Welcome Baby Abigail!

It's a girl!!! A healthy baby - our sweet baby Abigail. We chose Abigail because it is a Hebrew name which means "Father's Joy". We know that she will be a joy to both her father and I, but it is also our prayer that her life will be a Joy to our Heavenly Father.



Drew and I are so excited to have such a blessing in our lives and pray that we will be Godly parents. We have started reading, "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp which was given to us by the pastor at the church we are attending (and I highly recommend it for my friends with children). Reading through it makes me realize more and more the wonderful yet daunting responsibility we are taking on.

I have been feeling great and loving the energy that comes with the 2nd trimester. Baby Abigail is quite an active one - kicking away since 16 weeks! Drew can feel it from my tummy which is wonderful. I am 21 weeks! Over half way there! I have been doing my prenatal pilates (thanks Tamzen and Amy for the DVD's!) which is helping with some of the back aches I'm starting to experience. I have a feeling the aches have just begun....


Here are some more pictures of my growing belly:

On another note, we are LOVING our new home! After 2+ months here it is starting to feel like home! Drew and I still act like newlyweds - loving living together after our 7 months apart. I am so enjoying the slow paced "country" life. We spend much of our time on our front porch, eating breakfast or having chats. Drew's sister, Mary, came to visit this week and here we are enjoying some good 'ole Blue Bell Ice cream.



Even though we're in the country, there is never a lack of excitement! The elk have rubbed their velvet off so every so often now I'm interrupted from working in my office by the sound of antlers clanking together - only to go out and see the elk fighting with each other! They put on quite a show. Last week Drew and I were of course spending time on the porch and the Gemsbok (an African species) was chasing all of the big elk off in quite a frenzy. He patrolled the are by the house for hours with his sharp horns keeping the elk at bay! Here is the ferocious guy (click the picture to enlarge it). This is the view to the left of our front porch:



Then there is the hawk that has been diving in the much receded pond for anything he can find....he scored a few days ago with a tiny snake from the front yard! That's one thing I could have done without seeing!! Ah...the excitement of country life! Don't worry Rookie patrols the yard and keeps all of the fierce squirrels away:



We have found a church that we are loving, Grace Bible Church. They are so solid in their focus on studying God's word and are a wonderful community of believers. Since the first day we visited we have felt warmly accepted and have started making some wonderful friends there. We feel very blessed to be apart of a genuine group of believers.

We also explored the local Drive-in-movie this past week with Drew's sister, Mary, and it was a blast! Come visit us and we'll take you to Gatesville main attractive - the drive -in! We saw, My Sister's Keeper - quite a tear jerker.





Well that has been our past month or so. Now I'm off to more nursery ideas! My dear friend Amy came over today and we spent the morning concocting the most wonderful whimsical, outdoor inspired nursery! I can't wait to start working on it....I'll keep you updated with pictures!

We appreciate each of you & are so glad you're apart of our lives.
Love,
Jessica and Drew