An Ode to Grandparents

Aren't grandparents the greatest? 

They think you are beautiful no matter what you wear...

...they love to make you smile...

...they cuddle with you whenever you want...

...and cuddle with you even when your mind is somewhere else.

Grandparents love to show you new and interesting things...

...to visit your favorite places with you...

...and to introduce you to some of their favorite places, too!

Little Miss Evelyn Orr is so blessed to live only minutes away from all four of her grandparents. Honey and D and Grammie and Grandaddy love, love, love on our girl, and we love that they get to spend so much time with her.  And not only does she have four sweet grandparents at her beck and call, Little Bit also has three amazing great-grandparents!  These three do not live nearby, but they sure have gotten to have some good time with this baby so far....

With G.G., Grand-D, and B ready to party with you at a wedding, walk with you wherever you need to go, and rock with you to your heart's content, what more do you need?  Our girl's got it pretty good, I'd say:)

Farewell, Summer

Here in Nashvegas, we are slowly, but surely, creeping into fall...the weather is cooling off (at least for now), the leaves are just beginning to change color, and college football season has begun!  But before we get too deep into September, a quick look back at how we spent the last few glorious weeks of summer....

 We joined the Maryland Farms YMCA for the summer, which might just be the best money we've spent in the past year.  Evelyn LOVED IT.  She loved crawling around in the spray, she loved splashing and plunging her face under water, and she especially loved patting the giant crab (as seen in the first picture above).  YMCA pool, farewell for now; we will certainly miss you until next summer!

We ate lots of yummy meals with fresh produce from our fabulous CSA; isn't summer food the best?  Evelyn has really gotten into both corn cobs and apple cores lately (which is a combination reminiscent of meals enjoyed by a Cummings dog of my youth, a crazy black lab named Mallie).

When we had some cooler days in late August, Ev and I headed outside to blow bubbles and have afternoon cocktails and snacks while waiting for Daddy to come home from work.  Yes, we are sitting outside our garage on the driveway with our bubbles, Puffs, and drinks.  The Berrys are classy people, folks:)

A New Cousin

Remember this?  Our sweet girl was merely days old in this picture with her cousins Piper and Lily:

Nine-and-a-half months later, we spent the weekend in Kentucky visiting with a NEW cousin!  Joseph Victor Cummings Nasief was born a week ago today, early, early in the morning, to his proud parents Ellen and George.  What a delight to have three cousins in the family (and a boy, to boot!).

 It's a little hard to see in this picture, but Ev is waving to Baby Joseph.  She seemed only mildly disappointed that he wasn't waving back:)

Two proud aunties, a new mama, and two sweet babies--what fun!

Ev's Beaus

Little Bit had not just one, but TWO dates over the last couple days with two of her best beaus.  One little guy came bearing Starbucks, and the other one invited Ev to go swimming.  You can't ask for much more than that--what a lucky lady! 

Sweet baby Carter came over to play with his lovely mama Courtney, a dear old friend of mine (since 6th grade!).  She definitely made my day, sharing her cute baby and some good conversation over Starbucks.  Carter is about two months old and absolutely precious!  Note the concerned look on Evelyn's face; she noticed that I was holding another baby and crawled over to investigate immediately:)  She didn't stay worried long, though; once she had reassured herself that I was not, in fact, claiming another baby instead of her, she happily babbled, waved, and patted Carter in the face.

Now this young man has hung out with our girl before; this time, instead of snuggling on the couch or lying on the floor, Sam invited Ev to go swimming.  After splashing in the pool for a while, Sam was all tuckered out and decided to snooze in his stroller, while Ev took a snack break.  Yay for pool dates!  

Odds and Ends

Ev's godmother Lindsay (a Peace Corps member in China!) sent these PRECIOUS Chinese baby shoes to our sweet girl, along with another pair of shoes and a cute little kimono outfit.  Lindsay's mom graciously dropped them off with us a few days ago, so we obviously had to have a fashion show immediately.

Have you sat on a John Deere tractor lately?  Ev hadn't, and it was high time.  We just happened to be in Home Depot, and found just the right one.

Finally, we figured cocktail hour would be way more fun for Ev if her drink came in a koozie, too.  This one is courtesy of Ev's Aunt MC, an Ole Miss Rebel through and through.  Note that our daughter is ignoring her own drink, though, and chewing on someone else's beverage instead.

Have a great week!

An Atlanta Visit

Summer is winding down at our house, since Dave is back at school for teacher in-service and my little crew of "tutorees" are already gearing up for the fall.  So we have been making the most of the last few days, swimming at the YMCA pool, hiking in the park, and finishing up odds and ends around the house.  We also decided it was high time to head down to Atlanta for a brief visit to introduce Evelyn to her great-aunts Rosemary and Pauline, who love this sweet baby dearly, but hadn't gotten to meet her yet....

We stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-A on our way--clearly, this girl likes it as much as her parents.

"What do you mean, the play area is closed?"  (this picture works best if you read the caption aloud in your best fake Italian accent)

 Our visit with Rosemary and Pauline was short but sweet.  They obviously knew that the way to this girl's heart meant a container of Puffs...

 ...a book...

 ...a silly hat...

 ...chats...

...and snuggles.  What a blessing to spend a couple hours with these sweet ladies!

 We spent the night with Aunt MC and Uncle Eddie, those cute newlyweds:)  They were so gracious and hospitable and let Ev drool all over their furniture and explore their new apartment.

MC and Eddie also took us out for a couple great meals; our favorite was brunch at a spot called Atkins Park in Virginia Highlands, which not only had awesome food, but also had a little play nook for kids, which Ev spotted immediately.  Fun!

Nine Months In

From then...

 ...to now.  We can hardly believe it!

Happy 9 months, Ev!