My First Mother's Day

Today is my first Mother's Day as a mother. I have only been a momma for 7 months now. What a huge privilege and blessing it is to love and raise a little human. I am so thankful. The amount of joy this Little Dude brings me is truly indescribable. And the new ways this experience has bonded Lance and I, is such a gift. I am incredibly lucky to have these two boys in my life!

Mommas.

In these short seven months, I have learned that being a momma and loving something so much is difficult. I beg God for Crosby's protection. I can get overwhelmed and anxious when I think about how vulnerable my heart is now that a piece of it is out in the world, in another tiny little body.

In these short seven months, I have learned that being a Momma sometimes hurts. The love a mother has for her child is so passionate and so fierce, that sometimes it takes my breath a way.

But being a Momma is also so beautiful. 

So today, I want to celebrate ALL of the Mommas out there. 

I celebrate my own mother who is the best Mom always and forever! Thank you for your unconditional love and thank you for setting such a perfect example of the kind of mother I want to be for Crosby. I hope he always needs me the way I still need you.

I celebrate my mother's mother, my Granny, who has always been incredible to me and shown me so much love. 

I celebrate my Daddy's mother, my MaMa, whom I know misses her son as much as I do.

I celebrate my husband's mother, who raised such a selfless, kind-hearted man and who is the type of daddy to Crosby, that my Daddy was to me. 

I celebrate my sister, who is a mother and I celebrate my close friends who I have stood beside and watched become mothers. All of you have been such wonderful examples for me. Your advice through texts and phone calls the past couple of months have further deepened our friendships and I am so grateful to be able to have a sister and friends around me that I can look up to and learn from in this season of life.

I celebrate my pseudo-moms, Kathleen, Karen Jo, Valerie and Momma Jo (in heaven), who have been so good to me and loved me like I was their own. I'm a better person for the enrichment their friendship has brought to my life. Not to mention how much fun these wild women are.

But as someone who longed to be a mother far before she actually got to be one, I also wanted to acknowledge and be sensitive to those who are desperately waiting to become mothers.

I pray for you. I pray that the desires of your heart will be met. I pray that you get to experience the joy, whether it be in your own womb or in another's through adoption.

My heart also aches for those who have lost the person that made them a mother, I cannot imagine. And my heart aches for those still waiting to become one.

To the Mommas,

and to the hopeful Mommas-to-be.

I celebrate you today.

Happy Mother's Day.

Love,

Carmen

Adding Tomorrows...

The Great Strides walk benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at the Little Rock Zoo is just a little over a week away! Have you signed up to join THE CROSBY SHOW yet????

For more than 50 years, with the support of people like you, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has been the driving force behind the pursuit of a CURE. Their focus is to support the development of new drugs to fight the disease, improve the quality of life for those with CF and, ultimately, to find a cure. The foundation is making a difference in lives of people living with this horrible disease, people like Crosby.

We've had a lot of family and friends register and donate to our team and I am so grateful! The event is going to be a fun, family friendly, short walk that supports such a great cause. I would love for more of our friends and family to support Crosby. So if you haven't already done so, I urge you to sign up! WE WANT TO SEE YOU THERE! 

To register or simply show your support for our team, please follow this link:

Great Strides - The Crosby Show

Need more persuasion to come join us on May 17th???  Here ya go:

TOP TEN REASONS TO CONTRIBUTE TO GREAT STRIDES

10. The walk is at the Little Rock Zoo. If you have kiddos and you come out to the walk (starts at 8:00 am), you get free admission to the zoo!! There will be games and music and other things for the kids. Wake them up early, let them run around and tire themselves out so maybe you can enjoy a peaceful afternoon. Not to mention it wouldn’t hurt them to be drug away from their video games for an hour or so. Maybe you can show off a dance move or two. It's also a great way to set an example for the kids about being involved in their community and being a part of something positive and giving to a good cause.

9.   The walk is only 1 mile long. 1 mile. You walk more than that grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Why not do it for a good cause?

8. Great progress has already been made. In the 1950s, few children with cystic fibrosis lived to attend elementary school. Today, many people with the disease can now expect to live into their 30′s and beyond. But 30+ years isn’t very old. I want Crosby to be able to grow old. Don't you want that for your own children? By helping the CF Foundation you will be helping to add tomorrows for Crosby.

7. Over 30,000 Americans (and over 70,000 people worldwide) live with this disease; it affects the lungs and the digestive system, which can make daily life difficult. CF is an inherited genetic disease, but over 10 million Americans are symptomless carriers. Lance and I had NO idea we were carriers; this means someone you love could be a carrier, too.

   

6. Thanks to research funded by the CF Foundation (which comes from private donations from folks like you! not major pharmaceutical companies or federal grants), medication has stopped progression of the disease in 5% of cystic fibrosis cases! This is great news, but there is currently no treatment for Crosby's mutation of CF — yet. More clinical trials are being done, and other CF patients are hopeful they will soon have the same kind of victory.

5.  Funding goes directly to research. Not to put on big conventions, or swanky executive offices, or even lobbyists in DC. Nope. Straight to the scientists working and researching to find a cure. Thank you Scientists! The CF Foundation is one of the few national non-profit organizations where 90% of funds raised goes directly to the cause. You have to admire their efficiency. Imagine trying to run a national for profit business on 10% overhead.

4. You've already signed up and/or donated so why not reap your reward?! Come enjoy others in the fight to cure CF. You can pat yourself on the back someday when they do find one. You'll be able to tell yourself: I helped find a cure and the world is a better place because I helped and participated.

3. Have I mentioned there will be free Chick-Fil-A breakfast? Warm, buttery, chicken biscuits….for free.

2. An event like this offers encouragement to ALL those affected by cystic fibrosis, both the patients and everyone who loves them! It would mean A LOT to Lance and I to see everyone there.

1. Top reason to donate: HOW can you resist a face like this!?!

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS!

Love,

Lance, Carmen, and Crosby

Cinco de Mayo

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo del Show de Crosby!

I'm into Cinco de Mayo. I love margaritas and Mexican food. Lance and I usually celebrate this holiday and had a good time with Crosby on his first!

We actually had a little bit of a rough week this past week. Crosby's enzyme  dose seemed to have lost efficacy and we were back to having a non-satiated baby with lots and lots of dirty diapers. So upsetting! We've been through this before and knew it was time to increase his dose of enzymes. So a couple of calls to his dietitian and pulmonary doc at ACH ensued and we upped the enzymes. The only problem is we weren't seeing changes afterwards and this new increase put him at the max per day for his weight. No room for any more increases. We were able to adjust some other things, gave it a couple of days, and over the weekend he improved. Crosby is back to being more like himself. Only problem is, now my baby takes 15 capsules a day, in addition to other medications. Fingers crossed this new dose continues to work for him for a while. I do have to accept that this is the road we are on and it will only increase from here. As he grows and gains, we will have to tweak his enzyme dose. Thanks for being an a$$hole, CF! 

So, we needed to relax a little this weekend. Aunt Natalie and hubby John came over to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with us Saturday night. It was really beautiful this weekend, right? I love backporch living and Crosby loves to be outside. I am thankful for warm weather, sunshine, dogs, happy babies, and friends who come lift your spirits when you're needing it. I wish I had taken more pics, but here's what I got:

I think in this pic, Croz is giving John some serious prosecutorial advice, like: "Remember you cannot lead on direct, Sir." And clearly JP is taking in every word!

 

I kinda like her.

Oh, and Happy 6th Birthday to our beautiful black princess, Lucy (Goose), whose birthday is today. I'm so glad Crosby loves his sister dogs and they love him. 

Say CHEESE!!

Love,

Carmen