to maneuver pretty much anywhere around the city :) A few of our latest adventures include; hiking in the National Park called Tent Rocks, sight seeing in the scenic Placitas, attending the ABQ Food and Beer Festival and making a road trip to the Santa Fe Children's Museum. All of which we thoroughly enjoyed! ( I have included my favorite pics below)

I thought I would do a little year in review for the Steffen's as we close the one year mark of living in the land of enchantment...

June:  Moved from Texas to Albuquerque NM. Moved into temporary housing. My mom was here to help. Made our first trip to Santa Fe. Rode the Tramway and explored the Sandia Mountains. Ate New Mexican food for the first time.

July: Celebrated 4th of July with a parade and fireworks show. Attended the ABQ Lavender Festival. Spent many days soaking up the very bright sun and lounging poolside. Bought a house and moved across town.

August: Got settled into our new house. Nick's parents and grandmother came to visit. Made a road trip back to Kansas for a week and celebrated Nora's 1st Birthday.

September: Nora officially turned 1 and we had a big shindig to celebrate. Tailgated several UNM football games with the NYL crew. Continued to meet new friends and get familiar with our new area.

October: Attended the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta! Also checked out the ABQ Arts Festival. Celebrated Nora's first Halloween Trick or Treating and she took her first steps!

November: Celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents here early and then made a week long trip to Durango, Colorado for the holiday. Began all our Christmas decorating and shopping (my favorite time of the year)

December: Nora and I flew back to Kansas for a week. Celebrated my 31st birthday! Had our first Christmas alone as just our family of 3 (we survived and even started some of our own traditions)

January: Celebrated Nick's 31st birthday! Attended the NYL black tie kickoff event.

February: Celebrated Valentine's Day together, Nick and I traveled to Florida for a week while both Grandma Mary's traveled here to watch Nora.

March: Nora turned 18 months old. Celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Had a visit from Nick's buddy. Did all our spring house cleaning and yard work to get ready for summertime!

April: Took a road trip back to Ft. Worth. Went to Great Wolf Lodge, the zoo and spent time with many of our great friends there. Celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. Bought our zoo/aquarium pass and are frequenters there.

May: Hiked through Tent Rocks National Park and the Placitas and checked out the Santa Fe Children's Museum. ** Nora and I will be flying back to Kansas for a week after Memorial Day Weekend.

The rest will be updated as we continue with more adventures! Stay tuned as we have much more fun to come!!

20 Months going on 20!

Last week Nora celebrated another milestone by turning 20 months old! By this time last year I was already eagerly planning her first birthday party, but this year I find myself trying to slow time more and more and savor every little stage with her....(ok ok, I must admit, I already have picked out her party theme, but that's it).

Today Nora went to her weekly music class and as I sat there watching her interact with the other kiddos around her age, I wasn't sure to be extremely proud or a wee bit embarrassed.... Although still short in stature compared to several of the other kiddos, she seems to run the entire class. Let's just say, she is the "mini teacher"..lol, There were several new moms and toddlers there today and Nora was the first to show them the ropes. She insisted on being the first in line for every activity, she made the rounds of sitting on all the other moms' laps, she wanted to sing into the microphone for longer than her turn and she helped Ms. Brenda clean up and hand out each new instrument or toy.

These last couple weeks for us have been super fun! Nora is such a smarty pants and just amazes us with what she already knows :) Our two newest milestones are that Nora knows all her colors now (recognizes and can say them) and of course we have said good bye to her "baba"! It is amazing to hear her shout out the colors of nearly everything she sees. She knows that a school bus is yellow, mommy's car is white and daddy's car is blue and so on. As for other language developments, she can also name off nearly all the animals and the sounds they make along with all her favorite characters from Micky Mouse and Bubble Guppies :) She can say "Tipp" for Tripp and loves to play boss to him all day. She has also started counting and we have heard her count aloud to 3 several times now!

This past month, Nora has also gotten her 4th haircut and has finished cutting all of her baby teeth except her last set of two year molars.She has learned a couple new songs and can now jump on command. Her favorite songs these days include the Itsy Bitsy Spider and Row Row Row Your Boat. Her favorite color is yellow and her favorite food is still anything with cheese :)

 Another funny trait Nora has developed is some of her mommy's OCD tendencies, oh my! She likes everything to be neat and tidy and in the right place and she is also a creature of routine. She has our schedule down pat and knows exactly when she is supposed to eat, sleep, play and go "bye bye". She gets irritated if the rugs are messed up, her hands aren't cleaned thoroughly after eating and if she is not wearing the "right" pair of shoes, lol. I am sure this is only the beginning but she is definitely my daughter, haha!

