Last Monday through Thursday we had a visit from Josh’s sister’s family the Erkens – Steve, Charity, Caleb, Luke, and Jacob. They live in China but are in the States for a few months due to housing issues in China. Steve, Charity, and the boys graciously drove all the way from SC to TX to spend some time with us (and then on to Houston, where some of Steve’s siblings live). Our activities for the week included swimming in their hotel pool (Josh and Becca), visiting the Fort Worth Stock Yards, a show at UTA’s Planetarium, a morning at a small science center and then large park for the men and kids while Charity did a curtain project for me, kite flying, eating, and lots of chatting for the adults and playing in Becca’s room for the kids.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the Erkens and wished we lived in China so we could spend more time with them. The last time we saw them was summer 2010. They drove out to visit us and then we saw them in SC. However, I hardly remember their visit at all, since I was back teaching, trying to manage having Becca home from the hospital, and keep up with my teaching load. I’m finding that the months from Becca’s birth until about September 2010 are a blur for me – I was in survival/recovery mode. This visit I really enjoyed getting to know Charity and chatting with her.

Becca enjoyed her “cousins” – as she refers to them now. (She also calls them “the boys.”) I have two funny Becca stories from the visit.

While the boys were playing in Becca’s room, Becca came into the room where Charity and I were talking with her arms crossed and a big scowl on her face (the picture on the left is a good reenactment). When I asked Becca if she was making a happy face or a grumpy face she continued scowling and said “grumpy face.” I asked her what was wrong and she said, “My room is a mess!” I realized that she was copying Mama Berenstain Bear’s face from The Messy Room story. It was hilarious!

This next story shows how “attached” Becca becomes to people. The Erkens were able to take back two items to SC for us – Josh’s guitar and Becca’s small wooden chair. The chair has been in the closet for some time, but when Becca saw it again she decided she needed it! After the Erkens left for their next destination, I explained to Becca that they were going home and we would not see them for a long time. Our little girl burst into big tears and sobbed – “I want my chair!!” It took awhile to comfort her and explain that her chair would be at G&G Jensens’ and that she could see it again.

Our garden is doing well. We continue to enjoy fresh lettuce each week. Our tomatoes are starting to ripen and the peppers and cucumbers are doing well. Josh does a great job managing the garden, and Becca enjoys playing in the dirt. They usually spend extra time in the garden when I’m away teaching music lessons or at my doctor’s appointment. One fun activity they do afterwards is walking across the street and “jumping on the man’s head” – i.e. jumping on man-hole covers.

These last two pictures are also from the week. The picture on the left is during our supper time Bible reading. We’re currently reading through Judges and Josh had Becca lap up water like the men in Gideon’s army. [As I kept reading the story, I realized that what I had Becca doing wasn’t quite right — Gideon’s army actually used their hands to bring the water to their mouths — but it was close. -JJ] The picture on the right is an experimental hairstyle for Becca – a twist. I never thought I would be able to do little girls’ hair, but so far it’s been fun.

This week we got our 4th fridge since moving into this apartment 1 year ago. The joys of cheap housing. We’ve been having freezer trouble with this last one for some time now. One funny story . . . at one point the fridge part stopped working as well (we had already moved our frozen food to a neighbor’s chest freezer). Josh decided to put the milk and eggs in the freezer, which was at least cooler than the fridge. Sunday morning the freezer decided to work and I had an interesting time pealing frozen eggs for our scrambled eggs that morning!

This past Sunday evening we attended and greatly enjoyed Park Cities Presbyterian Church’s Remember Concert. A large choir with full orchestra accompaniment performed Duruflé’s Requiem and several other songs related to life after death (Be Still My Soul, For All the Saints, I Was Glad, Shall We Gather that the River, Down to the River to Pray, and Amazing Grace). The congregation was able to participate in singing and reciting some liturgy. Josh said singing For All the Saints with full orchestra, choir, and a large congregation was worth the whole evening. (And it was free!) We knew about it because one of Josh’s dissertation committee members is a member of the choir.

The church had free child care during the concert. Becca was excited about going to the “special place” and had a great time playing. It was nice for Josh and me to attend something without having to worry about finding a babysitter.

Tomorrow marks one month until Little Brother’s due date. All is going well. People keep asking me if I’m ready…I guess we’ll find out when the time comes. (Special thanks to R. Pringle for the new outfit – it was nice to get dressy for the concert.)

(Most pictures in this post are from Sunday afternoon Carter Blood Care’s appreciation event for blood donors. Josh is the blood donor – the rest of us (our family and the Rodriguezes) were able to benefit from Josh’s donation. It was a great event – with food, face painting, rock climbing, bounce houses, playgrounds, pictures, food, and lots more.)

If you’ve been wondering about the question in the post’s title (whether you’re a close friend/family member or just acquaintance) and can’t remember the exact the date we’ve said . . . it’s because we haven’t. When people ask about Josh’s Ph.D completion date, we really can’t give an absolute answer because we don’t really know. We have goals and hopes, but many different components play into Josh’s progress.

