We have loved going to Justus Orchard the past couple of years, but we always wait too long into the Fall, so we enjoy the weather, but we don't get any apples from the trees. This year we decided to go a little earlier in September, and we got so many delicious apples, but it was way too hot! The cool weather lasted only for a very short amount of time first thing in the morning, then we regretted the long sleeves. Oops, we will have to head back again in October so we can get some cute family photos like the years in the past! 

sharing some sweet apples!

sharing apples can be tricky! ;) 

so glad my mom could come with us this year! She had never been apple picking before, like ever. 

me & my littlest apple in the shade before I took off the cardigan!

again, finding the shade.

& this boy living his best life. haha!!

Gigi was so sweet to buy the boys a ride on the cow train!

these cuties growing way too fast!!! 

& all three of my pumpkins!

taking stock // 019

Obviously, this space has taken a MAJOR backseat in our busy world. It makes me sad, but it is what it is. I've always said that this blog was mainly just for my memory sake, and now that truth is even more evident. I don't have time to sit and write and edit photos and pour a lot of time behind this laptop screen, and that's ok. Now I only take time to track the big things. Monthly updates for Asher, Solomon Says, Day in our Life, and the random life update posts like this one. It's such a great way to bookmark what is going on in our crazy full life right now, and I love that! 

Making // the playroom ready for school time coming up in the next few weeks!! 

Cooking // as little as possible. It's a problem, especially for our restaurant budget. 

Drinking // cold coffee, all the time. Priorities, right?

Reading // this amazing book, Teaching from Rest, it is so wonderful!!

Wanting // a vacation to Charleston so badly!

Looking // at so much laundry that needs to be folded, that’s a goal for today.

Wishing // for that glorious Fall weather!!!

Enjoying // watching the boys play so well together most of the time. It’s super sweet to watch! Especially how they love to color together, the way Asher watches Solomon is my favorite!

Liking // how Solomon is so interested in reading, I’m excited to start working on some sight words with him. 

Wondering // how long both my boys will be wearing the same size shorts?? It's kind of hilarious how they both can fit in 2T so perfectly. 

Loving // football on the tv, the best season is about to start! 

Hoping // my quiet time will become more consistent once our new school routine picks up.

Marveling // at how the Holy Spirit has been moving within friendships and speaking truth and affirming things in my life recently. It really is such a wonderful gift, and I'm so thankful for the people God has put in my life. 

Needing // a to purge some toys desperately.

Smelling // the geranium essential oil in the house. It's my favorite right now mixed with a little lime, grapefruit and stress away!

Wearing // pjs for as long as we can, which makes less laundry, so it’s a win-win in my book.

Thinking // about how fun the holidays will be this year with Solomon being 4 and Asher almost 2! 

Bookmarking // different bunk beds that I love for the boys. I'm so excited to have them share a room soon in the next few months! 

Opening // all the windows in the car recently and the boys love it! 

Giggling // at all the crazy things that Solomon has said recently, and I'm working on a post about them next week.

Feeling // preparation stirring.

Asher // seventeen months.

Our little guy has gotten so big in the last month! I feel like I say that every month now, but it’s true. Toddlers really do change and develop so much, so quickly at this age. I guess that’s one reason why I love this stage so much. We have one more month of these updates and then we will have a 1.5 year old! Crazy!!! Those big brown eyes are taking in every single thing all around and I love watching him grow! The last five months have flown by and I have loved it.

Always eating snacks or hungry!!!

