Welcome to America, Mary

Over the past year our community group has become friends with Isaac Kangara, a pastor from Kenya that is in seminary here in Dallas. He has probably provided us with one of the best examples of what it looks like to truly live by faith. He came here with basically nothing - just the desire to study God's word deeper and gain a degree so that he can go back and continue to share the gospel with others in Africa. Watching how the Lord has continued to answer his prayers and watch over him has been a real blessing. After a year and a half apart from his dear wife, Mary, she finally arrived in America! What a reunion. They invited us over to their apartment for some traditional Kenyan food and a great time of fellowship. 

My new employer

Today would have been my first day back at Weber Shandwick, but as some of you know, I've decided to stay home full-time with Felicity. I've traded in writing press releases and planning events for staying home with my sweet baby girl. My job description now includes diaper duty, cleaning up enormous amounts of spit up (seriously, does any of the milk even stay down?!), working on tummy time and lots of hugs, kisses and cuddling. Allow me to introduce my new boss:

On Saturday we went up to my office to show Felicity where mom used to work and clean out my desk.

Before

After

Now instead of racing to get ready and fighting traffic to get downtown to get to Webby on time, I wake up to this little angel...hopefully in the morning and not the middle of the night. :-)

I couldn't be more excited and thankful that I have the opportunity to stay home with Felicity. I am so grateful to Justin for being so supportive, willing and able to let me do this. I will be honest and tell you that I am a bit nervous about my new endeavors as a stay-at-home mom. Will I be bored? Will I have enough adult interaction? Will I still feel that I'm able to use my gifts/talents? I'm working through these questions, coming to solutions one day at a time asking God to show me how to grow into this new role. I know I am not contributing to our household income anymore, but I am committed to contributing to our family's finances in different ways now - by praying for Justin's business fervently and doing my best to save and spend wisely. All of that to say, I know that every moment I spend with her is a teachable one and I'm going to do my best to treasure each one.

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work our hands." Psalm 90:17

Rock-n-Roll

It's official - Felicity mastered her first baby "trick". She rolled over from her tummy to her back on Monday, May 17! I spent the rest of that day trying to capture it on video, but was unsuccessful...until today! (Please excuse the television in the background.) She is now busy trying to learn how to roll from her back to her tummy but is getting stuck halfway. This causes her to start squealing in frustration...but it is just a matter of time.

Happy graduation, Erin!

Justin's sister, Erin graduated from A&M this past weekend so we made the trek down to College Station to celebrate with the Clevelands. Almost all of Justin's extended family came in, from as far as Colorado and Florida, so the long weekend ended up more like a mini-family reunion. We all stayed at a bed and breakfast, which was the perfect place to accomodate almost twenty people ages 2 1/2 months to78. It was so fun to introduce Felicity to Grandma and Grandpa Moss, Justin's brother, Brian and his wife, Liz, Aunt Karen, Aunt Kathy and cousins Chris, Kendall and Amy, for the very first time.

The night before we left Brian and Liz came over to our place. We grilled out hamburgers and enjoyed hanging out with them for the first time in two years! Way too long...

Bottom row: Wes, Jan, Ashley, Felicity, Justin, Brian, Liz

Top row: Rachel, Erin

All the girls...

Grandma Cornell, Erin, Aunt Karen

Cousin Amy

Grandma Moss

Grandpa Moss

Jan, Justin, Felicity, Grandma Moss, Grandpa Moss, Wes

My dear friend, Brittany (aka Boates) who lives in College Station, was sweet enough to offer to come and babysit Felicity during the graduation. Thank you!!

Congrats, Erin!

Welcome to the nursery

In case you were wondering, here's a look inside Felicity's bedroom...

The crib, white chest and baby rocker were all in my nursery when I was a baby. Justin painted the chest and added the green glass hardware that I found on ebay. My parents bought us the rocking chair and ottoman and Justin and his dad installed new blinds on all the windows.

Didn't my sweet husband do a great job?

I made this little ditty for Lici that includes verses Justin and I picked out specifically for her - Psalm 138:8 and Ephesians 5:1-2.

I debated but decide not to hang anything over her crib for now...just to be safe.

Happy Mother's Day

My very first Mother's Day started off snuggling and enjoying coffee and scones in bed with my two favorite people.

Then we loaded up the bean (that is, Felicity) in the bjorn and headed off to the Swiss Ave. Home Tour where we got to tour historic homes like these. Gorgeous, to say the least.

 

Square One Playgroup

When Felicity was about two weeks old we started attending Square One, a ministry for first-time moms and their babies at our church, Watermark. We discussed everything from husbands, homes, family traditions and frustrations. It was a great time to get out of the house and be surrounded by other girls who are in the same place as me right now. It was a seven week series, but now that it has ended, the moms have formed a playgroup and we are currently reading and doing a study on the book, The Power of the Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian. While the weather is nice we are meeting at the Dallas Arboretum. I am so enjoying getting to know these girls, their sweet babies and studying the Word together.

Felicity relaxing in the sun

Some of Felicity's new friends (this is only about half of the babies!)

Playing is hard work!

Look at those rolls... As my dad said about me - she has bread loaf arms. :-)

Ryan's Play and Big Cedar Lodge

My parents were kind enough to let us use their timeshare they have at Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, Missouri for a short getaway where we experienced our first vacation as a family of three. Before heading to Missouri, we made a quick stop in Longview to see my brother, Ryan in his one act play that they competed with, Bog of Cats. He was incredible, as usual.

Felicity did great on the eight hour drive. While there, we took it easy and just enjoyed the chance to get away from the city. We hit up Ripley's Believe or Not (it is a requirement to do something hokey while there - it is Branson, after all), went on a 6 1/2 mile hike/walk at Dogwood Canyon, shopped, ate and enjoyed relaxing at the resort.

Taking a break from shopping at Branson Landing

Gotta love Branson - Mary Poppins made entirely of jelly beans

Felicity on her two month b-day

Hiking at Dogwood Canyon where we hiked from Missouri

to Arkansas

Felicity was a real trooper experiencing a lot of firsts - first vacation, first hotel, first hike and even slept for eight hours straight for the first night!