DADDY'S HOME!

YAY! Daddy is home for good! Well, for at least a year! Joe got home safely Saturday afternoon from training for 7 weeks. Ian was so excited to see him and ran to him. Then he told him "I'm so poud (proud) of you Daddy!". Joe was surprised at how much Abbie Grace had changed. He was only home for a couple of days when she was born and left when she was only 36 hours old.
I am probably the most excited though! Joe has a couple of weeks off before going back to work so I can catch up on some sleep! Plus I will have someone to talk to...Most of you are probably saying "poor Joe" since you have had to be the ones to fill in the gap while he was gone!

Fun with Friends

On Friday we had our friends come over to play. There were 8 children ranging from 4 weeks to almost 4, including 1 set of twins, and two very excited children that had not seen each other in a few months (Ian and Azilee). While cooking dinner there were 4 of them chasing each other around and around the kitchen area...tons of fun! I'm sure you wish you could have been here:)! Our group from TN of 10 friends that started 3 years ago with only 3 children has grown to over 20 children! How did we manage that with all these deployments?!?!

Pool Time

Ian, Abbie Grace, and I made our first trip to the pool this week. Ian had a great time...even put his head under a couple of times. Joe is going to start working with him in the big pool soon:)

Comfy Cat

Aunt Kerry and Cousin Cooper sent Abbie Grace this soft kitty cat lovie. She will love this as much as Ian loves his "bankie" that Aunt Kerry gave him when he was born:)

Sweet Baby Girl!

Funny Ian Stories

Here are a couple of funny Ian stories for you:

Last night Abbie Grace was sleeping in her bouncer and when she woke up she started crying. Ian went over to her and said "SHHH be quiet!". He then started in with his Ianese (own language) and lectured her for about 30 seconds before I had to stop him.

I've started having Ian sleep with his door closed so that he is not waken by Abbie Grace. He has a baby monitor in his room so that I can hear him though. This morning the trash truck came by about 7:15 and woke him up so I heard him looking out of his window looking for the truck. Once he was bored with that he laid back down and said ""mommy vere are vu..de do is cosed."

He is such a funny little boy and growing up so quickly. He loves his new daycare and is doing really well. This morning when he got there, he walked to the sink and washed his hands all by himself (daycare policy that they have to wash their hands as soon as they get there). Then he looked at me and said "Bye bye mommy" and blew me a kiss. He acted like such a big boy I wanted to cry!

Ian's coming around...

Ian is starting to come around and associate with Abbie Grace a little more. He's still not completely sure of her and poked me in the tummy yesterday and said "baby back":)

New Pics...

Pics of the Baby Girl!

The first week of Abbie Grace's life have been wonderful! We miss Daddy so much but are enjoying family being here to help and spend time with. Abbie Grace is sleeping really well. I am getting more sleep now than I did when I was pregnant so I am very happy! Ian is still adjusting but is at least acknowledging Abbie Grace's existance now. He and his Grandaaddy have been wearing each other out daily.

Abigail Grace Becker

Abigail Grace Becker was born Friday, June 23rd 2006

at 2:10 PM at the National Naval Medical Center

Bethesda, Maryland.

Weight - 9 pounds 14 ounces

Length - 23 inches

Mommy, Daddy, Ian and Abbie Grace are doing great!

Waiting Patiently....NOT

The day of Abbie Grace's arrival was a lot of hurry up and wait! We called the hospital at 4am and they told us to be there at 5:15. When we got there an emergency had come up which pushed us to the 2nd c-section of the day. Well, while that one was occuring 2 more emergencies came up! Thankfully we were not in an emergency situation so we just stayed in the room until they finally came and got us at 1:30. Joe scrubbed in while I got ready and then we met back up in the OR to have Abbie Grace. There were quite a few drs and nurses in the OR who were making bets as to her size. The highest was 11 pounds and the lowest was 9. pediatric corpsman got her weight exactly right though...9lb 14 ozs. She arrived at 2:10 pm but since it's the miliary they said 14:10 and I thought that was her weight! I almost passed out but everyone had a good laugh about it.

Ian and Abbie Grace's Rooms

Here are pictures of Ian and Abbie Grace's room. Ian loves his big boy bed and goes to sleep with lots of trucks every night!

38 Weeks

37 Weeks

Woo hoo...only 11 days to go! We are all ready to meet Abbie Grace!

Ian started his new daycare today and did so well. He walked in like he owned the place...like he always does! Immediately the radars went up to find the trucks and cars and once he found them he was as content as he could be! And it only took 4, yes 4, minutes to get there. What a blessing! I am so excited to be able to leave the house a little later to take him and get him a little earlier each day and still have time to spare!

36 Weeks...

Here's the 36 week picture...yes, I am large! Whew! Only 20 days to go though!

Ian's Water Table

Ian received a water table for his birthday from Grandma and Popie and Joe and I just got brave enough to put it together! He has had such a good time with it though. Since we don't have a large back yard (we actually have about an 8X8 space) it is perfect to let him play outside with. Plus it's under the deck that is on the 2nd floor so it is cool for mom:)

We try and take Ian to the park around the corner often...lately he has had a hard time with the swing concept and that he can't run in front of or behind them when others are on them. Last time we went he darted and we all had to grab a child in the swings to keep them from hitting him. It scared him pretty bad so hopefully the lesson was learned.

