oh holy night.

I do not exaggerate when I say that I am a cryer. 
I cry often while watching the news, reading a blog or article, thinking about the past, worrying about the future, talking to friends

I cry when I am happy and I cry when I am sad. 

My tears flow freely more often then I care to admit. 

The one place where I find myself crying often, is while singing in church.

it's not that I get sad while in church (although of course I have been sad at church before), or that it happens with every song we sing, but certain songs stir my heart and relieve my soul and so the tears flow faster than TLC's rendition of "Waterfalls". 

And nothing brings me to tears faster than, "Oh Holy Night."

Oh holy night
The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

about the time we reach the line, 

"Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth." 

I just lose it.

Jesus appeared and the soul, our very soul felt its worth. 

our life has meaning. our soul has worth. 
and it starts with the birth of a savior
on a quiet, humble night, in a dirty, stinky stable.

and then we sing, 

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn!
Fall on your knees
Oh hear the angel voices
Oh night divine
Oh night when Christ was born
Oh night divine...

and i bawl my eyes out. 
knowing how thankful i am for the gift of a savior and the gift of truly knowing my worth.


blessings to you where ever you are, and have a very merry christmas!

they catch on fast.

11 months.

holy cow. Azaria is 11 months old!

you know it's almost weird for me to call her Azaria? 

i mean i love her name. 

we picked it with great thought and intent and purpose.

(if you don't already know, it's Hebrew and means "Helped by God")

but Mr. Snug and i from the beginning dubbed her Zeze 

(i mean we are talking the still baking in the oven kind of beginning).

so all this to say is that my sweet, beautiful, cheeky little Zeze is 11 months old (as of the 13th),
and i just can't believe it.

this little minx has so much personality. 

she laughs at herself and at us when we laugh at her.

she is standing for a few seconds at a time by herself.

she cruises herself all over our living room or really any perimeter she can move about.

she loves other babies, and hams it up at Baby Time at our library.

one time she terrified a baby a few months older than herself because she kept screeching her hello's at  this little one. when i say screech i mean screech. 

Zeze literally screeches like a ring-wraith
from Lord of the Rings when she is happy. 

that includes staring at herself in the mirror and when she is face to face with other babies.

she has a lot more hair now; that her mama so stylishly brushes into a mohawk after baths. 

(that's why it stays perpetually stuck up in places). 

the little reepicheep is quite curious all of the time. 

i wish she would slow down from growing up so fast.

i mean she is gonna be 1 soon. 

i am not ready for that yet. 

but apparently she is.

this the paradox of a parent i suppose.

go figure.

life lately.

it has been terribly cold lately.

like daily under 10 degrees cold,

with nightly below zero.

if it wasn't december i probably would want to pack my bags for hawaii. 

but there is something about the holidays that make you not mind so much...plus for the first two months of winter, i kinda like bundling in oversized sweaters and sheepskin lined anything and hibernating in the warmth of my apartment or the homes of friends.

two months from now however, i will dream of flip flops and springtime.

trying on her north face.

we human beings are fickle creatures.

the babe and i have been up to all sorts of things lately like:

cruising around every piece of furniture in the house, eating guacamole like it's our job, bundling and unbundling multiple times a day to switch up our locale, listening to christmas music so much that i am sure the little reepicheep is hearing it in her sleep, and trying to basically entertain ourselves anyway we can.

hanging out with the boys i used to nanny.

lately, my favorite thing is moving about our little apartment and watching Zeze chase after me from room to room, crawling like a mini sonic the hedgehog.

little girl can move and boy does she like to get into trouble.

she especially loves gnawing on power cords, pulling DVDs from the shelves, and trying to eat the christmas tree.

charming me into oblivion.

never a dull moment.

on another note entirely i completely obsessed with the Sara Bareilles song, "Love is Christmas." Zeze and i probably listen to it like twenty times a day. It's definitely one of my new favorite christmas songs. 

take a listen --->