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.