 Each and every day I find myself falling more and more in love with her, if that's even possible! I often wonder how we could ever love anyone else the same as we do her. I am sure we will be able to when that time comes but as you can tell, for now, she is our little princess :) We have lots of fun activities and trips planned for this summer and continue to look forward to watching her grow and develop.

Howdy Y'all!

It is hard for me to believe that we have lived in Albuquerque for almost 11 months now. Although, I really do enjoy it here, I truly believe deep down in my heart that I am a Texas girl, lol. Yea, I wasn't born there but after spending 3 years living there, I seemed to have fit right in :) I am loud, outgoing, friendly, country, fashion savvy and enjoy the outdoors. All are qualities which lead me to say that one day, I will be back there....one day, I will retire there!

A few months ago, Nick and I were discussing our upcoming wedding anniversary and we always like to designate a little trip somewhere to celebrate :) Our first year, we stayed at a neat bed and breakfast, last year we took a family trip to Shreveport, so it only seemed fitting that this year we return back to our old stomping grounds, and to the place where it all happened...Ft. Worth. Not to mention, we were really eager to see lots of our old friends and favorite hangouts.

Since we were only able to squeeze out for a four day weekend and would be making a road trip out of it, it was a whirlwind to say the least! We weren't quite able to see everyone (which we wished we could of), but we tried to fit everything into about 2. 5 days.

We were able to split the drive there into two days, which was definitely the way to go! Nora has decided she is too big now to sleep in the car evidently so we can no longer just put the pedal to the metal and take off. We had to bring lots to entertain her and stop quite often so she could get out of her car seat and take a break. I will say however, because of the i pad, I would actually have given her an A in the road trip department. She was a little trooper and actually handled it all quite well.

It was actually Nick's idea to spend our first night at the famous, Great Wolf Lodge. So after arriving on Thursday and visiting daddy's old office, we made the drive over to Grapevine to spend a very fun afternoon and evening at the water park. Let me first add that Nora was just extremely excited about staying in hotels...period! She was bouncing of the walls and literally jumping on the bed saying, "Yea"! When we took her into the water park area, she immediately turned into the fearless, little, girl we know and love. We could hardly hold her back long enough for all of us to take off our coverups and jump right in. She was splashing, sliding and tooling around like she owned the place. I could go on and on about her here but all in all I will just say, we couldn't of been more proud of her and no matter what amount of money we spent to stay there...it was well worth it!

For our second day of the trip, we were very excited to meet up with some of our best friends. We made the drive out to Aledo, Texas to visit our dear friends and old neighbors and their adorable little son. It was so exciting to see how much the kiddos had grown since we last saw each other. When we left there, Nora was only 9 months old so imagine that! After a fun bbq lunch at one of our favorite spots, we also went to visit some more of Nora's little playgroup buddies. She was surrounded by lots of energetic little boys this trip but that sure didn't seem to bother her, as you already know about her firecracker personality! She got to swing, read books, ride a 4 wheeler and socialize all afternoon. That evening we were also able to get most of the old "crew" back together to hit up my favorite Mexican restaurant, Joe T's! It was fabulous as always and their margaritas were just as good as I remembered :)

On Saturday, we wanted to take Nora to see the animals at the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was simply beautiful there as always. It is not a very big zoo but is so well taken care of and easy to navigate. We only lasted a couple hours but Nora got to see all her favorite animals along side her buddy, Grady. After we left the zoo, we grabbed some lunch and headed the park for a picnic. We couldn't check into our next hotel for another couple hours so Nick literally drove a circle around the entire city so Nora could take her nap. We wanted her very well rested so that evening we could go meet up with yet another group of friends at the Ft. Worth Stockyards. I had been anxiously awaiting this part of our trip as I had also set up a "country" theme photo shoot with Nora's buddy, Bronson. My mom had made Nora a western style dress and I had purchased her her first pair of real cowgirl boots for the event. It turned out soooo adorable even though it was not easy chasing 2 very active 19 month olds around. That was a wonderful end to our trip though as we just hung out and socialized all while letting the kiddos run around in the nice green grass.

The journey home was the part I was most dreading....making the 9+ hour journey home all in one day! Let's just say, we all were very eager to arrive in Albuquerque by the end of the day. Nora only slept for two 45 minute naps and for the rest of the time, mommy was trying any and everything to keep her entertained. We did talk daddy into making a couple longer stops though so we could all have a break. I am not sure we will be making that long of a trip in the car again anytime soon but I wouldn't change any part of our trip. We had a total blast! Be sure to check out our whole album of pics on fb but below are a few of the highlights! Also, stay tuned for our Kansas trip coming up next month and we are also planning a Grand Canyon trip for this summer :)

Hoppy Easter 2013!

