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.

43 months (that’s 1309 days) ago, I married the most remarkable woman I’ve ever known. I thought so at the time, but the more I’ve gotten to know Amy, the more I’ve realized it’s true. Here are some things I love about my wife (we’ll see how much I can list before she gets home from Costco and finds me out!).

• Makes my oatmeal or eggs every morning (with raisins and banana in the oatmeal!)
• Makes my lunch every day (this semester in the mornings before I head to campus for work/research)
• Makes supper every day

(Amy tells me these things are “expected” and “no big deal,” but if I were responsible for them, I’d eat less, buy lunch on campus way more than I do — which is never — and rarely have a good dinner.)

• Gets up every morning with me to read a short devotional and to pray
• Watches Becca all day
• Actually plays with Becca all day (instad of, say, watching soaps while Becca shifts for herself 🙂
• Trains and disciplines Becca throughout the day
• Teaches piano lessons Wed and Thurs evening and Sat morning to help contribute to the family income
• Is content with our rather limited finances (she thinks we’re rich, in fact!)
• Shops for groceries every week (and makes the grocery list and plans the meal schedule), even though shopping is not at the top of her “favorite things to do” list
• Never nags — ever

Someday we’ll be old. I’m glad I’m married to someone that I’m excited to grow old with!

After my miscarriage last year, I had a hard time with being content with just one child. I was supposed to have two children (everyone else seemed to be having more kids), and it was something that was ever present in my mind. One day it hit me that I really needed to be enjoying just having one. Instead of moping about not having the children I wanted, I needed to be enjoying to the fullest that gift God had given me (one – Becca). So I did. In the summer and fall I enjoyed doing all sorts of things with Becca that would have been harder if we’d had two. I stopped moping and enjoyed the gifts God had given me and learned to wait for His good.

Throughout life I need to stop thinking about what I don’t or should or would like to have. I need to enjoy the place God has me (single, married, having one, two, or six children, or even being empty nesters). I need to take what God has given and enjoy it to the fullest.

(Note – the panda bear outfit was a Christmas present from Uncle Jon and Aunt Ashleigh. Also, Becca has started asking to wear my “pink shirt” a lot…this is why you see her in an oversize red shirt. I try to tell her it’s not pink. . . . she doesn’t believe me!)

Speaking of enjoying Becca, I’m working at enjoying our last months with just Mommy and Becca. Our Mondays and Tuesdays are usually our down days (Wednesdays, Thursday, and Saturdays I teach piano lessons). Let me give you a rundown of this past Monday. After breakfast, we enjoyed swimming in the bathtub together (I swam, Becca took a bath). Then we read books on the couch (after bath time Becca gets to be wrapped up in Mommy’s towel and we read a book on the couch). After Becca was dressed, we had a photo shoot in her new dress from China that Anna Martin brought back as a gift. Then we built a tent, flew in an airplane, had lunch, napped, flew in the airplane again, read, and then waited for Daddy to come home while I made dinner. We have a lot of fun. Today I let Becca look at the door while she was waiting for Josh to come home. All of a sudden I heard, “Daddy – where are you?” being yelled loudly to the whole apartment complex.

About that airplane we flew in: Becca, on her own, made an airplane using our chairs. She loves sitting on her airplane and likes Josh and me to join her. Sometimes it’s a little boring, since Becca wants you to look straight ahead. We read books on the plane, and sometimes I let Becca eat her lunch on the plane.  The other day Becca fell off her airplane – it was rather a disastrous fall, but not as bad as falling out of a real airplane.

Becca had a movie night during one of our Friday family nights. She loves eating popcorn and really enjoyed the puppets on What’s in the Bible?. Becca also enjoyed watching Aunt Emily’s band concert webcast live from Dover, PA. Yay Aunt Emily.

The other day, Josh was reading on the couch and we told Becca to get a book and read next to Daddy. We died with laughter when Becca went directly to Daddy’s bed stand and came back with John Paton’s autobiography. Guess when she decided to read next to Daddy, she decided to read just like Daddy!

The rest of this post is cute things Becca has said recently.

One day after lunch I was wiping Becca’s face and expressed concern about wiping the sore chapped spot near her mouth. Becca’s response: “It’s not so bad after all.”

“Becca NOT yummy”, when we say were going to eat her up.

“Mommy NOT go teach piano lessons. Mommy stay with Becca!”

Around 8:45PM (Becca being in bed at this point) Josh had responded to Becca’s call from her room. While he was in there I heard her say very loudly, “Daddy NOT sing Jesus Loves Me.” He wasn’t even planning on singing.

We told Becca she was not supposed to push her chair away from the table while we were eating, Becca responded “Mommy teach piano lessons, Daddy go to work – Becca do it.” (Wow – at least she’s honest!)

“Soup – yummy! Green beans not yucky – green beans yummy – chew them up – mmmmmm!”

After talking to Becca about being sweet to Mommy, I taught her to cup my face in her hands and say “I love you Mommy.” Then I told her to find Daddy and do it to him. Becca promptly found Daddy (who was sitting on the floor), cupped his face in her hands and said, “Hello, my pet!” I guess we’ve been reading Snow White too much.

