Anxiously Awaiting Abigail's Arrival

Ten days and counting......  We couldn't be more excited!  Each day seems to endless as we count down the days until June 5th.  We have had fun the past couple of weeks getting ready for the big day.  (Well, except for cleaning the house!) We are especially grateful to all our wonderful family and friends who hosted and attended our baby shower this past Sunday.  We played games, laughed, shared stories and advice and had a great time!  I think we are just about set with having everything that we need now. 

Avery and Mallory couldn't be happier about the arrival of their baby sister.  Avery is trying to take on the almost-impossible task of teaching Mallory the correct way to hold a baby by using one of her babydolls.  When talking to Mallory about how to do this, she thought I said "barbie doll" and went to get one of her sister's to use.  Avery wasn't too happy about this and demanded to have her doll back.  Mallory then insisted, "no, I have to give this to Abigail."  Avery then got one of Mallory's baby dolls to show her the proper way to hold a baby and Mallory got very upset saying, "Hey, that's my baby doll!  You can't give that to Abigail!"  Needless to say, it was almost compatible to watching Abbott and Costello's Who's On First skit.  Very funny!

Our latest undertaking in preparation came in the form of assembling the stroller and car seat.  Anyone who knows Frank knows that he just LOVES putting things together!  As I sat and read the instructions, he assembled, and little by little, we ended up with a final product.  We didn't finish without a few verbal blessings first however!

All in all, we can't wait for our little blessing and bundle of joy to get here!

33 Weeks and Counting....

Frank and I found out around 28 weeks that we would be having a precious little girl, and decided upon the name Abigail Elizabeth. We have had a few bumps in the road with the pregnancy, but are very blessed that Abigail and I are both healthy and are doing well.  Tomorrow I will be 33 weeks and things are starting to become increasingly difficult.  Sleeping is the hardest.  I find myself surrounded by mounds of pillows, stratigically stuffed under my belly, knees and everywhere else, and nothing seems to help. I have also recently developed "pregnancy grace" which includes dropping items numerous times, and bumping everything including my little kids in my class with my ever expanding belly.  I even found myself picking up items off my desk unbenownced to me with my belly, like post-it notes; only to have my students to lovingly point them out to me.  Ahhh, the joys of being in the third trimester!

Avery and Mallory are very excited about the arrival of their baby sister.  Avery asks me on a daily basis why her sister can't get her today! We have had plenty of discussions on how she can help show Mallory how to be a good big sister and tips that she can give her on helping out with the baby.  Avery is very insightful and says that we are going to have to take up lots of time with Mallory also because she is used to being the baby.  Mallory's approach and thoughts on her upcoming baby sister are somewhat different.  Our conversations include topics such as, "poopie diapers.....ewwww!" and, "Mommy, I want to call my baby sister Cinderella, not Abigail." All of these conversations are accompanied by a sigh from Avery followed by the statement, "Mom, what are we going to do with her?" 

We are all impatiently awaiting the safe arrival of our sweet little Abigail!

Our Newest Addition

The newest addition to the Ledwell Family is not Abigail, as of yet, but comes in the form of a black lab puppy that we affectionately named Brutus.  With all of the estrogen in the house now, Frank felt the need to add more testosterone I suppose.  We have had Brutus with us for about a week now, and he is definately all puppy!  Some of the highlights of Brutus' day include; chasing Sparkles our cat across the living room floor and cornering her on the couch, playing "Super Brutus" by attempting to jump off of the couch and onto the floor, and climbing all over his big brother Butch just to get a rise out of him.  He definately excels in discovering new places to mark his territory in our house which has led me to use an excess of glade plugins and other odor masking devices.  All in all, we are very glad to have him join our family. (Well, most of us.  Big brother Butch is still not liking having a little tike around, but is tolerating it very well.)

Our Family

The Ledwell Family was established on August 15th, 2008 and has been going strong ever since.  It all started with a Gandhi quote, some great conversations, and then grew from there.  Shortly after our family was created, we were surprised with the great news that our family would be expanding, and that we would be expecting a little one.  With two little girls, and a third one on the way, we couldn't be happier. God has truly blessed us!