A Very Special Day

Yesterday (5/9/10) was such a wonderful day. Not only was it my first Mother's Day, but it was also Crosby's baby dedication and his 5 month birthday! All 4 proud grandparents (Dozzie, Grandpa, Lolly & Pop) were able to come up for the big day, which made it that much more special.

Chris was so sweet, as usual, and woke up early to make me breakfast in bed. He even had to go down and use Cathy's kitchen since we don't have a kitchen up in the apartment. I got the sweetest cards and a wonderful new Bible. Thank you for such a special first Mother's Day, Sweetie! I am overwhelmed by the joy and blessing that it is to be a new mother.

Crosby behaved so well during the dedication (he only fussed a little during Ken's prayer), and he even fell asleep in my arms during church! It was the sweetest thing. So, I didn't take him to the nursery until he woke up toward the end of the service and made his presence known. :) There were so many boys dedicated yesterday. I think there was only one little girl and 7 boys during the 2nd service. This must have been the year for boys because it was the same way back in Arkadelphia...so many of our friends had boys down there, too! Who will all of these boys marry?! haha.

After the service, we had a very long (I think the kitchen lost our order) but enjoyable lunch at Mike's Place. It made Lolly's day for Crosby to sleep almost the entire time in her arms. Of course we got a lot of great pictures of Crosby on his big day, and I hope you enjoy. Chris was a good sport and let me dress Crosby in "fancy" baby clothes for the dedication. I must say, Crosby looked absolutely precious.

One Blessed Mommy

Daddy and Crosby demonstrating their
new "trick" while we nervously watch.
Those are mommy's hands "spotting" off to the side.

Crosby's Baby Dedication

Ken gave such a special prayer

Mother's Day/Baby Dedication Lunch
From left: Grandpa, Dozzie, Lolly & Pop; Chris, Crosby & Tara

Crosby discovered his shoes, while seated on the table at Mike's Place

Daddy gets grins when taking Crosby out of his car seat.

The highlight of my first Mother's Day.
There's nothing in the world better than some cuddle time with Crosby.

Rollie Pollie

Crosby rolled over for the first time on his own last Friday, and he did it a few random times over the weekend. Yesterday afternoon, he mastered the skill and started rolling over and over during tummy time. I was able to set the flip camera up on its little tripod and record him in action. I hope you enjoy the video. (I really wanted to get him to smile at the end, but I think he was too intrigued by the video camera.) Now, how do I keep him on his stomach for tummy time?! haha.

Happy 4 Months, Crosby!

Crosby is now 4 months old, and he is so much fun. I am happy to report that he got over his sore throat, and after stopping cooing for about a week, he is back to his talkative self again. :) The best feeling in the world is when he sees you and smiles so big that his nose crinkles! Crosby's latest, and by far best, milestone to master is sleeping through the night! He was a very quick learner, and we only had to endure one long night of sleep training before he slept through the night. Also, he is getting so much better at pushing up on his forearms and hands during tummy time, and I know that he will be rolling over real soon (we practice rolling over every day). He still hates tummy time, but it works, and he's getting so much stronger. A funny trait that Chris seems to have passed on to our poor son is a sneeze reflex whenever the sun hits his eyes. It is the funniest thing, and a guarantee that Crosby will sneeze when we go outside if he is not in the shade.

God is good, and we have closed on the sell of our home in Arkadelphia! We are still staying in a garage apartment that belongs to a wonderful couple in our church, but it looks like we may be moving into a great little home in about a month, assuming all goes smoothly until we close. The Lees have been such a blessing to us with their hospitality and generosity, and we truly will miss them when this season is over and we move out. We eat dinner with them almost every night, and Crosby has really enjoyed being able to get out and enjoy this amazing springtime weather on their beautiful property. I pray that we will have their same spirit of hospitality when we get settled into a home of our own.

Here are some pictures of Crosby's first Easter and some others we've taken since the last blog post. Notice Chris and Crosby's sun induced sneezing that we were able to capture. :) I hope you enjoy.

Easter Sunday

Achoo!

Achoo, too!

Crosby at the Dumas Easter Egg Hunt


Playgroup at our house in Arkadelphia: Tara & Crosby, Nancy H. & Henry, Nancy E. & Everett

Crosby likes to coo while Mommy reads to him

Bath time in his puppy towel


Cathy took this picture while we were on a walk out in their pasture.

Squicky Squirt

Crosby, or Squirt as I call him 50% of the time, has a little bit of a sore throat right now and isn't feeling top notch. It is nothing serious just a little virus causing a sore throat. When he tries to coo or cry he sounds both pitiful and hilarious at the same time as you will see in the video below.

Smiling and Cooing

I cannot believe that our little Crosby is 12 weeks old today! He is now officially melting his parents' hearts through lots of smiles and cooing. We think he would make great seal and whale sound effects for a cartoon. We've been able to capture that precious smile in a few pictures, but not nearly enough. I tried to attach a video of him smiling, but it would not work. Hopefully, I can figure that out and post it soon. Enjoy these pictures from the past few weeks.

Wow, look at my airplane mobile!

Chris and Crosby celebrating the Saints' Super Bowl win!

Crosby and his friend, Benjamin, are making their parents proud in their Saints onesies.

Move 'em on, head 'em up, Head 'em up, move 'em out

Movin, movin, movin, yep the Kears are movin.

Arkadelphia has been our home for over 3 and half years (this time around) and it has been a great place to call home. I happen to be one of those that believes what he reads on water towers. The theme of our life these days is transition.

• Crosby is transitioning out of the womb.
• We are transitioning to having a kiddo.
• Tara is transitioning out of the workplace.
  

And most recently...

• I'm transitioning jobs.
• We are transition communities.
  
• We are transitioning homes.
• We are transitioning churches.
  

I've had the privilege to work at my beloved alma matter the last 3 and half years, but God has been working on my heart and steadily calling us to work in a church. We didn't know what that would look like until this fall when I ran into our former pastor from our church in Conway, Ken Wilson. Ken mentioned to me that Fellowship Bible Church Conway was looking for an Executive Pastor and after describing the gig asked if I was interested, and I told him that I was. Long story short it looks like a perfect fit. So after much prayer and discussion with the staff and elders we signed on to join the team at Fellowship Bible Church Conway. This is my last week as a Ouachita employee, and I will begin work up there next Monday, Feb. 15.

So, that also means that there is a beautiful hilltop home in Ouachita Hills for sale. You can check out all the pics and specs of the house at http://990carter.com . If you know of anyone in the Arkadelphia area that is or might be looking for new home please pass the word that we have a great one available.

We will certainly miss our friends and our church here in Arkadelphia greatly but are also very excited to get back to Conway and Fellowship Bible Church. We'll keep you posted on the next few months of transition.