Becca had her 15 month check-up today. Except for being small for her real (15 months) and adjusted (12 months) ages, the doctor gave Becca a glowing report on developmental progress! Just thought we’d share Becca’s current stats. (I’m giving the percentiles for 12 months, since her weight and height are nonexistent in the charts for a 15 month old.)

Weight: 18.5lbs. (12% for 12 months)

Length: 27.5in.(7% for 12 months)

Head Circumference: 47cm. (95% for 12 months)

Wednesday morning, 5AM — the cries of Becca-Bear bring me to consciousness. It’s too early for her to be awake, besides the fact that I haven’t slept well all night. Maybe she’ll go back to sleep…wait…wait…wait…I don’t think so. I get out of bed and rescue Becca from her “prison”; perhaps she’ll fall back to sleep. She does, but only in my arms and certainly not when I lie her back in her bed.

I pick Becca up again and take her to our living room. For awhile she sleeps while I hold her on the couch. Then she refuses to sleep unless I’m standing. I’m tired, but as I hold our little girl, I reflect that these are precious moments that are fleeting. Before I know it, little Becca-Bear will be too big to hold and too old to need her mommy in the night. All precious moments — even the tiring ones — need to be enjoyed and savored before they’re only a distant memory.

On Friday, February 18th, Becca took her first steps, and since then she’s been progressing in her walking. She is very proud of herself and appears to think running is far better than walking. I’m very thankful we have carpet, since Becca has fallen several times and smacked her head on the floor. But when she falls, she gets back up and tries again.

Becca has her first official “help-mommy” job. She has been doing a excellent job taking her dry diapers out of the dryer for me. It’s so cute to watch her “help.” Speaking of help, in January we received a neat gift from Uncle Jon and Aunt Ashleigh — a diaper sprayer. It hooks up to the toilet and works really well cleaning Becca’s messy diapers. I highly suggest it for anyone who is using cloth diapers!

Becca got a special box from Uncle Jon and Aunt Ashleigh on Tuesday. Aunt Ashleigh sent us all sorts of treats she found at Greenville’s Switcheroos’ Consignment Sale. Becca loves her new book and bugs and we’re looking forward to getting lots of use out of the clothes and shoes. Mommy even got some new clothes. Thanks, J&A!

Josh continues to work on his research. He gathers data twice a week. On Fridays he Skypes with a consultant Lubbock, TX, and on Saturdays he drives about 20 minutes away to meet with another consultant. We’ve very thankful the Lord has provided these two men for Josh to work with. I continue to have a blast watching Becca, and I work on my dissertation when she’s sleeping. Being a mommy is the second best thing in the world, just after to being Josh’s wife. I’ve very thankful for the roles God has given me, and I’m enjoying the precious moments I have with Josh and Becca.

Becca here. I am very happy to announce that my mommy has a dissertation defense date scheduled! She’s been working on this big paper since before I was born, and I think she’s really looking forward to having it off of her list of things to do. Please pray that my mommy will be able to successfully defend her paper on March 18th, 2011. Once that happens I won’t have to read to myself, fold the laundry, or clean my potty!

The weather has been great here in Texas. I’ve enjoyed going outside with my parents. I love pushing my dolly stroller and walking on the sidewalk. I also love getting dandelions. All the dandelions that mommy picks for me I collect in my hand, and I hold on to them very tight while we walk. I don’t want anyone to take my pretty flowers away from me.

We had a lovely Valentine’s Day. Daddy made Mommy a special meal of pulled pork sandwiches, salad with homemade croutons, and homemade mint chocolates (similar to Andies Candies — whatever those are). I wasn’t allowed to stay up for the meal, but Mommy told me that it was perfect and that the chocolates were “to die for.” My Daddy and Mommy love each other a lot and they love me a lot too!

Mommy has been teaching me to be a good mommy to my animals. Every time she comes to get me up from bed, I make sure to hand her Flopsie and Wilson before I ask her to pick me up. Even when I had a fever a few weeks ago, I still made sure Mommy had my animals before she had me. I’m also learning how to put quarters in the piggy bank Great Grandma Sutter gave me. I love putting money in my bank!

That’s all the news for this week. Daddy continues to spend a lot of time working on Jarai and reading big books. Mommy and I are finding lots of things to keep us busy. Thanks for reading!

Happy Valentine’s Day to my #1 Valentine! Thank you so much for loving me and for being such a  wonderful, loving husband. Thank you for the delicious Valentine’s Day meal you made me yesterday. You are so sweet! I am blessed every day by you! I love you with all my heart!

Happy Valentine’s Day to our #2 Valentine! Becca you are our sweet gift from God! We love you so much, Becca-bear!

Today marks one year since Becca came home from the hospital. She’s come a long way from those first days we had her home with us. Now instead of spending most of the day feeding Becca and making sure she gets her medications on time, we fill our time with playing “where’s Flopsie?” and learning how to put markers back in their box.

Thursday night we were all awakened by the apartment fire alarm system. We stumbled out of bed and made our way outside and then sat in the car until the firemen said everyone could return to their apartments. It was a false alarm, apparently (or at least, no worse than someone overcooking their midnight snack). Becca slept through the first part of the alarm, and once she came out of a daze, she was quite happy to enjoy the excitement.We had enough snow on Friday to take Becca out sledding. She enjoyed her rides down the little hill, and we enjoyed our time outside in the snow. Saturday Becca was sick all day with a fever. It was very similar to her one-day fever during the Christmas holidays. It turns out that she has another tooth popping through, and I think I can safely say that both fevers were related to teething.

Looking over the past year, it’s been neat to remember the many ways the Lord has answered our prayers concerning Becca. Thank you so much for praying for our little girl. She is truly God’s gift to us, and each day with her is a treasure.

We’ve enjoyed a variety of weather this week. Over the weekend it was sunny and warm. We enjoyed the extra time being outside. Becca didn’t like walking in the grass, but she did enjoy crawling on the sidewalk. She was a little hesitant about the stones, but they didn’t stop her from moving right along.

Then, on Tuesday morning we woke up to an icy world. There was a dusting of snow on top of the ice, and it was great for sliding and slipping on. Since Tuesday the temperatures have been in the teens and twenties, so the ice hasn’t had a chance to melt. The UTA campus has been shut down, and had rolling blackouts on Wednesday.

Becca continues to be lots of fun. She now consistently says two words: “d-yes” which means “yes”; “gen – gen” which means “again.”  It’s really cute to hear her ask for something “gen-gen!” Becca also has started kissing us; she opens she mouth wide and presses it against our cheeks. She also kisses pictures in her books. It’s funny to watch her head go down multiple times as she kisses certain pictures.

Becca’s newest skill is picking out and bringing books to me so I can read them to her. We spend a lot of time each day reading books. And now that she knows how to say “gen- gen,” we read some books multiple times in a row!

As you can see from the picture, Josh and I continue to work diligently on our degrees! We appreciate your prayers as I work toward meeting my major deadline. I have to defend by April 1 in order to graduate this May.