1.)    The nature of Josh’s research. Josh’s research is focusing on sentence structure in the Jarai language. How does he get his data for analysis? By spending time elicitating data from Jarai speakers. There are two main consultants: Hendy (who lives about 25 minutes from our home) and Lap (who lives 6 hours from our home and communicates with Josh via Skype). This type of data gathering is slow. Hendy can only meet with Josh once a week for a maximum of 3 hours and often has to cancel. Lap meets with Josh twice a week for about 2 hours a session. Gathering data from live speakers complicates research. It’s not like many seminary dissertations where all the resources are already in print in English and/or Greek and Hebrew. It’s not like Josh can lock himself away and work until he’s read everything out there. He’s dependent on the data he gets from his consultants and is at the “mercy” of their schedules. Also, it sometimes feels like the data is “changing.” In March Josh presented a paper on a particular function word in Jarai. He made specific conclusions about the word. Since then he’s been preparing the paper to submit for publication. As he gathers more data, sometimes he’ll come back from a session with information that confirms his theory and other times his entire session has contradicted his theory. This makes for very slow progress.

2.)    Other Department Expectations. Besides finishing his degree, the linguistic department also expects Josh to participate in and present papers at conferences. Josh has presented 10 talks, 2 of which were poster sessions. These take time to prepare, time to present, and are not always directly related to his dissertation research.

3.)    Other Work Responsibilities. Of course, Josh also has to work for money. Over the past 5 years, he’s done web work, worked for adoption agencies, and worked for the Linguistics Department as a teacher, lab monitor, web designer/manager, and research assistant. (The man in the picture – Nathan – is one of Josh’s former students and now fellow Ph.D. student and co-worker. Nathan joined us for dinner on Monday night and as soon as he walked in Becca said “would you like to read me a book, please?”)

4.)    Wife: Stay-at-Home-Mom.  Though Josh tells me that having a wife has made him more productive in his responsibilities, having a wife is also another aspect of dissertation completion scheduling. Josh is very careful to spend time with me and does not allow his other responsibilities to diminish our relationship. He’s also allowed me to be a stay-at-home-mom. Before Becca, I had a good salary as an elementary school music teacher. Now Josh lets (and wants) me stay at home, which means he has to work for money. When I do work (12 music lessons a week), Josh has to stay home and watch Becca for 9 of those lessons – more time. He has to come home early on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so I can go teach lessons.

5.)    Children. I am very blessed to have a husband who has allowed us to grow our family (i.e. with children) before he completes his Ph.D.  Let’s face it – children take time. Having a preemie took a lot of extra time.  Josh doesn’t want to be an absent father – the Daddy who always had to work on his research. Josh is very good about spending time with Becca . . . but it does take time. I’m particularly grateful that Josh didn’t want to wait to have Becca or Little Brother until after his degree.

There are a few of the reasons it’s hard to pin down the exact date of Josh’s completion. The major reason is the first, but all the rest contribute to dissertation progress. The current goal for completion is Spring 2013, but we’ll see what the Lord has in store for us in the next year. We are confidant Josh will reach the top in good time (like he did climbing the rock wall on Sunday afternoon).

Little Brother is now over 34 weeks! We have less than 6 weeks left (sounds soon!). I came down with a nasty cold last weekend and have decided that it should be against the law for mommies of toddlers and pregnant women to get sick. I told Becca I was sick and she said: “but you’re still happy.” I told her I was happy that she is my little girl.

Saturday we attended Arlington Library’s Teddy Bear Picnic and Parade. We brought 5 bears, although Flopsie was the “main bear.” Becca’s favorite part was the parade. She loved marching around in a line with all the other kids, holding Flopsie and Flopsie’s Little Brother. She has read a few books about parades, so I guess that helped in her excitement. Becca also loved playing with the giant parachute. I was delighted that Josh could go with us. Looking around, there were very few couples at the event. It’s nice to have a husband/Daddy who is not only willing to go to Teddy Bear Parades/Picnics but also enjoys them.

All continues to go well with Little Brother’s progress. Monday marked 33 weeks. I’m now visiting the doctor every other week (seems to make the weeks go by faster). My day and nights are filled with lots of Braxton Hicks, so hopefully this little one is getting ready for a regular delivery.

A few random bits of information on Becca. Weight: 26 lbs. Height: 33.25 inches. Her lower 2-year-old molars have come in (resulting in several rough nights for me). I suspect that the top two are getting ready to make their appearance. Becca usually wakes up somewhere around 6. She makes an effective alarm clock for us. The other day she woke up and called, “Mommy – Mommy – I can’t see!”

Phrases from Becca:

“But my hands are empty.” (she says this only at times when it is completely irrelevant to whatever else is going on; once she told me this at 3AM!)

Last week when Becca was praying right before her nap, I zoned out (since she tends to mumble during prayer) the next thing I understood in her prayer was “and this little piggy went wee, wee, wee all the way home.”

“Hello Kitty Cat – you are so beautiful!” (said to a stuffed panther)

“Mommy – you are wrong . . . that says Papa Bear.” (when showing Becca how to spell her name with blocks)

After cleaning up some water she spilled on my placement: “Mommy – I clean it up – I spent a lot of time (cleaning it up!).”

“You look kinda green” (said to me last evening when I came home piano lessons wearing a green shirt)

We had a lovely but busy Easter weekend.  (I was pretty worn out by Sunday evening.) Every time we have people over or have multiple events planned for the weekend, I think “this is the last time I’m doing this until the baby comes”. . . but it never works out that way.

