This Thanksgiving we traveled to Georgia and South Carolina to be with family for the holiday. Both kids did great on all our flights. We first flew to Atlanta, Georgi,a to be with Grandma Martin (Josh’s maternal grandmother). We enjoyed our time at the Martin Thanksgiving and spent the night at Grandma Martin’s house before we drove to SC Friday afternoon.

Becca ended up getting sick on our trip. She’s had a cold for over three weeks and once we were in flight to GA she seemed to shut down. I knew something was wrong when our very active girl actually fell asleep on the plane. Becca came down with a fever once we got to GA and spent several hours sleeping in my arms. On Saturday we took her to a doctor and she was given antibiotics for a double ear infection. Unfortunately, Becca wasn’t herself until Monday. We’re very thankful that Becca was feeling more herself to celebrate her birthday.

Becca enjoyed interacting with her cousin Bella.

Saturday we were able to spend time with Rene, Yani, and Amaris. If we hadn’t had a sick girl to get to the doctor, a wedding to attend, and family to see we would have spent all day with them.

Saturday afternoon we attended the Pinner/Parker wedding. Since getting married we’ve prayed almost every Thursday morning that God would lead Brian to the right woman to be his wife. We were delighted to be able to celebrate God’s answer to our prayers with Brian and Tessa.

Monday we went to the zoo for Becca’s birthday and then had a family party for her in the evening. We were able to meet cousin Megan for the first time – she’s 3 weeks younger than Isaiah.

Happy Birthday to our precious Rebecca Grace! We thank God for the wonderful gift He is giving us in you. We thank God for the many ways He’s protected you these past three years. We love you!

Our little man started rolling from his back to his stomach this week and is now becoming a little roller as he rolls around the living room. He continues to be a very happy boy who loves eating, sleeping, and social interaction! He also seems to be attracted to Becca’s sparkly Hello Kitty purse (see picture on right).

This week we had lunch with Anna and Adam Martin – as you can see Adam and Isaiah are growing boys!

My Husband – for a godly man who loves me and our children and desires to point us all to Christ. I’m thankful for all the time Josh spends with our family. I’m thankful that he makes us priority and not just an obligation. I’m thankful for the gift God has given to me in my best friend – my man. (And I’m thankful for the popcorn Josh makes us several nights a week!)

Becca  – for our precious little girl who was born three Thanksgivings ago. We’re thankful she has no negative effects from her premature birth. We’re thankful for her sense of humor, love for books, and energy.  We’re thankful that Becca is  healthy and cancer-free.

God’s work in Becca’s cancer –  we’re so thankful Becca’s neuroblastoma was caught early and that the doctor was able to remove the tumor (containing all traces of cancer) during the surgery. We’re thankful for a complete recovery. We’re thankful for a wonderful hospital system; thankful that every morning I drove to the hospital (in Fort Worth) I was headed west instead of east into the rising sun; thankful every morning that the traffic was all headed to Dallas while I breezed into to Fort Worth; thankful that Becca never developed a fear of hospitals; thankful for Children’s Medicaid; and thankful for the many people who prayed and ministered to our family. (The picture on the right is Becca with her surgeon, Dr. Miller.)

Isaiah –  we’re thankful for our delightful baby boy. We’re thankful for my safe pregnancy and his safe birth. We’re thankful for Isaiah’s sweet happy spirit. We’re thankful for a boy who sleeps through the nights, eats well, and loves social interaction.

Arlington Presbyterian Church – we’re thankful for our new church family who has been so kind in welcoming us into their body.  We’re thankful that the church is only 5 minutes from our home.

My two boys spending some quality time on the couch. When Josh told Becca what Isaiah’s shirt said, she disagreed with a “no – girls rule!” Isaiah continues to be a very easy, very happy boy. He does cry and get upset, but those times are usually associated with being hungry or wanting to be in his bed for sleep.

Several weeks ago I noticed that Isaiah was having the same trouble Becca had with processing milk proteins in my milk. I’m now off milk products (fortunately, he seems to handle soy) . . . oh ice cream and cheese, we shall be friends again someday.

Several weeks ago Becca and I talked about saying bye-bye to her bottle nipple. I got the calendar and let Becca choose and circle the date – Becca chose November 4th. We had a little ceremony and Becca did a great job throwing her bottle nipple away (in the photo above she’s kissing it goodbye). She still drinks her morning and evening milk – now from a cup (not as enjoyable as her bottle).

In October Becca received a “party” dress from her Uncle Jon and Aunt Ashleigh. I was surprised how much she enjoyed wearing it, so I got out my party dress and we had a lovely tea party. And as everybody knows, tea parties always include dancing! (Let me add that all our tea party pictures were taken by me – I’m pretty pleased with our action dancing shots.)

