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

Abigail's Nursery

With the design inspiration and help of my dear friend, Amy Busti, together we created Abigail's outdoor inspired nursery. Drew and my wonderful mother-in-law were also very helpful as well!

Here are a few pictures:



A cozy corner for all of our times spent cuddling and nursing! The dresser is a special piece that my Grammie gave me - it was my dad's dresser as a boy and then my dear Gramps had it in his room. I have so many wonderful memories of Gramps letting us kids get into his "treasure chest" that sat on this dresser and get whatever money was in it!





Since we live in a log cabin, with wooden walls, we wanted the outdoors to naturally be apart of Abigail's room. Drew found this pecan branch to hang as a mobile over her crib. She's bound to love animals and nature with falling asleep to this every night!



I made these birds from a pattern that Amy found online and just LOVE them!






This bike was a special treasure in my "little Italy" kitchen in the apartment that I lived in while Drew was in the game warden academy. Some pink spray paint made it so girly and pretty!



My mother-in-law slaved over stripping and painting this $10 garage sale bookshelf into the unique piece that it is now! Amy helped me choose the fabric and make the curtains. Her sweet mother, Pam, helped sew the bed skirt!



My mother gave me the gingham lamp and Kay Ohendalski quilted the beautiful blanket on the rocker. This nursery truly has been a labor of love from so many people and will be such a blessing to our sweet girl!

Fall Fun!

Fall is finally here, one of our favorite times of the year! I am more thankful for the cool weather this year than I've ever been. Pregnancy has made me so hot natured! Fall also means that hunting season has kicked in full gear for Drew (see below for his most recent happenings!)

September was the main dove season. We took a quick trip up to the deer lease (roughing it with outhouse and all!) so Drew could dove hunt.



I had never been dove hunting and enjoyed being his "spotter" when I wasn't busy reading "Redeeming Love" - one of my all-time favorites. Drew made sure I was comfortable!



I think Abigail had fun on her first hunting trip as well :)



We sure enjoyed eating the dove the next evening with Drew's brother Stephen and his beautiful wife Mandy - who are also expecting a baby girl. We are only 5 weeks apart and it's so fun to share this journey together!






September was also a wonderful month because my little niece, Molly Anderson Berry was born! She is so tiny and such a sweetie.



Makenna jumped right in as a wonderful big sister. I have loved watching my brother Jonathan and his wonderful wife Karen parent their beautiful girls. We have some great role models for raising Abigail!



September was also my birthday month and Drew planned a wonderful trip to the hill country! We camped at Inks Lake state park and had such fun kayaking the lake....more like Drew paddling me around :) We then went to Enchanted Rock, hiked and camped. I have such a wonderful hubby - to top it off Drew took me to Fredericksburg for shopping and we stayed at a wonderful guest house - the Brickner house. Drew researched and found this awesome place to stay - I highly recommend it!

To view our trip pictures click here

We are enjoying our last bit of time together before Abigail comes. Drew keeps saying he's ready to hold her and I keep thinking I need more time before her arrival!! I have been busy working on her nursery....with the help of my wonderful friend Amy. Her and her mom, Pam, helped sew the crib skirt for me! It looks so good, I can't wait to get the nursery completely together.

I'm also busy reading all of the parenting, nursing and sleep scheduling books! We have so much to learn about this new stage of life. We are starting our birthing classes the end of this month, so that should be interesting! I've been trying not to think about the whole "birth process" but alas I guess I must. I am already so queasy when it comes to yucky medical stuff (that is why my sister is studying to be a nurse and not me!)......so I'm sure these classes and the birth will be quite an experience for me.

I am still feeling great although the belly is getting bigger and more uncomfortable! Here are some recent pictures of the growing belly: click here

Drew is enjoying his work and is getting even busier with bow season having started. He is doing such a great job! You can often see what he is up to on the Game Warden field notes, click here. Here are some of his recent happenings:

Trigger Happy: On July 25, A Coryell County game warden was in the process of writing several no fishing license citations to a group of fishermen on Lake Waco when he heard multiple gunshots coming from the Corps of Engineers property nearby. Upon investigation, the warden found three people in the woods shooting without a permit for the property. During a safety check for more weapons and ammo, marijuana was found on one of the subjects. All three subjects received citations from the Corps of Engineers, and one subject was transported to jail for marijuana possession. The subjects stated that they had just gotten new guns and couldn’t wait to shoot them. Cases pending.

Right into the hands of the law: During the early morning hours of Sunday, September 20, a Coryell County game warden was patrolling an area near the Leon River known for poaching activity when he saw a vehicle on a nearby county road stopped on the bridge crossing the river. Several people got out and began moving around. Soon several shots rang out, and the vehicle sped away from the area unknowingly heading straight for the warden. He waited on the highway and when the vehicle exited the county road, a traffic stop was conducted. The driver, a young woman dressed in camouflage, admitted that she and her boyfriend had just shot from the road into the Leon River. The woman stated that she had just gotten a new pistol and needed a place to shoot it. Citations were issued for shooting from a public roadway.

Thank you for letting us update you on all that's going on in our lives. We feel so grateful to the Lord for how wonderful we are transitioning into our new community and are thankful for the many blessings he's given us including great new friends, a wonderful home, awesome jobs, being closer to family and a new baby on the way! You are one of those blessings and as always we're thankful to have you as part of our lives!
Love,
Jessica & Drew

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

First Trimester Pics :)

I think this is the ONLY time that women are proud of their big bellies! :) My creative sister made this cute collage for me - thanks Lauren!! I'm slightly apprehensive to share this as several have asked me if I'm having twins and continue to remark on how big my belly is....not completely appropriate comments for any pregnant woman!