First Swim!

Charley took her first dip in a pool last night. She seemed to like it, although I'm not sure if she was kickin' away because she enjoyed it or because the water was chilly.

Cousins and the Zoo

My sister, Robin, brought up her girls last weekend. Mairin, 6, and Lexie, 9, were lots of fun to be around... we had a full weekend including a trip to the zoo, two parks, an ice cream shop, and a candy store that was going out of business (which of course means you just have to buy an insane amount of candy). Some funny occurrences of the weekend:

• Lexie asking if she could read to Charley and asking, "Does she understand human?"
• Mairin telling her daddy on the phone that "we will leave as soon as Aunt Boo stops the nursery" (stops nursing).
• Lexie telling me about her daddy's chiractor (chiropractor).
• Aunt Boo (me) offering to pay the girls a nickel for every pine cone they pick up, and then forking out 16 bucks twenty minutes later (yes...they picked up 320 pine cones in twenty minutes. Actually, they picked up more, but I told them we were stopping at 8 bucks a piece).
• An elephant at the zoo taking his trunk and cleaning out the other elephants rear...and then eating it. I didn't witness it, but the girls and Uncle Donald told me allll about it.

I'm so glad they came up for a visit! I can't believe school is starting back up so soon!

Tour de Spartanburg

Word.

A few weeks ago, Donald took me and Charley on an adventure through the grand ole town of Spartanburg. Don't let the blog title confuse you... we weren't on bikes. We met lots of wonderful people who take care of D while on the job, at doctor's offices and at his storage unit. The morning went smoothly, as Charley slept the entire time, showing off her sweet little curls and donning her "sleeping angel" look (although I do think I remember her screaming at some point on the way home, and then once getting her here, I discovered her diaper had leaked and therefore poop had made its home all over her car seat...mmm).

Sweet Ms. Barbara snuggling with Charley.

Playgroup

Charley experienced her first "playgroup" yesterday. Let's just say her daddy's rule about no boys didn't last very long. As you can see below, everyone but Charley is wearing blue.

Sleeping Rocks

Charley began the coveted "sleeping through the night" thing at around eight weeks (as in 11pmish - 6amish), but last night, she slept from 8:45pm - 7:15am (cue the "singing angels" music). I think I slept from about 11:30pm - 5:45am NONSTOP last night, which hasn't happened since April 28th. Woohoo!! Sleeping is not over-rated, by the way. Here's a picture of our sleepy girl at the lake house last weekend.


We had a great time with our friends at the lake. We ate a ton of good food, played games, watched a Jaws marathon, zoomed around the shallow lake, and had some really great fellowship. On Saturday night, we stayed up until midnight sharing our testimonies with each other. At first, it seemed completely random and dorky (as you might be thinking), but it truly was a beautiful time of sharing our stories, of how Christ redeemed each of us and what He's doing in our lives, and it definitely was something we'll always remember. Well, partly b/c we recorded so that we can share it with our children some day (and laugh about how young we looked). We praise the Lord for rescuing each of us... an answer to prayer that each of us know Him. (P.S. You can know Him too... it's not an exclusive club).

I think Charley is flipping the bird in this picture. Shame shame.

Above is a picture of Charley's BFF, sweet Maggie McKee. I didn't get a picture of the two of them together because they were absolutely on opposite schedules. We literally would pass each other in the hallway.... Maggie up from a nap, Charley down for a nap, and vice versa. Next year they will be running around, stealing each other's toys, which will be more of a workout for the mommies and daddies.

Happy Fourth!

We are off to the lake to celebrate the Fourth with our friends! Here is a pic of Charley with her cousins at the beach a few weeks ago (in their patriotic garb). Have a great weekend!
P.S. It's Sadie's 3rd birthday!!

Watch the Transformation

Charley turned two-months-old yesterday -- We can't believe it! In some ways, it has seemed like two years, and in some, two minutes. In the following video, we see the amazing miracle of growth, right before our eyes! What a difference a mere 60 days makes in the life of a newborn. God is so amazing -- He let it happen!