Thanksgiving!

After a lovely trip to Richmond, we have enjoyed one of the greatest weeks yet with Van and all our family. The only thing missing is more time with Auntie Snags, Uncle Bo, Cousin Fray, and baby mayhew bergman #2. I don't think I'll ever get used to having to say goodbye to them.  Love you guys! Thanks to Uncle Bo for all the cute pictures.

Walking & Talking

What happened to our little baby? I am loving the child Van is growing into each day. He is changing so much! He has been dare-devilishly toddling for a while now, but over the weekend he took his walking{and talking} to a new level. His new favorite word is "light" {points to light and repeats over and over!} Will post footage soon. Right now I am so excited about our upcoming weekend in Virginia and the following week of Thanksgiving with our northern fam!! Enjoy the start to the holidays!

Leaves -- Leaving -- Left.

True story.

Emily: Gah, Evans--my abs hurt from raking so much!

Evans: Hang on, my dad is calling. (Answers phone...Okay--sure! See you in a sec.)

Emily: (chasing Evans down to the basement...) What was your dad up to?

Evans: (mumbles something along the lines of "leaf blower")

Emily: Scuse me?

Evans: Oh...he's stopping by to pick up the leaf blower we borrowed last fall thats been down in our basement...

If I didn't miss him so much while he was out of town this week...he may have been in trouble!

Despite the irony it was nice to be outside and worth the exercise!

This week has been so lovely. We spent hours and hours outdoors.  I have a few recommendations...

1. Umstead. So beautiful this time of year.

Van really enjoyed it: 

2.  Cooking Light Magazine--Oct. issue:

 It has 92 delicious recipes.  Last night I made the Chipotle Bean Burritos with guacamole and home-made spicy-cinnamon chips (or as Auntie Snags suggested, "gourmet taco bell"). 


3. The "Perfect Applie Pie" recipe from Southern Living's September issue-- give yourself some time to figure out the crust.

4. Stella & Dot jewelry.  I just got this necklace from a trunk show and excitedly await its arrival:

5. Raleigh Denim. We are going to the grand opening tonight. Evans has a pair of their jeans and they are awesome! Very durable yet nice and classy. If you have a second, visit their website and read their "in press" story from Elle magazine. Its neat!

Thats all!

Pecan Picking

Last week I took Van to Oakview Plantation Park where we collected pecans and tested our hand at picking cotton.

{When the county bought the farm, families had the opportunity to "adopt" a pecan tree in memory of a loved one. I think this is a beautiful idea! Each tree had a small stone indicating to whom it was dedicated.}

...We played with goats

chewed on sticks...

{and ran around in circles while screaming loudly as needed}

It was a lovely way to spend a nice fall afternoon. God bless the outdoors and little boys. What a fun combo!

Feed Me! I'm Yours.

Rhombus graciously passed down her copy of this lovely book she used to feed Auntie Snags and me.

Full of tips to get your little ones eating properly {ie: ants on a log, adding honey to rice cereal} the book has helped me transition Van to whole milk.

This little stinker:

Was refusing milk. We kept trying and he kept pushing away the cup after one sip.

Feed Me! I'm Yours suggested adding a tiny drop of chocolate syrup to the milk. 

Brilliant!

Van chugged the entire sippy cup after his first taste. 

{Now we are slowly weaning him off the chocolate syrup...sneaky Van!}

Don't you love his mini-sized "Van" chair? It has been a great birthday present from G-Mommy and G-Diddy. Van climbs on it constantly!

I have raker's elbow this morning. My next door neighbor told me that when her children {all 4 of them} were little, they would beg the previous owners of our house to let them rake up all of their leaves {courtesy of our two enormous maple and oak trees out front} so they could play in the enormous leaf piles.

Unfortunately for us, all of her children are now grown up and realize raking is not exactly a fun chore.  Maybe we should invest in a leaf blower, but for now, its a nice playground for Van & Soph-Linda {who gets mad zoomies in the fall leaves!}

Van is all over the place right now. He is covered in bumps and bruises from tumbling over pretty often, but he's loving the freedom:

Lastly, here is one of my faves from Auntie Snags. Have a read!