Warning – there are 4 sets of photos in this post.

Photo Story: Friday Evening – Easter Eggs with Ahanna. We got together with neighbors from our previous apartment to color and hide Easter eggs. We did this with them last year. Both girls seemed to enjoy the activities.

Photo Story: Saturday Evening – Josh’s Birthday Cookout. Our original cookout plans were ruined due to the tornadoes on Josh’s birthday, so we postponed the cookout. Josh started the charcoals at 4:30, but we didn’t end up eating until 7 (due to malfunctioning charcoals, etc). Becca ended up skinning her knee, so we had an interesting (but tasty) dinner! (The close-up picture of me was taken by Becca, with help from Josh.)

Photo Story: Easter. We had René, Yani, and Amaris Rodriguez along with Barry and his son Joe over for Easter dinner. I made ham, sweet potato casserole, salad, and rolls for dinner. We had a great afternoon with our guests.

Photo Story: Easter Story Cookies.

(The following text is copied from the instructions we found online.)

Place the pecans in the zippered baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break them into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, he was beaten by the Roman soldiers. (John 19:1-3).

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 teaspoon vinegar in a mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, he was given vinegar to drink. (John 19:28-30)

Add egg whites to the vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life everlasting. (John 10:10-11)

Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus’ followers — and also the unsweetness of our sins. (Luke 23:27)

Add 1 cup of sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of Easter is that Jesus dies because he loves us and is born again to watch over us from heaven. (Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16)

Beat with a mixer on high for 12 to 15 minutes, or until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity of those who have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus. (Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:13)

Fold in the broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto wax paper-covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid to rest. (Matthew 27: 57-60) Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven off.

Give each child some tape to seal the door. Explain that when Jesus was in the tomb, the world was dark and his tomb had been sealed. (Matthew 27:65-66)

Go to bed! Explain that they might feel sad about leaving the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus’ followers were sad to leave him in the tomb, too. (John 16:20-22)

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface, and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter morning, Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb was empty. (Matthew 28:1-9)

This past weekend I had the opportunity to lead the worship at the Dallas Theological Seminary Wives’ Spring Retreat (March 30 – April 1). I was asked to lead the worship when their original person found out she was unable to attend the retreat. I had about two weeks to prepare, and I spent much of my free time choosing music and practicing playing the piano and singing at the same time. Josh was a great help during the week before the retreat. He did all my PowerPoint presentation slides as well as communicated with board members about details concerning the retreat. AND he did a great job taking care of Becca while I was away!

The retreat went well. I appreciate all those who prayed for me during my time there, as I was nervous about leading the worship.  I used the following songs during our three worship sessions: Come Thou Fount, Come Christians Join to Sing, God Moves in a Mysterious Way, I Run to Christ, A Triune Prayer, You Never Change, Behold Our God, O God my Joy, The Power of the Cross. The two songs we sang at each service were God Moves in a Mysterious Way and A Triune Prayer (to close each session). I especially wanted the worship sessions to focus on the ways God is working in our lives even when it’s hard to see His hand in the process.

It was a special treat for me to be surrounded by so many women whose husbands are training for the ministry. Our situations are similar – wives who have come from many different states to support their husbands as they prepare for the ministry. But they have a strong support system and the availability of faculty wives to mentor them.  It made me a little envious of seminary wives and the community they have together. I especially enjoyed talking with the faculty wives and being in the presence of older women.

My dad is a Dallas Theological Seminary grad, and two of the faculty wives remembered my parents. The most surprising was Mrs. Toussaint. When she heard my father’s name she told me that she thought her husband really enjoyed my father as a student. I was a bit skeptical that a lady in her mid 80’s would remember my father’s name or that her husband was fond of my dad. However she went on to tell me that my parents were on the east coast and then named the exact city (Piscataway) where their first pastorate was. Wow – I hope my memory is that good when I’m in my 80’s!

As of yesterday, we are 2 months away from Little Brother’s due date. I’m now on the every other week doctor’s visit schedule. Tuesday we had another ultrasound just to check on things. All looks well. Little Brother weighs 3lbs & 5oz. and is 15.5in long. His head is down and very low. I’m feeling great (though a nap is needed to maintain this feeling as the day goes on) and am enjoying this new experience.

Photo Story: Josh’s Birthday (pt. 1). Arlington experienced a tornado on Josh’s birthday, which (due to the rain) ruined my cookout plans for Josh’s meal. We had our Tuesday salad instead and are going to do the cookout later this week. Josh didn’t want a cake this year and asked for banana splits instead – enjoyed by all.

Happy 31st Birthday to the most wonderful man on earth. You are a man of true excellence – excellent husband, excellent father, excellent friend, excellent student, excellent worker, and to catch all other categories, excellent man. You have been the most excellent blessing in my life these past 5 years.

One quality that makes you an excellent husband is the unity you share with me. I never have to worry about being made fun of by you or criticized by you in public. I never have to worry about what you say to others about me. Never have to worry about your casting me in a negative light. Never have to worry about you complaining about me to another person. We’re on the same team and I have complete confidence that I’m safe with you at all times. It’s one (of the many) qualities that make you my excellent husband.  Thanks so much for choosing me and loving me – for continuing to be an amazing husband who just keeps getting better.