From a conversation when we were outside: Becca: “It’s windy”. Mommy: “Wow – Becca – I didn’t know you knew that word. What does windy mean?” Becca: “Blow a lot!”

“I do myself!”

“Becca NOT________” This started in SC with not wanting to blow her nose and not wanting to go potty.

“Mommy leave the door open.” Becca started saying this after we read her Bedtime for Frances. Oh the things she learns from books.

“Becca walk please.” Becca often says this when we’re driving somewhere . . . not what I want to hear when I’m driving!

This is something Becca often recites before Josh reads the Bible at the table: “Daddy read Bible, Becca not say yayayaya. Daddy read Bible (to) self, Becca say yayayayay.”

“Where Christmas tree go?”  Sadly, we took down the big Christmas tree this week while Becca was sleeping. She is missing it…but we left the little one up for her.

We’re happy to announce that we’re expecting a baby boy on June 4^th! We reached the halfway mark (20 weeks) this past week, and so far everything is progressing nicely. Becca has been rooting for a baby sister; she wanted a little girl so she could name her Goldilocks or Snow White. She even told me that Corduroy wanted a baby sister. (Sorry Becca, I don’t think those names are going to make it to our list.) Right now we’re calling him Brother.

We had our 20 week sonogram yesterday morning and so far everything looks good. [As you can see above – and as you may recall from when we had Becca’s sono – Amy’s OB has really great ultrasound equipment. By the way, there’s a T on the front of that hat – you just can’t see it because of Brother’s angle in this photo. -JMJ] We won’t know if there are any complications like Becca’s until later on in the pregnancy. Becca had a perfect pregnancy until the weekend before I entered the hospital due to lessened movement. This little boy is a mover – I felt him really early on, so hopefully that will help in noticing decreased movement, if that becomes an issue again. My doctor expects everything to go fine.

A lot of people are asking me how I’m feeling (in relation to Becca’s pregnancy). I feel fine. . . . Actually, now that I’m in the middle of 2^nd trimester I have to say compared to 1st trimester, I’m feeling good. Now that I’m feeling myself again, I realize how crummy I felt 1^st trimester. Everything seems better and not as bad as it did a few months ago – teaching piano lessons, church, making dinner, etc. One night at dinner I looked at Josh and said, “You’re way better looking than you were 1^st trimester.” I was too busy at dinner feeling yucky and being tired to notice how good looking my husband is. Of course, I did have the added stress of the miscarriage last year. First trimmest was a time of practicing faith in God’s best for our loves. There was one weekend of this pregnancy when I was pretty sure we’d lost the baby (wasn’t hungry – had extra energy). Glad to be out of that period. God is good and we look forward to what He is going to do in the next 20 weeks for our little boy.

Saturday we got together with Lap’s family (one of Josh’s Jarai consultants). They were in the area for the weekend. As you can see, Josh and Lap even did a few minutes of work (with prepositions – in this case, “on top of”) while they were visiting.

This past weekend we had our 4^th annual MLK Day getaway (Sunday-Monday). We used up our credit card points and stayed at an Embassy Suites in Dallas. Becca loved swimming in the (cold) indoor pool, feeding the swans, and riding the elevators. On Monday we went to the Dallas Zoo (“Penguin Days” for Jan/Feb are $5 per person). The weather was perfect and we spent a few hours looking around.

 Becca’s favorite part of the zoo visit was the bronze statues. Her other favorite animal this time was the tiger. He was pacing and roaring quite a bit at his door (maybe waiting for lunch). Becca wanted to go back and see the tiger again and again to, “show Mama something.” Becca does a pretty good imitation of the tiger roar. We ended with a ride on the carousel. It was a great getaway. It’s one of the few holidays that we get Josh for the whole day without also entertaining others . . . a sweet treat for all of us.

The day after Christmas Josh, Becca, and I rented a car and drove to PA to spend a week with my family. Becca and I were sick about half of our time in PA. My siblings were there in shifts. Jon and Ashleigh went back to SC on Wednesday, so we overlapped with them one full day. Sam, Ashley, and Colette came for New Year’s weekend. Dan and Isabelle did not get up to PA this year. I didn’t take a single picture in PA  but had over 500 pictures from the week from other people. So nice when everyone else is taking the pictures.

We all enjoyed being with everyone. Becca loved having lots of people to interact with. She had been looking forward to being at Aunt Emily’s house since Thanksgiving. Becca loved running around the house in a circle (through the dinner room and into the kitchen). I’ll recount one funny conversation she had with my dad. Becca has a habit of slamming the toilet lid down when she’s finished using the potty. My dad was concerned about the porcelain and turned to Becca and said, “Becca try not to slam . . . oh nevermind, you’re a sweetie, you can do whatever you like.” I love how grandchildren change people.