A few other random shots: 1) Our garden – Josh pulled up most of our summer crops and planted lettuce. 2) Tent time with popcorn. 3) Becca’s birthday countdown calendar. Each day she gets to remove a sticker for a special birthday treat.

I saw a picture of my older brother, Sam, when he was a baby (4 weeks) and decided to try the same thing with Isaiah. Once Isaiah was inside the pumpkin, he really enjoyed sucking on the pumpkin. Getting him out was a bit of a challenge.

We carved our pumpkin October 31st. This year we let Becca stay up and help.

We were able to see Dad J during his layover in Dallas on Wednesday. It’s nice that we’re only about 30 minutes from the airport.

Last weekend Josh and I took a vacation to San Antonio (half a day’s drive). Typically our vacations are holiday visits to family, which means less time together as a couple (and with our kids), because we’re visiting with everyone else. When we finally go to bed at night our conversation starts something like: “Hi, how are you? What did you do today?” It was really nice to get away for two nights and have lots of time to spend together as a couple. Becca stayed with the Ishams and had a wonderful time. Isaiah was a great baby and didn’t mind the sightseeing or all our talking.

The idea for our vacation sprouted when Josh realized that I (and we as a couple) needed a break after all that’s happened the past 5 months. After I thought about it for a while I asked if we could go to San Antonio to see The Alamo. I was a bit reluctant about leaving Becca for two nights (my girl!), but I knew she was in good hands. We really enjoyed seeing The Alamo, and we were able to get a lot of family shots (sorry Becca), since people were all over The Alamo taking pictures — all we had to do was offer to take a photo of another family, then they would return the favor.

We enjoyed some local Mexican food and a morning stroll on the Riverwalk. We attempted the Riverwalk at night, but after trying to maneuver in the crowded night atmosphere, we decided to try again in the morning. The morning proved to be less crowded and more relaxing. Josh and Isaiah posed under the statue of Saint Anthony.

On our way back to Arlington, we stopped at Natural Bridge Cavern and went on a 70-minute tour. On the tour we saw the largest cavern in Texas – beautiful. When we told Becca about the cave she seemed glad she got to stay at the Ishams and not go into the “creepy crawly cave” – as she calls them per Patch the Pirate in the Jungle.

We had a lovely vacation. It was nice to be able to spend time with Josh and just enjoy each other. It was a treat to have extra time to talk. Sure – we talk every night, but with our schedule (and Becca!) there’s not a lot of time for quality talking. We missed Becca and were very glad to get her back Sunday night.

Thanks Josh for spending the weekend with me and for being my wonderful husband!

Mom Jensen was able to visit us on Monday during her flight back from Uruguay. We enjoyed having her for the day, and we made a trip to the Fort Worth Science Museum.

Saturday we went to a free family festival held by a local church.

The last photos are from making challah bread.

(I’m swapping posts this week – tomorrow will be our normal blog post.)

Hard to believe that 5 months ago our little man entered the world. He’s such a sweet and happy little boy, and we’re so thankful for our precious gift from God. Isaiah had his first solids this week – sweet potatoes. Nothing official, just some tasting from a spoon.

Becca continues to interact more with Isaiah as time goes on. The other day I was washing out a diaper and asked Becca to go make Isaiah happy. I was very pleased to come out and find her doing a puppet show for Isaiah who was eating up every minute of the show and laughing at his sister – a moment that simply melts a mommy’s heart.

A few weeks ago we started Isaiah in cloth diapers. I’ve been delaying since we don’t have a washer or dryer. So far it’s working to wash the diapers by hand every day – with the help of our diaper sprayer (thanks Jon & Ashleigh!).

We’re so thankful for the precious children God has given us – happy 5-month birthday, Sai-Zai!

The other day I realized that Isaiah is right about the size Becca was at her first birthday!

Last weekend we made our annual trip to Hall’s Pumpkin Farm. Becca really enjoyed the corn maze (she led us) until we came to a dead end. “No, we can’t go that way,” we said, “It’s a dead end.” She got really upset and wanted to get out after that. We decided she was scared by the “dead” part. We tried to explain what a dead end is (no death!) and she did better.

Anna & Adam Martin joined the kids and me at the zoo last week. It was the boys’ (Isaiah’s and Adam’s) first time at the zoo. Not sure they were that impressed! Becca’s goals were to see the gorillas and ride the train.

Becca’s oncologist, Dr. Meaghan Granger, said Becca’s scans from her MRI “look great.” We’re thankful for the good report. Her next MRI and MIBG will be scheduled for early January.

Isaiah continues to be a sweet baby. He is full of laughing and loves attention. This week he started laughing at Becca – it’s so cute.

Becca’s MRI went well yesterday. We ended up having to wait until 11:10 for Becca to be put to sleep (we arrived at the hospital at 8:30). It was a long wait for two girls who didn’t have breakfast and couldn’t eat or drink anything, but Becca did great (and Mommy survived!). When we arrived home, Becca decided Isaiah needed a MRI too.