Happy Birthday, my man! I love you more than life!

In February, we became the proud renters of a Community Garden plot. The garden is conveniently located right next to our apartment buildings and it’s been a great opportunity to meet people. The fee for renting the plot is $35. Part of the renter’s agreement requires us to give 50% of our crops to Mission Arlington. Water is provided and UTA dumps some of their beautiful black compost at the garden for us to use. The first thing Josh did was replace nearly all the soil (mostly sand) with compost.

In deciding what to plant, we chose to focus on produce by what is more expensive in the grocery store. In February we planted two types of lettuce, along with kale (colder weather crops). The lettuce is doing great and we’ve already enjoyed several salads. The kale is not doing so well. In March, we planted tomatoes and green peppers. I say “we” – but I should clarify and say that JOSH is doing all the garden work.

Becca loves going to the garden – mainly to run around the plots and sit on the benches. It’s been a good training ground for learning to obey right away, since it’s a large area. We all enjoy having picnics at the garden. This past week, we found ladybugs on our lettuce. Becca loves having ladybugs crawl all over her.

On Sunday we dashed to a used book sale – we made it in 3 minutes before they closed down. We grabbed enough children’s books to fill a box (price was $2.50 +tax per box). We ended up with several good books. Most of them are “retired” books from the public library. It was a great deal and we’re looking forward to the next sale in September!

Photo Story: Selah Johnson’s 10^th Birthday Party. On Saturday, Becca and I attended Selah’s birthday. Becca was the youngest in attendance. She had a great time – which means Mommy did too. One hit was the soda bottle launcher.  Becca loved getting wet!

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by having two couples from our church over for a traditional St. Patty’s Day dinner of corned beef, potatoes, and carrots (no cabbage). Stephen & Kristen (top right panel in photo to left) moved to TX from Greenville, SC, last summer. Mike & Connie (top left panel) began attending our church this past year when they moved into the Bedford area. We enjoyed getting to know both couples more. I’m finding that one of the best ways for us to have people in our home is to invite two families at once (this is all we can manage in our apartment). Having two families over together helps with scheduling (our list of people we want to have over keeps growing and our schedule is limited) and meal budgeting (since usually one family brings the salad and the other the dessert). It’s also been a nice way for different families to get to know each other.

Like our Valentine’s meal, we had conversation questions for our dinner: Tell of one interesting injury you’ve had, Share a quality you value in your spouse, How did you meet your spouse?, How did you come to know Christ?, Share one way you’ve “learned of Christ” within the past year, and List a random act of kindness a non-family member has shown you. We had a great evening and learned several interesting things about our guests. (Pictures surrounding this paragraph are from Becca helping prepare Saturday night’s dinner.)

Photo Story: Becca’s Bedtime Routine: Now that Becca is a toddler with a very active imagination, her bedtime routine has expended. We’re going to have to stop reading books, since they seem to be contributing to Becca’s “ideas.” At this point it sometimes takes an hour to get Becca in bed. As long as I’ve had a nap, it’s a pretty enjoyable routine . . . we’re treasuring the little years.

In our home, we start our mornings with a time of prayer together. It’s been a wonderful way to start our days together.  The exact way we spend our prayer time has changed over the years. When we were engaged it was over the phone; when we first got married we were able to spend longer talking, reading, singing, and praying; when Becca was born our time was considerably shortened (due to my needing more rest); and now that Becca likes to wake up very early our time is “shared” with our little girl.

Currently we’re reading through Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening. Becca sits with us during the reading and drinks her milk. When Josh finishes reading he says “the words of Spurgeon” and I respond, “Charles” – Becca gleefully waits for me to say this so she can respond “I’m not Charles, I’m Becca!” While we pray Becca usually plays or reads, but every once and a while she joins us and listens for a while as we pray. (Actually, she is always listening even when playing, which is evident by her comments during our prayers.) When Josh and I are finished we always call Becca to join us for our family morning prayer.

This week is Spring Break for Josh (time off from his University research position) and me (no music school lessons). Ph.D. students never really get Spring Breaks from researching and writing. Tuesday was our only morning we had free, so we went out to breakfast and the bought and flew a kite. We’ve enjoyed the extra time with Josh and I’ve enjoyed my two free evenings!

Photo Story: “Let’s Go Fly A Kite”

Several weeks ago I read Becca Curious George Flies a Kite. She loved the story. Since then we’ve also read “The Kite” from Days with Frog and Toad and The Berenstain Bears: We Like Kites. Becca also noticed that Lyle the Crocodile flies a kite in the last picture of his first book. Anyway – I told Becca that we would buy her a kite. She LOVED flying her kite and so did Josh. It was a happy morning for all – a perfect kite flying day!

From this point on, I’m entering new territory – this is the longest I’ve ever been pregnant. Becca was born at 27 weeks and 6 days (5:53pm). Day and hour-wise we’ve passed that point, and tomorrow Little Brother will celebrate his 28^th week in the womb. We’re delighted that God brought Little Brother to this point and look forward to the next 12 weeks of pregnancy. Thank you for your prayers!

