One last time

in my childhood home in Annapolis this weekend, which has finally sold. Ahhh ... it's all too sad and nostalgic to think about very hard, so I'm choosing not to think about it much at all and just enjoy all the memories that have been made here, especially this weekend!

 We celebrated cousin Molly's first birthday and she was ALL smiles ...

Emery was never far from cousin Tucker and repeatedly attacked him with hugs and cuddles, which thankfully didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

The birthday celebration continued ...

 Uncle Austin was very nice to read with Emery ... one last story on the family room couch (sniffle).

An attempt at a decent family photo in front of the blue house.

Catching some sun on the front stoop ... let's not start thinking about how it was just yesterday that it was ME in little overalls sitting on the front stoop. (sniffle)

 Here is Emery in one of my favorite childhood spots on the side of our house - I'll always remember going to sit on this box when I got bent out of shape about something not going my way while playing outside. It's actually the neighbor's box, but I think he's going to give it to me!

Emery checking out the stove that used to heat our house. (sniffle)

Just being cute at the front door. Good thing these smiles will keep me from sniffling too much tomorrow when we leave for good.

Aretha Frankenstein's ... without the 2 hour wait!

For those of you who don't live in Chattanooga, Aretha Frankenstein's is a breakfast joint famous (or perhaps notorious) for its insanely long wait on weekend mornings, as well as its insanely outstanding pancakes and waffles.

Well, this weekend we got to enjoy the aforementioned waffles right in our own dining room, thanks to this recipe I found Food52.

Now I generally try to make my waffles a little healthy and go more for the multigrain, not too much oil, etc. route when I'm making them at home, but these were well worth making an exception. I doubled the recipe and did wind up cutting back on the oil a bit and that didn't seem to do them any harm.

The secret ingredient? Cornstarch! It makes them perfectly soft, chewy and moist on the inside, and just crispy enough on the outside to make you think you might be eating at a restaurant and not in your own home where you have to put away the syrup and butter, face the mound of dishes in the sink and get a paint scraper to deal with the waffle batter that's now permanently adhered to the kitchen counter.

Worth it, though? YES.

Emery at 18 months

Every day it seems Emery is getting more grownup, revealing new likes, dislikes, abilities, etc. so I figured I'd better record some history here and now before it becomes just that - history!

Favorite food: hands down bananas (or "mee-nee" for some strange reason)

Favorite song: "If You're Happy and You Know It" You know she wants to sing it when she opens and closes her hands and repeats "happy? happy? happy?" And once is of course never enough ... we sing it endless times in a row.

Favorite toy: Um, me? Emery doesn't have much attachment to her toys and is generally more interested in doing what I'm doing than anything else. I realize this is a phase, but if I had the energy, I'd move all of her toys out of the house for the time being to enjoy a little less clutter!

Favorite activities: Emery loves listening and dancing to music (You know she's ready for the next song when she whines "ee-mee?") playing outside, chasing the neighbor's cat, ogling at doggies, emptying my nightstand, climbing on the furniture, Skype, going to the library, to the pedestrian bridge downtown, and to the grocery store, of course. :) Her interest in dolls is beginning to develop, thanks to valiant efforts from her Henny to cultivate an appreciation for this activity.


Oh, and she also is quite intent on fitting herself into spaces that are clearly too small for a toddler.

Thankfully Emery keeps us all laughing, even on days that are hard and long, and we can't wait to see how the rest of her second year unfolds!

What a nice Saturday

This past Saturday was the first day that really felt like fall here - so sunny, but cool and crisp, too. In the morning, Emery and I occupied ourselves with piddling around the house and running to the grocery store and bakery, where she now always insists on pausing for a bit to gnaw on the heel of the bread. Works for me! She sits perfectly still while manhandling her bread and I can thumb through a magazine in peace.

Then Matt returned from running a race, I made him a quick brunch, devoured the rest of our Roasted Apple, Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion pizza, and rushed off to Homespun Parties and Events for a class on making scarves/necklaces out of old t-shirts.

I'm not sure what I think of my creations, but the class was only $5, so who really cares, right? :)

Then I headed home only to turn right back around again for another fun outing - a bluegrass concert on the river with Matt and Emery. Given Emery's love for the outdoors and music, we knew this would be a hit and it was - with her and with us. She spent almost the entire time climbing in and out of her stroller, pausing occasionally to clap for the musicians and play peek-a-boo with strangers.

On a side note, Matt's first comment when he saw Emery's floral pink outfit was, "She looks like a fun nurse! You know, the kind who wears pink scrubs and is super cheery and nice."

Hmm. Not quite the look I was going for, but I guess I can kind of see what he means? ...

Then we finished off the day with Chard and White Bean Stew - fabulous. Healthy. Easy. Hooray for nice Saturdays!

Ice cream for sale!

Emery's most favorite thing to do right now is scoot around on her ice cream truck on our front walk, yelling "Beep Beep!" And then handing us ice cream treats saying "Yummy, yummy."

So listen up for the ice cream truck - she just might be making the rounds very soon!

More on Charlottesville

We had great fun in Charlottesville and Emery seemed to grow in leaps and bounds, both physically and intellectually. She now will try to repeat just about any word you say and seems a LOT heavier to carry. She also developed quite an affection for her cousin Tucker, bonded with Henny as well as Papa, our resident babysitter who fearlessly put Emery down for incredibly early naps without any hesitation and became entirely addicted to being "out-shiide."

We've been so fortunate to land "free" seats, and Emery is slowly but surely grasping the concept of staying in her seatbelt.

Checking out her new sleeping digs.

All the cousins love Papa!

Swing time!

Though she's become quite the picky eater, Emery will rarely pass up a peach.

Nor will she pass up playtime at the water table.

Looks like a pretty confident driver to me!

Taking a break from making music to show us her tummy.

Though Emery still isn't walking, she impressed me with her agility by climbing up this slide all by herself!

Most of the time Emery got a little, oh, territorial, shall we say, when her younger cousin Molly approached, though this was a sweet moment of cooperation.

Whatever Tucker's doing, Emery wants to do.

These girls are always happy to be held!

Loving time with Henny!

And with Papa, who rescues her from the stroller for a ride up high!

Our little music-lover even appreciated the bagpipe concert we went to (not knowing it was going to be bagpipes) and clapped after all the songs.

Wow, she looks BIG here. Our flight from Atlanta to Chattanooga was delayed almost four hours, and much to my relief, Emery finally settled down for a snooze while we waited ... and waited ... and waited.

And though we'd rather someone beam us straight to Charlottesville for our next visit than mess with multiple flights again anytime soon, I have a feeling we'll be back. :)

Back from Charlottesville

This past week, while Matt went backpacking in CA, Emery and I hightailed it up to Charlottesville to spend some time with Henny and Papa, Uncle Austin and Aunt Jackie, and of course Tucker and Molly (to Emery, Tucker is "Tu-KEH," as well as one of her new idols).

No time to post much now, but here's a snapshot of the cousins picking peaches ... well, really riding along in the wagon enjoying peaches while the rest of us picked them.

More to come later, hopefully!