Tuesday we had Christmas with the gang who was in town. Mom saved the cinnamon rolls for the day, we read the Christmas story and sang carols. This was the second time for Dad, Mom, Emily, Jon, Ashleigh, Joey, and Lauren to read the Christmas story and sing; they did another whole round for us. Becca enjoyed putting the flannelgraph up. Becca also enjoyed my parents’ dog Toby. She would call him loudly, “Toby, come back!” She now also says “big dogs scare you, little dogs don’t scare you.”

Becca loved opening her presents — actually she enjoyed opening anyone’s presents who would let her help. But she did show concern for others. She got a baby doll and was then told that the other present was for the doll (doll clothes). Becca sat the doll in front of the presents and tried to help her open the gift. It was really cute.

Uncle Joey was a big hit. For the second year, he gave Becca a candy cane. Last year he gave Becca her first candy cane. He also let Becca have some of his Mountain Dew (she spit it out). Who knows what else he gave her . . . got to watch those young single uncles! Uncle Joey gave Becca a pair of pink Converse shoes and an ‘apple computer.’ The shoes are a little big (smallest size available), so Becca will get to grow into them.

Thursday we took a trip to NJ to visit with Grandma Sutter, Uncle John, and some of the other Sutter family members.

Friday Sam, Ashley, and Colette arrived. Becca seemed to enjoy trying to teach Collette big girl things. Becca would roll on the floor with Colette – very cute.

We had Christmas again with Sam, Ashley, and Colette – it was a shortened version. They gave Becca a train and she loves it. It’s the perfect size for our apartment and Becca enjoys putting her Nativity pieces in it for a ride. Sam gave Josh a book that he instantly started reading. He just finished it the other day.

Monday night Aunt Emily, Uncle Joey, and Lauren babysat Becca while Josh and I went out to dinner with Dad and Mom (thanks Grandma B). We all enjoyed our steaks, while Josh is still wishing he had ordered a steak instead of a hamburger. Becca did great – this is when the Mountain Dew incident took place. Tuesday afternoon we flew back to Texas.

Ok – you made it (or I should say I’ve made it through posting and getting all these pictures up!). We had a great time visiting with family, but it is truly wonderful to be back home with nice water pressure, all the hot water we want, and lots of heat when it’s cold – our poor parents who own their own houses and have to pay for their utilities! (Not that we froze or couldn’t take hot showers at our parents’ houses, of course!) We’re looking forward to all God has in store for our family in 2012. His will be done.

Monday, December 19, we headed out for two weeks of Christmas travels. We spent the first week (Dec. 19-26) with Josh’s side of the family and the second week (Dec. 26-Jan. 3) with my side of the family. We had free tickets (credit card deal) and were able to fly from TX to SC and from PA to TX for free. We rented a car and drove from SC to PA the day after Christmas. One of the highlights of Becca’s trip was meeting Santa Clause at the airport. When we flew back to TX, Becca expected to meet Santa again.

Tuesday and Wednesday we visited with Grandma Martin in GA. We also spent some time with the Doug Martin side of the family. It was good to catch up with everyone.

We also did a little extra visiting in SC. We spent time with Mrs. Burch, and Becky, Evan, and Adam Wilbur on Thursday. And we visited with Grandpa and Grandma Hess Christmas Eve morning.

Becca ended up catching a cold and from Thursday morning on had congestion and a nasty cough for the rest of the visit. This is the first time Becca has been sick and we count ourselves very blessed that she’s been so healthy. She kindly passed the cold to me on Christmas day. Both Becca being away from home and being sick made for some rough nights. She usually woke up 3-5 times a night, sometimes screaming and very confused.

Friday we enjoyed the Jensen Christmas get together, which included a gift exchange:

We had a lovely Christmas day with Josh’s immediate family. Becca and I stayed back from church Christmas Eve and Christmas Day because of her cold. After church, we had a great meal and enjoyed time with family. Becca enjoyed playing with her cousin, Bella (9 months younger than Becca). Bella loved hugging Becca. As you can see from the pictures, Becca was not always too keen on being hugged for an extended amount of time. It was quite humorous to watch Becca run away from Bella’s open arms.

A very Merry Christmas from the Jensens! It is especially exciting to celebrate Christmas with a little girl who came out the first morning we had the Christmas tree up and just stood there saying, “tree – pretty lights!!!” This year we celebrated our family Christmas early, since we were with extended family on Christmas day. We chose a night to have “Christmas,” and we had a special dinner and then went to Main Street in Arlington to look at the Christmas lights.

Afterwards we came home and let Becca open her first gift – Christmas pajamas. Becca and I went out looking for her Christmas pajamas a few weeks ago and she’s been excited about getting them. She loves how soft they are and was delighted to finally be allowed to wear them. After the Christmas pj’s, we sang a carol and read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then we let Becca open the rest of her Christmas gifts. She was quite pleased with everything, but the highlight for her was getting a Snow White book! Josh and I both received some very enthusiastic thanks and kisses thanking us for the gifts. Christmas with a toddler is priceless!

Josh gave me some very special gifts for Christmas – even made me cry, but that’s for another post.

We’ll post more on Christmas later, but for now I’ll close with a few pictures of some other Christmas activities: Making Christmas ornaments and delivering cookies to our neighbors (in front of Becca’s Christmas wreath).