• The constant jibber-jabber is so fun to listen to. He’s been trying to say things more than ever which makes me so excited. It always shocks me when he says something and I actually understand what he wants. Just the other night in the bath he picked up a startfish toy and said star (“tar”), both Peter and I were surprised! 
• He has started to sleep much harder now but the night weaning did NOT go well. It’s crazy how different he and Solomon are. Asher is definitely a momma’s boy, so I think any kind of weaning process will be much harder with him. I decided to just go with the flow since he’s still sleeping great and loves co-sleeping with us in the middle of the night. I'm in no rush!
• Loves swimming in the pool and splashing in the water. Summer is going to be so much fun this year with a HUGE bathtub to play in all the time. ;) 
• The biggest carnivore baby! Loves any kind of meat and prefers it over anything. Still loves most fruits also and eats 1-2 eggs every morning. 
• Running and walking fast now, but can still get tripped up and fall pretty easy. Learning how to catch himself and not getting too upset. 
• Still obsessed with his brother but also gets very annoyed and irritated with him so easily. We are working on hitting since that’s his go to response when he’s annoyed with anyone, especially Solomon. 
• Loving books and playing with legos, he can sit solo and play for a while now. It's is a huge blessing if I’m busy cleaning or doing something with Solomon. Sometimes if he is being super whiny or complaining about something, I'll tell him to go read a book and he perks up instantly, then goes to the bookshelf and looks at books for a while. It's super cute! 
• Going into childcare and church without a huge meltdown, he still cries and resists it, but he’s fine once I’m out of sight.
• Absolutely hates to have his diaper changed and get his PJs on before bed, like you would think I’m trying to kill him. It’s the worst part of my day for sure, which is usually why Peter usually does it. Once he’s dressed and ready for bed he’s back to his sweet and happy self. The temper is real!
• All four molars are out and the first canine tooth is cutting right now on the top left side! 
• Had his first timeout for making a huge mess with a squishy on the living room floor. He thought the timeout was hilarious and he actually liked it, even put himself in timeout again after I got him out. Haha, oh boy....
• Obsessed with my face and touching any small zit (which doesn't help keep zits away!) or ,y tiny mole on my cheek while nursing, which is incredibly annoying! It drives me nuts. I move his hands and tell him no constantly but he needs the constant touch with my face to fall asleep.
• Just weighed him and he was 28.6 lbs. He’s also wearing all 2T clothing. Asher and Solomon can definitely wear the same shorts right now, which is hilarious to me. 

Sweet, sweet boy!!! I love you so much!

Asher // sixteen months.

Our baby boy seems bigger every day now! He is trying to communicate and watching and learning constantly. It's so fun to see more of his personality coming out, even if some of it is a full on temper! He is walking 100% of the time now and trying his best to keep up with his brother. Their relationship has evolved a lot now that Asher is playing and running around more. It's so sweet to see. I'd honestly love it if God gave us five boys, they are so fun! I've always wanted to be a boy mom, and now that dream is coming alive even more with Asher becoming more of a toddler. 

full on personality, and flipping 180 all day long! Definitely keeps things interesting.

• still obsessed with books and will sit and flip through them for 20 minutes sometimes. It's the sweetest thing to watch his face take in all the details. However, he is still not interested in me reading books.
• did really well while traveling to TX and only lost his mind after several hours of sitting in a car seat. I was honestly proud of him... it was a lot of traveling and he loved most of it. He also did very well going to sleep with my mom while we were away at the wedding festivities, but still refuses to go to sleep for anyone other than me here at home. 
• loves giving kisses and hugs, its so sweet and I ask him for kisses all day now. 
• Mickey Mouse is his favorite thing right now, and he screams anytime we see a picture or toy of Mickey while we are out and about. 
• loves to dance and play music all day long! 
• wearing all 24M or 2T clothes now, which is funny because that's what Solomon work last year. 
• all his molars are in now and we are dreadfully waiting for those canine teeth to come in. I'm hoping to night wean him before that starts in the next week or two. 
• sleeping is so all over the place right now, but when my mom would get him to sleep in TX he wouldn't wake up till almost 2AM, but if I nurse him to sleep he is awake by 11 or 12, so I'm hoping the night weaning will help with that also. 
• he will eat almost anything but he can be picky about textures. He doesn't like hummus or mashed potatoes at all, but he's obsessed with any kind of meat. He's definitely a carnivore! 

a day in our life // 010

I honestly forgot that I had written down to do a "day in our life" post, until we finally sat down to do our morning bible time yesterday morning, and I saw it written down on my planner for the day. Not much was missed so, I decided to back track a little and get caught up so I could track our day. I went to get my big camera so I could have some quality photos and use my self timer to truly capture what we do. I really do love these posts so much, especially on lazy Tuesdays at home when we don't have any plans. It makes recording all the little moments a lot easier!! 

04.09.19 // tuesday

7:40 - Peter leaves for the day and Solomon has a little TV time while I nurse Asher in bed and try and wake up. He watches a show on Netflix and I head downstairs and let him watch one more show while I drink my coffee and change Asher's diaper. 

8:00 - Solomon had an accident in his bed last night (for the first time in a very long time), so I move over the wet clothes from last night to the dryer, and wash his sheets. I then start making some eggs for breakfast for the boys.

