Today, Josh successfully defended his dissertation proposal! We’ve been praying about his defense since August and are delighted that Josh was able to defend before the end of the school year.  I’m extremely proud of my husband. Josh has had many “interruptions” during this school year (my hospitalization, Becca’s time in the NICU, etc.) and has continued to be a good husband, father, teacher, and student throughout them all. Darling, I’m so proud of you – I adore you!

(Below is the abstract for Josh’s proposal.)

The public is invited to a dissertation proposal defense by Joshua Jensen.

Date: Next week, Tuesday May 11, 2010

Time: 2.30 PM

Location: Trimble Hall, Room 200

Title of Proposal: “Jarai Clause Structure & Serial Verb Constructions”

This dissertation will investigate the structure of clauses in Jarai (Austronesian; Vietnam and Cambodia), with a special focus on grammatical functions and multi-verb clauses. The research will establish language-internal criteria for (1) determining the syntax of clauses, (2) identifying grammatical functions such as subject and object, and (3) identifying and categorizing serial verb constructions, clauses which have two verbs without any indication of subordination or coordination. The investigation of serial verb constructions will address both their typological characteristics (Durie 1997, Aikhenvald and Dixon 2006) and their syntactic structure (Baker 1989, Collins 1997, Baker and Stewart 1999).

Becca has had an exciting week with lots of walks outside, photo shoots, video shoots, and fashion shows with Grammy Sutter. Grammy flew back to PA Wednesday morning. We are very grateful for the time she was able to spend with Becca as Josh was working on his end-of-semester projects. We celebrated my mom’s birthday the evening before she left.

On Friday, I took Mom with me to school so she could get an idea of a typical teaching day for me. My kids loved performing for her and were on good behavior for their special guest. It was nice to be able to show Mom my school and work. After this week, I have 4 more weeks of teaching before the school year is over. I’m enjoying being with my kids.

Over the weekend, Josh’s sister and family were in town for a visit. They are on a 7-week visit to the U.S. from China. It was nice to spend time with them and have them in our home. Monday morning, Josh took the boys to the fire station. They also visited DTS and were able to spend some time in the afternoon swimming in the hotel pool. When I asked Luke how he liked the fire station his response was, “I loved it!”

This is Josh’s last week of classes. He has a final paper due next week and will defend his proposal this coming Tuesday. The next week will be a busy time for him and we’re looking forward to the end of next week. Josh will also go back to being a full-time dad. Hope you enjoy all the pictures my mom took while she was here.

This week Becca celebrated 3 birthdays – 22 weeks, 5 months, and her adjusted 2 month birthday. We’re enjoying seeing her grow and develop each day. This past weekend we were given a lovely shower from our friends at New Life Bible Church. It was Becca’s first “girl-party” and she enjoyed being the guest of honor. We’re grateful for all the love and work that went in to making our shower so special!

Grammy Sutter flew in from PA on Sunday and is here for a week and a half to watch Becca while I’m at school, so Josh can have some extra time to wrap up his semester. My mom brought a bunch of my old baby clothes and is having picture shoots each day. She and Becca also enjoy long walks around campus each day. Both Grammy and Becca seem to be having lots of fun.

Becca had a doctor’s appointment last week. Her weight was 10lbs. and her length was 22in. The doctor was pleased with her progress. I’ve been very busy with teaching, but was delighted to make it home on time on Wednesday to see Josh receive the Donald A. Burquest Award for Excellence in Teaching Linguistics. Becca and I are very proud of him!  I don’t have time to write more, but I hope you enjoy all the photos Grammy has been taking of Becca.

Today is Becca’s 21-week birthday. As you can see from the picture, she now weighs 9lbs. and 14oz.. This afternoon she has a doctor’s appointment, and we’ll find out her length (I’m too lazy to find a tape measure right now to measure her myself). Becca had an OT appointment this past Monday and received a good report. Her OT continues to give us exercises to do with Becca to strengthen her eyes and muscles.

This week, Becca has had lots of new experiences. She went to the grocery store, Costco, and Kohls. It was the first time we’ve been out shopping together as a family, since Becca’s stay at the hospital. I also took Becca to meet my OB. Dr. Moseley delivered Becca but only got to see her as she took her out of my womb and passed her to the neonatologist.

