New Chapter
New chapter. After 12 years of serving our country yesterday was Alex's last drill. I added up the days he has been away with the Army and it has been over 2.5 years. Words can not express how how proud I am of him for being such an incredible soldier. Leading, guiding, commanding and counseling so many soldiers and troops in his Army career. From Iraq to Enterprise, AL there was a never a day where he did not put his heart and soul into being the most honorable and outstanding commander there ever was. I am even more proud of him for making the decision to get out. If you know Alex, he is a soldier in his soul, so it is a bittersweet decision. But with two little baby girls growing up way too fast our family was more important. Your soldiers will miss you but we will be so glad to have you home. I salute you Cpt. Alex Serota, I'm proud of you and was privileged to be your army wife.
Pint Size Press Launch - Custom Kids Clothes
Pint Size Press is launching!!! After many late nights of designing and learning how to use our heat press machine we are ready to go! Our little dream took flight...has now become a reality and we are so excited! We have onesies, bibs and short sleeve tees in stock and ready to print. We are purchasing the gowns, dresses and long sleeve shirts on a order by order basis. We wanted to get up and running so we could offer some fun Easter designs. Please spread the word, visit us online and join us on our new journey....
pintsizepress.blogspot.com
pintsizepress.blogspot.com
Some Instagram favs
papa doc
amazing trampoline static hair
funny daddy
new years kisses
rainy day outfit
lil' buddies
brushing teeth in style
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.
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.