8:10 - Asher sits at the table and eats his eggs while Solomon tries to use the potty. The first of many unsuccessful trips for the day. I tell him he can try again when he feels ready. 

turning on the music, like most mornings for baby brother!

8:30 - We head into the playroom to clean up the toys from the day before and try and get started on our morning work. On days when we don't have to rush out of the house, we start the day with practicing Solomon's first and last name in his notebook, then do a morning drawing. After that we do a bible study and say our prayers for the day. 

8:45 - The day is definitely off to a slow start and the boys play while I straighten up the living room and the kitchen. I also wash the eggs from the past few days so they will be ready to cook when we need them.

9:30 - Somehow almost an hour goes by and we finally sit down and start our morning work for the day, with some snacks of course. Apple sauce with some ningxia juice for Solomon and a squishy for Asher and ice water for me! 

Before we do our bible story, Solomon tries to potty again... no luck, so we relax and read some books and play for a bit. 

10:40 - Solomon finished his picture drawing for the day and I prep our bible story. Asher is dying for some milk so we cuddle on the couch and read the story together. 

Solomon does a coloring photo, and we talk about the story from last night and today, while Asher plays with some cars on the floor. Last night was about the little girl who died and Jesus brought her back to life, and today was about how to pray. We are using the Crew and Co Easter Cards and they are so sweet! 

11:05 - I've been trying my best to use some of our bible story time to read on my own and also write in my prayer journal. Solomon wanted to sit in my lap and color the rest of his photo since he needed to use the potty but couldn't go quite yet. I enjoy the cuddles and write out my prayers, then we pray together before we go and play.

probably my new favorite photo of the two of them, so sweet!!!

11:40 - We head upstairs to play while I put away some laundry from the night before. I also get Asher dressed in some comfy clothes before lunch. 

12:00 - we head back downstairs and make a smoothie (my lunch) and get some other things out for the boys. Solomon loves helping me with the smoothie every day and Asher gets so excited when we turn it on, he thinks it is so funny! 

I cut up an apple and some string cheese for the boys and Asher also has some avocado.

I love those little toes peeking out from under his tray! 

Solomon's hands, always covered in marker and paint! My little artist... 

12:30 - I head upstairs to get Asher down for his nap while Solomon watches some Disney Jr.

I lay Asher down at 12:50 and let Solomon finish his show before his quiet time. 

1:10 - Solomon has quiet time while I take a quick shower and get dressed for the day. I can tell he is sleepy so I tell him to go play downstairs while I finish my makeup before we do his school work. 

1:30 - I come downstairs and find this..... 

He sure is cute,  but Lord knows he can't take a nap, or he won't be able to go to sleep till 11PM! So I have to wake him up and bribe him with a puzzle to make him want to play. He can hardly work on the puzzle since he needs to use the potty so badly, and he finally let himself go! Hallelujah!!! 

2:05 - he is working on finishing the puzzle and then Asher wakes up! I always try and do our school time when Asher is asleep so I can focus on Solomon and he can have some one on one time, so things are a lot trickier if Asher is awake. But,we get the work out for the day and try our best to stay focused.

2:20 - I let Asher play with some dot markers on the floor with some paper while we work on the letter I for the day. 

3:00 - we clean up the school work supplies and head into the living room so I can fold some laundry while the boys play. 

3:30 - I get everything folded and work on my bible study while Solomon and Asher play together. 

It is so crazy how often I have typed that during my day so far, and I'm so thankful for it. 

Yes, there are moments when I have to remind Solomon to be a kind big brother, or I have to console Asher when he gets frustrated that he's not as big as Solomon, or I need to get down on their level to talk to them, but they really do love to be together and play. Such a blessing!

5:00 - After we get our clothes on, we play music with straws as a flute and Solomon is excited to run upstairs to get his guitar, and Asher starts dancing. Peter gets home from work much earlier than normal and the boys are so excited to see him and put on a show for him. We then head out to dinner and to get some shopping done at the mall. 

It was a slow and easy day at home. A sweet day, one of my favorite kind of days. The house isn't spotless, the laundry is still on the couch as I type this, but my babies were loved and I made time for some sweet moments with my maker. It's crazy how much better my day will flow when I have priorities in the right place, and for that I am thankful. That is something I'm trying my best to work on daily in our home. To be obedient to the Lord and available for my family!