We're having a baby!

I took this test when my period was a couple days late. The second pink line is there but it's very faint. Look very closely!

I took this test exactly a week later. The second pink line is BRIGHT! No doubt about it.

We're delighted to announce that we're expecting baby #2! Please pray with us for a smooth pregnancy and a healthy baby. We're due in July and we'll post baby updates here. Stay tuned! Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Retreat

This weekend I had the opportunity to go to Fall Retreat with our youth group. The theme was Becoming a Contagious Christian and Josh really focused on the Gospel. I'm pretty sure every kid that attended could tell you their version of the Gospel! :) We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Baxter and it has a very cool water park. I was in a room with Rachel, Hannah, Leah and Paige - a really fun group. :) I ended up getting a bed all to myself, though! It was a great weekend and I'm so glad I went along. Needless to say, I'm tired! So I'm off to bed...

My mom came up early this morning to watch Lily while Andy worked. Thanks Mom!

The Lion King

To celebrate our 5th anniversary Andy took me to The Lion King at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis tonight. I don't even have words to express how wonderful it was! It was spectacular! It was beautiful! And the voices! The voices were amazing. The opening number brought tears to my eyes. It was all just so big. And so, so beautiful. I enjoyed every minute of it. You can ask Andy. :)

A BIG thank you to Grandma Vicki for watching Lily tonight. Lily spent the evening at Grandma's house so she was in good hands and I was able to relax and enjoy the show. And boy did I enjoy it! It was a fabulous evening!

The Lion King is at the Orpheum until November 25th so GO SEE IT!

Waiting for the doors to open!

During the Intermission :)

Les Miserables and Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's 57th birthday. He and mom are on their way to Illinois to visit my grandparents and then to Stevens Point to see Mandi and Bryan. I hope they have a great trip and a wonderful time together. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Tonight we saw Les Miserables at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre with our friends Bill and Stephanie. We won the tickets at our youth group's silent auction in May and we finally got to use them. It was outstanding and all 4 of us had such a good time. One of the things I enjoyed most was just the opportunity to have an evening out of the house with my husband. :)

Bill, Stephanie, Dawn and Andy

Happy Birthday, Andy!

Today is my husband's 28th birthday. He had the day off (Thanks Ed!) so we went to the MOA for our annual Custom College Shop sweatshirt purchases and had lunch with my parents at Ruby Tuesday. On the way there Lily threw up in the car when we were about ten minutes from the Mall. Our first order of business was to get her a new outfit so we ran into Old Navy and changed her quickly. Her new duds can be seen in the photo below. She was pretty pale and didn't eat much of her lunch, but she took a good nap in the car on the trip home and seemed fine the rest of the day. We aren't sure what made her sick.

We had a surprise showing at our house! At about 3:30 in the afternoon a realtor showed up with his clients and realized he had forgotten to notify anyone that they were coming. Oops! They gave us about 5 minutes to clean the house and we ran around like crazy people picking up, stashing junk and vacuuming. These people ended up making an offer the next day and then retracting it. Very long story! Maybe another time...

We had dinner in St. Joe with Andy's folks at the Stonehouse Tavern and Eatery. It's our new favorite place. And you better believe we celebrated with a slice of their Turtle Cheesecake! It's a little slice of heaven. Seriously.

Andy's brother Mark and friend Jon came over to hang out. They played a little Madden and then 3 games of Settlers.

I hope Andy had a delightful day. I sure am grateful he was born 28 years ago. Thanks, Lord, for the birth and life of my precious husband Andrew Edward Becker!

Lunch at the new and improved Ruby Tuesday at the MOA

Our new sweatshirts: Michigan and Penn State

5 Fabulous Years of Marriage

Today is our 5th anniversary. It's hard to believe five years have gone by. In some ways it's gone super fast. And it's hard to believe everything that's happened in that time. Our proudest

"accomplishment" is for sure our daughter Lily Elaine. She's such a blessing to us and we're grateful for a healthy, beautiful, funny, precious girl.

We're also grateful for each other. :) Andy is God's perfect provision for me. I continue to be amazed at the ways Andy demonstrates love to me. And it's humbling to try to be as good a wife to him and love him in ways he needs to be loved. I fall short very often.