Monday night, we made a visit to the NICU to deliver a photo collage we made for them. We tried to get pictures of Becca’s caregivers while she was in the NICU, but only succeeded in getting about half of the nurses. (Debbie did the lettering for me). It was nice to see several of the NICU nurses again. The nurse that admitted Becca was there and has a good memory of her arrival on Thanksgiving evening.

I started back teaching at Cochran Elementary School this week. In the past two days I’ve received lots of hugs and welcome backs from all my kids. They are all concerned about Becca and are enjoying the pictures I brought of her. They especially like the picture of her reading. Josh is doing a wonderful job taking care of Becca while I’m at school. I think they’re having a lot of fun together. I always enjoy coming home to see my two favorite people.

Today is Becca’s 20-week birthday…it’s hard to believe that she was born 20 weeks ago. Becca went to church for her first time this past Sunday and did an excellent job in the nursery. She was also dedicated during the morning service and enjoyed meeting so many of the people who have been praying for her. I was worried that Becca would spit up all over her outfit before we got to church, but instead she spit up all over me, and I was the one who had to change before we left for church.

Becca is smiling and talking/singing a lot more this week, and we enjoy our conversations with her. Hopefully Josh will post some videos of her, once his school year is over. I start back at school this coming Tuesday. I’ll have 7 weeks of teaching before school is out for the summer. I’m enjoying every day I have at home with Becca and Josh.

Today is Becca’s 19-week birthday. I’m not sure how long we’ll keep celebrating week birthdays, but for now it works as a good marker for posting pictures. This week, we noticed that Becca has really taken to reading…though we’re afraid that the dictionary is going to fall on her one of these days. Becca is not strong enough yet to lift it herself.

This week we celebrated Josh’s 29th birthday. Becca and I surprised Josh with a little gift to celebrate each day of his birthday week. Saturday, Josh’s gift was his birthday meal. I wasn’t sure what to make him this year and he didn’t have any special requests, so I decided to try making crab cakes. My brother, Jon, gave me a recipe and I surprised Josh with a crab cake dinner. I was a bit worried about how they would turn out and about how Josh would like them, but my worries were unwarranted – Josh loved the meal. This was my fourth year celebrating Josh’s birthday. I am so blessed to be married to Josh – he’s a wonderful husband and daddy. I thank God every day for giving me Josh as my husband.

Even though Becca couldn’t go to church on Easter, I still dressed her up for the occasion. I found her a little Easter dress at Goodwill. We had a fun time taking pictures and getting ready to see Josh when he arrived home from church. We have lots of leftover ham from our Easter dinner and I’m trying to find creative ways to use the ham in other meals.

As of this week, Becca is allowed out of the house. This Sunday will be her first time at church and we’re both looking forward to attending church together as a family. Becca’s next OT appointment is on the 19th of April and her doctor’s appointment is the same week. We’ve seen good progress with Becca’s tracking and head lifting this week. It’s always neat to see the progress she makes each day. We continue to enjoy our little Becca. I’m treasuring each day I have before I head back to teaching on the 20th. God has blessed us in so many ways and we continue to see Him work on our behalf.

This week Becca is starting to smile more, and we’re loving it! Though our attempts to get her to smile are not always successful, the reward of seeing her smile is always worth it. Her “smiley” times are usually when she’s playing on the floor or right after she eats. We’re looking forward to the weeks ahead as she progresses in her ability to respond to us.

On Tuesday, Becca and I ventured outside to meet Josh as he walked home from school. Becca seems to enjoy the stroller, though she isn’t too sure about the wind or sun. We’re looking forward to taking Becca outside more, once RSV season is over. Becca will be allowed to leave the house — and be in places where there are more people — by the middle of April. We’re looking forward to taking her to church with us.

Sunday, some of Josh’s fellow classmates came to visit with Becca. So far we’ve had several local guests come  to see Becca. Debbie King was the first, then Micah and Anna Martin (not pictured), YiLing, Pastor and Shawn Lutz, and Josh’s classmates. Everyone has been very careful not to visit if they are sick, and we appreciate their thoughtfulness and look forward to seeing them when Becca is allowed out.

