December Two.

December Two., originally uploaded by emeryjo.

Sweater- thrift
Leggings- thrift
BCBG Heels- thrift
Headband- Urban Outfitters
Scarf- thrift
Purse- vintage 80's slouch bag from eBay

Nog of Egg.

This is my favorite time of year.

Ezra was so excited to decorate the tree this year, and I was too, although part of me was a bit terrified to do it because of the stage that Myer is at... pulling up on stuff and trying to eat everything in his path that is oogey or sharp.

I decided that I would just deal with it as we went, and, wouldn't you know it? He hasn't even so much as glanced at the thing.

ha ha. Isn't that always the way? You stress and stress about something, which usually turns out to be nothing, and the whole time you could have been using all that wasted energy to pour yourself some more eggnog.

By the way, I am proudly and unashamedly in the 'I Love Eggnog' group. Has there ever been such a divisive beverage in the history of all time? In my experience I have found that you either LOVE it, or you HATE it.

I think part of the problem may be the name. NOG? Nog of EGGS? Really?

Why not just call it RottenEggBog?

We need to think up a new name for this delicious drink, and fast.

I think it should be called something like 'Cinnamon Nutmeg Milk'.

Mmmmm. I'll take two.

Prideful Fear.

I switched over from the classic blogger template to the newer version last night and only had about three nervous meltdowns in the process. {Go team me!} I had to recreate this website from scratch in the wee hours of the morning and while I was tweaking it and trying to salvage all those years of shoddy patchwork HTML coding, I just kept thinking of the few of you who might be checking my site at that moment and going blind from the horrendous hodge-podge that smacked you in the face instead of the nice, calming, neutral toned blog you'd come to expect here.

The good news: Now the site is much easier to maintain and also much easier to browse. Oh- and while I'm on clean up duty round these parts, let me know if there's anything else you'd like to see here or any ideas you have that would make this blog better. Things are still a bit wonky in places and will need to be messed with over time, so be patient with me, but please let me know if you see anything that is a little bit (or a LOT bit) 'off'.

Thank'ee kindly!

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Switching gears....  This morning at church I was hit with some gnarly revelations about pride and the fact that when I stew in anxiety and fear and worry, I am saying that I don't trust God and by not trusting God I am saying that I think I can handle things better than He can, and, when it comes down to it,  these things are really just PRIDE all gussied up in sheep's clothing.

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Humility = Casting your cares on HIM.

So... conversely:

Pride = Not casting your cares on Him.

I had never thought about anxiety in that light before. It was like everything suddenly clicked and it made even more sense why I shouldn't go around living in fear of every single little thing the media tells me I should be terrified of. (lookout!!!  behind that tree!! germs! kidnappers! stretch marks!)

I think that a lot of times we believe that our constant anxiety and fear about things that we ultimately can't control make us better somehow.  Almost... righteous.  It becomes almost like this comfort thing... like we find our identity and worth on this earth within that fear rather than God Himself.  They become identity-stealing distractions.

God has been speaking to me so much lately about my roles as a woman and wife and mother and child and I was so blessed this morning to realize that at the root of every fear of mine, there is pride. I love learning how endlessly deep God's Words are when you stop and sink down in them a bit.  It HELPS me to know that this is where some of this stuff is coming from.  It helps me know how to pray (for myself) and find the deep down cause of some of the stuff I worry about all the time.

I want to be ever growing and changing and learning new things about God and his words.  I could learn a new thing about Him every second of every day and still only scratch the surface of all that He is.

I was so glad to be reminded of that this morning- that no matter how long I've known Him and walked with Him and studied His words...

I will never come to the end of Him.

Hallelujah.

Merry Go Round.

We decided to flee from the idea of cooking dinner last night and head out to hit up the park and the local pizza joint by our house instead.

Ezra instantly glommed onto some buddies and took off running.

Eventually they ended up on the merry-go-round and I felt like my heart was on there with him... spinning around and around and laughing. He is such an amazing boy, and I love watching him come into his own and interact with his world.



After our adventures, we stayed up late watching 'Ice Age' on TV. (Ezra kept asking to fast forward through the commercials and couldn't understand why our TV wasn't able to do that while everyone else's could. haha) We all snuggled up tight under one blanket and one roof and giggled at a squirrel who, try as he might, just could not get the nut.

All the while, my heart felt like it was still out there on that merry-go-round... spinning around and around again... getting dizzy from all the sweetness.