God has been faithful to us in so many ways. He has blessed us with this marriage and is refining us through this marriage. It's an adventure for sure. I look forward to spending the rest of my life with Andy and seeing what God has in store for us!

5 years ago today we made these promises to each other:

Our Covenant Vows

I, Andy, take you, Dawn, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love you as myself, to cherish you and honor you, to lead you and nurture you, to be a faithful husband to you, bringing you happiness all your life, to be entirely devoted to the cross and to you, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better for worse, for the glory of His name and for the joy of our souls. Where you dwell, I will dwell. Your people will be my people and your God, my God. May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.

I, Dawn, take you, Andy, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love you as myself, to cherish you and honor you, to help you and encourage you, to be a faithful wife to you, bringing you happiness all your life, to be entirely devoted to the cross and to you, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, for better for worse, for the glory of His name and for the joy of our souls. Where you dwell, I will dwell. Your people will be my people and your God, my God. May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture by Anita Renfroe

This is so fun! She's a genius.

10 Years

Grandma Vicki and Lily on Easter Sunday 2007

Grandpa Sam and Lily communicating :)

On Sunday night I had the privilege of attending a service honoring my parents for 10 years of ministry at Bethlehem. It was so neat! The music was wonderful and several people shared ways they have been blessed by my parents in the last ten years. There was a video slideshow and the soundtrack was recordings of mom, dad, Mandi and I singing years ago! That was kinda cool. There was also a video with messages from a leader of the BGC and from Dave and Colleen Little all the way from Russia! It was so nice to see my parents honored for their time, energy, talents, friendship, prayers, love, giving and the sacrifices they have made to minister to this church. I was so glad to see that the people are grateful and that my parents are appreciated. And of course they give all the glory to God for whatever has been accomplished through them.

I do appreciate my parents for the way they have chosen to live their lives. It's all about God and not them. They are two of the most giving, selfless, sweet and precious people that I know! How do I begin to thank God for giving me these parents? They are a HUGE blessing to me, Andy and Lily and we love them MUCH!

Emotions

Where do I begin? Today turned out to be an incredibly emotional day and I didn't see it coming. What you need to know is that almost 4 weeks ago my good friend April moved to Wisconsin. I'm so sad she had to leave (she and her husband were called to another church) and I miss her. I know it will be okay but in the mean time it takes some getting used to. Today was probably the first day that I really felt her absense.

Last year April and I co-lead a group at MOMS. It was really fun. I know for sure that God used her to get me involved with MOMS. She invited me to come to my first MOMS meeting when Lily was just 3 months old. And a year later I was invited to be on the leadership team.

Leading with April was a lot of fun and it was comfortable for me. So one reason (of the many) that I'll miss April is that she won't be at MOMS with me this year. It'll definitely feel different. It's another adjustment.

Anyway, today was our leadership team brunch. We get together at the beginning of the year to catch up on what each other has been up to over the summer and get re-acquainted. I had to drop Lily off at the church for childcare. In the past she looked forward to seeing Emma (April's daughter) at MOMS events (or any event!) and it always helped Lily if Emma was there. She would say with delight, "Emma!" and off she'd go. Well today Emma wasn't there and that made me sad right off the bat. Lily wasn't sure about being left in that room full of other kids and I couldn't help but think how different it would have been if Emma had been there. Tears came to my eyes and I hugged Lily a little tighter and felt sad. Her best buddy has disappeared and I don't know how much she understands.

I rode over to where the brunch took place with two other gals which was probably a blessing. I might have cried the whole way there if I'd driven by myself. It was a good distraction and so I was good to go. Or so I thought. When we got there I got some coffee and started visiting with various women. But two separate times I was asked a question about April and would you believe it, I started crying! I couldn't keep it together. We assembled as a whole group and were asked to introduce ourselves (there were a couple new gals) and talk about transitions happening in our lives or ways that we're shifting gears and where we see God at work through it. Oh dear! I really enjoyed what the other women had to say and it was so nice to get an update on their lives. And when it was my turn my introduction went okay and then I told them I'd try not to cry but it was hopeless. I shared that a major transition in my life is the "loss" of my friend and co-leader April. I really felt her absense at that brunch today. In the context of MOMS I know that this year I will be pushed out of my comfort zone. I expect it to be uncomfortable sometimes but I honestly look forward to the growth in my life! What I told the ladies today is that I'd like to be able to look back a year from now and see what God did in my life. I do believe that He works all things together for good and that this is what is best for me in the grand scheme of things. He sees the Big Picture and I do not. I trust Him even when I for sure don't understand what the good for me will be in the end.

