Fall 2010

So, yes, it's been almost 6 MONTHS since my last post. What a long time! And we've been through a lot since then! As an update, we had an eventful summer that included multiple visits with my parents, my sister Catherine's wedding in Pennsylvania, a precious new niece (born to Jessica and Cody last month), an offer put on a house (next door to a house Jessica and Cody are also bidding on!), lots of changes at work and plans for a lot more change there... and probably the most eventful and difficult for me: another pregnancy and miscarriage. The Lord is so very faithful to us in and through everything and we are blessed beyond measure. Maggie and Caleb are adorable and precious and we have everything we need and so much more! We found out this week that we are expecting another new baby, this time in June. I have to admit, I feel very apprehensive and less excited than I imagined I would, as it is hard to let myself believe this pregnancy will "work", after two losses already this year. I have an ultrasound October 27th, so I am trying to trust God and take it a day at a time, and hopefully we will get to see a healthy baby with a heartbeat in a few weeks. We haven't shared this pregnancy with many people yet, so don't say anything unless it's past 10/27 :) I tried to decide whether to tell anyone about it this time around, as it feels so weird telling people the same cycle of events over again... but I decided to tell the people I know will pray for me. Please pray that I will not be anxious, but that I'll trust God in all things and remember His incredible faithfulness and goodness, in joy or in sorrow. And pray for a healthy Ledford baby!

Life so far in 2010...

Ok, so I realize that I should give up this whole blog thing, since I obviously either don't have time or I don't make it a priority! (both are true) But anyway...we have had an eventful 2010 so far and are doing well and are very thankful for God's provision and grace. He has taken very good care of us! We were thrilled to find out at the end of January that we were pregnant, but we found out a month later during an ultrasound that, while we had been expecting twins, they stopped growing and we had a miscarriage. We have been very busy with our stores, as usual, and with our two sweeties. We have enjoyed Maggie and Caleb so much these past few months. Last week Caleb and I flew up to PA to visit my sister Rachel and her husband Peter... we had a really wonderful time. Today Caleb turned 2. I can't believe my baby is getting so big. All of a sudden he doesn't stop talking! And Maggie turned three in February. She is so precious... so amazingly insightful and compassionate and loving. She has loved me so well through the pain of the past few months... consistently asking me how I'm feeling and reminding me that "God is taking care of our two babies, Mama"... She is wonderful. Casey and I are excited to be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in June this year! What a happy five years it has been. :)

another year, another post....

Maggie and her baby, wearing their matching dresses that Grandmoma made!

Caleb showing off his first-ever haircut!!

on Dec 23rd at our annual lawton family get-together. Casey being silly of course...

Ok so a few crazy months have passed! A lot has happened in our lives, it seems. Sometime in November we realized a lot of changes needed to be made at two of our stores, so we've spent a lot of hours working on the business and making the trips back and forth between here and Laurens and Clinton (about an hour away). The Holiday retail season was wild as always, but thankfully, we have wonderful employees who all helped cover the stores and we somehow survived all the craziness! Maggie and Caleb spent an awful lot of time at daycare. Casey and I have come up with a game plan for 2010, though... and part of our new little program is that 2 weekdays a week, Maggie and Caleb will not go to daycare... the plan is for me to stay home with them, but it could be either me or Casey who stays with them. I am really excited!!!
We had a lovely visit to PA to see all my siblings and their significant others :) It was difficult in some ways without my parents, especially since this is the first time since they moved to Cameroon that we were celebrating Christmas without them being here physically, but we got to talk to them on Skype all together and as He so often does, God gave us the grace we needed to not only get by, but to enjoy ourselves as well.
Maggie and Caleb are precious as always. Maggie is very into princesses, "fashion shows", drawing and coloring, taking care of her baby dolls, and of course loving Caleb. Those two are the best of friends (most of the time).
Caleb is talking a LOT. He still generally only says a few words at a time, but finally he is really easy to understand and he can say pretty much any word. Some of his favorite things to say: "Merry Christmas Lights" (he was very into Christmas lights, so naturally, when we told him to say Merry Christmas, he combined the two), "Go Nana's House", "Mustang!! Vrmmm vrmmm!!!" (for Casey's car, which he loves), "Sorry", "Mat-ee" for Maggie, and "Babby" for baby. He and Maggie are so sweet, we can hardly stand it! Casey and I are constantly stopping to look at each other in amazement over these two sweeties, especially in response to the adorable things they say :) We sure do love them!