As most moms of little ones will tell you, much of my day is filled with doing preventive and post-ventive intervention on my little girl’s behavior.  We do a lot of fun things each week, but the week is also filled with a lot of “mommy sighs.” I’m finding that disciplining is not as cut and dry as some people make it sound. It’s not as simple as giving a directive and then negatively or positively reinforcing a child’s behavior based on her response.  Instead, I’m finding that sometimes I need to spend time trying to figure out why Becca did not do what she was asked: Did she understand my request? Is there something (e.g. fear, frustration, etc.) causing her to fail to do what I’ve asked her? Or is just a simple case of disobedience?

Here’s an example: Friday morning, Becca and I played with blocks before I made breakfast (it was one of the mornings she woke up before 6). When Becca was finished playing with the blocks and it was time for me to make breakfast, I asked her to pick up the blocks before she went on to another activity. I immediately noticed some reluctance in Becca, so I sat next to her and made sure she understood what I was asking her to do and the consequence for disobeying Mommy. I stayed for a while and encouraged her as she slowly picked up her blocks, but then I had to start breakfast to get Josh out the door in time.

Shortly after I left I heard Becca dump out all the blocks she had already put in the bag and start throwing blocks. (If I were a cartoon character, my eyes would be bugging out of my head at this point in astonishment. . . . Becca had about 10 blocks left to put away before she dumped the bag, now there were 50 on the floor.) Becca saw me looking at her (maybe she saw my bugging eyes) and came running to me saying “hold me!” Then started our conversation (we have this similar conversation multiple times a day). Mommy: “Becca, you just dumped out all your blocks. Was that a good idea or a bad idea?” Becca: “Bad idea.” Mommy: “Why did you dump out all your blocks?” Becca: “I angry.” Mommy: “Yes, you were angry so you dumped out all your blocks and now you have to pick them up all over again.“At this point I don’t have time to have our talk about being angry (Mommy “Becca, what does it show Mommy when you’re angry?” It always surprises me when she now responds: Becca: ”Becca need Jesus.” ) – I really need to get breakfast finished, and I also need to finish this episode with Becca. Here’s where the “figuring out” comes into play. Becca disobeyed Mommy – the blocks are now all over the floor – so disobedience equals discipline, right? But I decide that maybe the trouble is that Becca has to put the blocks in a bag. Now she’s done it before with no problem, but maybe the early morning with a bag-filling task is frustrating Becca from doing good. So we “try again” – this time I get a bucket from Becca’s room and ask her to put her blocks in there, and immediately she picks up all her blocks, happily singing her clean up song. (While I’m in the kitchen wishing I had used the bucket all along.)

I recently read Give Them Grace (2011) by Fitzpatrick & Thompson. In one chapter they recommend evaluating whether it’s “sin or weakness and immaturity” before you discipline a child for disobedience (p. 102). I’m finding this to be true, especially with a two-year-old. So – if there are weeks that you read the blog and wonder where the fun weekly adventures are, we probably spent a good part of our days learning with Becca.

Tuesday afternoon, we had a quick visit with Dad and Mom Jensen. They had a short layover on their way home from Uruguay. It was nice to be able to see them both.

A Photo Story: Popping Popcorn with Daddy

Five years ago today, my man asked me to be his girlfriend. I was extremely excited…and I still am! God has blessed me with a wonderful husband. So glad you asked me to be  your girl!

One of the nice things about living in the DFW area is that every once and a while we get to visit with people who are in the area on business. Ashleigh, my sister-in-law (married to my second brother, Jon), was in the Dallas area last week on business and spent Thursday and Friday nights with us. Jon and Ashleigh are expecting a baby girl in June, shortly after Little Brother is due. As you can see, Becca didn’t want to be left out of the belly pictures. She brought a pillow over (I’m not sure why), so I put it under her shirt.

On Friday we visited the Dallas Museum of Science and Nature. It was actually two different buildings – the Science building and the Nature building. We spent most of our time in the Children’s Museum located in the Science building. Becca loved the different activities: fire station, dress-up area, farm with a cow to milk, and mirrors. She was so amazed with the mirrors that made her “TALL” and her body small but her head “BIG.” It was so cute to watch her get a kick out of her changing shape.

Ashleigh treated us to a few things. She brought clothes for Becca, Little Brother, and me from the Switcheroos sale in Greenville. Becca has new outfits and shoes for summer, Little Brother has lots of n.b. onesies, and I have some maternity clothes, including some pants for church. It was fun to get clothes for Little Brother . . . we now have little boy clothes in our home. Becca collected all of Little Brother’s new clothes, took them into her room, and went to work “making a bed for Little Brother.” Another treat Ashleigh gave us was a trip to Hobby Lobby with a budget for craft supplies! We’re very excited about the new projects we can do. Ashleigh also took us to Chick-Fil-A for lunch; “poor Daddy” Becca said — he had to work.

We had a great, but quick, visit with Ashleigh. We’re glad her firm allowed her the extra day to visit with us. Lord-willing, next time we see Ashleigh we’ll be holding babies instead of just our bellies!

A Picture Story of Becca’s First Finger Painting Experience

All was neat until I turned my back to get some more paper (and I was on the phone). While I was gone Becca decided to paint her arm. After that I figured we might as well have some fun with the rest of the paint!!