So anyway. I do miss April. And I feel like today was another step in the process of grieving and letting go. It was incredibly emotional and I honestly didn't see that coming. I cried several more times throughout the day at the drop of a hat. I could hardly believe how much I cried. I think it was healthy and I feel like when I wake up in the morning I'll be glad that I was able to let the tears come. I can't promise I won't cry about missing April again, but today was progress for me.

Yuck

All 3 of us have been under the weather lately for 3 different reasons. Lily is working on her molars and has been pretty miserable. She didn't sleep well 4 nights in a row and was very crabby, clingy, whiny, etc. It seems like she is starting to feel better and she slept through the night last night! Wah-hoo! Andy's allergies have been acting up. He has sneezed more times than I thought was humanly possible and he's draggy and tired. And then there's me. I woke up with a sore throat and plugged nose on Monday. Now I have sneezed almost as many times as Andy and gone through half a box of tissues. I'm so thankful Monday was a nothing day with nowhere to be and nothing to do. Andy took a good nap in the morning and Lily and I napped in the afternoon. Today it feels like my cold has moved into my chest - I'm coughing and my chest hurts. We are a mess!

Great Gathering 2007

Great Gathering
2007!

A 15 Hour Scrapbooking Extravaganza!

Saturday, October 13th from 9 am to Midnight at Safari Island Community Center in Waconia!
The first 2 people to register and pay will receive a $5 gift certificate!!! Reserve your table now!


Great Gathering Details:

• Preorder Special: Order by October 6 and receive 15% off your entire order! It’ll be waiting for you on your table at Great Gathering! If your order totals $50 or more you’ll receive the purple Maker Pocket pictured above absolutely FREE!!!
• Exclusive Goodie Bags (For those who register and pay in advance!)
• Door Prize Drawings!
• Ideas and Inspiration!
• Demonstrations! (Yours truly will be doing a demo!)
• Borrow the tools you don't have!
• Be the first to see new products!
• Cost to attend is just $20! (non-refundable)
• The Paisley Maker pictured above will be available to Great Gathering attendees only!

Visit my website: http://www.mycmsite.com/dawnbecker for more info or call me to register!

Fever

So Lily was up at about 1:30 this morning calling out for her daddy. But mommy went into her room to put her back to bed. And I discovered that she was running a temp. So we did a diaper change, took some Motrin and then rocked for awhile. She was wide awake, though, and when I laid her back down it took about an hour for her to get back to sleep. Therefore, it took me another hour to sleep as well. I have a hard time relaxing unless I know she's sleeping. She slept until about 8 this morning and seemed pretty perky when she woke up. But by 11:00 her fever was back. More Motrin. We'll probably just lay low today.

Kayley's 1st Birthday

Just wanted to wish a Happy 1st Birthday to a precious little girl today!

Happy 80th Birthday, Irene!

Just wanted to share a few pics from our trip to Park Rapids last weekend. Andy's parents have a lovely cabin there and hosted a big 80th birthday party for Andy's grandma Irene Becker. The weather was beautiful and it was a special celebration.

"Driving" the pontoon

Great-Grandma Irene and Lily

The 3 of us

I can't believe I'm doing this

This is funny to me. Not that long ago I thought the word "blog" was weird and that "blogging" was a weird thing to do. And here I am. Blogging! I don't know what'll happen with this but I'm going to try it out. I periodically send out update emails about our daughter so I thought this could take the place of that, and let our friends and family know what we're up to. In addition, I'm a fairly opinionated gal and this might give me a place to express some of my thoughts and convictions. :) So, we'll see how it goes.