Saturday is Josh’s birthday, and we’ve decided to celebrate by giving him presents all week. We want to make sure he knows that he is the best husband and daddy in the whole wide world. On Sunday, we gave him a card – Monday, we made him cinnamon rolls – Tuesday, we gave him a can of Pringles – Wednesday, we gave him a box of Cheez-Its – today, we gave him a box of snack packs, and you’ll have to wait until next week to find out what the rest of the presents are.

Both Josh and I are working on our proposals and are finding creative ways to watch Becca while we write. I love using her as an excuse not to write, and we both love having her with us. She’s a wonderful distraction and great break from our research. We continue to enjoy being parents and are thankful for the many ways the Lord has kept our little girl safe.

On Saturday, Josh and I went out on our first date since Becca has been home. Debbie, another Ph.D in Linguistics student in our church, offered to watch Becca and we took her up on her offer. We think Becca was pretty good for Debbie, though she didn’t sleep the whole time, as I’d hoped.

Josh and I went to an Indian restaurant and then walked around at a park. The weather was gorgeous and it was nice to be outside. While walking on a trail, Josh spotted a little mouse, and we saw lots of fish and turtles at the pond. We’re looking forward to taking Becca with us to the park, when she’s allowed to leave the house.

After my outing to the mall yesterday, I’ve decided that I need to get out more for I did two things uncharacteristic of my usual mall trips. My goal was to get to make a return and run to the grocery store in between Becca’s feedings. While I met my first goal of making the return, I also made 3 dollars by testing two hot dogs and filling out a survey about them, and I got a free makeover at a make-up store.

This week Becca celebrates several birthdays: she turns 17 weeks today, 4 months on Friday, and her “adjusted” age hit 1 month this past Monday. She now weighs 8lbs and 12oz. Yesterday Becca rolled over, from her tummy to her back, for the first time.

We’ve been working on tummy-time with Becca. When she came home from the NICU, Becca loved being on her tummy and hated being on her back. But since she had to sleep on her back, Becca now loves being on her back and only tolerates her tummy for a little while. We have tummy play-time each day and work with Becca’s tracking and practice lifting her head. Becca continues to enjoy doing things with her mommy and daddy. Last night she helped me make her daddy’s lunch.

This week Grandpa and Grandma Jensen came for a visit. Becca enjoyed spending time with her grandparents. I was hoping she would spit-up all over Grandpa J; she instead saved all her spit-up for when her grandparents were at church

According to Weather.com, Arlington got 0.57 inches of precipitation on the first day of spring…but not the kind of precipitation you would expect for this time of year!

When people ask me Becca’s age, I’m never sure what to answer. Today she is 16 weeks old, but her “adjusted” age puts her at 3 weeks old. So we have a 16 and 3 week-old baby in our home!

Nothing new to report this week; Becca continues to do well and is keeping us entertained. You might notice that Becca is shirtless in the pictures of me bottle-feeding her. Becca is quite the little spit-upper. She usually manages to spit-up all over her clothes…and sometimes she manages to spit up all over my clothes!

Josh is on Spring Break this week, and we’ve enjoyed having him home with us. Tomorrow Grandpa and Grandma Jensen fly in for a weekend visit. We’re looking forward to visiting with them both.

Yesterday marked a month since we brought Becca home from the NICU, and we celebrated by saying “bye-bye” (as our pediatrician said) to Becca’s monitor. For the first time ever, we have a cordless baby! It’s so nice to be able to pick up Becca and carry her around our apartment, without having to worry about tripping over the cord or carrying the monitor – I love it! We even walked Daddy partway to class last night.

Yesterday, Becca also got her first set of shots, and today we went to Cook’s Hospital to get her Synagis injection. Besides the initial screams when being pricked with the needles, Becca has done great with all her shots.

Becca’s weight is 8lbs and she’s 19 inches long, and the doctor is pleased with her progress. We continue to enjoy having our little girl home with us. I love watching Josh with Becca. He’s working with her on learning to count in Jarai. Josh also found some interesting ways to watch her while he works on computer. I found out this week that I don’t have to be back at school until April 20th. This is an answer to prayer and I’m grateful for the extra time I’ll have at home with Becca.

