Thursday Night (5/31): The day before Isaiah’s birth, I taught my last set of piano lessons for the month while Josh picked up my mom from the airport. For the past few days I had been in rush mode. We had thought the c-section was scheduled for Monday, June 4^th, but found out Tuesday afternoon that it had been scheduled for Friday morning! There was a lot to do before the surgery. I spend Thursday night giving my mom “Becca instructions” and doing my last-minute packing for the hospital. It’s a strange feeling knowing that you’re going to get up in the morning and have your baby in a few hours.

Friday Morning (6/1): Friday morning, we had to be at the hospital at 5:30. Surgery prep went well, the anesthesiologist said he had the right hand of God on his side. I was just hoping he did well in school! Josh read us Sense and Sensibility while we waited. I walked into the operating room, sat on the table, and was given a spinal block. While I was trying to think about how nice it would be to have our boy with us soon, I kept thinking, “I hate this. I hate the operating room. I hate giving birth this way.” The surgery went well and Isaiah Emil arrived safe and sound. He was a lot bigger than they were expecting from my size. They also noted that I had no scar tissue from Becca’s c-section. I ended up getting sick during the surgery – a reaction to the meds. I threw up during surgery and then several times throughout the day. It was a pretty miserable day, as I couldn’t sit up too far or take any movement without getting sick. BUT – I was delighted to have a sweet baby boy. The nurses were concerned about my low heart rate – several asked it I was a runner.

Becca: Becca came to meet Isaiah in the afternoon. I was sad I couldn’t be move involved with her first interactions with Isaiah. We tried to take a family picture, but I was “a little green” as my doctor put it. Saturday I was able to actually interact with both my children and enjoyed it very much. Becca wasn’t too excited about all the pictures, but was excited to see Isaiah for the first time and to exchange gifts.  She also sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” for Isaiah with hand motions.  Becca even helped me walk the halls. Becca also enjoyed riding up and down in my bed.

Hospital Stay (6/1-4): Josh stayed every night with me at the hospital. It was great to have him there. The hospital staff was great. My doctor visited me every day while I was in the hospital. One of the nursery nurses noted that Jensen was a Danish name and made Isaiah a special hat. I had a wonderful night nurse. She was one of the night nurses I had after Becca was born. She was very patient while I got out of bed for the first time. Isaiah had his hearing test before we left the hospital.

Visitors: We had some visitors in the hospital. René, Yani, and Amaris visited both Saturday and Sunday. We also had 5 of Becca’s former NICU nurses visit – word gets around the hospital. Becca and Grammy came every day to visit us.

Home (6/4): Going home was great. It was good to be back with Becca and be in my own home again.

Just a few pictures to celebrate Isaiah’s one week birthday! Our sweet little boy – such a precious gift from God. His first visit to the pediatrician went well. His weight when he left the hospital was 7lbs and 1.6oz. The next day his weight at the doctor’s office was 7lbs. and 3oz. (Head circumference 34cm.) He’s growing!

It’s Wednesday night and I’m plugging away to get our weekly post up before midnight. I don’t have time to write much. I don’t have time to post all the pictures I’d like to. So, I picked a “few” pictures from our week to highlight. Maybe next week, I’ll have time to post the rest to chronicle our son’s first week.

We’ve made a good transition to being home. The first two days were rough for Becca, especially the afternoons and evenings. Wednesday went well without any breakdowns from Becca. I kept reminding myself on Tuesday that it was only the second day home. My mom has been a great help – pretty sure my family would be starving (or not eating until really late each day) if it were not for her. Isaiah continues to be a sweet cutie – he sleeps a lot, which I’m not used to, since Becca was awake much of the day when she came home from the hospital.

Thank you for your prayers for us. Now for the pictures…

Sibling Gift Exchange – Becca wanted to give Isaiah a zebra. Becca named the zebra Jeremiah. (She chose this name all on her own. We’re not sure why.)

Hospital

HOME – One happy little girl to have her mommy home!

Isaiah Emil Jensen
June 1, 2012
8:06AM
7lbs. 11oz.
18in.

Isaiah: Named for the Old Testament prophet (“Yahweh is salvation”)

Emil: Named for Amy’s Grandpa Sutter’s first name. Emil is also her Grandpa Buecher’s middle name, her dad’s middle name, and her brother Jon’s middle name.

The c-section went well. I had some trouble with the anesthesia the first day and was unable to sit up or eat the day of the surgery. Saturday I was feeling much better. I’m scheduled to go home on Monday.

Becca enjoyed holding her little brother. She’s having a great time with Grammy Sutter. Saturday night Becca burst into tears when she realized I was not going home with her. She cried and kept saying, “but I want you to go home with me.”

Josh is, as always, a great Daddy! He’s been staying at the hospital with me and has changed a few diapers.

