Time flies!

It seemed like time creeped along during pregnancy and now it is flying by! I am sure all of you mommies can identify with this phenomenon. Abigail is 2 1/2 months old now and growing like a weed! We adoringly call her our little "chunky monkey" because she is gulping up Mommy's milk and is in the 95% for weight :)

Here she is chillin' today with her Aunt Yaya who came to visit during Spring Break.

Now that she is a bit older, we have been busy traveling and visiting. So far in March we have gone to Bellville, to visit Drew's family and to the farm to visit her Great-Grandparents.

Meeting her great-grandma, "Mimi" for the first time!

Then for a fun day trip to our favorite Texas city, Austin. We introduced Abigail to our favorite store, Whole Foods and enjoyed a 5 mile hike around Lady Bird Lake near Austin's downtown. It's nice to know that we can still "pick up and go" like we used to....we just have a lot MORE stuff to pack. We did pay for the long day away with a baby screaming most of the way home until we figured out that if we turned on that light in the back seat she would immediately become quite. Needless to say, we drove the rest of the way home that night with the back seat light on.....wish I was that easily entertained!

This past weekend we Abigail and I traveled to Fort Worth to meet her cousin, Makayla, who is 6 weeks younger than Abigail. Girl cousins are so fun!

They even got to dress alike and are becoming fast friends :)

Uncle Stephen with both girls.

Mandy looks awesome with a 3 week old!

I am LOVING being a mom. Abigail just seems like a natural addition to our life and we feel so blessed. She is starting to smile, coo and is much more alert and fun. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to work from him and enjoy seeing all of her changes. Right now it seems like she's changing everyday! Drew is such a great dad and dotes on her. I think she already has him wrapped around her finger. Some of the best news is that she is sleeping about 8 hours at a time at night which makes for a really happy mom!

Since I haven't posted in a while, you can click on the titles below to see all of her pictures:

Valentines Day

February at the Ranch, SNOW!!

March time FUN

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies - Delicious too!

As I've gotten older it seems like my "hobbies" have dwindled - especially now being a mommy. One hobby I hope to forever have is the treasure hunt for healthy recipes. Here is a particularly great chocolate chip cookie recipe that's very healthy! I found the recipe online but modified it a bit. I love to experiment in the kitchen! They turned out big and fluffy (a bit more doughy because of the applesauce instead of super rich with butter). Drew apparently liked them because all 4 that I left him last night were gone when I woke up this morning!

2 cups oatmeal
2 cups whole wheat flour (I grind mine)
1 tsp soda
dash of cinnamon (if you want to - I love cinnamon and use it in everything!)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
I did add a Tlb. or so of butter to soften the cookies - but you can leave that out if you want
1 cup of sucanat (the recipe called for 7/8 cup of honey or agave nectar)
1 tsp vanilla
Mix dry and wet ingredients separately and then combine.
Add dark chocolate chips or you can add 2/3 cups raisins, dried apples or craisins instead)

Bake at 350 for maybe 10 -15 minutes or so. I'm not good at keeping time!

The original recipe says that each cookie is approximately .3 grams of fat each. Not 3 grams -- .3 grams! That's good!

Little Abigail!

Abigail is now over a week old and we are loving every minute with her! She is such a great baby. My mother came and stayed with us for the first week and I don't know how we would have made it without her. She was such a huge help and it was a blessing to experience this first week with her. We've gotten nursing down and Abigail is sleeping well at night - praise the Lord! I hope that lasts! I am recovering really well - I actually thought recovery would be longer than this, so it's a pleasant surprise.

We find ourselves just sitting around watching her make faces and marveling at this wonderful gift from God. Drew is especially adorable with her - brushing her hair, cooing at her and even changing her dirty diapers! He's a wonderful dad :)

My dear friend Amy (her she is with Abigail only 2 hours old!) took her newborn pictures already.

Amy is super organized and keeps me on top of everything. Thanks Amy! Here's a link to the adorable pictures: newborn pictures They are too precious!

