Last week we enjoyed time with friends in Alvarado, Tx. The weather was beautiful, and we enjoyed exploring their backyard.

Currently Little Sister is 32.5 weeks, and yes, people are always telling me I don’t look big enough to be due in less than 2 months. We’re thanking God for a smooth pregnancy. I’ve had several extra ultrasounds to check on Little Sister’s fluid (because of Becca’s complications). I have an anterior placenta, but it hasn’t kept me from feeling movement – this girl is a mover. I did fail my first glucose test and am very thankful to have passed the 3-hour test. Two weeks ago Little Sister weighed 3.5 lbs (according to the sono measurements). We’re looking forward to meeting Little Sister – it’s coming up fast!

Yesterday we spent the day at the Fort Worth Zoo with Anna and Adam Martin. The kids loved being back at the zoo and were very excited to ride the train. Three other highlights were feeding the birds, seeing the lions, and seeing the zebras.

Last week we had a 6-day trip to Georgia. We started on Wednesday with an afternoon visit with cousin Mike West and family and then went to their Wednesday evening service to present our ministry. After the service we drove to Josh’s Grandma Martin’s home in Marietta, GA. We spent Wednesday evening through Saturday afternoon with Grandma Martin. Thursday morning Josh presented at Grandma’s once-a-month church 10:10 (seniors’) get-together. Friday evening we had a get-together with extended family in the Atlanta area to share what we’re planning to do in Cambodia.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Macon, GA, and stayed with the Gottwals family. The Gottwals own several used bookstores and we took 4 boxes of books to trade with them. They were very generous in their trading and with the gift card they gave to us. We got lots of books for the kids, and they have been very helpful during this week’s travels! We enjoyed staying with Shane and Abbey – they were delightful hostesses and treated us royally. Shane was glad to finally meet his twin.

Over the past several weeks, both Becca and Isaiah have graduated to a new level of big sister/little brother playing. Becca has become more deliberate in playing with Isaiah and making up activities for him to be involved in. Isaiah loves playing with and following Becca. When the house becomes quiet, I know they are up to something. Just the other day I was starting to wonder where they were when I heard Becca say, “Isaiah, this is great fun!” They were enjoying the lavender hand sanitizer and were decorating each other with it.

Becca is 31.5 lbs (18.7th percentile for her age) and is 3 ft & 3 in tall (29.7th percentile for her age). She loves books: being read to as well as reading to herself. Going to the library is a highlight. We’ll miss public libraries when we move to Cambodia. Becca has a vivid imagination and is a great storyteller.  Her current  favorite story is The Christmas Carol. She regularly acts out the Bob Cratchit family and pretends she is Scrooge. Becca is very excited about having a little sister and thanks God during every prayer for saying yes to her request. She is now praying for a little brother for Isaiah. We have been encouraged with Becca’s growth in willingness to ask Jesus for help when she’s having trouble, and we continue to see her grow in her understanding of the Gospel.

Isaiah is 24 lbs (15th percentile for his age) and is 2 ft & 7.6 in tall (11th percentile for his age). He is a bundle of fun and always on the move. He seems to endear himself to everyone wherever we travel. He has followed in the families’ footsteps in loving books and in Becca’s love for Scrooge. Isaiah has a growing vocabulary and is starting to have two syllable words. He also has many different intonations: he has a very cute way of saying no and mine and a very monster-like way of saying the same words.