I’m guessing that every mother wants to be considered a great mommy . . . I know I do. I try to do all sorts of things to keep my great mommy status – crafts, games, play activities, adventures, cooking, etc. But sometimes God has to remind me that no matter what fun things I do with Becca “Mommy is weak, but Jesus is strong.”

It was a day last week, Becca and I had spent the morning doing “fun” things – baking, having a pretend picnic in her room, playing; we even had a special dessert at lunch. Then came nap time. This particular afternoon I was exhausted and could hardly keep my head up as I waited for Becca to fall to sleep. However, Becca had no plans on napping (in Becca’s words: “Becca NOT go to sleep!”) . . . she kept calling me for things. A few times when I responded to her call, she stared blankly at me and had to think of some reason she “needed mommy.” This was rather frustrating, since I had to drag myself off the couch every time Becca called (somehow Becca knew to call when I was just falling asleep). The last time Becca called I had had enough. I went charging into her room to deal with another false potty alarm. Right before I went into Becca’s room, I felt like I should pray for grace and patience, but I ignored that urging and ended up speaking very impatiently to Becca. Then I cried. I cried because all those nice mommy activities didn’t make me a more gracious and patient mother. I cried because I should have stopped and prayed for help before I went in to deal with Becca. I cried because I saw the evidence of my sin and my need for Jesus.

Becca was particularly worried that my shirt was getting wet and that mommy was crying. After I asked her forgiveness and explained that Mommy had disobeyed God, I told Becca she needed to stay in bed 15 more minutes while I went out and asked God for help. Becca later told me that evening that Mommy needed God and Jesus to help her.

One of Becca’s favorite bedtime songs is Jesus Loves Me. I probably sing it 5+ times over the course of the night (sometimes at 3AM). One thing Becca likes to do is put her name and other’s names in place of “me”. . . the Bible tells Becca so, and Mommy so, and Daddy so, and Little Brother so, and Flopsie so, and Naaman so. As a reminder to me and Becca that Mommy needs Jesus, I’ve started singing, Mommy is weak, but Jesus is strong. I as a mommy am weak and need the strength of Jesus to minister grace to my little girl. I can’t do it myself. Sure – I can do fun things with Becca, but in myself I am nothing if I do not rely on the strength of Christ as I strive to lead my little girl toward the Savior. Praise God that Mommy is weak, but Jesus is strong.

Little Brother Update

Last Wednesday (2/15/12) I had another ultrasound to check on Little Brother’s progress. So far all looks normal. I asked the technician to measure the amniotic fluid – Little Brother’s amniotic fluid measured at about 16cm in diameter (Becca’s was 2.5cm around the same time). Things are looking good. My doctor says she’ll feel better after I make it another month. We’re thanking God for a healthy baby.

(Note for busy people –  this is long, but the pictures speak for themselves . . . the text just adds the extra details.)

I decided to turn the whole month of February (minus the 1st and 2nd) into a Valentine’s celebration. This post will include some of the activities we’ve done this month.

Becca and I have done a variety of Valentine’s Day crafts. I found a neat website that gave patterns for animals all out of heart shapes. (Note – the giraffe is not heart-shaped . . . Becca wanted a giraffe, so I had to freehand it.) Another “craft” we did was Valentine’s Day was spritz cookies. Great Grandma Sutter gave us the press and it was perfect for Becca to use “1 click – 2 click – up.” We made mint pink heart cookies and painted them with chocolate. [Yummy! -jj]

Daddy Daughter Date (2/4/2012)

Chick-fil-A had a wonderful Daddy Daughter Date night. We decided that Becca and Josh would go. I made a big deal about it with Becca – we even got a new dress at Goodwill for the event. We were so impressed with how they ran the entire event. Tables and times had to be reserved. There was a live piano player. Roses were provided for the daddies to give to their daughters. There was a balloon man who could create just about anything (even a Flopsie). Gifts were given to all the girls. Becca was a little unsure about going on a Daddy Daughter date without Mommy, but once she got there she was so excited. She sat down at the table and shook with excitement. Her favorite part was the “BIG Cow – not a little cow” with pajamas and a hat on. [Sometimes she refers to this event as the Becca-Daughter Date Night. -jj]

Miss Jean for Lunch (2/10/12)

Becca and I had Jean Wood over for lunch on Friday. We had a good time of fellowship.

Couples Dinner (2/10/12)

Friday we had Parke and Lynnelle Brown and René, Yani, and Amaris over for dinner. The afternoon before they came I decided to decorate the table for Valentine’s Day. It started with having a special table with gifts for the girls, and then I decided to include the adults (minus the gifts!). During my “nap time” I got the idea to have a centerpiece with little hearts, each with a question for people to answer. I wasn’t sure what Josh would think of the idea . . . but he thought it was great. We had a delightful evening sharing all sorts of things. (The dessert was made by Lynnelle.) Josh later called the evening a mini couples banquet.

Daddy Mommy Date (2/11/12)

Josh and I celebrated Valentine’s Day Saturday evening. Josh made me a delicious meal and we enjoyed the evening at home. Eating at home with Josh’s cooking is my absolutely favorite “going out” experience. There is no restaurant I enjoy better – perfect food and perfect atmosphere. I also included conversation hearts for our meal with conversation topics on our marriage, etc. I am blessed to be married to a man who loves me very much.

