The Incident

Lilly and I went to Wal-Mart on Monday for our weekly shopping trip. Everything was going great. I only had 4 items left to grab when Lilly had an explosion in her diaper; the kind of explosion that leaks out at all openings. At that moment I had a decision to make, either grab the last 4 items, check out, and go home or change her diaper right there. After trying to find an item in panic mode I started thinking of how long it takes to go through the check out and decided I better change the diaper before doing anything else. It also started to smell bad and people started giving us gross looks. So I parked my cart at Customer Services and brought her out to the car. I changed her gross messy diaper on my lap. It got all over her outfit so I had to take that off which caused a whole other problem, since I didn’t have a new outfit for her. I searched through her diaper bag and found a long sleeved jacket and leg warmers. So I dressed her in the jacket, leg warmers, and diaper. I guess it was better to put her in something rather than just having her diaper on. She looked so hilarious I had to share.

Mother's Day

My first Mother’s Day was very nice. It started off with Lilly falling asleep on my shoulder and letting me cuddle with her for a good 90 minutes. Cuddling like that is my favorite and she never does it. She must have known that it was Mother’s Day. Tyson made me an amazing dinner of Chicken Cordon Bleu. I told him all I wanted for Mother’s Day was an Éclair to eat. We didn’t know where we could buy good Eclairs here so Tyson made them for me out of scratch. They were the best Eclairs ever.

Tyson, Lilly, and Herbert bought me a beautiful charm bracelet for Mother’s Day. See pictures below. I am very grateful to have such a wonderful family.

A quick update about us – Lilly is getting so big. She is starting to be able to sit up by herself. When she chit chats she has added a nod into the conversation. She gets a really serious look on her face and starts to give you a lecture and then gives a couple of nods to make sure you understand what she is saying. It is very adorable.

Lilly and I have started going to a Mommy’s and Me classes. We sing songs and play games. She loves it. Sometimes the other kids will stick their hands out and she will grab them. She has held hands with half of the boys in the class. She is kind of a flirt. We have also gone to a couple of play dates with people in our ward and enjoyed ourselves.

Tyson and I are both doing good and keeping busy. Herbert is also enjoying himself. He is still fat and lazy. He has not learned any new tricks.

Southern Comfort

Locals who have lived in the Charlotte area their whole life will tell you that there was once a time when Southerners enjoyed warm summer evenings sitting on their porch. This porch sitting was to them a time for sipping Coca Cola, telling stories and watching lightning bugs.

I’m told now that porch sitting has all but disappeared due to the onslaught of air conditioning, high-speed internet, and migrants, such as Karen and I, who have come from places like Utah where the evenings are cold.

Since moving to Charlotte, I’ve actually noticed that most of the developers building new homes here are doing away with the traditional front porch by substituting it with a deck on the back.
Despite this occurance, I think most Southerners are
still nostalgically attached to the porch as symbols of old-fashioned Southern comfort.

In fact, the culture of porches is easily seen all over Charlotte. One of alternative newspapers here, which is deep into things like healing crystals, has a section called "The Front Porch" and at the Charlotte Airport you’ll find a terminal displaying photographs of Carolinians sitting on their porches.

So, as a salute to an era that is all but bygone, Karen and I got out our folding camping chairs, opened a couple of sodas and spent the evening sitting on the porch.