Marriage is for MEN.

Not boys.

This video. Oh, this video...





Finally. Someone had the guts to say it.

Beyond Measure.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Ours was so lovely. Good company, good food, and beautiful weather.

This year, Ezra made something to contribute to the Thanksgiving feast... all by himself! Allow me to introduce you to the "Wobble Gobble":




They looked like turkeys but tasted like... cookiecandyfrosting!
Ezra kept calling them chicken cookies. hahaha.





I am so grateful and blessed to be where I am... in this phenomenal city surrounded by the most amazing people. How am I so lucky to have ended up here? This year, I am exceedingly thankful for my community- the people around me who challenge me and encourage me and cause me to grow... the people who add so much joy to my life and who enrich me beyond measure. Where would I be without them? WHO would I be without them?

I thank God every day for leading us here in this season of our lives.

He is so good to us.

xoxox

My Baby is so Aggressive.

Dear Intrawebs,

Today was one of those days where the thought of waking up tomorrow and doing it all over again (and the day after that and the day after that and the day after that) just about smooshed me.

I love the quote that my friend Su left in the comments here a while back-- something like 'in motherhood the days are long and the years are short'.

SO SO TRUE.

The baby! The sweet baby! He is turning into a monkey booger.

Yes, YOU.

He has taken to slapping me and pulling my hair and scratching at my nose and eyes! Like... he's super aggressive. A tiny baby bully! He has figured out that the hairs right at the temple hurt the worst, and he goes for them every time. He also likes to bite the tender muscles between my shoulders and my neck.

Rawr!

Luckily, he is almost equally as adamant about snuggling and rubbing his head against my face and neck to show me he adores me.

If I didn't have that symbol of affection to cling to lately, I might be tempted to think the baby does not like me.

Huwgs?

Ezra was NEVER aggressive like this in any way, shape, or form.

Do any of you have experiences with babies like this? I'm somewhat baffled. How do I teach a baby to be gentle? Or do I just roll with it? We try so hard to speak gently, and demonstrate what 'gentle' looks like, but he just smirks and lunges towards our eyes with his kung fu baby knife nails. I'm sure this will all fade with time and more developed communications skills, but...


*poke*poke*scratch*pokepoke*scritch*pokepokepoke*poke*

... I'm at my wit's end. This is all so foreign to me. I thought some of you might have some pointers or similar stories. If you do, please let me know!

I am tired and all scuffed up and in need of some advice.


Sincerely,

The Baby's Punching Bag

It's Not Rocket Science.

We have a super fun science museum here in oklahoma city, and I need to make it a point to go there more often. Ezra is at the perfect age for it now. On Saturday, we loaded up the kids and headed down there, per Ezra's request, and we all ended up having SO much fun. I think Chris & I ended up playing harder than the boys did.

I MADE this:

(Don't act like you're not impressed.)



This is my husband...
...standing inside of a science museum!


At one point a spooky little gremlin popped out of nowhere and was photographed with my baby:
eeeee hee hee heeeeee! Where's me pot o' gold?


Myer got warrior paint.
Because he's our little stout-hearted warrior muffin.



OMG! The bubble was there and then it... it just... wasn't anymore!
(Also: HOT HANDS? Whaaa?)



And our Ezzie Bug...
...the little astronaut that could.


Hooray, Science Museum!

What are some of YOUR favorite "Family Day" getaways?

A Sweet Night.

I had so much fun at the Cuppies & Joe show last night! I was so nervous because I didn't get a whole lot of time to practice beforehand, but it all went smoothly. (I didn't even fall down on my face or spill anyone's coffee all over their lap! That's miraculous!)

Here's a short clip of one of the songs I played:



A little rough around the edges, but I'm pretty sure that the sweet CUPCAKES floating around the place made up for all the sour notes I hit.

Mwar har.

Happy Saturday!

Through the Eyes of Babies.

The other day, this happened:

"Oh, Ezra, this is so comfy and relaxing."

And then this:

"What the HUH?!?"

This picture got me thinking... Yawns must look really strange to babies.

I bet a lot of things we do look really strange to babies.

Of all the things, though, I bet sneezing is THE WEIRDEST.

haha.

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In other news:
If you live in the OKC area, you should totally come see Shannon Horn & I play tonight at Cuppies & Joe around 8pm! It is going to be so cozy and lovely and... there will be cupcakes to nom on! And hot coffee to sip! Hooray!!


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