Happy 14-week birthday, Becca! Monday, Becca had her follow-up eye appointment and passed with flying colors. The blood vessels behind her eyes stopped multiplying and are considered ordinary for a newborn. We don’t have a new weight to post for this week. Tomorrow Becca has her OT appointment and they’ll weigh her there. We’ve had a nice week and are enjoying our little girl. Becca enjoyed helping Josh enter students’ grades this week, after her bath-time with me.

Yesterday marked the 3-year anniversary of the day Josh asked me to be his girlfriend. I’m delighted that we transitioned from the girlfriend/boyfriend stage to husband and wife and have enjoyed dating my husband these past 3 years. I am blessed to be called Josh Jensen’s wife.

97 days ago, Josh and I were given some new jewelry to wear from Arlington Memorial Hospital. Our bracelets gave us the privileged to enter the NICU and visit our precious baby girl. 21 days ago, Becca left the NICU and our jewelry was no longer needed; however, we both had become so used to our bands that we never cut them off.  This past Monday night, we decided to officially end our NICU era by cutting off our hospital bands. I don’t think either of us will miss our bands, and we’re hoping the next time we wear such jewelry it will only be for a few short days!

Three months ago today, our little Becca decided she couldn’t wait any longer to meet her parents and was born 13 weeks early. It’s hard to believe all that’s taken place over the past three months, as we’ve watched Becca outgrow the spoon. We’ve very thankful to have a healthy little girl living with us. Happy 3-month birthday, Becca!

Our little Becca-bear is celebrating her 13-week birthday. Yesterday Becca’s pediatrician, Dr. Raine, decided to take Becca off her caffeine.  Lord-willing, this will not affect her breathing or heart-rate (indicated by the monitor), and Becca could be off the monitor within 2 to 3 weeks. Becca was taken off her supplementary formula and is now working toward emptying our freezer of all mommy’s milk, when she bottle feeds. Becca’s current weight is 7lbs & 5oz and her length is 19.5 inches.

We’re praising God for answering our prayer request concerning Becca being off formula and continue to pray that she’ll be a good little nurser. Thank you for your prayers!

As of today, we officially have a newborn in our home! Based on the doctor’s prediction, Becca’s due date was February 22, so now Becca’s adjusted age is one day old. Becca is enjoying her life as a newborn, including being carried by Daddy in the mobi and having  nap time with Daddy.

Now that Becca is 12 weeks old, she is becoming a very accomplished young lady. My university piano teacher made Becca a sweater, hat, booties, and little animal (I had no idea that Dr. Wilson could do this!). We decided that Becca should wear Dr. Wilson’s gifts while she had her first piano lesson. Maybe someday Dr. Wilson herself can give Becca a piano lesson!

Becca is enjoying being home with her daddy and mommy, and we’re both delighted to have her home with us. The second day Becca was home, we had a significant amount of snow for this area of Texas. Though Josh and I were unable to go out in the snow together, we both enjoyed walking around our apartment and stomping around in the snow a bit. Maybe next year, Becca will be able to go out with us and play in the snow.

It appears that Becca’s colitis is clearing up. She has a follow-up appointment with Dr. Raine next week to make sure the colitis is officially clearing up.

Josh and I enjoyed our Valentine’s Day. I am so blessed to be married to the world’s most wonderful man.

Here’s a few pictures of some of the week’s activities for Becca. Thank you for your prayers for us. We are praising God for His continual working in Becca’s life and are so grateful for His protection on her life.

After 76 days in the NICU, our little Becca is finally home! Our rooming in experience went well and they released Becca yesterday afternoon to come home with us. The pictures show our hospital room, which was right next to the one I spent 11 days in before Becca came, and Abbie, Becca’s nurse for the day. One of the last things Becca did before leaving the hospital was to christen Abbie.

Becca loves her swing and is getting used to her new bed. It’s so wonderful to have her at home with us. We’re all adjusting to our new schedules. Becca requires 3 medications plus vitamins, and she eats every 3 hours. Becca has to wear a heart and breathing monitor 24/7, so she always has a cord with her. So far we’ve only had false alarms go off. We’re praying that she will do well and be taken off the monitor soon.

We’re praising God for bringing Becca home. He has answered so many prayers concerning her life. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for our little Becca.