Makin' Pepper Jelly

I have never made any kind of food to giveaway for any occasion...because it would not be fair to subject anyone to my cooking skills. But my sweet friend Kelly let me assist her in making some yummy pepper jelly to give as gifts this year. Sounded intimidating but ended up being so fun and not hard after we got our rhythm down.

Santa came to town

After being at the Summit and seeing "Santa" (aka scary man in red with a hat and beard yelling at small children) riding around on a motorcycle and Hazel saying, "Mommy, I thought Santa rode in a sleigh...I did not know he had a motorcycle too? How does he carry all our toys on a motorcycle?" Ha. I just kept walking. I could not even respond about the scary motorcycle Santa....we were very glad to go to our sweet friends house and have an amazing home visit from a real, jolly and nice Santa.

Fake hair!

After buying and trying every hair filler product I think anyone has every created I finally found one that works...thanks to Bumble and Bumble dark brown tinted spray it looks like I have a full head of hair for the first time in 6 months. Hooorah!!! Its the small victories in life :)

Grace for today

Stripping us down...its how we find His face...Grace for today...that's what I rest in. It's been a rough week at the Serota house. Tuesday - I had a pretty painful scalp biopsy with stitches / Thursday - Hazel had a horrible ear infection with more tubes and adenoids coming out if the antibiotic fails yet again / Friday - trip to the ER from a fall and concussion by lil' E all of course while Alex was at drill / Sunday - a bought with the Flu or food poisoning for Hazel and me / Tuesday - the results of my scalp biopsy showing that I have androgenetic alopecia...aka...my hair is falling out at rapid speed for no reason other than genetics at 31 years old. Looks like shaved head or wigs for this kid. No easy fix. There are options but they may or may not work and it will be a life long battle. 

Yesterday I was a hot mess doing the ugly cry for most of the day. I grieved for the loss of my hair...as silly as it sounds...I fought with Jesus and was so frustrated with life. Today I am moving forward. No one is terminally ill, none of us have cancer, none of us are dying...we are just moving over life's bumps that God puts before us to help our stubborn hearts look up. I have been playing this Third Day song over and over for the last 24 hours. It is the most beautiful and comforting song....

It's looking a lot like Christmas...

I am not a big holiday decorator of my own house. I am doing good if I even get a tree up. Last year we didn't even have one because I just was not up for Hazel's "terrible twos" destroying it. When I told some people that last year I received some crazy looks like, "How could you possibly do such a thing!" Made me giggle. This year we will have a tree but I am pretty sure Edith and her wild 18-month-old self will have it down on top of her before I turn around. But this year dad asked me to decorate the office for Christmas...I must say it was SO much fun. By the time I was finished decorating I was merrily humming Christmas tunes and whirling and twirling surrounded with the beautiful silvers and aqua colors the whole office was adorned with. I have always felt like with all the hoop-la of the Christmas festivities and endless emphasis on decorating its easy forget what its really all about...as Hazel says, "Its Jesus' happy birthday. He was born in a barn with animals. He was probably cold, wasn't he mommy?" Yes, He was. But thank goodness He was...born to save us. So maybe this year my tune is changing a bit....festivities and decorating not so bad...if its done with the right heart.

Eli the pig

I was looking back through old pics and came across little Eli...our pet pig...I couldn't resist posting. May his little pig self RIP. Against my better judgement, soon after we were first married I decided to get a pet pig. Now it seems so ridiculous but at the time it seemed like a fun, "cute" spontaneous idea. When I walked through the door with the little guy Alex just rolled his eyes and laughed. Eli didn't last too long. He was a biter. People...dogs...tile...you name it he bit it and destroyed it. He became a "charitable donation" to the Oak Mt. petting zoo shortly after. Sure he is a lot happier there running around with other piggies.

A New Chapter

After several months of wrestling and praying with the decision we have now decided to move to Cahaba Park Church. I love MBCC, will always love MBCC and the wonderful people and deep friendships I have made there will always be in my life. It has been a very big decision but I am am at a cross roads with a lot of things in my life right now and the Lord was just pulling me in a different direction....one that I was unable to quench or ignore. Its a new place, for a new beginning, in this new chapter I call life. We already feel very much at home there. People have been overwhelmingly amazing in welcoming us to our new church home. I have started to form new relationships and new friendships....ones that I already treasure and look forward to having in my life for many years to come. The painting below is from one of my new buddies at Cahaba Park....an incredibly talented artist and kindred spirit....Liz Landgren. Her art is soulful and created with a purpose and she has figured out how to use her art for the Lord...something I hope to one day do with all my art. 

My lil' Bakers

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Aldridge Gardens

Shriners Circus - Mommy & Hazel date

Hazel rode and ELEPHANT. It was HUGE. 

Not sure if I would even gotten on there.

Motorcycle cage...a bit too loud for her taste.

Pure enjoyment. Happy memories.

Beautiful white tigers and creepy clowns.

Grand Opening of Page, Hudson & Taylor

After many months of designing, marketing, ordering furniture, art, lots of paint and much more the Grand Opening of Page, Hudson and Taylor Gynecology at St. Vincent's is almost here. We open officially on October 15th but have started seeing patients this week as a "test drive". The website went live Monday and we have had a fantastic response from all our wonderful patients. I went up to the office today to take some pictures of the gorgeous new office and can't wait to get those up online. Everything came together better than I could have ever imagined. Success for a great team! Check out our new interactive patient website.

www.pagehudsontaylor.com

Sister love from my lil' ladies

 

Paint Therapy

I had not painted in a while and forgot how therapeutic it was. The new waiting room at Page, Hudson & Taylor needed a big painting that brought all of the colors of the furniture together. I could not find one I liked so I decided to paint away....

My little "helper"....or not so much

Circus Party!!

Happy 3 years old Hazelbeth!!!

It's truly hard to believe that you are three years old sweet girl!!! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting here blogging about your second birthday. You are the best little buddy a mommy could ever ask for. Cheers to many many years to come with my precious little spark plug. 

Gigi's cupcakes...what  fine way to begin the celebrations :)