This week, Becca turned 11 months old (and 8 months old adjusted). We’re having a wonderful time watching Becca grow and develop. Each new stage is a delight! Becca and I now play a new game of lion chase. It’s so cute to hear her squeal when I come out of hiding, running on all fours to eat her up.

This weekend, Mom J stopped by overnight on her way back to South Carolina from an EMU trip to Uruguay. We had a good visit with her, and Becca enjoyed playing with Grandma Jensen. Becca really likes and the new puzzles and book G&G Jensen gave her for her birthday.

Both Josh and I are busy with our research. Josh will be presenting a paper at a linguistics conference next weekend, so he’s busy gathering and organizing data for his talk. I’m in the process of revising my prospectus. We’re loving the cooler weather – we’re now able to open the windows! On another note, today is our 28-month wedding anniversary – I love being married to Josh – it just keeps getting better!

Today Becca turns 11-months old! It’s hard to believe that in a month, our precious little girl will be 1 year old. We’re enjoying every moment with our little darling Becca! Happy Birthday, sweetpea!

I’m sitting at the table, waiting for this week’s pictures to upload to the blog, as the sounds of our little girl get closer to my chair. I look down and there smiling up at me is our Becca, creeping toward me with determination, knowing that if she can get to her mommy’s chair, she’ll probably make it to her mommy’s lap. As she gets closer, she looks at the computer wires, something she knows she’s not allowed to touch. She looks for a moment and decides the “pleasure” of touching them is not worth the trouble and continues to her mommy’s chair. Success – her mommy picks her up.

Becca has made great progress in her creeping around our home. This week she started creeping from our living room to the kitchen to find me when I’m working. She trails me like a (rather slow!) little puppy as I go from one side of our narrow kitchen to the other. She patiently — and sometimes not so patiently — waits for me to pick her up. It’s so cute to watch her creep around our home: she moves quickly with great determination.

This past Friday, we went to Sushi Zone with the family of two of my piano students. The Hsu (pronounced like “shoe”) family had been wanting to meet Becca, so they arranged for us to meet them for dinner, and they spoiled Becca and us. Abraham (the oldest son) picked out several gifts for Becca — books, bath toys, a little doll. Becca loves all her new books and toys!

Friday afternoon we went to a senior craft fair in Fort Worth. Our friends, the Olsons, were selling some beautiful woodwork and stain glass at the fair and gave us tickets so we could attend the event. Becca and I especially enjoyed the hats!

Becca’s new Pack-‘n-Play arrived last Wednesday. We’re all enjoying Becca’s new bed. She sleeps much better, takes naps, and is less cranky. So we’re enjoying the extra time (i.e., her longer naps!) and our happy girl. We’re still waiting on moving Becca back into the closet. So far we haven’t seen any signs of bed bugs.

These last two pictures are of Becca enjoying her new toys.

Last Thursday we found out that Becca’s Pack-‘n-Play had bed bugs! I’d been noticing marks on her arms and face but wasn’t sure if they were bug bites or a rash. Thursday morning, I caught a bed bug scurrying across her bed. The Terminex man came that same day to confirm that the Pack-‘n-Play really had bed bugs, and after throwing out the Pack-‘n-Play we spent Thursday through Tuesday getting ready for our apartment to be sprayed.

We had to wash and dry clothes, blankets, curtains, toys, etc. (I’m so thankful we have a washer and dryer), move everything 2 ft away from the walls, remove everything from the closet floor, and put things in common areas, so the Terminex man could spray the closet and apartment floors. Needless to say, this has been quite a week. The spraying took place Tuesday late morning, and by Tuesday night, we had made good progress in putting things back together. I’m hoping to be finished with the rest of the stuff today.

Since we got rid of the Pack-‘n-Play, Becca has had to sleep on the floor in our room. It worked well during nights, but Becca refused to take naps during the day. This was complicated by the fact that last Thursday, Becca figured out how to creep across the room. So if I tried to lay her down for a nap. I’d soon hear her at the bedroom door, wanting to get out! We’ve had lots of extra crying this week, and are looking forward to when things are back to “normal.”

Friday evening, we took a break from the prep work and went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze.  It’s the same place we went to when we first moved down here. Becca was a little grumpy, since she had been nap-less; she seemed to enjoy the maze more than she did posing for pumpkin pictures. It was great to get outside and  to have fun together as a family. I’m so blessed to have my dear little family – they truly are a joy.

Hi! Most of you know who I am – Becca Grace Jensen. For weeks I’ve been waiting for a chance to use the computer without my parents noticing (pretty hard when you live in a one-bedroom apartment) and today I have my chance. I’ve watched my parents blog about our family every week, and I’ve been wanting to tell you all my perspective of our summer (and now fall!). So – here goes!

You’re probably wondering what we really did all summer here in Arlington, Texas. Let me tell you what we did: lots of eating, sleeping, and playing! And sitting at tables and staring at computer screens. I’m not really sure what my daddy and mommy find so interesting about sitting, reading, and typing, but they sure spent a lot of time doing it!

In the mornings during the summer after I would eat, Daddy would play with me and watch me while  Mommy looked intently into her computer screen. Then in the afternoons, Mommy would watch me while Daddy sat at his desk and read or typed. Like I said, I’m not too sure what’s so thrilling about the computer screen, unless of course we’re watching videos of me!

Now that it’s fall, Daddy doesn’t have as much time to watch me. But I found out that he’s going to be watching me more, so Mommy can do more work on her dissertation. I’m not sure what a dissertation is, but I’m pretty sure it’s something AWFUL! It takes both my mommy and my daddy away from me, and it doesn’t look like fun at all. My parents need to learn what true fun is . . . playing with shoes!

When Daddy is watching me, we get to check the mail, have cool airplane rides, wear funny clothes, and say things to make Mommy laugh. When Mommy watches me we get to cook in the kitchen and play with my cardboard blocks and do all sorts of crazy things together. (See me in the tower with Mommy? Daddy taught me how to make a “V” with my fingers and say “peace out”!)

Sometimes if no one is watching me I like to climb into the bathroom sink and brush my teeth! (And do other things that maybe we won’t tell Daddy and Mommy about!) Well, that’s a little bit of what my life is like. Here’s a picture to see how much I’ve grown since June! (But I still fit in the same clothes!)

Oh – Mommy would want me to add this: two things came in the mail this week. We finally ordered Daddy’s Father’s day present – a new hubcap! And a postcard came for Mommy from Daddy. When Daddy lived out here all by himself, before he married Mommy, he used to send a postcard to her at the BJU Music Library and a letter to her house, everyday. Well . . . it took over three years for one of those postcards to arrive. Sent on September 13, 2007, it arrived at BJU on September 23, 2010! WOW!