Wow, where to begin...once again, we had an eventful holiday! It seems since Easter was so early this year that we have just continued one big celebration from Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's day and now Easter :) Our holiday was filled with photo shoots, egg hunts, a beautiful mass and even a backyard bbq.

As always, it is hard celebrating the big holidays away from our family. This year we have been away for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Although it is not ideal, we knew it would come along with the territory for moving so far away. We have, however, come to terms with creating our own traditions with Nora and not getting hung up on what we can't control....

Leading up to the holiday itself, Nora got to play with a real live bunny and a mommy friend of mine took some adorable photos of her in her precious Easter dress my mom made for her. Nora loved the bunny, which was no surprise, because she loves all animals!

The week of Easter, Nora rocked a new Easter-y outfit all week, as we already know her mommy has a shopping addiction and a soft spot for adorable little holiday outfits! For the first time, Nora gave me some resistance with not wanting to get dressed, as I primped her up almost each and every day, haha!

I was excited to watch Nora hunt Easter eggs at our first egg hunt with our mom's group. Last year she was only about 7 months old and really didn't get to participate in an egg hunt (although we did take her of course) She was a trooper and caught on extremely quickly. Once I showed her what to do with the first egg, she was able to fill up her entire basket in just a few short minutes! Because her daddy didn't get to see this hunt, we also took her to another one over the weekend. It was a bit larger and more overwhelming so we weren't quite as successful, but I think Nora is still about a year away from understanding what most the holidays are really about :) For that, I can only anticipate what the next couple of years will be like with her...Yay!

On Easter Sunday, we continued our family tradition of taking some photos as we all got all fancied up for church, then heading to mass. I really enjoyed mass this year at our church, as I thought they did a beautiful job as I say, "rocking it out" and "bringing the message home!" We waited to give Nora her Easter basket and goodies until we got home, as this is something that our parents always did as well. She was very excited to go through her loot and play with her new toys. This lasted for about an hour until it was time for nap. While Nora dozed, Nick and I cleaned, cooked and tidied up the yard so that we could have a few friends over for an afternoon cookout.

Once again, we enjoyed our large backyard and the very beautiful New Mexico weather outside. We had a wonderful time with our sweet friends and neighbors who brought their daughter over and helped celebrate. The girls did yet another egg hunt and we all enjoyed way too much yummy food! At the end of the day, we were all very tired, but loved the day we got to spend together, celebrating the true meaning of Easter. (I am not overly religious but I do believe having Nora has helped me find my spiritual side. We explained to her on the way to church and throughout the day about Jesus, which made my heart so full for so many reasons )

Below are some of my favorite pics from our Easter week (or two)

A Blessed 18 Months

Dear Sweet Nora,

     Today was such a wonderful day with you in our lives. As is every other single day since the moment we found out you were going to be ours. I lay here this evening listening to the song "A Thousand Years" as you lay sleeping so peacefully in your bed. I get choked up just thinking about every moment of joy you have brought to us these last 548 days.

 The moment mommy found out she was going to have a baby girl,was the most exciting and breathtaking day of my life. I knew I would be blessed with my little princess and my forever friend. Boy was I ever right! Each and every day I get to spend with you, I only hope you know how proud you make me. From your energetic spirit, kind and friendly attitude towards other and your adorable appearance, I would not have chosen you any differently. God sure knew what he was doing when he made you, and I wonder every day, what I did so right to deserve you.

As you are becoming a vibrant, spunky toddler, I only enjoy our time together more and more. There is not a moment that I do not capture with you and store it in my forever memory. The way you follow me around and soak in each and every movement and word, to how you giggle at your daddy and your doggy, to how you like to do things independently and take your sweet time to study each and every aspect of something, I love it. What you do not know yet, is actually how much you teach me each day.

You teach me that; no phone call or text message is worth missing your favorite book reading, no walk is meant to move so quickly that we don't stop to pick up rocks, no exit from the car needs to be so fast that you can't first check out all the other cars in the parking lot or inspect if there are birds flying over head, that no bath time is meant to be done quickly or quietly, that no meal time has to be done cleanly, that the fun things in life don't have to cost money, and that feelings can both be hurt very quickly and also forgiven just as quickly....

" I will not be afraid, darling I have loved you for a thousand years, I will love you for a thousand more, all along I believed I would find you......


We certainly were very blessed indeed that you found us. I can hear your little voice shouting "yea mama" as I conclude this letter, and I hope you always feel that way baby girl. As much as I am proud of you, I want you to be proud of me and daddy. We would truly do anything for you and can't wait to see all the wonderful things you will accomplish either on your own or with our help in the very anticipated years to come :)

Love, Mom Mom

(18 month photos included, see below)