Last weekend we went to a town festival about 45 minutes from our home – Celebrate Roanoke. It was great and we all had a blast. The festival and activities (even parking) were free, and the only thing we had to pay for was the hamburgers for supper.

Isaiah’s main interest was Becca’s pinwheel – see photo collage on the left. He was always trying to get his hands on it.

At the festival Becca had some cotton candy. It was her first time to actually eat cotton candy. Her previous association with it is the nice smell that puts her to sleep at the hospital.

This morning (Thursday) Becca has an MRI to check on her abdominal area. She gets to smell cotton candy again.

This week Isaiah found his thumb. It’s really cute to walk into our room and see him sucking away on it. So far it’s been helping him take longer naps and fall asleep faster. Happy 19-weeks little man!

My youngest brother was in Dallas last week for work training (at Deloitte University), and he was able to spend some time with us at the end of his week. Becca had a good time with her Uncle Joey. When she went to bed Friday night she was concerned: “Is Uncle Joey leaving when I go to bed or will he be here tomorrow?”

Joey’s flight was cancelled, so he got to stay a few extra hours with us. We spent some time at the Fort Worth Science Museum (thank you Ishams for the membership). One nice plus from having Joey with us is that we were able to get more pictures than normal. Joey took tons of photos during his time here.

Becca had a great time in the museum and Isaiah did really well. The last thing we saw was a laser show in the planetarium. The picture below will show how the laser show kept the attention of our kids. Thanks, Uncle Joey for taking all the pictures!

Today marks Becca’s 150-week birthday! She’s made a great recovery from her surgery and currently loves doing surgery on Hop (a stuffed bunny that has a removable “bump” for warming in the microwave). Becca first routine MRI is scheduled for next Thursday.

Another brother & sister photo shoot!

Now that the weather is a bit cooler, we’ve been enjoying walking around campus. Becca loves racing Flopsie in her stroller against Isaiah in his. She’s a pretty vicious racer and regularly cuts her opponent off during the race.

This week Becca asked to go to school, so we’ve been packing up her backpack (crayons, scissors, glue, and snack) and sending her out the door each morning for school. She walks to the end of the sidewalk, turns around, and and comes back to knock on our door for school. She’s very good at role playing and separating me as the “teacher” and me as “mommy.” If I mention having to do something to Isaiah she’ll say, “but I thought you were my teacher.” Currently we’re working on shapes and numbers.

The “teacher” asked Becca to describe her mommy. Becca said “she’s happy.” When I asked about her eye and hair color Becca said, “she has black hair and black eyes….but she is a sinner!” It’s amazing what teachers find out from their students about parents.

We’re thankful for the sweet little boy God has given us. What a little treasure. (Just looking at these pictures makes me want to wake him up and cuddle him, but I’ll resist.) We’re celebrating Isaiah’s 4-month birthday by taking him to his 4-month well-check. I’m not sure he’ll be too thrilled with the shots! I’ll post his stats later this afternoon.

Update with stats: Isaiah had a good well check this morning. His size is just about average: Weight 15lbs 10oz (54%); Length 25in (43%); Head Circumference 42cm (62%).

The top picture shows just some of the many cards Becca received this past month. Thank you to all who have been praying for Becca and our family. Becca is doing great and one would never guess she had surgery 2 weeks ago.

Last Thursday the Rylands joined us for a very yummy dinner — provided by them. They also gave Becca a collection of early Berenstein Bear stories with some of Becca’s favorites.

Saturday Morning: One of the things we love about living in Arlington is all the free activities the city offers. The city’s Ecofest had some fun children’s activities (bounce house, petting zoo, crafts, etc). Becca especially enjoyed being in the petting zoo and (later) decorating a pot.

Even though the Ecofest was on the first day of fall, it was still hot in Texas! We let Becca play in the fountains. I was hoping we could keep her from getting too wet (surgery site), but how can you keep a little girl from getting completely soaked!

Sunday Evening: The weekend before Becca’s surgery we went to a free outdoor concert. The next day Becca asked if we could go again to hear the beautiful music. Arlington offers free outdoor concerts during the months of June and September. The concert we attended a couple weeks ago was solo piano music. This past Sunday evening’s concert featured Bryon Stripling and the UTA Jazz Orchestra.  I wasn’t sure what Becca would think, but once Stripling came out and starting playing the trumpet, Becca loved it, and she danced during the entire concert (Isaiah was not impressed!).

On Monday we made a fall decoration for our front door. The leaves from the tree are Becca’s hands and Isaiah’s feet. In honor of fall, Becca ate an ice-pop while I, with sweat on my brow, was putting our tree up on the door! No blog post tomorrow…I’m waiting for Monday to celebrate Isaiah’s 4-month birthday!