Abbie Grace only has 20 days until her arrival! We have her pack and play setup in the office/playroom/tv room and Ian has decided that it will be a car garage until she arrives. When we tell him she is coming he says "No no Ab Grace is stuck". He's quite cute.

Finally....an update!

I am so sorry it has taken so long to put a new post out here. Thank you all for your many encouraging emails, calls, and prayers. We could not have done it without them! Things are finally settled and out townhouse feels like home. We hung pictures on the 2nd and 3rd floor Friday so now only the playroom/office to do.

Ian is adjusting well. He is going to a home daycare on post currently but we will be switching him to somewhere closer to home on June 12. We love the place he is going right now but even though it is only 9 miles away it takes us about an hour and forty five minutes everyday to get him there and home. The new place is only 8 minutes away with traffic! Woo hoo! Hopefully he will continue to adjust well. He loves his new bunk bed with the trucks all over it:) The hardest adjustment for him is not having a back yard. More than once he has darted into towards the street because the garage is open which gives mommy a heart attack! There is only about 10 feet between the garage door and the street so we are trying to train him.

Abbie Grace is on track to be born June 23 at 7am. She will be born at Bethesda Hospital...the President's hospital:) Joe and I feel so comfortable with the hospital and staff. I wasn't feeling well on Wednesday this past week so they had me come in and within 5 minutes I was hooked up to all kinds of machines to monitor both of us and Abbie Grace was having a biophysical ultrasound done...she's really healthy! I am measuring 2 weeks big and they anticipate her being as big as Ian was...9 lbs 12 ozs. We did get really good news that Joe will be flying home Thursday June 22 for her arrival! He will take the red eye out of AZ on Wednesday night and then leave Sunday morning. What a huge answer to prayer though! Kerry, Joe's sister, is still going to come in and be here for a few days to help once Abbie Grace arrives along with Joe's mom, dad, and then my Daddy and Granny will come in. Hopefully this time will be much easier than with Ian. Tanya, one of my good friends, lives around the corner so she will be helping too:) What a bless family we are to have so many wonderful family and friends!

Let's see...unpacking was loads of fun. Kim from Clarksville come out with us and was the most incredible help we could ask for. She worked late, sometimes without being fed and never complained! We got all the boxes unpacked within a few days and then started putting things in its place. Kim and I went to DC one day for some sightseeing and Kim went back by herself a couple of times to make sure she saw all the big stuff.

Church...we have visited the same church for the last 2 weeks and like it. Our friend and one of the pastors of Grace, Ron, gave us a list of churches to try and this one is closest to our house. They currently meet in a school and the church just approved to start building on some land they have had for a year or so. If all goes as planned the first service in the new church will be in Sept. 07.

Joe is taking a couple of weeks off to rest prior to leaving for school. I am still working full time, hopefully until Abbie Grace comes. I plan on taking some days off here and there so that we can take Ian to the zoo and spend some time with Joe prior to the new baby.

Well, I think that sums up our life this past month. What a whirlwind! God has been so good and protecting and providing for all of us though. I definitely do not recommend anyone moving at this stage of pregnancy:) But now that it is over I am so glad!

Quick Update

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update that we are here in Northern Virginia. We arrived last Thursday evening. We absolutely LOVE our townhouse but don't have our stuff yet. It is supposed to arrive Tuesday May 2 so hopefully we will spend our first night there tomorrow. Ian is getting spoiled but loving every minute of it at Popie and Grandma's! We have been able to start the process of finding a dr here to deliver little Abbie Grace. So far it looks like we will probably deliver at Bethesda in Maryland since they have a really good high risk unit. Definite dates for the delivery next week!

Thanks for all your prayers as we have been transitioning. Ian will most likely start temporary home childcare next week until a space becomes available at the permanent daycare he will attend. Pray for an easy transition for him (and mom)!

We will miss you Clarksville!

To all of our wonderful friends in Clarksville:
Words cannot express how much you all mean to us. You have been such incredible friends over these past 3 and a half years. You have seen us through 4 deployments, 1 (almost 2) babies, and many, many other lives moments. Ian has grown to know you all as his extended family and we are so blessed to have this while our own families are so far away.

To our Grace Family:
WOW! What an incredible thing God is doing through the hard work and prayers of you wonderful people! We cannot wait to come back and continue to see His work begin done! Thank you for the opportunity to serve along with you:)

Please know this is not goodbye but so long for now. Please come and visit us in DC. We would love to see you. If you did not get our contact info please post a comment and we will send it to you via email.

Love,
Joe, Tammy, Ian and kick kick from Abbie Grace

Easter 2006

Ian's second Easter was quite a treat! He came down the stairs Easter morning and was fixated on his basket. He honed in on a chocolate bunny and the rest is history! He was so engrossed in his bunny he didn't care what else was in the basket:) After Church we had come friends over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Once Ian and Dylan found out there was candy in the eggs they were really excited! What a wonderful day celebrating our risen Savior!