The birth went great - the nurses and doctors at Scott and White were awesome! Here we are with our wonderful doctor - Dr. Sulak just after the birth. She did an outstanding job!

Here's Abigail with her proud grandparents:

"Mama George and Pa"

"Grandpa and Grami"

Abigail's great grandparents (Drew's grandparents) came to visit her in the hospital. Their first great grand child!

Holding on to her great-grandpa's big hands!

Here we are going home from the hospital. Abigail is wearing her special outfit that her Grami made her.

Abigail has had a few other visitors:

Sally came to see her and I we had a great time catching up. It's so fun to both be mommies now! Her daughter Sophie is just one year older than Abigail (Sally and I had the SAME due date) so they are destined to be best friends just like their mommies.

Aunt KK and Uncle Jonathan and her cousins, Makenna and Molly had a great time meeting her.So did Lee and Aunt Yaya

This song is continually on my mind - "Praise God from whom all blessings flow". We Praise God for this new blessing in our life.
Well, Abigail is starting to stir -- off to feed her!

Abigail has arrived!

We welcomed Abigail Kaylea Alexander today, January 4, 2010, at 5:19pm. She weighed 8 pounds and measured 20 inches in length. It was an intense delivery, but she's here! Daddy is already changing diapers and enthralled with this little girl and Mommy is exhausted, but thrilled! Grandparents are all starry eyed and entranced by this little package that God delivered to His world today.

Abigail means "Father's Joy." This meaning is so very special. Her middle name, Kaylea (pronounced Kay-Leah) is a combination of both grandmother's middle names (and Mommy's middle name, too!)

She is eating well and is so very beautiful! Here are some pictures from the hospital...

My First Texas White Christmas!

What a wonderful surprise it was on Christmas Eve day to see snow start to come down in a flurry! We had just commented the day before (when it was 70 degrees) how amazing it would be to see the ranch covered in snow....little did we know we'd get our wish the next day! This was one time I was thankful for the crazy Texas weather!



It was just Drew and I for Christmas Eve and Christmas - so having our beautiful surroundings covered in glittery whiteness made for an extra special time together. We cuddled by the fire and enjoyed a beautiful Christmas - thanking the Lord for the birth of His Son!



The animals sure did love it!




To view all the pictures of our White Christmas, click here:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=56964740&l=08e9d1bb6e&id=5244184

Holidays at the ranch

Since I was unable to travel this year for the holidays, I had the joy of hosting my very first Thanksgiving and Christmas! My family came for Thanksgiving and we had a grand time hiking around, picking up pecans and enjoying the beautiful outdoors.



Drew and I got a bit of practice holding our newest niece, sweet little Molly. Drew looks like a natural at it! Now we just have to see how he is at changing diapers :)



We have so much to be thankful for this year: Drew's job, a beautiful place to live, being close to family, Abigail on the way, a great church family and so much more!

For Christmas Drew's family came to visit and we loved every minute of it!

Grami (Tami) lovingly made beautiful outfits and blankets for Makayla (due in Feb) and Abigail. I can't wait to bring her home from the hospital in it!



We are so excited for Mandy and Stephen (Drew's brother and his wife) and can't wait to meet Makayla as well. It's been so fun to be pregnant together!



The cousins are bound to be best of friends!


Here's a pic of all the girls:



And the brothers and "Grandpa":



To view all of holiday pics, click here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2776684&id=5244184&l=b6c039bbf0

This picture says it all:



These are the maternity pictures that my talented friend, Amy, took for us at 36 weeks! She took them out at the ranch that we live on. I'm now 39 1/2 weeks and we're anxiously awaiting her arrival any day now! Drew and I agree that this has been the loooongest couple of weeks of our life!

Drew is SO excited and ready to see his daughter!


I HEART her already!




Drew has asked what seems like a million times, "Can she just come today!!"


Here is a link to a few more of the pictures Amy took: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2765551&id=5244184&l=b647f2f771