Sunday & Monday Activities (2/12-13/12)

Since we had leftover lasagna from Friday night, we invited our neighbors (who live in the building across from us) David, Violet, and Riley over for dinner Sunday night. Becca and I had visited with Violet and Riley last Monday to deliver our Valentine cookies. Riley is exactly one year younger than Becca and they enjoyed interacting with one another. Violet has her Ph.D in analytical chemistry and David is working on completing his Ph.D in (some other branch of) chemistry. When they had left for the evening, we saw that it was snowing!

Monday, Becca and I went to spend the day with Amaris. Yani is working on completing a correspondence course and we spent several hours at their home playing with Amaris so Yani could work on her projects without interruptions. The girls had fun and we made giraffe puppets.

Family Valentine’s Day Party (2/14/12)

Tuesday night we celebrated V-day as a family. We made heartshaped pizza and Becca and I made strawberry cupcakes for dessert. We decorated our table similar to Friday night’s table. After our meal we danced to The Bare Necessities (Becca’s request – not that her parents were opposed) and played mancala. Part of our party also included a special V-day package from cousin Colette, and Valentine’s pj’s from Great Aunt Susan.

After all the partying (2/14/2012 – 2/15/2012)

Unfortunately, Becca ended up getting sick later in the evening and threw up several times from 9 to 11 (even Mommy needed a shower) and again at 4AM. Wednesday she still had a sensitive tummy, but was doing much better. [That was written before Mommy went to teach piano lessons at 5. Around 5:30 there were some additional problems, but things seem to be improving again. -jj] A BIG thank you to Josh who did a lot of clean up and running loads over to the laundry room while I took care of Becca – I married a winner! [And a BIG thanks to Amy, who did a lot of disgusting things, too. Glad I also got a winner! -jj]  Becca got to give Flopsie a bath (needed!). If you’ve been following the dates on this post, you’ll realize that since Friday, we’ve had very busy days (add in cooking for most of the day Thursday 2/9). I’m officially worn out and am looking forward to a quiet Friday . . . a full day of sleeping . . . ummmm, yeah right! Love being a wife and mommy!

Today marks the 2-year anniversary of Becca coming home from the hospital. Two years ago, we finally got to bring our precious little girl home after 76 day in the NICU. We are so grateful for the ways the Lord protected Becca’s life. We are so grateful for the little gift God has given us. The other day I was telling Becca that she is a present from God to Daddy and Mommy. She wasn’t too sure about that . . . but I think she understood a little.

Before we were allowed to take Becca home, we had to “room-in” for a night at the hospital to make sure we (and Becca) would be comfortable having her at home. I’ve never taken the time to record what that night was like and decided today is a good time to do so.

Leading up to that day, we didn’t know what day Becca would be coming home. The NICU nurses told us it was getting close and to expect a phone call one day saying, “tonight is the night.” I was teaching school on 2/9/10 when Josh left a message that it was the night. I rushed home from school and then we ran some errands and waited for the call to come. We had to wait for the man who was going to train us on Becca’s take-home monitor. We waited and waited and didn’t get the call until after supper.

When we arrived at the hospital they took us to our room and we were instructed on how to operate Becca’s heart/breathing monitor and on the various medications she needed. They brought up Becca from the NICU to our room, and then we were set for the night. I hardly slept the entire night. Between sharing a hospital bed with Josh, getting up to feed Becca, pumping, waking up to be ready for the nurse to bring the medications, and Becca’s alarm going off (the leads were loose) – I don’t think I slept at all. In the morning, Dr. C came in bright and early to check-up on Becca. Josh’s memory of that is still being in bed (sitting up), wearing his shorts and t-shirt, [my hair sticking up! -jj] and Dr. C coming over and hugging him goodbye. We were able to leave the hospital after lunch, once we saw the Occupational Therapist.

We arrived home happy to have our little girl and exhausted. Josh had to go to class that night and I remember watching him leave with tears coming down my face because I couldn’t get Becca to eat (really important for a preemie!). The next morning we had snow, the power went out, and I was wondering how long Becca’s monitor battery would last and where I would go to pump. But we were one happy family to be all together at last. (One interesting thing to note is the outfit we brought Becca home in – we purchased it the day before. It had panda bears on it.)

Happy 2 years home, Becca Bear! We’ve enjoyed having you with us every day. Two nights ago you woke me up at 4AM – “Mama Mama!” – and asked to be held. I held you and remembered about the many times I wanted to hold you at night but couldn’t because you were in the hospital. Thank you for being God’s precious present to us.

One of my goals as a mommy is to make our home rich with traditions and memories – whether those “traditions” end up sticking or are just around for a few years. This year we had our first Ground Hog Day celebration. Becca and I made ground hog puppets in the morning. We also got the pieces ready for Josh to make one in the evening. We had a special snack in Becca’s room (we usually have our snacks at our kitchen table). In the evening, we had a Ground Hog Day puppet show. All three ground hogs had a great time. They even got to take an airplane ride!

(Note – if anyone ever finds good deals on random craft supplies (paper, eyes, pipe cleaners, pompom balls, etc) or if you want to get rid of random supplies, please let me know. I’m always scrounging around for items to make crafts with.)