Isaiah is an absolute cutie. It’s so precious to be able to hold him and take care of him. It’s quite different from our NICU experience with Becca. We’re thanking God for protecting his life these past 9 months.

Rebekah Pringle came to visit with us at the end of last week (Wednesday to Sunday). I picked Rebekah up from the airport Wednesday night and took Emily to the airport early Thursday morning. It was the “changing of the guard” while Josh was away. We had a lovely visit with Rebekah and it was a special treat for me to get to spend so much time with her. She was the perfect house guest, especially since we had been roommates in grad school. Becca enjoyed playing with her Auntie Bekah.

Josh had a successful week at Breath of Life. All his teaching sessions went well and we survived the week without him. Becca enjoyed our extra company and all the extra activities: parks, mall (including a lot of escalator riding), ice cream, sprayground, late nights, etc. We were very happy to have Josh home Friday night.

I found out on Tuesday that my doctor was unable to schedule my c-section for next week, so Little Brother’s c-section is scheduled for tomorrow at 7:30AM. It’s a bit jolting to find out that you’re having surgery 3 days earlier than you were planning.  We’ve been praying for a regular delivery and are resting in the Lord’s sovereign will in this situation. My time is running out . . . here comes the knife! I’ve been trying to spend a lot of time with Becca, as I know our lives are about to drastically change with the addition of Little Brother. It won’t just be Becca and Mommy playtime any more. We’re excited to meet Little Brother tomorrow morning.

Happy 47 month marriage anniversary to my wonderful husband!! It’s been an amazing 47 months, and daily I’m reminded that you are God’s sweet gift to me. Thank you leading us to Christ, for loving me, and for choosing me to be your wife. Thanks for keeping me priority and not becoming too busy with other things for me. Thanks for being so much fun!

Right now you’re taking a nap with Becca in “mama’s pink chair” – so I could keep napping myself. You are a terrific Daddy and I can’t wait to see you with Little Brother! I adore you. Next month we celebrate 4 years!

This week Josh is in Oklahoma participating in a week long workshop, The Oklahoma Breath of Life, Silent No More Workshop. The workshop is especially designed for indigenous people from communities who no longer have any fluent, first language speakers. Josh has been teaching a session on a computer database program. I, not wanting to be alone for a whole week being so close to our due date, invited my sister to spend some time with us.

We’ve had a great time with Emily. Becca enjoys playing with her aunt. Friday we went to the Fort Worth Science Museum. Karen is a member and treated us to a day at the museum. We all enjoyed it. Becca especially enjoyed the children’s section and going to an IMAX movie with popcorn! It was Emily’s birthday, so for dinner we enjoyed a fabulous Chinese buffet.

Little Brother is now 38 weeks and less than two weeks from being in our arms. At the museum, Becca practiced driving me to the hospital. Presently, my doctor has June 4th scheduled for a c-section, but we’re praying that Little Brother shows up before then. On Monday I went to the hospital for monitoring. It was the same place I went when I noticed Becca’s decreased movement. Little Brother got at A++ for heart rate! My grandma found some onesies that say Little Brother on them – I was delighted!

Friday evening Josh and I attended Chamber Music International’s Concert Six. We received free tickets from a man we met when attending one of these concerts last year (using tickets Josh won from the Classical radio station). The concert included Beethoven’s Piano Trio in Eb Major, Opus 1 #1, Harbison’s Violin Sonata, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60. Micah and Anna watched Becca for us and she had a blast. Josh and I were able to go out for dinner before the concert. We had a lovely evening.

For Mother’s Day weekend we got together with the Rodriguez family Saturday night for Josh and René to cook the ladies a lovely dinner of ribs, twice-baked potatoes, green beans, and rolls. The men did a wonderful job, and we all enjoyed the meal and fellowship. Josh made sure that I didn’t do any cooking on Mother’s Day Sunday – he took care of all the meals. We stopped for sandwiches for lunch and the sandwich shop had some live music – a girl playing the guitar and singing in a folk style. I told Becca she could dance. I wish I could have captured that moment – our little girl twirling in front of the guitar player. It was precious.

We found out this week that Josh has been awarded a Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship. This provides summer funding for doctoral students in their last year of dissertation writing. The purpose is to provide funding so students can focus on their dissertation without having to look for summer employment. For Josh it will be like having almost 40 hours a week devoted to dissertation progress. Not much of a “summer break,” but it works out well, since with Little Brother’s arrival we are not planning to travel this summer.

I’m now officially full-term at 37.5 weeks. Little Brother is a very busy boy and we’re getting ready for his arrival. I had an ultrasound yesterday: Little Brother weighs 5.9lbs and is 18.2 inch long. That makes him in the 50th percentile. My doctor is recommending a c-section, but we’re praying that Little Brother comes early, quickly, and naturally to avoid the c-section.  So we now wait, pray, and trust in God’s sovereignty in this situation. Come on Little Brother – we’re ready!

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