I couldn't decide which one I liked best,

so here are all four!

An unorthodox Sunday

Last Sunday we decided to flirt with danger a little. As you might already be able to tell, I am mildly obsessed with Emery's sleep, with preventing her from becoming overtired and with making sure we don't miss one. single. nap.

But we live in a new city and on weekend afternoons all the fun things to be done are oh so tempting - parks and trails to explore, markets to wander, restaurants to try, etc. So last week we decided to break the rules and have some fun after church, counting on Emery to flex a little and catch some shuteye here and there. After all, she had had a fantastic morning nap, so we had some good reserves of rest to count on should things get a little dicey.

In the words of my sometimes right brother, "That never works."

And he was sort of right. It wasn't terrible, but I'm not sure Emery had a blast and she barely slept. We did however, enjoy a nice walk, got some local apple cider, drove around some neighborhoods we might want to live in one day, etc.

And this week, of course, we're back to following the rules, with napping, snacking and lounging on the couch ... not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon, either.

Think I could find some other moms in this neighborhood?

Our happy hikers

Breaking the rules is exhausting!

A good kind of problem

I have a problem, although I suppose it's a good kind of problem, while it lasts. Emery behaves far better in public than in private. She has never once melted down in the grocery store and always elicits tremendous fanfare, "Ooohs" and "Ahhs," and "Oh, would you look at her hair!" and "How precious" and "Oh so adorable" and so on and so on.

It's sweet, flattering (more to Emery I guess than me, but I'll take some credit for birthing her and dressing her to go out) and very helpful in places like your doctor's office where you just want to get in and out as quickly as possible and they do all that they can to make that happen.

Today, though, Emery's morning nap was 25 minutes long and her attempt at an early afternoon nap netted only 30 minutes at the most. So she was fussy. But wouldn't sleep. Or play very well, with me or by herself.

So, this afforded us a trip to the grocery store, the ATM and Tuesday Morning! And two separate trips at that. Both of which garnered Emery plenty of praises from shopkeepers, baggers and the like. Because she was PERFECT! No whines, fusses or even faint little cries ... until we got in the car of course, but even those were at a minimum. On tap for later this afternoon - more errands to the bakery and farmer's market. Might as well milk this "problem" for all it's worth while I can.


Finally tuckered out from her many outings

Eating with Emery

Well, it should be more like not eating with Emery, but what more could you expect after only a few days of "real" food being offered to a novice eater. I thought I might have outsmarted Emery by feeding her oatmeal with pear puree, since I've come to learn that babies generally aren't raving fans of rice cereal, the traditional first meal. Not quite.

Emery tolerated it fairly well the first time, and by that I mean might have consumed an 1/8 of a teaspoon. Since then, she's had no real interest in Mr. Quaker, but has displayed moderate interest in bananas ... as well as books, giraffes, knuckles and anything else she can get her sweet little gums on.



I think I'll take Sophie instead, Mom.


Oatmeal again???

On this day

On this day three years ago, our lives changed dramatically when Matt asked me to be his wife. On this day one year ago, our lives changed dramatically when Matt's career at GM came to an abrupt end.

So here it is, September 14 yet again. How can I not pause and remember the miracles that have come out of "good" news and "bad" news? Never in a million years could I have predicted what saint God would send down to be my husband (truly!), what our life would look like today or just how He would devise a perfectly unknowable and wonderful way out of a rather dire situation (no job for Matt, baby on the way, needing to sell a house in metro Detroit, etc. etc. etc.)

I don't ever want to forget September 14, so I think I'm going to make it into an anniversary of sorts. NOT because I want flowers, or a reason to hire a babysitter and go out for a nice dinner. Only because I want to never forget that God is exceedingly faithful, supremely creative and outrageously generous.

All about Emery

Learning to enjoy the great outdoors now that the heat isn't quite so oppressive.

She loves stretching her legs and of course playing with her toes.


Trying out a barrette for the first time!

Still very serious much of the time, especially when it comes to her precious Sophie the Giraffe.

But also very excitable when flying in the air like an airplane!


Yet, extremely distractable, too. Look at me Emery, not the camera!


And I know this picture is blurry, but i just love the look on her face. We've been getting a lot of these wide open grins these days - totally melts me.


As does the look on her face when she sees that Daddy is home from work!

"You can't get enough of this place, can you?"

"No!" I said, almost apologetically, but on the other hand, why was I apologizing for patronizing this gentleman's produce market nearly every other day? I went on to say that there is a grocery store problem in Chattanooga, with no place you can go to get everything on your list at a decent price, and be able to walk away with confidence that your produce isn't going to wilt or spoil in a New York minute. He heartily agreed.

A friend here clued me into this market, P&P Produce, which has become my life vest in meal planning. It's close to home, affordable, carries lots of local produce and ... need I say more?

I was wondering when someone there was going to comment on how often I make an appearance. Emery and I, we're sort of hard to miss in a market that's 1/8 of the size of your average grocery store and doesn't even have full sized shopping carts. We've learned how not to topple over cups of peaches, how to angle our cart in by the cash register to keep it from rolling away so I can scurry around front and snag a $2 canteloupe and how to smile apologetically at other patrons who can barely squeeze past us to grab a carton of tomatoes.

The cashiers, they love Emery, so I hope that makes up for the hassle of managing all my reusable grocery bags that spill out of the miniature shopping cart (which, by the way, is also known as a "buggy" down south - who knew?) as I try to pass off bananas for weighing, cherry tomatoes for dumping out of their reusable carton and into a new bag, etc.

So no, I can't get enough of this place. Thank you Mr. & Mr. (or Ms. or Mrs. I suppose), whoever you are. I'll be back on Monday!