off to Argentina

Chad and several other guys from our Sunday School class are heading off on a mission trip to Argentina tomorrow. I'm so excited to see what God has in store for them! They have been meeting regularly, preparing their testimonies and praying for their trip, all the while bonding together. This will be Chad's third time down there. Because of his super attractive personality (I promise I'm not biased) and his fluent Spanish, he has been able to form relationships with a lot of people down there and he's excited to get back.

Please pray for their safe travels and should you want to pray for or read about more specific details of their trip, click here!

Playing with the boys!

Right now, we have 5 or maybe 6 birth announcements on our refridgerator and all of them are for BOYS! Yippeee for the boys, but I'm wondering where the girls are in Memphis? Little Charlie is going to have lots of little boy buddies to play with, but eventually, we'll want him to date (though don't worry, I'm not wishing his life away). I'm thinking he'll have to have long distance relationships with his girlfriends as most of our out-of-town friends have just had or are having girls soon--6 that come to mind. But for now, he's having fun playing with boys!

Micah and Charlie having fun!

Sam and Charlie---they look a little tuckered out from all of the playing!

The men (and boys) in my life!

I'm not a father, so Father's Day, wasn't a day all about me. It was, however, super special for me to be a part of. We spent the day with my family eating, watching golf, playing golf (well Chad and my dad did), swimming, eating and watching more golf. What more could you ask for? I absolutely love my family! It was so much fun celebrating my dad and Chad and watching my hubby as a dad too. God has truly blessed me. The only thing missing was Chad's dad (Luke and Charlie's "Poppy") up in Virginia. Hope you had a Happy Father's Day too, Poppy!

Happy Father's Day to my favorite men!

My 3 boys!

Grandpa and his grandsons!

Poppy and Luke--cool dudes!

having F-U-N

We've been so busy this past week, but it's been F-U-N! Chad and I were talking a couple of weeks ago about how we could get caught up in the routine of life with 2 and get in a rut. So we've decided to make extra-special efforts to just add some pizzazz to our life. Nothing big, nothing fancy, just making sure we soak up and enjoy our time together as a family!

This weekend we grabbed dinner out on Friday night and headed to dessert at Jerry's Sno Cones afterward. We've never been to Jerry's, but it has come highly recommended from different friends here in town. Luke was thrilled! He wanted strawberry flavor, I think because he's very into the color red right now. He says it's his favorite color somewhere around 20 times a day---cute! We made some new friends, got messy and just had a fun time. It's simple outings and treats like this we really want to focus on!

Diggin' in!

Little Charlie gets a bite too! Okay, not really.

See my red lips?

Mommy and Luke enjoying their time!

In the name of love. . .

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while or who know me at all, know that Wal-Mart and I do NOT have a relationship. I cannot stand going in the store and try never to do so. I literally have a physical reaction even approaching the place. This is not for snobby reasons. It is because I can't tolerate crazy lines or clogged aisles or just feeling overwhelmed by so much stuff!

So, imagine me today, when I HAD to go into Wal-Mart. Our sweet little Charlie is on a special type of lactose free formula and the other day I realized we were running low. I made a trip to my Super Target (love this place) and gasp, they didn't have our formula! I made a trip to Walgreens and they were out too. I assumed that Costco wouldn't carry it and I found myself facing one of my greatest annoyances. . . going to Wal-Mart.

After Charlie's 8 week shots today, I decide to brave it with him. Luke was playing with his friend, Mary Ross, or I really wouldn't have done it, knowing the trip would have been that much longer. We pull up and immediately find a parking place. I'm shocked because I've never seen this place even remotely empty. I take a deep breath, look at the big Wal-Mart sign and plead with it thinking "We don't have to be at war!" But, we go inside and the place is SO crowded. People are in the middle of the aisles just talking and no one can get around them. I finally make it to the baby section and drum roll. . .they don't have our formula. Who the heck is buying up all of the lactose free formula?? If you know them, please let me know!! I want to beg them to save me a can in Target so I never have to go into Wal-Mart again. After my initial annoyance that they were out of formula, I was quickly relieved when I didn't have to wait in those lines, and just got out of there as fast as I could!

However, when I look at this precious face, I would go there everyday of the week if he needed me too. Oh, and by the way, Charlie isn't going to starve. Our trusty Kroger saved the day!

8 weeks old!

Kum ba ya!

A few months ago, Luke learned an old favorite in Sunday School---Kum ba ya! I heard him singing it through his monitor one day before he fell asleep. He absolutely LOVES singing and we've been thinking we need to get him on video. I finally managed to catch him where he wasn't too camera-shy last week. Here's our budding American Idol. For those family and friends up north, just listen to this accent!!

ready, set, summertime!

It's officially summertime in Memphis with the weather reaching 95 degrees! Anyone else ready for the snow again?? I guess I'm outnumbered with my fair skin and can't-take-the-heat-body, but it turns out our little Charlie might be ready for the winter too. We were informed on Friday, that our little one has a medical condition called prickly heat. His entire face and neck have what appears to be baby acne all over him. However, it's not baby acne--it's clogged sweat glands. Apparently with prickly heat (also known as miliaria rubra for those of you internet medical junkies) the rash and bumps itch and can feel like pins and needles. Poor little Charlie! Oh, and the treatment for prickly heat----avoid hot and humid conditions!! So, we're moving to Michigan (Elisabeth and Mandy--are you ready for us?).

Okay, so we're not really moving, but it looks like our electric bill will be much higher this summer since we have to crank the air to keep Charlie nice and cool. Anything to keep him from being itchy and miserable though.

Luke still gets to play in the sun though. We had our first pool party this weekend at my parents house. Luke had a blast "swimming" again and has absolutely NO fear of the water---it's scary! We even went swimming with some friends today and he didn't mind getting dunked. We had to have some talks about not jumping into the pool when Mommy isn't watching! The boy thinks he will float!!

Do you people think I'd actually be afraid???

Luke having a blast while Daddy and Grandpa watch

Taking a breather---ahhh, this is the life!

Mimi gets some cuddle time with Charlie in the shade