Christmas day will always be

Just so long as we have we

~Welcome Christmas, by Albert Hague & Dr. Seuss

Jared came home just long enough for another try at a Christmas morning. And what ensued was pure happiness in its most basic form- family...

DVD's from Jared's mom. All the movies that Jared and his sister grew up watching. And many that I watched too. I can't wait to have movie nights with our little lady...

A necklace made my my Grammy...

Short Circuit...I can hear my brother doing Johnny # 5's laugh! 

It is, indeed...

Breakfast made by me sweet husband..well what's left of it. Jared's dad always made breakfast on Christmas morning, and now Jared does too...

Not many words tonight, friends. I have a sleeping baby in the next room (finally) and the bed in our own room is beckoning me. Merry Christmas, one last time.

Christmas Morning in Pictures

Christmas morning began with a phone call notifying Jared that he had to get underway within a few hours. He was home for about an hour after that. Just enough time for me to throw on a pot of coffee, wake Jared's mom and go get our girl for her very first Christmas morning. We each opened a few presents (I got TWO new lenses!), and then Jared had to leave. It wasn't ideal, but those few moments with my little family were precious and will forever be a memory that has already nestled itself in my heart. 

Here are a few pics from Christmas morning. I have so many more holiday pictures that I want to share, but for now it'll be just these. Time is something I haven't had a lot of lately, so until it presents itself, I'll just keep on letting the joy of the past several days build and build in my mind until I can share it all here:)

These two will forever be the beginning of so many smiles...

Love Mommy & Daddy...I can't begin to explain the way writing that made me feel...

My two favorite gifts...

Well, hello there...

There are no words...

I hope your Christmas was Merry and Bright!

A Little Story About Our Tree

This year, I was so excited about picking out our tree. This would be the first tree that Emerson would see all lit up and twinkling. The first tree that she would open gifts under. Our original plan was to get our tree at the MARC house in Key west. It's a non-profit agency that serves folks with developmental disabilities. It's where we got our pumpkins for Halloween and we wanted to get our tree there too. We made plans to pick out our tree during Jared's port call. We got dressed up in reds and greens and headed on down to KW. This happened to be a time when I was especially exhausted. Emerson had a couple of rough nights--the kind where she was up for 3 hours at a time--and my body responded to the lack of sleep by breaking out in hives. I was sleep deprived and an overall mess, if I'm being honest. Jared offered to pick one up on his way home, but I was determined to get the perfect tree as a family. So off we went when Jared got home to pick out our very first Christmas Tree as a family of three.

The MARC House Christmas Tree Farm...

We walked around, in search of just the right tree. Jared and I have pretty high standards when it comes to our Christmas trees :) Some were too short, others not full enough. The one thing they all had in common was the price. They were so expensive! But we liked the idea of getting our tree from a place that gave back to the community. Well, evidently Emerson had different plans. In the middle of our search for the perfect tree, she had...shall we say...an explosion. We're talking a 9.0 on the Richter scale kind of explosion...so we had to leave. Fast. 

We didn't get our tree that day. It would have to wait. A couple of days later, after Jared had left and come home again, we swung by Home Depot on a day we were running errands and picked out our tree there. It wasn't the way we had planned it out, but that's kinds how life goes, isn't it. And you know what? 

It's the perfect tree...

Tomorrow Emerson will wake up to her very first Christmas. We'll walk her out to our tree, glowing and bright with presents all around. Her eyes will light up and she'll probably make that breathy "ooh, ooh, oooh" sound that she makes when she's excited. And we'll all smile as we watch our little girl enjoy for the very first time, the magic of Christmas.

Because We Went For It

The other day, Jared and I were watching Emerson bouncing in her jumper seat, her froggy legs moving up and down with a smile on her face that lit up our own and I asked, 
"Babe, how'd we get so lucky?". "Because we went for it." He said.

Because we went for it...

A couple of kids who fell in love. He was my favorite thing about the west coast and when he asked if I'd come to California, I knew I had to go.   

Because we went for it...

And we always will. Again. And again. And again.

And here we are, all these years later, with so much to show for it. Our daughter. 

Love, love, abounding love.

Joy Will Always Win

To write about happy things seems so out of place right now. I've been thinking of those children, those teachers and their families all week long. I've cried and prayed for them and felt such pain in my heart. Recently, I read this quote.

"Don't squander joy. We can't prepare for tragedy and loss. When we turn every opportunity to feel joy into a test drive for despair, we actually diminish our resilience. Yes, softening into joy is uncomfortable. Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's vulnerable. But every time we allow ourselves to lean into joy and give into those moments, we build resilience and we cultivate hope. The joy becomes part of who we are, and when bad things happen--and they do happen-- we are stronger." (from Daring Greatly, Gotham Books, 2012, via Kelle Hampton)

And it struck a cord. I will not allow the ugliness  in this world darken the beauty that can also be found. So I'm choosing joy and cultivating hope. 

These days, my joy is found in bubbly toes and bright brown eyes. Watching Jared's proud smile as he watches our daughter crawl across the floor.

My joy...

These pictures were taken last month when my mom and dad were in town. 

Look how much our girl has grown...

More Joy found in the past week...

Joy Will Always Win