“It’s Mommy’s fault.” I’ve learned this is a good phrase to remind myself during times I’m frustrating with Becca’s behavior. We were out shopping last weekend and Becca wanted to run around the store and play hide from Mommy. I was not in the mood to be running around clothes racks and just wanted to look and leave. I was frustrated with Becca that she didn’t just “Stay next to Mommy.” But I had to remind myself that Becca hasn’t had much training with behavior in non-grocery stores (at our grocery stores we do run around the aisles – small, non-busy stores). If I’m frustrated with Becca because of that – I need to go home and teach her my expectations. Just a good reminder for Mommy when she’s tempted to think, “why can’t my little girl just stay next to me!”

Here’s a picture of Little Brother at 22 weeks (Feb. 2, 2012). In the pictures on the right you can compare Little Brother’s “size” to Becca’s “size” around the same gestational age.

Funny Things from Becca:

Mommy: “Becca, are you sleepy?” Becca: “I not sleepy – Sleepy in a book!” (Snow White).

Becca: “Mama come back – don’t run away!”  I had simply gone into my room to get some socks.

Mommy: “Those pants are too small for you.” Becca: “Pants not too small for me…I think pants too big for me.”  She found out differently when she tried to put them on.

Becca loves going into her room, shutting the door, and then having me come knock on her door and visit her: “Mama – come knock on door!” The other day I came to her “house” for a visit and then told her I had to go finish making breakfast. Becca: “Mama – don’t go back to your house!”

Becca: “I tiny – Mommy little.”

When making breakfast bars for church I told Becca not to eat too much batter: Mommy: “It’s bad for you.” Becca: “It’s not bad for you – it’s yummy for you.”

A conversation with Becca when she should have been in bed but instead insisted she had to go potty: Mommy: “I think you’re all done.” Becca: “I make stinky mess.” Mommy: “You already made a stinky mess today.” Becca: “Stinky mess stuck in bottom – I get out.” Mommy: “Becca – you already had a stinky mess today.” Becca: “Becca make stinky mess in bed – Mommy not really happy…Becca make stinky mess in potty – Mommy REALLY happy.”  I was finally able to convince her there was no stinky mess coming (sometimes Mommys just know) and then she went off to bed!

One other point of interest: It takes Becca almost an hour to fall asleep after we put her to bed. She is good about staying in her bed and calling if she needs anything. She usually just talks with her “friends” and sings until she falls asleep. We’re tried keeping her up later and it doesn’t seem to matter much.

Sunday night Becca transitioned into a toddler bed. I’ve been delaying the transition due to timing, problems she’s been having sleeping through the night, and the fact that I’m never anxious to move Becca to the next step of growing up. It just so happens that the day Josh decided to put the bed together was also the day that Becca took a nap from 2:30-5:15 (very unusual). We’ve taught Becca to stay in her pack-n-play, so she understood staying in her bed. However, the excitement of a new bed and her extra rest resulted in Becca’s happy chatter in bed until 10PM. She’s done this before in her pack-n-play, but without us wondering if her little face was going to appear any moment. Around 4AM I heard a noise and then little feet running across our bedroom carpet. Then there was Becca next to my head (accompanied by Flopsie and Naaman) asking to come in Mama’s bed. I couldn’t resist the sweet little girl’s request; however, this will not become a common event. Since Sunday Becca has done a super job staying in bed. She still takes forever to fall asleep, is waking up during the night, and getting up wide awake between 6-6:30, but besides that, all is going well.

Next door to our apartment complex there is a community garden, where people can rent plots for a year. We’ve been able to get a plot (4×20′) and are planning to start our little garden. Our idea is to focus on growing produce that is more expensive to buy. This past weekend, Josh replaced the sandy soil with very nice compost. Becca enjoys being in the garden and we’ve been able to meet many other gardeners.

And a quick overview of the week: Friday night we had the Hsu family (piano students) over for a meal. The next day was normal Saturday morning piano teaching, and Josh worked in the garden in the afternoon. That evening Josh took me out to buy me headphones for my piano – so I can play when Becca is sleeping! Sunday – church and garden work. Monday Becca and I had Anna over for lunch. Tuesday Becca and I spent the day with Yani and Amaris; we were out from 9:30AM to 6PM. We went to the Dallas Arboretum, and the weather ended up being beautiful. Wednesday Becca and I went on our weekly library trip and I taught piano lessons. And Josh – well he goes to school every morning to work on his dissertation and do department work.

Here’s my belated record of some of the special presents we exchanged at Christmas. Josh complied two very nice song text books for our family. The Jensen Family Hymns 2010-2012 contains all the texts of the hymns we’ve memorized and plan to memorize this year. Josh got two copies – one hardback and one paperback. The paperback is very nice for using on Sundays on our way to church when we need some help with the words. Sing Ye Merry is the same idea but with Christmas texts [and a weird title -jj]. It was a really sweet gift that we’re enjoying. My other really special gift was an ornament in memory of the little one we lost last year. Mrs. Millard gave us one for Becca the Christmas she was born and for a long time I’ve wanted one to commemorate our little one. The gift was totally unexpected and resulted in instant tears. My special gift to Josh is a calendar with family pictures. I then take the calendar and write Josh a special love message to read each night of the year. It takes me a while to write all the messages . . . last year (with dissertations deadlines, etc) I didn’t finished the writing until June.